My first thought is the category of this piece should be "opinion" instead of "non-fiction." It is obviously well-planned and thought out, with plenty of supporting detail. However, there are points that are not quite correct.
<<And he was willing to bring us into the first pre-emptive strike in the history of the United States; and with it, the disdain and anger of nearly all the nations of the world.>>
First, he most definitely was not the first president to order a pre-emptive strike. Under Clinton's regime, our soldiers have been in many countries doing ... what exactly? Nothing that has been at all productive, but it has been much quieter and people haven't made an issue BECAUSE it was kept quieter. Our service people have died all over the world accomplishing exactly nothing. But Clinton was quiet about it. President Bush didn't try to hide what he was doing, and he made sure to give our service people what they needed to accomplish the mission (which, btw, Kerry voted against doing although he voted in support of the war).
Second, most of the countries were with us, not against us. The minority of the world's population were angry at us. Many other countries were in there fighting with us. Some still are. The list of support was posted on the White House website. It far outnumbered the opposers.
<<The attack on Iraq is illegal in the eyes of the world and the United Nations. First and foremost, the United Nations charter states that it is the “the supreme law of the land.”>>
The UN is supposed to protect its members against terrorism. Apparently, it wasn't doing so. Terrorists have been attacking us for over a decade and nothing has been done. Remember the FIRST bombing of the Trade Center? Remember our Navy ship that was attacked with our people killed? There are many other examples. Where has the UN been in helping to protect us against these criminals? We have been attempting peaceful solutions for over a decade. Clinton said the attackers would be sought out and punished. They weren't. So they kept coming back. Bullies don't stop if you tap their hands and ask them nicely not to do it again.
<<Second, the invasion in Iraq was most simply unprovoked. Saddam Hussein was never an imminent threat to the United States or to the freedom thereof. Hussein could never imaginably be, in any case, a physical threat to the United States.>>
And people would have said that about Bin Laden before 9/11, also. Hussein's thugs have been here threatening us. Our intelligence people know that. They know more than the general public does and we should all remember that.
Yes, there is always a threat when madmen go unchecked. Because he was slaughtering another race in his own country and not us, we should ignore it? He was gaining power. He was getting more dangerous as time passed. If we had followed the UN orders, we would simply have given him more time to gain more power; and then more of our people, and more of Iraq's people, would have been lost when the UN finally decided he should be stopped. That is, IF they ever would have decided to stop him instead of ignoring his crimes.
<<War is the most despicable act of mankind.>>
Is it? They were warned. They didn't comply. Their people knew it was coming and left in droves before our attack because they were warned. More despicable than war is Hussein and his sons attempting to decimate a whole race of people, and to completely devalue and destroy the women and children he had rule over. If the war did nothing more than free those women and children from the torture they were living through, was it really not worth it? I wouldn't want my daughter to have to live that way. Hussein and his "government" were a major crime against humanity. Are criminals not supposed to be stopped? He was hurting his people. We are helping them. But the media doesn't choose to announce all of the good we are doing there or to publish all the interviews from now free Iraqis who are extremely grateful. Pick up a veteran's magazine. It will tell you the truth about what is happening, unlike our liberal media.
As an opinion piece, this was well-written, although it would have benefitted from more paragraph breaks. As a non-fiction piece, the support for the "facts" weren't quite there.
Oh, I've been part of a military family for nearly 17 years now. I hurt for every service member we lose. I would hurt more if the terrorists are allowed again to attack our innocent civilians who are unarmed and unprepared, including our children.
Not having proof doesn't make something untrue. |
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It had me chuckling and admiring the imagination of it!
