A Senseless War Against Iraq

At this point in time, our top governmental officials and intelligence agents are preparing for a very large-scale war against a regime that is being hyped as one of our world's biggest threats to life as we know it. For if Bush and Company are correct, Saddam Hussein will soon develop the power, weapons, and desire to wipe the United States off the face of the map.

Unfortunately, I fear, Bush and his squad of warhawks are incorrect regarding these assumptions. I simply have a hard time believing that our current administration contains the necessary intellectual tools to properly evaluate this situation. So, I shall give what I believe to be an objective rundown of our current crisis with Mr. Hussein.

Washington, DC-- Over 5,000 people gathered in Dupont Circle to peacefully protest war on Iraq.

As speculation has it, Saddam Hussein is currently in the process of developing and harboring weapons of mass destruction. Is he doing so? It is very possible. But there is a more important question that we should be asking ourselves. Why is he doing so? To answer this question we must do something that the Bush Administration has, at least to this point, refused to do. We must attempt to view the world through Saddam Hussein's eyes.

Why must we do so? Because contrary to popular belief, the world consists of a wide variety of viewpoints other than simply the traditional American viewpoint. Although many people may choose to disregard this statement as disdainful leftist rhetoric, it is the undeniable truth. In much the same way that Americans have hopes, opinions, and fears, others around the globe, including those in the Middle East, share these human emotions with us. The most important of which, at this point, is fear.

Not unlike our fear of Saddam, he is intensely afraid of the United States, and with good reason. Rather than accept the fact that we mutually share a common distrust of one another, Bush is threatening to invade Iraq and take away many lives, both American and Arab. And, judging by the way we have handled the assembly of past U.S.-sponsored regime changes (does anyone remember a guy by the name of Pinochet in Chile?), we will end up replacing Saddam with someone who is equally wicked.

These "weapons of mass destruction" are a time bomb waiting to go off (literally, perhaps). Nobody seems to be disputing this claim. But we must approach the issue with some consistency. Did the United States care when Iraq used chemical weapons in their war against Iran? Of course not. At that particular point in time, they were our allies. Today, the tables have turned. And so have our standards.

We cannot be judgmental; it is too late for that. We have such weapons, and unless we get rid of them completely, we cannot justifiably monitor who is allowed to possess them and who is not. So, will Saddam try to take us out once he develops them? Hell no, he won't. He knows quite well that we have them also. The theory of Mutual Assured Destruction tells us that he, or any others, would not use these weapons when there is the assurance that in the process, his country would be demolished as well.

Our buddy Saddam simply wants to be up-to-date in the world weapons market. In a way, one would be led to believe that Bush should be impressed with Saddam. After all, he is "Americanizing". So, perhaps Bush should either tell the Iraqi president, "I'm flattered by your decision to join in our weapons-making technology", or admit that this situation is an example of globalization at its worst. I suggest the latter of the two choices.

I am not trying to express the view that Saddam Hussein is comparable to Gandhi; it is okay to dislike the man. But to demonize the man and declare that he is an integral part of an "axis of evil" is an oversimplification and an unethical way to overthrow a government for the purpose of installing a pro-USA regime. It is not up to us to determine how the Iraqis live their lives. Our cowboy war dreams have spun out of control. We are applying standards to a country that we ourselves openly do not abide by. And if we continue with such hypocrisy, our nation is in danger of losing what little international support we have left.

Bush has quite a decision to make. He can send our troops to war and send the world further into chaos, or he can attempt to peacefully improve his international policy by focusing on humane solutions to the problems that the world faces. In any case, a change in the world's climate is certain. Let's just hope Bush's actions do not lead us into an eventual nuclear winter.