I can not sit by any longer and listen to the constant complaining about everything terrible that goes on at the hands of the evil imperialist Americans. I like to hear multiple points of view, but remember, an answer is not automatically right because it is nicer because we LIVE IN THE REAL WORLD. Specifically, those who disagree with America’s actions in Iraq (a position on which I still have not made up my mind) must realize that the only reason you are allowed to complain is because you live in America. Let’s say, for instance, that you lived in, oohhh I don’t know, how about Iraq. You don’t like the fact that Saddam Hussein is killing thousands and thousands of Kurds, much the same way Hitler exterminated Jews. Well, because this is not America, if you decided to speak out, you would be DEAD! There would be no discussion, there would be no forum, there would be a dead body. But before you died, as described in a recent USA Today article, you would have holes drilled in your ankles and boiling water poured on your testicles.
I am not a war-monger; I would much rather that my friends were not in Iraq getting shot at. However, I feel that Tupac put it best when he said “Now of course I want peace but realistically painting perfect pictures has never worked.” In other words, a world without confrontation and war is ideal, but it will never happen. So what the United States does is attempt to provide protection for your right to bad mouth her. The U.S. may even be trying to provide that type of opportunity to hundreds of thousands of people who formerly did not have it.
Iraqi soldiers are trying to halt this, it may be necessary to hurt or even kill them. In war, innocent people get hurt, but for the good of the hundreds of thousands of others who would have been completely shut off from any chance at what we consider a full life, (like the chance to criticize their government), their deaths have occurred. There are certainly times when the U.S. has over stepped it’s bounds, but when criticizing its actions, I think it is imperative to remember not just the means, but the ends. Time will tell if the operation has been a success or not, but right now, an oppressive, murderous regime has been toppled and there is hope for the Iraqi people to be able to speak up, the way we are right now.
If you have a better solution, a realistic, non-dream world one, then I would love to hear it. But all I hear is, “Let’s try more diplomatic ways.” What does that mean? Send in more weapons inspectors to be turned away? Invite Saddam to dinner at the White House and ask him really nicely to stop killing everyone and being so mean because we don’t like mean people?