Either Step Up Or Sit Down: Enough Name Calling

As a result of the debates I have been having with various people on the war in Iraq, I feel that it is important to mention that I do understand there are reasons for and against this issue. I have heard many emotional arguments for the war in Iraq filled with passion and patriotism. But I have also heard many arguments against the war filled with the same passion and patriotism. From all of the information that I have gathered--all of the facts, data, statistics and witness accounts--I have come to the conclusion that this war is unjust and wrong. All the while, I accept other people's opinions that differ from mine and take as much into consideration as possible. There have been many individuals who have been insulting and disrespectful for lack of a better argument and it is a shame that so many people cannot be civil in their debates. We are all Americans and we all love this country. It hurts me to see so many Americans fighting each other over this war when we are all on the same side. But in the end, I will stand by my beliefs and defend them to my last breath. Because while my views may change over time in light of a constant flow of new information, my unwavering stance by them will not. I refuse to be threatened or intimidated into believing that we should be in Iraq. And it sounds like many people are frightened by this administration's scare tactics that compel people to believe that if we do not have total victory in Iraq, Osama will be hiding under our beds in those quiet suburban slices of Americana. Throughout all of my debates with people, I have never heard any clear justification for the war in Iraq. I have heard a lot of slander about the treason of Democrats. I have heard a lot about al-Qaeda taking over the world starting with Iraq. I have even heard that Iraqis wanted to hurt American citizens long before the war even took place. But I am yet to hear a single fact emerge from the pile of war-hawk crap that truly justifies our presence in Iraq from the beginning. If you've got one, let me hear it. Because what it all comes down to in the end is that anyone can insult someone else for their beliefs, but no one can justify this war in Iraq.

Burqa Of Iraq: The Truth Concealed

The war in Iraq has become shrouded beneath a veil of lies and corruption since the beginning and while the cost of human life is clear, the reason for us being there is not. In the war on terror, which includes Afghanistan and Iraq, the U.S. was once again reminded about that little country they left behind. Taliban fighters seized control of a province in eastern Afghanistan after killing the district mayor and four policemen including the police chief. Women were forced to don their burqas (Muslim garment to cover women's bodies) in fear of strict Taliban rule. The town was later retaken by Afghan troops but this sort of temporary take-over by the Taliban is not uncommon throughout Afghanistan. While our forces are concentrated heavily in Iraq, we have forgotten that the war on terror started in Afghanistan. We left the country just as they were starting to get onto their own two feet leaving them with the means for a Taliban revival as seen here. Also, because we have poorly chosen to invade Iraq, al-Qaeda has received less pressure from U.S. forces in Afghanistan, found more recruits in Iraq and have all around benefited from the war in Iraq as they have taken the offensive against U.S. troops on the ground. Why then, are we in Iraq?
Well, if you read my last article, "George Puts The Oil Back In Toil" you would see my views on how oil is the prime factor here. But one thing is for sure, it wasn't weapons of mass destruction like the Bush Administration had claimed. And to further back that up, former CIA Director George Tenet wrote in his new book, "At the Center of the Storm" that the meeting he attended with the president was to simply find out what information could be used publicly to get Americans behind the coming war.
Tenet said, "I'll never believe that what happened that day informed the president's view or belief of the legitimacy or the timing of the war. Never!"
Tenet felt that there was overwhelming pressure on him prior to the meeting to push the country into war. And most of this pressure came from who else but Beelzebub himself, Vice President Dick Cheney. The White House has dismissed these criticisms brought on by Tenet but in the end, it is just one more nail in the coffin for George W. Bush's war in Iraq.
I would imagine that if the real reason we went to war was because we honestly felt that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction that posed a threat to national security, then Bush would have made an apology to the American people when the WMDs were found to be nonexistent. After all, it was a noble enough cause that could have been the mistake of anyone lower in the chain of command. But the president's insistence that the war is still justifiable even after the prime reason for going to war was proven to be false tells me that WMDs were just a convenient cover over his hidden agendas.
The real victims here are the Iraqis who have suffered under Saddam's regime and must now suffer from the mediocre planning of Operation Iraqi Freedom. And while we continue to occupy the country in the middle of their civil war, we only stall the peace process and make needless victims of our troops. This war has seen some ugly atrocities but none as despicable as the lies told by the Bush Administration that led to such unnecessary death.