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What I've come to understand about this war is that NO ONE dipsputes what a horrible "thing" Saddam Heussein and his government were -- on either side of the equation.
Where, I think, the major chasm appears between the "anti-war" and "pro-Iraq liberation" crowd comes down to is, "Is it the United States' responsibility to free the oppressed people of the world?"
I beleive the US has a moral responsibility to assist the less fortunate, oppressed and tortured peoples of the world. Especially when that torture looks like it is going to be eventually turned upon us Americans (WMD). Simply said, that was why the US governemnt acted as it has on the Iraqi matter. If Heussein and his government weren't so anti-American in his approach (words and deeds), he would still be in power today -- sad as that is to say -- and the US government would not have doner anything about him. It was only after we felt threatened that we took action. BTW - that is EXACTLY the kind of decision I want my leaders making. Protecting Americans first and foremost.
So, Heussein was doomed from the very beginning. It was his calculation that his anti-American sentiment would solidify his power in Iraq, and win him favor in his country against the common enemy - the American "evil empire". What he didn't, nor couldn't control, was the extent to which his "evil American brainwashing" would take hold over his people. This in part help feed the finatical Muslim extremism that launched terrorism on a global scale.
Eventually the Iraqi people saw that Saddam's "let's rally against a common American enemy" was nothing more then a smoke screen to allow him to stay in power. They understood clearly that America was not the enemy of the Iraqi people, but that Saddam was their true enemy. They didn;t see American's hanging and killing their family members all these years -- they saw Heussein and the Ba'ath Party doing all these things.
Absolute power ALWAYS corrupts absolutely. That is why the US will NEVER have such problems, because our DEMOCRACY guarantees never having anyone with absolute power. I get a kick out of all the anti-war folks that say the war was all Bush's idea........did they all forget that only Congress can declare war -- and that the Congress APPROVED this war on Iraq last September -- unanimously!!!
This war was -- and is -- the right thing for America to do -- on all fronts -- including morally, ethically, religiously, politically and diplomatically.
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