Reasons why we should be in Iraq

The aged platitude "history repeats itself" is true. Tyrants throughout the ages who have been allowed to prosper inside of their nations borders by the rest of the world have, and the world later would regret gifting these tyrants time.  This can be demonstrated from the beginning of ancient civilization up to the modern age.

         Philip the II of Macedonia and his son, Alexander the Great, lived by the principal that Greece, fresh off their victory against the giant that was Persia, would ignore the every growing Macedonian army. Greece's punishment for their ignorance would be the ending of their legacy. This same behavior can be seen again in post WWI Europe. Germany had suffered a terrible blow during the signing of the treaty of Versailles to the victorious allies. The decaying German society turned to the Nazi party and Hitler to restore Germany's prestige. The world ignored them as Hitler built an arsenal of tanks, artillery, submarines, planes, and weapons. Perhaps if other countries would taken notice in Germany's advancements Hitler's rein of terror could have been stopped before the millions of servicemen died and 2/3 of Europe's Jewish population perished.

         Saddam Hussein was the first tyrant in the new century to try and insinuate another world war. The mass graves uncovered in Iraq showcased his madness and if the U.S. did not impede these graves could have been spread universally. Although we will never truly know what would have been the result if we had not entered Iraq we can examine the past and see that similar situations in history have ended unpleasantly. It should not be with regret that reminisce over the Coalitions invasion of Iraq but with a feeling of duty.

         Unlike tyrants of previous generations, Saddam Hussein had the ability to build both chemical and biological weaponry. Although, as the war first started, investigators claim to have found no weapons of mass destruction, this is not true. 10-12 sarin and mustard gas shells were found, and, as Colin Powell stated in 2003, "Iraq has literally tens of thousands of delivery systems..." It is more than probable that the rest of these weapons of mass destruction were sold to terrorists on the black market. These unaccounted WMD's are particularly disturbing if you take in consideration the multiple Russian intelligence reports that state Iraqi terrorists plan future attacks in the U.S. and allied lands.

         Although these claims seem distant to us, if you consider the 11,000 and growing deadly terrorist attacks since 9/11 these reports can be considered reinforced. Iraq; its insurgents, terrorists, and radical Muslims are all dire threats to U.S. security.

         Perhaps, though, we should take the security of the Iraqi people into consideration. 53% of Iraqi citizens say that security is their greatest concern and their fear is justifiable. Each day Islamic terrorists kill more innocents than the KKK has in the last 50 years. Every year more people are slain by terrorists than the whole 350 years of the Spanish Inquisition combined. As Thomas Jefferson once said, all men have the rite to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." The hundreds of thousands murdered by terrorists will testify to never having these rites. Perhaps we can change that.

         However, some war critics have the nerve to suggest that the Coalition armies have massacred 650,000 Iraqi citizens. The fact of the matter is that about 92% of this number are being deliberately killed by terrorists. The true number of casualties inflicted on innocents by the Armed Forces is not even 8% of this horribly exaggerated number.  Our presence in Iraq has not harmed the Iraqi's security, but instead improved it. It is more than physical protection we have given to the Iraqi people, we have also safe guarded their hopes. According to a poll, the majority of Iraqi's believe that the lives of them and their children will be improving within the next 5 years. But the Iraqi's cannot expect for a better life to fall on their laps. It has been a difficult life they have treaded and it is not about to let up. The American support for the war is wavering and once it becomes totally one-sided an immediate withdrawal of troops is possible. This will just as quickly squelch any hope of the Iraqi's dreams of liberation.

         Although our equipment has become worn and our men stretched, army leaders are quick to say that their morale remains high. IN the face of death these soldiers stand strong. The least we can do is bolster their cause from overseas.