Live Breathe and Die

I was responding tonight to someone who was kind enough to read my weblog and leave a comment, and I decided that I would copy part of my response and extend the thought a bit further.

A lot of folks on the left view war as inhumane and senseless. A lot of folks on the right view war as inhumane, but not always senseless.  There is a deep rift here, and it might give rise to more Bush-hate syndrome.  Hating the President for any number of things seems to be the mantra of many, and stories of going to Iraq for oil supplies, or because the President just didn't like the guy or that the VP will line his pockets is a bunch of malarkey.  We went to war because we had too.

There's no sense rehashing the fact that the U.N. drafted resolution after resolution demanding that Mr. Hussein grant inspectors access to his weapons caches, and he refused.  Everyone knows this.  It doesn't seem to matter that new evidence shows the close ties between Saddam and the Talaban.  We don't even have to talk about the training camps where Saddam allowed Al Qaeda members to train.  Those on the left will dismiss the evidence from a dozen intelligence agencies out of hand.

You can eliminate all of the reasons above, and there still was good reason to go to Iraq, and stay there until the new government and military are self-sufficient.

War is ugly…..no one likes it, but tyrants like Saddam Hussein, who think it’s alright to butcher their own citizens, break down front doors in the middle of the night and murder people, leave mass graves of woman and children, kill 5000 Kurds in one day and suppress a nation of people while building lavish palaces for themselves is not acceptable.

If those on the left want to claim compassion, but somehow turn a blind eye to this kind of monstrosity, it is hypocritical. It’s easy to always call the U.S. the bad guy and blame George Bush for any number of misdeeds.

The truth is that a democratic Iraq, whether an Islamic democracy or not, is the start of the end of conflict in the Mideast. Democracies do not go to war with each other, and the surrounding autocracies, monarchies and despots will eventually cave due to public pressure. This is a brilliant formula to end the bloodshed that has plagued that part of the world for centuries.

Why anyone would gravitate to the unfortunate civilian casualties of this war, without looking at the hundreds of thousands that Saddam murdered, or the millions who will be saved by bringing peace to this region is beyond me. It is a choice to take this position, because it means that they can hate the President for another reason. That’s all it is.

Saddam Hussein just ended his food strike after one meal.  Members of his former regime also ended theirs as well after one day.  Its tough for those so used to wealth and power and gluttony to give up anything.  Mr. Hussein is on trail for the 1982 killing of 148 Shi'ites in the town of Dujail.  It is just one of the mass murders he committed. These people were innocent civilians. 

It was recently learned that many Iraqis went without electricity in their homes, because the output from several power plants went directly to palaces built by the former dictator.  Life wasn't good for the people of Iraq, unless you were a hired gun. 

While many civilians have been killed during operation Iraqi Freedom, and many young Americans have come home in caskets, the future of Iraq is one full of the promise of freedom, democracy and a better life.  To think otherwise is to put your hatred of President Bush above your own ability to reason.

NOTE:  From the website, GlobalSecurity.org, this is a reminder of what the U.S.'s mission was and is:

The military objectives of Operation Iraqi Freedom consist of first, ending the regime of Saddam Hussein. Second, to identify, isolate and eliminate, Iraq's weapons of mass destruciton. Third, to search for, to capture and to drive out terrorists from the country. Fourth, to collect intelligence related to terrorist networks. Fifth, to collect such intelligence as is related to the global network of illicit weapons of mass destruction. Sixth, to end sanctions and to immediately deliver humanitarian support to the displaced and to many needed citizens. Seventh, to secure Iraq's oil fields and resources, which belong to the Iraqi people. Finally, to help the Iraqi people create conditions for a transition to a representative self-government.