this bjturk.commentary:
mortal combat

The second war of the Persian Gulf has now begun, and people are beginning to die. It doesn't exactly warm the heart. No matter the rationale, it is hard to get excited that families are losing their fathers, brothers, husbands, children and uncles.

When did we come to the conclusion that we could only have peace by waging war? It's not that I oppose the reasons behind this action in particular, but the concept behind it. If we can only have peace through war, then how can we have peace at all?

No matter which side you favor, it is unavoidable that people are dying over differences between nations. In fact, those differences seem to be between their leaders more so than between the nations themselves. The United States has had a problem with Iraq since it invaded Kuwait, and the continued regime of Saddam Hussein has been a nuisance without which the U.S. would like to do. It almost seems as if George W. Bush is trying to finish what George H. W. Bush did not in ridding Iraq of Saddam Hussein. True, the goal of the 1991 action was to liberate Kuwait rather than to depose Saddam, but there was no public lack of desire back then to take that action to its ultimate conclusion. It is unlikely that today's battles would be fought were Saddam to have been removed from power, with extreme prejudice, a dozen years ago.

Saddest of all is that this personality conflict is being paid for by the soldiers. Of course, the military is a political tool, but even a soldier knows when he is not being used righteously. One can say that Iraq is being liberated from an oppressive government, but to a soldier, that argument falls flat. Romania did that without external assistance (as did Poland, Russia, and many other countries). That Saddam is a despot is without question, but so was Ceaucescu in Romania, and he was overthrown by his own people. Why could this not happen in Iraq as well?

The real motivation is anyone's guess, but the fact remains that there was worldwide support for the 1991 gulf war, and the same level of support simply doesn't exist twelve years later. Even some of the United States' closest, long-time allies are opposed this time around, and there is no chance that a resolution of support will ever come out of the United Nations Security Council with three members having veto power (Russia, China and France) opposing it. Of course, since the United States also holds a veto, there's no chance that any Security Council condemnation will ever see the light of day either.

One cannot help but draw the conclusion that the United States is at war with Iraq again because the United States wants to be at war with Iraq again. How this benefits the United States is beyond me. Perhaps they had some testing to do on their missile targeting. Yes, that's a pretty cynical thought itself, but what could it really be? I'm not dumb by any stretch of the imagination, but this one has me pretty well stumped.

When you think about it, this war started fairly quickly. First, the manhunt was on for Osama Bin Laden in Afghanistan, and all of the military might was brought to bear there to find him and, as President Bush said, "bring justice to our enemies." After months of fruitless ssearching for bin Laden, President Bush begins rattling sabers at Iraq, then suddenly attacking. It is almost as if he went to war with Iraq to get American minds off the apparent inability to find Bin Laden. Could that be it?

Every day, I pray for the safety of the troops, on both sides, and for a rapid end to hostilities. That Saddam will be defeated is not in question, but who will have to pay the price for his defeat? It may be years before the Iraqis see any real benefit from this action. The United States has that kind of time, but do the Iraqi people? What good will come of this war? And could it have come anyway, peacefully? I wonder...

March 22, 2003

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