How different would our world be if Adolf Hitler had been stopped in the 1930s, when people were beginning to see the danger he represented? Think how many lives would have been saved – not only all those killed in World War II, but also the millions of Jews, Gypsies and other minority groups who died in his death camps. Now that we are starting to see the proof of Saddam Hussein’s butchery in Iraq, I am even prouder that the United States and our allies had the courage to go in and stop him when they did. Human Rights Watch, a group based in New York, estimates that 200,000 Iraqis “disappeared” during Saddam’s rule, and we are now beginning to find the mass graves where some of these men, women and children were buried.
You don’t hear much these days from the Hollywood celebrities who were so vocal about keeping us out of Iraq. Maybe they were surprised at the news of cheering Iraqis pulling down Saddam’s status in Baghdad, or video of the mass graves of Saddam’s anonymous victims. What about the million of dollars in cash Iraqi leaders had hidden for themselves while their people starved? However, these celebrity protestors did receive a lot of press coverage with their earlier statements about how the United States was only going to Iraq to protect its oil interests, how we were invading another country because of our “cowboy mentality,” etc. In this increasingly unsettled world, the subject is sure to come up again, so maybe we should take a few minutes to think it through. Should the United States take action to stop murderous dictators, or countries that are harboring terrorism or threatening others with weapons of mass destruction? Shouldn’t we just mind our own business and assume countries like Iraq, North Korea and Syria wish us well?
In the 1930s, when Hitler’s Germany was rearming itself and gobbling up more and more pieces of territory, the League of Nations passed resolutions against these actions, but did nothing to back them up. Finally, in September 1938, Hitler signed a piece of paper at the Munich Conference promising not to go to war. Neville Chamberlain, who represented Great Britain at the conference, told his people, “My good friends, for the second time in our history, a British Prime Minister has returned from Germany bringing peace with honor. I believe it is peace for our time. Go home and get a nice quiet sleep.” Winston Churchill reportedly said that Chamberlain achieved neither peace nor honor. The British people didn’t enjoy many nights of sleep. Soon enough, their slumber was interrupted by air raid sirens, as German planes bombed their homes.
By stopping Saddam Hussein before he had the chance to use chemical, biological or nuclear weapons on another country, the United States and its allies have saved lives and deserve the thanks of the rest of the world. Iraq was certainly capable of spreading weapons of mass destruction to terrorists all over the globe who would like nothing better than to use them against Americans. We had the responsibility to do whatever was necessary to prevent another tragedy like Sept. 11. Even though it wasn’t our primary motive for invading Iraq, our actions also stopped the killing, torture and oppression of the Iraqi people, which had been going on for decades.
It would have been nice if the United Nations could have reached an agreement to use force against Saddam Hussein. But passing resolutions and making speeches didn’t affect him any more than it did Hitler. Since these other countries chose the Neville Chamberlain approach to stopping Iraq, it was up to us. It was the right thing to do, and nobody else was willing to do it.
Many Muslims still feel we are heading a new Crusade against their religion. They seem to forget that our recent actions around the world, including our liberation of the Iraqis, have helped oppressed Muslim people. During the 1980s, we helped Muslims in Afghanistan fight against the Soviets, and we came back to Afghanistan to liberate it from the Taliban warlords. The first Gulf War was fought to protect Muslims in Kuwait from an invasion by Iraq. We have helped Muslims in Somalia, Bosnia and Kosovo.
We were also criticized for trying to take over the country of Iraq so we could control its oil. If we were that desperate for oil, Congress would have passed a bill allowing drilling for oil in the Arctic Wilderness Area. It would have been a whole lot cheaper than spending billions to grab oil fields halfway across the world, and young Americans wouldn’t have had to die for it.
The people who died fighting Saddam’s forces did not sacrifice themselves for oil, for religious prejudice or for imperialism. They were fighting to keep U.S. citizens safe from terrorism. Now that the rebuilding of Iraq has begun, we are helping bring freedom to a country that has been starving for it for many years. These are both honorable goals.
Let us thank God we live in a country that is willing to make sacrifices to defend itself and to achieve its worthwhile aims, and let us ask His blessing on President Bush, our country’s leaders and our service men and women.