I’m Not The Only One

by Daniel Cuevas

Originally published on Political Storm on September 7, 2004.

It’s been more than a year and a half since President George Bush declared war on Iraq. Since then, neither weapons of mass destruction nor any link to Al-Qaeda has been found, and America doesn’t feel that much safer with Saddam Hussein behind bars. Coalition soldiers, non-Iraqi civilians and journalists not working for Al-Jazeera are being massacred, mostly by Islamic terrorist organizations.
Knowing all this makes me angry and frustrated, as I’m sure it does others. In an effort to appease my anger towards our Commander-in-Chief and the false pretenses upon which this war was started, I’ve come up with a few facts that should help somewhat toward making the decision to wage war against Iraq a bit more palatable.
I don’t expect you to find these points an adequate justification for going to war, (it sure doesn’t do that for me) but I figured that since billions of dollars have already been spent, and hundreds of lives have already been lost, the best thing to do would be to look for the silver lining in this darkest of clouds hovering over Washington D.C.
Point One: Is a link between Saddam and Al-Qaeda that farfetched? Intelligence reports of Iraqi officials meeting with Al-Qaeda operatives may have been less than credible, but recent reports of Al-Qaeda terrorists recruiting soldiers in Asia, Africa, Europe and even Latin America make a Saddam/Al-Qaeda link very possible. The United States didn’t become the most powerful nation in the world without making enemies, and our current foreign policy is not exactly winning over the international community.
Osama bin Laden’s goal of destroying the U.S. is one that appeals to many angry young men around the world who are neither Muslim nor Arab. Though reports had surfaced that Osama and Saddam were not the best of friends, I have a feeling that Osama would work with anyone if he really believed it would get him closer to his goal.
So is it that farfetched to imagine that a Middle Eastern terrorist who hates the United States would ever collaborate with a Middle Eastern dictator who hates the United States? We already know that Saddam was awarding tens of thousands of dollars to the families of suicide bombers attacking Israel. Perhaps Saddam and Osama had not yet been able to get along in the past, but for all anyone knows, the two could have eventually joined forces had the Iraqi leader not been captured. It just goes to prove that old saying, “The enemy of my enemy is my friend.”
Point Two: While evidence linking Saddam to the September 11th attacks was faulty at best, there is still lots of proof of Saddam’s hostility towards the United Nations, the United States and a few of Iraq’s neighbors. Maybe Saddam wasn’t THE bad guy, but he sure was A bad guy.
We’ve all heard about how he gassed the Kurds, the rape and torture rooms and the so many other evil activities of his regime, to terrorize his people and maintain control.
If you need any more suggestions of the potential for evil a man like Saddam could be capable of doing, see Point One. I’m sure the people of Iraq will be better off without him. There are far worse things in this world than a free democracy in the Middle East.
Point Three: With Saddam’s grip on Iraq gone, so will go the U.S. trade embargo against Iraq. This means American oil companies can now dip into Iraq’s oil reserves, which are reportedly some of the largest in the world, and increase the influx of petroleum in the U.S.
This will translate into lower prices at the pump, which is great news for Americans, who have never ended their notorious fetish for large, obnoxious gas-guzzling vehicles. Maybe your next tank of gas will never cost 10 cents a gallon, but this new supply will guarantee that Americans will probably never see the high prices our European counterparts have to contend with.
I know these points won’t completely cool down the flames of anger felt by millions of Americans, including me, who were opposed to this war from the beginning, and these attempted justifications won’t bring home all the soldiers and civilians who were killed in Iraq. But considering these factors may bring some modicum solace to others, as it has to me.
May Iraq get the democracy and order it deserves soon and may the soldiers stationed there, regardless of which nation they represent, get the trip back home they deserve even sooner.