America and Iraq- Necessary War?

         When asked whether America’s government was to be a monarchy or a republic during the Constitutional Convention of 1787, Benjamin Franklin is said to have replied, “A republic, if you can keep it!” A republic is defined by Webster’s dictionary as, “a government in which supreme power resides in a body of citizens entitled to vote and is exercised by elected officers and representatives responsible to them and governing according to law,” which therefore means that we, the people, have the direct power to influence our government. And, when a man who wishes to bomb a country without sufficient facts and international support is leading our government, I believe that it is our collective duty to influence that government into an “anti-war” stance.

         Originally, President Bush championed this war as a way to avenge 9/11. Iraq had no part in September 11th. “All this in the name of 9/11, an attack carried out by Muslim fanatics…whose proven ties have been with Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, not Iraq.” These are the words of Robert Scheer, in his editorial entitled “When Bombs Fall, US Will Join Ranks of War Criminals”. And, in the waning hours before all trace of America’s previous record as the world’s peacekeepers has diminished into nothingness, I am inclined to agree with him. For me to support this quote unquote “pre-emptive” strike, I am going to need proof that is true, not counterfeit, and support from the UN council.

         Mr. Bush’s next step was to declare that this war was based upon Iraq’s unwillingness to disarm and therefore rid America of any threat to its well-being. After disgracefully alarming the American people with unfounded declarations of Saddam Hussein’s connections to September 11th, he next moved to unsubstantiated claims that “Iraq’s government and weapons pose an immediate danger to Americans.” In all truth, the UN inspectors have reported that Iraq has amplified its cooperation in the destruction of weapons in its country. Hans Blix has emphasized that he and the other UN inspectors are not “watching the breaking of toothpicks”, and that “lethal weapons are being destroyed”. The chief atomic weapons inspector declared to the UN Security Council that “after three months of intrusive inspections, we have, to date, found no evidence or plausible indication of the revival of a nuclear weapons program in Iraq”. Are not the weapons that we Americans stress over atomic? If Iraq has no atomic weapons, then what are worrying about? Iraq doesn’t have the power to launch a weapon all the way over here, so if we stay here we should have no problems with Iraq. I’ll let Hans Blix explain. “One can hardly avoid the impression that, after a period of somewhat reluctant cooperation, there has been an acceleration of initiatives from the Iraqi side since the end of January.”

         Iraq is clearly cooperating, but what of America? Are we to continue on our unfounded war path in order to satisfy our insatiable appetite for self righteousness? Is it possible for us to get over the “America ROCKS! Everyone who doesn’t agree with us SUCKS!” attitude and, for once, be the country to make the concessions? Can we return to our previous role as democratic peacekeepers or are we permanently reduced to “freedom fries” and dumping French wine down the sewers of Washington D.C.? All I can say is that perhaps it is the most unlikely course that may, in the end, prevent the loss of innocent lives on both the American, and the Iraqi sides. Perhaps President Bush should take the initiative and go to Iraq. “Insanity!” you may cry. However, was it insanity that propelled Nixon to reestablish ties with China by actually going to China? “How much can we really trust Saddam?” How much can anyone really trust anyone else? Sometimes, the greatest of resolutions may be achieved without trust. A genuine Bush/Hussein summit in Baghdad could prove to be the essential ingredient to not only keeping the peace, but preventing the spread of Anti-Americanism over countries that had, in past years, been our closest allies. America is the powerhouse; America controls the board. It is America who needs to decide whether or not a war in Iraq is necessary and I, for one, believe it not to be.

*The only request that I have is that you not let political views stand in the way of rating*