Question for those who are opposed to the war:
If Saddam were to announce to the world “If one bomb goes off in my country, I will kill a thousand Iraqi’s,” would that make more or less opposed to a war?
I’m not trying to bait anybody. I just find it absolutely ludicrous that people will claim to be so worried about “collateral damage” casualties, and yet don’t seem to care a whit about “deliberate damage” casualties that Saddam inflicts on his own people. Granted, I’m sure it does bother y’all, but for some reason, I see very few people addressing that.
To me, Saddam’s behavior smacks terribly of a neighborhood bully… “If you tattle on me, I’m gonna beat you up!” “But you’re gonna beat me up anyway!” And we’re supposed to pander to this glorified Nelson Muntz? We’re supposed to send him the message that if he commits more human rights violations, we won’t punish him for his human rights violations? You’re trying to tell me that we let him off the hook simply because you’re afraid of getting your hands dirty?
I apologize if my language sounds loaded. It’s just that I simply cannot understand this line of logic, and I have been spending many, many months trying (hell, for the past year, I’ve pretty much stayed out of these debates). But the more I look at it, the more I think about it, the more I become convinced that, quite simply, we (“we” referring to groups, of course) who have the ability to act also have the responsibility to act. I find it morally repulsive to think about sitting on our hands.
Granted, I am not convinced that a full-scale war is the only answer. I do see it as AN answer, though, far more so than a decade of useless “diplomacy” has been. Nor do I buy into a lot of Bush’s rhetoric… frankly, I consider most of the recent “reasons” for going to war has been to pander to people here in the States. However, that does not mean that I think there is NO basis for going to war.
Furthermore - and I apologize if this comes out harshly - I do not consider the opinions of those who say they are opposed to war under any circumstances. People who predetermine that they will NEVER support “Action A”, no matter what, are, in my opinion, too laden with foolish idealism.
I am trying to understand all sides of this issue, and I am hoping that there is a resolution. However, while I do not automatically buy the jingoism of Saddam actively funding terrorists, I also do not buy the jingoism about “Iraqi casualties” or bullshit claims about “bombing civilians”.