I haven’t had a lot of time to catch up on the news in the last few days, but I have some thoughts that I would like to share on the war in Iraq. Though, I doubt my thoughts will have as much weight as this. Justus For All has an excellent post with excerpts from Iraqi blogs that pretty accurately covers why continued coalition occupation in Iraq is a necessary evil.
Yeah, I call it a necessary evil. People get hurt in wars. My friend’s nephew is currently being shipped home with shrapnel in his arms and stomach, on top of having two broken legs. That’s the evil part. No one likes to see anyone get hurt. But, in my mind, the deaths of a thousand US soldiers in Iraq were necessary if it saved civilians anywhere from another terrorist attack. Do I like that it had to be that way? No.
Do you honestly believe that George Bush preferred this option over diplomacy? Do you honestly think that he would have moved forward with war if diplomacy had a shot in hell at working? Do you honestly and truly believe in your heart that anyone would use war as anything but a last resort when all other efforts have failed?
GW saw his father’s attempts, and President Clinton’s attempts and he saw that no matter what the UN said or anyone else, Hussein intended to continue on his path to war. He supported terrorism. Did not have a kind word to say to us when the rest of the world, including his allies, stretched out their hands and hearts in our hour of need. He was slaughtering his own people, and teaching his sons to behave in the same way.
It shouldn’t even be a question, weather or not we did the right thing in going to Iraq and I am offended that it has become central to the debate on this presidential election.
National Security shouldn’t be a matter of question in an election. We should know what each man is going to do. Debating on how he does it is irrelevant when it comes to the candidates. Further, I won’t dare say that I, or anyone else knows best how to protect this country.
For that I put my faith in American soldiers. I put my faith in our military leaders and men like Colin Powell, and trust that they know what to do far better than I.
Besides, if you elect John Kerry now.. you won’t get to vote for Hillary in 2008, or am I the only one that’s noticed that she’s been oddly quiet as it pertains to this election? If she were running in this election, I doubt that it would be the farce that it is slowly but surely becoming with every other word uttered from John Kerry’s lips.
