Prime Time Propaganda!

It has come and gone. One of the few days out of the year where the major networks speak highly, or in a positive way about our troops. They do their required reflection of fallen heroes on Memorial day, and then on Tuesday it's business as usual. Talk of new books about the "lies that propagated" the war, new studies that show that our troops are ill prepared, surveys that say that our troops come mostly from poverty stricken homes and have no choice, but to join the military. I mean it couldn't possibly be that these brave men and women share the same call to duty as the soldiers that have gone before them. It couldn't be that some of our nations best, and brightest would want to give selflessly of themselves to defend their countrymen, or that they believe in the mission at hand.

I know these networks place a lot of questions out there about the war. I understand that many people watch morning, noon, and prime time news shows. It is even understandable that after hearing the same barrage of rhetoric and questions, that some of these questions would start to stick in peoples minds. However, I am also a strong proponent of researching "news" that you hear, and checking out "facts". So here are a few answers to some of the most repeated questions and/or comments about our troops, and the war.

Q. There were no Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) in Iraq! So was Saddam Hussein/Iraq really a threat to the United States? Or did the Bush Administration force this war?

A. Yes. Saddam Hussein's regime was a major threat to American interests and the region as a whole. The United States was not alone in believing Saddam Hussein had WMD, which is why the U.N. Security Council had adopted 12+ resolutions since 1990 to force Hussein to disarm his weapons program. The U.N. even authorized U.N. member states "to use all necessary means" to compel Iraq to comply. So to say that Pres. Bush lied to the U.S. about WMD in Iraq is a lie itself. However it is also fair to note that before the U.S. led intervention (and during the first few weeks of the War) convoys of hundreds of trucks crossed over the Iraqi/Syrian border. Also there is been evidence of WMD materials found scattered across the desert in Iraq. But for argument sake lets say there were no WMD in Iraq. We did find: prohibited missiles (a violation of the U.N. Security Council), Hussein supported a wide variety of terrorist groups against U.S. allies (one of which was Israel), and they routinely fired on U.S. warplanes that were enforcing no-fly zones. Their was also proof that Saddam Hussein used illegal chemical weapons against Iran, and his own men, women, and children. This evidence was left behind in mass graves of 300,000+ victims.

Q. Saddam Hussein isn't in charge anymore! Therefore U.S. soldiers shouldn't lose their lives waging another country's civil war.

A. There is no evidence of full fledge civil war. However our enemy, al-Qaeda, is seeking to provoke a civil war by bombing Shiite mosques and shrines. If we were to stand back, allow al-Qaeda terrorist to succeed at creating a civil war, they would turn Iraq into a base of operations for attacking the U.S. and our allies. Much like they did with Afghanistan when Clinton decided that we had no stake in the Afghan civil war in the 90's. The fact is a Talibanized al-Qaeda controlled Iraq would be like Afghanistan on steroids. All fueled by Iraqi oil revenues. The U.S. simply cannot permit this.

Q. The death toll is rising higher everyday! With that fact the U.S. ability to win in Iraq gets lower, and lower.

A. No, the war in Iraq CAN be won. Winning in Iraq would be helping Iraqis build a stable government that is an ally in the war on terrorism (unlike Saddam's Iraq which was an enemy to that war.) This would be a major victory. It is true that Iraq will be a violent place for many years. But some of the forces that make it violent are radical Islamist, and Saddam's Baathist party supporters. (Both of which are sworn enemies of the U.S.) If we turn our backs now, and pull the military out 2 things would happen. 1. A young but growing Iraqi democracy would be destroyed. 2. The threat to the U.S. and our allies from terrorist groups will only grow.