Posted on 08/14/2003 8:20:30 AM PDT by alwaysconservative
Wednesday, August 13, 2003 Letters to the Editor
See the good Americans are doing
By GLENN MUELLER, Bismarck
(The writer is serving in Iraq with the 957th Engineering Co. of the North Dakota Army National Guard. -- Editor)
Evil is like cancer -- the longer it is left unattended, the more it spreads and becomes life-threatening to that which is good and healthy. Saddam is an evil, self-serving human being who, in my opinion, viewed himself as the god of Iraq, maybe even as the god of Muslims.
He reminds me of Jim Jones, whose cult resulted in so many needless deaths because his evil activities were left unattended.
I support President Bush's decision to do something about Saddam and his regime. I know that the Democrats -- and, if we had a Democratic president, it would be the Republicans -- are trying to make it look like the president deceived Americans with his accusation of Iraq's development of weapons of mass destruction.
Really, I don't care what the justification was to declare war and remove Saddam from power -- it had to be done. In my opinion, Saddam was going to do whatever he could to cause harm to the people of the greatest nation on Earth, and he would do it in a cowardly manner, killing innocent Americans because of who they represent.
Yes, we have soldiers getting injured here in Iraq and, sadly, more are killed. But don't blame President Bush -- he isn't pulling the trigger. It is the evil that Saddam has ingrained in the minds of the Iraqi militants that is creating our situation.
For the life of me, I do not understand why the political arena is always bickering about who's to blame, instead of how we are going to fix the situation. What's done is done; now, let's work on establishing a free Iraq.
I firmly believe that if Saddam had been allowed to continue, many more innocent civilians would have died. Soldiers are trained to be in a hostile environment; civilians are not. Don't get me wrong -- I grieve every time I hear about the loss of a fellow soldier. As most of you know, one of my soldiers was recently killed in action. But I also grieve for the good Iraqi people, who have lived in fear for so many years.
Their fear is hard for us to believe. But one of my lieutenants spent a few weeks in the downtown Baghdad area and had the privilege of visiting with Iraqis who could speak English.
The lieutenant was told that Iraqis could be shot if they were thought to be looking suspiciously at an Iraqi solider or military equipment or military installation sites or at palaces, as you might be considered a spy.
One local didn't even know what one of the palaces looked like, as he always walked by it with his head down so he wouldn't be suspected of anything.
It wasn't until American soldiers toppled Saddam's regime that he actually took a good look at the palace.
Saddam would declare areas off-limits, so his view or the view of his leaders wouldn't be ruined because people were in it. People would be shot if they were seen in that area. In Basrah, he had a whole community moved because it was across the river from his palace -- which he never lived in -- and it ruined his view.
He controlled the power grid and the canal-irrigation systems so he could control the people. He would kill people just because they disagreed with him.
Why should a person like that be allowed to be leader of a country? Why should a person like this even be allowed to live?
Next to Saddam, the people to be upset with are the members of the United Nations who continuously allowed Saddam to get away with disregarding U.N. resolutions.
If the United Nations had done its job, we wouldn't have had this second war with Iraq. I believe the United Nations was afraid of what Saddam would do if he were forced to comply.
The next group I get upset with is the news media.
They take information and slant it so it will sway people to think we are not doing any good over here.
So, they push the soldier deaths. This is playing right into the hands of the militants. They know that if they harm enough American soldiers, the news will share it with the American public, and eventually the public will put pressure on Congress, which eventually will be pressured to pull out of Iraq.
That would be like abandoning a poor swimmer in the middle of a large lake because the wind is picking up and it might get rough. The swimmer sees you coming, but then you turn around and go back to the safety of your harbor, leaving him to fend for himself.
Is there any news of the good things that are happening over here?
Many soldiers are working with local communities to clean up the rubbish, rebuild hospitals and schools, deliver books for the schools, get utilities back into service and build bridges so people can get on with their lives.
All this is being done to show we are not here to conquer but to help.
Jesus didn't pick and choose the people he would die for -- he gave himself for the good of all, and that is how I feel about being here. There is no way I can ever come close to loving all people like he did, but he set the example, and I feel I should do what I can to help free this country of the evil that is within.
We always seem to want to blame the good for the bad that happens.
When someone dies prematurely, God gets the blame -- why is that?
God doesn't want us to suffer and die; it is the evil one that causes us to suffer. Just like it is Saddam who is responsible for the war and the loss of life, not President Bush.
Tikkun Olam big-time.
God Bless....
Our troops know why they're there.
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