Youth Voices of Reason Really good essay.
Please let me know if you want ON or OFF my General Interest ping list!. . .don't be shy.
Posted on 10/26/2004 5:20:55 PM PDT by PintailConservative
A high school student nails it on the head in an Op-Ed in our local newspaper:
Over the past four years the world has witnessed the liberation of 53,400,526 people. They were not liberated through peace protests, European elitism or stern warnings; those solutions kept them in chains. Nor were they liberated by a UN administered sanctions program – that solution only served to permit Sadaam to line the pockets of French and other “allies” on the UN Security Council. Freedom came from the heroism, blood and sacrifice of America. The attacks of September 11th proved to the world that years of appeasement, inaction and retreat only embolden the evil of Islamo-fascism. Thus, the United States took decisive and strategic action against the enemies of tolerance and justice. The Iraqi experiment, while a great risk, is an opportunity to forever change the political dynamic of the Middle East.
Subsequent to U.S. involvement in Afghanistan, our leaders focused upon Saddam Hussein’s Iraqi regime as one of the cornerstones of the “Axis of Evil”. The rationale for the war in Iraq was manifold -- to destroy illegal WMDs, to cut funds to terrorists, and to liberate millions suffering under the oppression of an authoritarian regime. The first Gulf War ended in a Cease Fire conditioned upon Saddam eliminating his weapons and missile programs, reducing the size and activity of his armed forces and permitting Allied flights to enforce southern and northern “no-fly” zones over Iraq. It was clear even in the late 1990s that Saddam had blatantly violated the vast majority of the conditions of this Cease Fire. Saddam resisted UN weapons inspections and regularly fired upon US and British aircraft patrolling the “no-fly” zones. As a matter of international law, Saddam had violated the Cease Fire and the status quo ante (a state of war) existed once again. In light of overwhelming intelligence reports and related reports of activities in North Korea and Libya regarding collaboration with an Iraqi weapons program, we could not afford to take the chance that Saddam had WMDs.
To say that a link did not exist between Saddam, Al-Qaeda and the shadowy network of global terrorism is to discount the adage that “the enemy of my enemy is my friend”. For years Saddam supported terrorists such as Abu Nidal. Immediately following the US invasion of Afghanistan, Sadaam provided Al Quaeda terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi with refuge in Iraq. In addition, at Salman Pak, Iraq harbored a terrorist training camp that contained a shell of a Boeing passenger jet used for the sole purpose of practicing hijackings. The Duelfer Report documents the training of non-Iraqi terrorists including Palestinians, Yemenis, Saudis, Lebanese, Egyptians and Sudanese. We also know that Saddam attempted the assassination of a former American President and that Saddam was a principal financier of Hezzbollah homicide bombers in Israel – paying a bounty to the family of each successful terrorist killer.
Lest we forget in hindsight, the world community agreed that Saddam possessed WMDs. The intelligence agencies of our allies were unanimous in the belief that the only way to prevent a tragedy exponentially greater than 9/11 was to cut off a potential source of these dangerous weapons and eliminate the risk that they fall into the hands of terrorists. Last week’s independent “Duelfer Report” documents the existence of clandestine labs operated by the Iraqi Intelligence Service to develop small quantitites of weaponized chemical, nerve and biological agents. It also shows that Sadaam’s henchmen tested these on Iraqi subjects, perhaps as late as 2002. The hypocrisy in the UN and many European capitals, most notably Paris and Berlin, is shown in their reluctance to embrace the strategic and humanitarian reasons for American intervention while simultaneously skimming tens of millions of dollars for personal profit from the UN’s Iraqi “Oil for Food” program. The victims of Saddam’s brutality cried out for help from their mass graves, while craven UN and European bureaucrats stuffed their pockets with blood money.
A larger rationale for American action in Iraq was the potential for a liberalized Middle Eastern state. The greatest tragedy of mankind is when those who enjoy the fruits of freedom are unwilling to sacrifice when their neighbor is under the jackboot of tyranny. The ideas of Islamo-fascism can only flourish in autocracies and theocracies; they are anathema to consensual government. Granted, we are not likely to see Jeffersonian style democracy erupt from the rubble of Saddam’s regime, but I reject the notion that Iraq, or any Muslim nation, is only capable of dictators and theocrats. The inroads that democracy has made in Afghanistan are evidence of this policy at work. A representative Iraqi government is a tangible goal. The June 30th transfer of power produced an Iraqi constitutional government, dedicated to preserving the rights of minorities. Courageous Iraqis are now fighting alongside American GIs and Marines with a goal of free elections in January. Insurgencies like that in Fallujah are no surprise. The influx of Al-Qaeda and Baathist murderers represents the final cry of Saddam loyalists, Iranian agent provocateurs and those fearful of what a consensual government might mean to their dream of global Islamo-fascism.
We as a nation must draw strength from the example of the generations that sacrificed on Omaha Beach, in Okinawa, in Pusan and the jungles of Vietnam so that oppressed people might be free. We must reject the lessons drawn by the defeatist left from its defining moment – the Tet offensive – in fact a Viet Cong loss claimed successfully by the American left and its media lapdogs to be a US defeat. We must strengthen our resolve rather than cut and run as the heirs to that legacy had us do when the going got rough in Mogadishu and would have us do again today in Iraq. The dream of a free Iraq and a liberalized Middle East can only come true by using American power and influence to change the hearts and minds of the world, by destroying evil regimes and encouraging freedom and consensual government. Last week’s successful and peaceful Afghan elections are one more victory for President Bush’s conviction that freedom is the most potent weapon in our arsenal when facing these implacable enemies. In this new world, rogue governments can no longer be allowed to terrorize their people, to harbor terrorists who threaten others and to develop WMDs unchecked. The only hope for the free people of the world is that the will of great nations and the character and integrity of their leaders protects them from these very real threats. To quote Edmund Burke, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil, is for good men to do nothing.”
GREAT POST! Thank you.
Ping for a wonderful article.
If I knew for a fact my neighbor (aka Iraq) was molesting his children (aka his people), and I suspected he was abusing the neighborhoods' children (aka supporting terrorism), and I called the police (aka the UN) and they failed to act (aka the UN) should I just stand by and allow things to continue status quo? I don't think the good lord would kindly upon my inactions. If I went in and made a citizen's arrest without the blessings of the police (aka the global community) and took this monster off the streets what would John Kerry say?
A High School Student? Gives me so much hope and I'm so proud of our young Americans tonight. God Bless them!
I'm hearing more and more of this kind of thing.
Look at this:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1258196/posts
Anyone have any idea's how we can get this on some ping lists? Boy I wish I had a ping list!
This deserves to be pinged to a bunch of people!! All I can think to do is to go to a few "pings" that have come to me and copy to a few names I recognize. Because this young person deserves to be read.
Besides, it'll do a few hearts good to see what I just saw.
God Bless, VH&W
They connected the dots in 1998 but Senator Kerry and MSM can't seem to connect the dots in 2004.
Here is an easy to read chart of what the media was saying pre-911 (and after): Connect the Dots...Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden.
Lots of facts and quotes about the president-wannabe at the John F. Kerry Timeline.
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Bump!
Take a moment to read this essay by a young student who seems to understand the war on terror a bit better than our lamestream media.
Thanks for the ping to the inspiring read!
What a terrific essay; he gets it.
Youth Voices of Reason Really good essay.
Please let me know if you want ON or OFF my General Interest ping list!. . .don't be shy.
High school scholar BUMP!!
BTTT
Excellent! This young person is going places.
Right-On ~ good stuff ~ Bump!
Thanks for the ping.
Good read.
Right on, kid.
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