Weblog
08/19/02 06:42 PM: Iraq
So hey, in case you’re living under a rock, you’ve heard about the whole Iraq thing. Naturally this isn’t an easy situation and since I rarely voice my opinion, I figured tonight would be a good time to address this situation. Especially strange is for me to be all “political” and stuff.
So you’ve got one very hell-bent-on-his-dislike-of-Americans/the west/whatever-is-appropriate-this-week leader of Iraq. He’s also got some talented people working for him and presumably has some beginnings or more than that of chemical/biological/nuclear weapons. Mix those two fine elements together and you have a problem. Especially if he decides he should use those weapons. Doesn’t really matter who he uses them against either. So, what better way to stop this problem from becoming a really big problem than to attack Iraq and remove Saddam Hussein from power.
Sounds good, you say. Well, if everything was that simple. Bush needs to be very careful as to how he commits our forces. The Afghanistan thing was easy to get people behind, simply equate 9/11 directly to Taliban/Al-Qaida. Very popular campaign, even if we haven’t actually captured Osama yet. However, Iraq may be more difficult politically for Bush. He doesn’t have the same strong sentiment after 9/11. The harsh reality will be that he is committing our forces for a potentially lengthy engagement will take its toll. This is not to even mention that some will see this as his attempt to do what his father was unable (or unwilling?) to accomplish in the Gulf War. This doesn’t even begin to address the other potential areas of terrorist activity that may be more significant than Iraq at this stage in the game.
So, having said all that, where do I stand on this issue? I think we need to approach this situation cautiously. It is only a matter of time and there is no question that the Iraq issue will need to be addressed by force on our part before it becomes a “bigger” problem. The time may not be now, but I would certainly support action in Iraq within the near future.
Wouldn’t it be nice if we had world peace. Maybe one day my grandchildren’s grandchildren’s grandchildren’s will see such a thing. Or perhaps I am just a crazy idealist.
