Why We Went

The Truth On How America Ended up in Iraq

The morning George W. Bush was sworn into office, it was the standing policy of the United States that a regime change was necessary in Iraq. President Clinton, in 1998, proclaimed that Saddam Hussein did indeed posses weapons of mass destruction. This meant biological, chemical, and potentially nuclear capabilities in the care of the world’s maniacal dictators since Hitler. Even a died-in-the-wool liberal like Clinton saw the threat Saddam posed to American interests at home and abroad. Clinton even had plans drawn for war.

The 90’s kicked off with the 1st war in Iraq, and as the decade ended Saddam was still in power and still a deadly menace to humanity. By 2000 it was universally recognized that Hussein should have been disposed in 1991 after being driven from Kuwait by American, NATO, and United Nations forces. No-fly zones had been established around Iraq, trade sanctions imposed, and sixteen UN resolutions passed calling for a cease-fire and inspections of Saddam’s weapons programs. Yet, the “Butcher of Baghdad” thumbed his nose at each and every one of those resolutions.

Saddam earned that nickname by murdering somewhere between 100,00 and 300,000 of his own people in the two decades he was in power. He had conducted a campaign of genocide against the Kurdish people in the mountains of Northern Iraq for which he was ultimately convicted and hanged. During the years following Gulf War 1 Hussein publicly threatened the United States with retaliation for what they “did” to him during the Persian Gulf War. He paid the families of suicide bombers over $20,000 each for the successful murder of innocent Israelis. He went so far as to even praise the 19 hijackers on 9/11 on Iraqi television for their murder of 3,000 civilians. Think about that.

Despite what Jeanne Gaurafulo and Matt Damon tell you, Saddam did have ties with Al Qaeda. He knowingly harbored terrorists like Al-Zarqawi (the former head of Al Qaeda in Iraq who met his Maker thanks to two American five hundred pound bombs dropped on his home last June). He also allowed terrorist training camps to freely function inside Iraq. Does anyone really believe that anything went on in his country without his knowing? Though Saddam was no religious zealot he hated America and Israel and was determined to see each destroyed.

The UN, with the urging of the U.S., sent Weapons Inspectors into Iraq for the better part of a decade. While some confirmation occurred as to the destruction of WMD’s in Saddam’s possession, Hans Blix and the Gang were given the run-around for years. Former Iraqi Air Force General, Georges Sada, served under Saddam for nearly 30 years and writes in his recently released memoirs “Saddam’s Secrets” that Hussein did have WMD’s (chemical and biological) and was constantly trying to obtain nuclear capabilities. Sada also drops the bombshell that liberals from Berkeley to Boston have dreaded to hear since 2002: Saddam was stalling in late 2002 and early 2003 because he knew the U.S. was coming for him and to prevent justification for the American invasion he was moving the bulk of his WMD’s into Syria. You heard it hear folks. An Iraqi general, who is not alone in his claims, tells us that WMD’s were in Iraq and the dog-and-pony show old Saddam was running was to shield his efforts to move his weapons.

This is a big deal. This is exactly what Bush and his administration warned about leading up to the war. After 9/11 President Bush, with the blessing of the American people and of Congress, announced a new policy that stated we would no longer wait to be attacked, but actively seek out terrorists and their state-sponsors. In short, our goal is to get the bad guys, but if you are hiding them, you are now one of the bad guys and we will get you too. It’s the most common sense (and only feasible) approach to successfully battling the problem of terrorism. For those of you who have a problem with this logic, you must also have a problem with the couple in Florida who were charged last year with the harboring of their friend who was an outlaw rapist on the run from Johnny Law. You harbor a criminal you become a criminal – that’s the way the world works.

So put yourself into the President’s shoes. Even if you believe he is dumb (though a graduate of Yale) and stole the election in 2000 (though he won by a majority in 2004 which is something Bill Clinton never did) and is thus undeserving of your respect (though he has kept us from another terrorist attack in the last 6 years) please humor me for a moment. You’ve just led the country (with the help of Rudy Guiliani) through the worst attack in our nation’s history. You learn who is responsible, but also begin to realize that the problem goes much deeper than a few extremists. There are countries that aid, support, and harbor the madmen who have been attacking American interests since the Iranian Hostage Crisis in 1979.

The CIA, Britain, and nine other countries tell you that Iraq has WMD’s. You also learn that Iran and North Korea are serious threats. You’ve achieved success in Afghanistan disposing of the Taliban government who literally housed Osama Bin Laden. Your generals and Department of Defense advisors urge you to take action now or forever hold your peace. You’ve got the legal right to invade and the blessings (in the form of Resolution 1441) of the United Nations to use force against a Saddam Hussein who refuses to comply with any International Coalition decree. Congress, including Senators Hillary, Kerry and Edwards, vote for war. You are the Commander-in-Chief with the sworn duty to protect the American people. What would you do?

France, Russia, and Germany all voted in the U.N. to authorize force, but when it became apparent that Americans actually follow through on what they say, those cowardly nations backed out. While regrettable, this was no reason to hold off on taking Saddam out.

Michael Moore depicted Iraq pre-invasion as a utopian play-land for the light of heart. This, despite the fact that the term “human rights” had no Iraqi translation in their language under Saddam. He slaughtered hundreds of thousands of his own people. Women were granted the same rights as dogs (okay, almost as many rights). If a woman was raped by one of Saddam’s sons or Republican Guard soldiers, the woman was decapitated for bringing shame to her family. Saddam’s two sons sadistically tortured athletes who failed to bring back medals from the Olympics.

So to review: Saddam had a history of starting wars with his neighbors and with America. He had already used WMD’s on his own people and threatened to unleash them on us. He had known terrorists shacked up in his country. He brazenly violated sixteen UN resolutions. Then we were attacked six years ago and he cheered. It was then our eyes were collectively opened to the stark reality that Islamic terrorism is real and spreading. Our leaders wisely decided that waiting for them to get us was no longer a viable option. Iraq, Iran, and North Korea are all bad places unfortunately run by madmen hell-bent on destruction. We could not wait to see what Hussein planned to do next – 9/11 had taught waiting can be catastrophic when dealing with fanatics and murderers.

So I know you’re sick of the war. You are sick of hearing about it. You are sick of soldiers dying for what the media and Democrats call an “unjust”, “unnecessary”, and “illegal” cause. But can’t you see that we had no choice but to join this fight? The reality that stared us in the face amongst the smoldering rubble of the WTC was that we were already engaged in a war and unfortunately we had just then learned of it.

No, not every decision in Iraq has been correct so far. Mistakes are far and wide. But, none of this in any way, shape, or form negates the truth that deposing Saddam was inevitable and necessary. To do otherwise is to still be living in a September 10th, not 11th, world.

History will judge George W. Bush did the right thing in invading Iraq – mark my words.