Terrorists declared war on the US on 9/11/01.
Terrorists are a growing threat, fueled by hatred of the United States and its domination over their weak military power and failed fundamentalist culture. They kill because they hate. They kill innocent civilian men, women and children because they have no military power. They have been funded and supported over the years by terrorist states such as Iraq, Iran, and Afghanistan.
The only proven way to deal with terrorists is to confront them, battle them, weaken them and take away their resources, funding and protection. We learned through Bill Clinton’s example that neglect after the first World Trade Center attack only resulted in a second, more devastating attack. They will never stop hating or threatening free and democratic people. Their philosophy is based on the oppression of freedom and the murder of free people. That is a fact of life from now on, as they have finally realized that their bankrupt ideology will never prevail in this world without the fear, violence, and attention that terror provides.
Saddam Hussein was a terrorist who developed weapons of mass destruction, threatened other nations militarily, and practiced mass murder against his own countrymen. Abu Nidal, one of the most infamous terrorists ever was found in Baghdad, as was Mohammed Abbas, the Palestinian who plotted the1985 Achille Lauro hijacking. Abdul Rahman Yasin, one of the WTC1 bombers was in Iraq for years. Saddam paid $25,000 to the family of every Palestinian terrorist suicide bomber. The terrorists we are at war with are Muslim terrorists. They come mostly from the Muslim countries in the Middle East. Anything we can do to stabilize that region through liberation, the spread of democracy, and show of resolve, in Iraq or any other country, is a battle against terrorism that will help us win the war. Why would the terrorists currently operating in Iraq, particularly the foreign ones, be doing so if the liberation of Iraq were not a promising victory in the war on terror? Questioning whether or not Saddam had tea with Osama bin Ladin is missing the forest for the trees.
Iraq was a clear threat to the world that needed to be dealt with militarily. The United Nations agreed with this through several resolutions. The US Congress agreed with this through overwhelming votes to support military action. Documentaries, even those produced by liberals, show the constant games Saddam played with inspectors and the world community by repeatedly lying about and hiding WMDs. The evidence is on film for anyone to see. Whether the WMDs are there now or not is irrelevant. The proof was there and everyone agreed it was there, except for those who had significant financial incentives to disagree then, and those who have political incentives to disagree now, even though they did agree before the war (see article below 2/16/04). There was no reason to wait any longer to deal with this clear threat to the world’s security (see article 3/7/03).
So, what have been the results of the efforts of the United States and its allies in Iraq?
Several citizens and leaders of other nations who have more sympathy for or patience with terrorists for financial or ideological reasons have become very angry with the United States and our leadership. This is annoying, but leadership isn’t supposed to be easy.
Several soldiers have died fighting to liberate Iraq from its dictator. This is a tragedy. The loss of even one life is tragic. But in comparison, 300,000 to 400,000 Iraqis were killed and buried in mass graves that have now been uncovered. The losses to terrorism over the last few years in all the rest of the world combined pale in comparison to the suffering of the Iraqi people before their liberation.
Twenty five million people have been liberated from oppression and are now happier and more optimistic about the future than ever, despite the violence that is still ongoing. The Iraqis have signed an interim constitution that provides for freedoms that they have not known: freedom of press, assembly, speech, and religion. And now, at least, the terrorism they are experiencing is less frequent and not sponsored by the tyrant running the country.
Progress has been made with reducing the strength of terrorists around the world, and importantly, with the states that sponsor them. Major diplomatic accomplishments have been made in Libya, Syria, Iran, Pakistan, and other countries where previously cooperation with the US against Muslim terrorists was unthinkable. And of course, the state of Iraq is not sponsoring terrorists in Israel or anywhere else.
And last but not least, George Bush and his rich Texas oil buddies are able to extract billions of gallons of oil from Iraq and sell it for their own profit! Oh wait… wrong group… that was what the UN had been doing for several years with the “Oil for Food” program. UN officials and Saddam’s favorite foreign leaders reaped millions, under UN monitoring, on sales of Iraqi oil (And some want to turn over the liberation of Iraq to this corrupt, inept organization?). Ironically, it was a war for oil after all, in a way. It has resulted in the Iraqi people finally getting their oil back! Only now that Iraq is a free nation are the Iraqi people able to benefit from their rich natural resources.
According to a recent poll, 71% of Iraqis are optimistic about the future, and the majority want the coalition to stay in Iraq, at least until sovereignty is returned to the Iraqi people. They are increasingly appreciative of their new freedom. Some day, when the politics fade and the history books are written, the rest of the world will be more appreciative as well.