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The is Last Resort?
The Last Resort?Why is it that politicians and people in general keep saying that war in Iraq should be âThe last resortâ? This is, at best, a meretricious sentiment. War should be a resort when all reasonable solutions have been attempted and failed. We are well past that point with Iraq. We have been far more than reasonable in our attempts to both disarm Iraq and protect ourselves. The fact is that we have likely doomed ourselves to another Iraqi sponsored terrorist attack: One that may very well make the first one, on 9/11/01, seem like nothing but a warm up. The Gulf War ended, not with a treaty, not with a peace agreement, but with a Cease Fire. A Cease Fire is supposed to be when both sides STOP shooting at each other. The problem here is that this Cease Fire was broken almost immediately by Iraq when they started taking potshots at American and British jets that were enforcing the Iraqi No Fly Zones. Therefore we would have been justified in immediately reinvading Iraq right then and there as soon as the first anti-aircraft missle was fired. But we didnât do that, did we? No, instead we put up with this attempted murder of our pilots for a dozen years and pretended the Cease Fire was still in effect. We ignored these attacks, hundreds of them, and let the inspectors keep trying to disarm Iraq internally. We did nothing while Saddam obstructed the inspectors efforts at every turn. When he kicked them out of Iraq we could have said, âEnough is enough.â and gone back in militarily immediately, knowing that diplomacy had failed and would continue to fail. But we didnât do that either. We listened to France and Germany and the Peaceniks at home and we imposed economic sanctions on Iraq, hoping against hope that Saddam would honor his word and at least use that money to buy food and medical supplies for his people. But he didnât. Instead he attempted to assassinate Bush 41, bought more weapons, including illegal nuclear technology from France and Germany, and built 60 or so more palaces â he ended the Gulf War with 30 or so. He now has over 100 â and let his people starve. Again we could have thrown our hands in the air and invaded Iraq, liberating the Iraqi people and setting them free from Saddamâs terror, while at the same time increasing our own security and preventing the deaths that occurred on September 11, 2001. But we didnât. Then came that attack. Then came the Islamic slaughter of over 3,000 Americans on 9/11/01 along with repeated proof that Saddam aided and sponsored the al Qaeda terrorists who used American passenger jets to implement the massacre Once again we would have been justified in immediately going into Iraq, overtly or covertly, and eliminating Saddam and his terror supporting regime. Once again, we didnât do that. Instead of exercising what is not only our right to protect ourselves, but our responsibility to do so and to make sure, as the worldâs only Super Power, that our neighbors and allies are also safe from such heinous insanity, we repeated the mistake that had already cost us so many American lives. We kept listening to those who hate us, both at the UN and here at home, to those who not only wish for American deaths, but who celebrate every time tragedy strikes America. We gave inspections coupled with continued sanctions one more try. Now itâs become clear that, as was expected, Saddam is not only continuing to support terrorist groups like al Qaeda, Hamas and the PLO, but that he has no intention to ever disarm. It doesnât matter how much time the inspectors are given. It doesn't matter how many UN resolutions are passed demanding that he do so. UN led diplomacy has again failed and it is obvious that it will continue to fail and that it is not even meant to succeed. It is only intended to obstruct our efforts to protect American lives and liberate the Iraqi people. During all of this Saddam has been given time to prepare. He has done this at least in part by disseminating a large portion of his NBC weaponry to Terrorists. In turn these Terrorists have had time to plan and put in place the men and equipment for their next attack upon America and Israel. Our foolish adherence diplomacy and short-sighted reasonableness have allowed our enemies the breathing space they required. Thousands more Americans and Israelis are going to die because of this. This is no accident. This is what our âfriendsâ in France and Germany intended all along. This is what our own self-loathing, America hating Leftists here at home are praying will happen. They want to gloat over another American tragedy. They want to dance and cheer in the streets. They want to see us, we who help millions around the world every day, who have given not only our money but our lives on the behalf of those who could not help or protect themselves, bloody and reeling. Our false allies at the UN and their useful idiots here at home continue to demand that we stay on the same course, that we put a new face on an old and oft failed trick and give inspections and sanctions another try. They say, no they scream, that war must be the last resort, that there is still more diplomacy that can and must be allowed to fail. And so it can go on. And on. And on. With every failed bid at inspections leading to another demand that we try them again. Thatâs the beauty of diplomacy. Thereâs always one more useless gesture that can be made. We have been not only reasonable, but foolishly so. We have delayed war and hoped for peace for longer than was prudent. We have allowed those who hate us to dictate how and when we are permitted to defend ourselves. We have unwisely put the lives of more Americans and even millions of Iraqi citizens at risk by allowing the diplomatic sham of inspections and sanctions to be dragged out for so long. Itâs time to act. Itâs time to set aside the will of those who would see us lose another several thousand American lives. Itâs time to finally put the lives of Americans and the security of America at the top of our list of priorities, where it belongs. Itâs time to eliminate Saddam as a threat to America and to give the Iraqi people a government based on Democratic principles. Yes, itâs time to go to war. Yankee Jihad Posted by: Tom Schaller 2003-02-16 |
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