Though I am usually the last to advocate a "hawkish" response from this country for any reason, I do believe the time has come for the U.S. to liberate Iraq by force. I agree with the statements some others made; we should have done it the first time around, with or without a U.N. mandate.
I recently read the book "Band of Brothers" by Stephen Ambrose, an account of the battles the famous Screaming Eagles fought against Germany, from Normandy til German surrender. And I was struck by some similarities with the Iraq situation. Saddam will never become as big a threat as Hitler was; Hitler very nearly won, but with Saddam this "possibility" is a joke. In large part that is due to U.S. intervention in the Gulf War. And Hitler grew to become the huge threat he was because so many nations ignored him and hoped he would go away, much the same way Europe does with Saddam. Without the U.S. involved, no one knows what the situation in Europe would be today, but one thing is certain: Hitler would have won. He very nearly beat us all. And he was on the road to building the atomic bomb himself.
With Saddam already possessing the capability for an unknown range of chemical and biological weapons, as well as having the demonstrated desire to use them to build an empire for himself, not to mention the desire for and will to use nuclear weapons, I do not believe there is any rational alternative to taking Saddam out of power. Letting him do whatever he wants, until he actually becomes a threat, would end up causing far more upheaval for the entire world than simply doing the right thing and taking him out.
I, like some others on this thread and others, am tired of America taking unlitateral action against anyone who sneezes. But in the case of Saddam Hussein, it is justified and necessary.
Edited by - spidermonkey on 9 August 2002 21:50:17
