Iraq: Fighting a New War against an Old Enemy
Iraq has been an enemy of the United States and all free countries around the world for the past decade. Saddam Hussein, a fearless leader who achieved a military coup in the 1980’s, has made clear by his previous actions in the Middle East that he is a dangerous force. War with Iraq is not only imminent, but also necessary for several reasons. First, Saddam Hussein has used weapons of mass destruction in the past on his own people to satisfy his will. Second, he is likely to be supporting, financially or otherwise, terrorist groups such as Al Qaeda. Thirdly, Saddam poses a worldwide risk to the spread of democracy.
First and foremost, Saddam Hussein violated a resolution made by the United Nations on August 2, 1990 that prohibited him and Iraq from invading Kuwait to attack the ethnic group, the Kurds. Nevertheless, Hussein annexed Kuwait into Iraq. He used brutal methods to do so. This caused a coalition of 32 countries including France, Britain and the United States to go against Iraq. This was the basic premise of the Persian Gulf War. This was a major conflict where many people died due to weapons of mass destruction used by Saddam Hussein. We cannot trust him in the future, because of his past record ("Persian Gulf War.").
On September 11, 2001, the United States was attacked on its own soil by the terrorist group Al Qaeda, headed by Osama Bin Laden. Osama and his operatives required funding and supplies from some source or another, and it is suspected that since Iraq and Al Qaeda harbor an equal hatred against the US, that they could be considered allies with a common purpose. This is yet another reason why Iraq and the madman Saddam Hussein must be detained.
Thirdly, Saddam Hussein and his dictatorship go against everything the free world holds dear. He is a one man government that works by command and command only. He does not wait for committees and a legislative body to discuss matters; he just exercises his own will. This is a prime example of a tyranny, and a direct threat to democratization. In an interview of Professor Noam Chomsky, he responded to a question about motives behind a war:
It doesn't take much skill to evoke an image of Saddam Hussein as the ultimate force of evil about to destroy the world, maybe the universe. And with the population huddling in fear as our gallant forces miraculously overcome this awesome foe, perhaps they won't pay attention to what is being done to them, and may even join the chorus of distinguished intellectuals chanting praises for Our Leaders. The US preponderance of power is so extraordinary that there will be plenty in reserve if things seem to be going wrong. And if that happens down the road, it can all be shoveled deep into the memory hole, or blamed on someone else, or maybe on our naive faith that others are as benign as we are. It's pretty easy: there's a treasure trove of experience to draw from (Albert, Michael).
We can see by his response that Saddam Hussein could easily commit any particular act of craziness. He is not to be trusted, and many a life has been lost because that mistake has been made before. The war on Iraq could be described as a preemptive strike. But as they say, desperate times call for desperate measures, and this certainly fits the bill.
In conclusion, we can see through factual discovery that a huge threat resides in Saddam Hussein and Iraq, and it must be controlled. If not, we could see disasters of epic proportions around the world. As we saw in the Persian Gulf War, Saddam Hussein is a man who does not play nicely. He will do whatever it takes to accomplish his goals, and that could mean exceptionally devastating damage to the world as we know it.