Spring Break
Iraq War Has Accomplished Nothing
Greg Pivarnik
Issue date: 3/16/07 Section: Commentary
F or some reason, I feel obligated to write an anti-Iraq war article at least once per semester. Not to say that there is nothing else to write about in the news, but the fact that it is still going on boggles my mind. Thousands of people have died already and the death toll climbs each day. I have no idea how President Bush can sleep at night after dragging us into a war in which the U.S. has no legitimate political interests and with no obvious end in sight. Every line of fear-inciting propaganda that spews forth from his mouth is just another piece of evidence that exposes that he shouldn't be running this country.
Now I am ready to say what Barack Obama said but later apologized for - this war was a waste of time. Does that mean that our young men died for nothing? The answer may, in fact, be yes. I know this may resonate poorly with most people, especially those with relatives over in Iraq or those that know someone who has been killed. But maybe the truth needs to be pointed out, and it may be the truth that angers people and not the comment itself.
To analyze this issue, it must first be acknowledged that the soldiers are not in the wrong here. They are serving their country to the best of their ability, and have put their lives on the line to follow orders from their commander-in-chief, as it well should be. They have removed Saddam Hussein from power and ended a regime built on fear and violence.
However, was the cost of this war, the immense loss of life, worth toppling Hussein? Many more Iraqi civilians died during the course of this war than would have under the Hussein regime. Moreover, he was no threat to the U.S. There were no weapons of mass destruction and no evidence of terrorist plans against the U.S. Though he did openly criticize the U.S. government, the likelihood of him taking any action was very slim.
In the end, the question of whether our soldiers have died for nothing has to be answered by analyzing how effective the war has been in ensuring the safety of the American people. Are we still defending America? Are we safer because of this war? It was absurd to think the Iraqis would have greeted us as liberators. Yes, most are probably thankful that the U.S. removed Saddam from power, but they do not want our form of government. They do not want another country to tell them how run their lives. Every day our troops are over there, we create another person who hates America. Many Iraqis will be hard pressed to forgive and forget a U.S. soldier pointing an M-16 at their face while they arrest somebody on suspicion of terrorist actions against the U.S. They will be angered every time they think about how their love ones were killed by a foreign occupier.
Now I am ready to say what Barack Obama said but later apologized for - this war was a waste of time. Does that mean that our young men died for nothing? The answer may, in fact, be yes. I know this may resonate poorly with most people, especially those with relatives over in Iraq or those that know someone who has been killed. But maybe the truth needs to be pointed out, and it may be the truth that angers people and not the comment itself.
To analyze this issue, it must first be acknowledged that the soldiers are not in the wrong here. They are serving their country to the best of their ability, and have put their lives on the line to follow orders from their commander-in-chief, as it well should be. They have removed Saddam Hussein from power and ended a regime built on fear and violence.
However, was the cost of this war, the immense loss of life, worth toppling Hussein? Many more Iraqi civilians died during the course of this war than would have under the Hussein regime. Moreover, he was no threat to the U.S. There were no weapons of mass destruction and no evidence of terrorist plans against the U.S. Though he did openly criticize the U.S. government, the likelihood of him taking any action was very slim.
In the end, the question of whether our soldiers have died for nothing has to be answered by analyzing how effective the war has been in ensuring the safety of the American people. Are we still defending America? Are we safer because of this war? It was absurd to think the Iraqis would have greeted us as liberators. Yes, most are probably thankful that the U.S. removed Saddam from power, but they do not want our form of government. They do not want another country to tell them how run their lives. Every day our troops are over there, we create another person who hates America. Many Iraqis will be hard pressed to forgive and forget a U.S. soldier pointing an M-16 at their face while they arrest somebody on suspicion of terrorist actions against the U.S. They will be angered every time they think about how their love ones were killed by a foreign occupier.
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
there's a good idea
posted 3/16/07 @ 12:36 PM EST
"What the U.S. should have done is removed Saddam and then left"
hey yeah! why didn't we think of that! go into a country with a dictator, kill the guy and run away, leaving the country to try desperately to design a form of government that works for them after experiencing one way for decades. (Continued…)
umt1
Joseph Paquette
posted 3/16/07 @ 2:28 PM EST
The sad fact of the Iraq war is no different then
the "DEREGULATION OF ELECTRICITY" We were lied by the same people on both counts. Where are the all the
educated Classes? If Iraq is to far for them to become
interested or involved, whey don't they rise up to
the occasion and look into the conflicts of interests
and who gained financially from Deregulation, a movement
that was invented and promoted by Enron, and taken over
by the Corrupt Bush Regime. (Continued…)
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