February 24, 2003
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Dave Uphoff

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Time to finish off Saddam Hussein

While I know that my editorials have no influence on government policy, that is still not going to prevent me as an American citizen from expressing my views on government policy. It is important that all American citizens make their views be known because collectively we can influence government policy.

The United States is unquestionably the most powerful nation in the world and probably the most powerful nation the world has ever seen. With that power comes the responsibility of being the policeman of the world. Whether Europe or any nation wants to admit it, the final decision on war must come from the most powerful force in the world. And that is us. Regardless of what Hollywood stars and philosophers say about the United States' policy towards war, we have to deal with reality, not with the make-believe or wanna-believe world of actors and artists.

The reason man is war-like is because he has to protect his turf. There will never be peace on earth, only one force trying to prevent another from overtaking the world. That fact requires us to be realist, not idealists. I don't want to trivialize the situation but to me it seems quite simple. If you are number one in the world, you call the shots. If we feel that a rogue nation or person poses a threat to our democracy, then we eliminate them. That is the way the game has been played since day one in this world and it is not going to change. It is the nature of man. Democracy does not come free.

The Europeans do not want us to go to war because they have little control over the outcome. Also, they know that by the United States declaring and probably winning a war, we become even stronger in our ability to dictate terms on the rest of the world, and the rest of the world doesn't like that.

I am convinced that we have knowledge of Saddam Hussein's intentions and capabilities that other countries don't have. We cannot reveal too much of this to other countries because it would jeopardize the source of our information. I truly do not believe that George Bush would go to war without ample evidence that Saddam is a threat to the world. The accusations that his war policy is to detract from the economic downturn or that it is to get revenge for his father is pure rubbish. In fact, Bush's prolonging the start of the attack on Hussein is also prolonging the economic downturn.

War is never a popular decision. It is always easier to avoid going to war. It is hard to sell a war in today's environment. Compared to previous generations, we have a good life here in America and nobody wants to be bothered with a war. Especially, if no one is overtly attacking us. But times are different now. The difference is due to the introduction of nuclear weapons.

Due to the possibility that one rogue nation can acquire enough nuclear weapons to do serious damage to the rest of the world, it is imperative that the use of nuclear weapons be controlled. The controlling must be done by those who can do the controlling. And again, that is us. The future of this world is dependent on our abilities to control the use of nuclear and biological weapons. Forget the idea about us being bullies and all that other stuff that Hollywood liberals will accuse the country of being. Remember, we're talking about reality, not movies.

For the most part, those who would start a war with nuclear weapons are the terrorists and evil leaders of regimes like that of Saddam Hussein. These people will give their lives to kill us because their lives are so miserable that they believe they will be better off dead in whatever heaven they think they're going to than they are alive. To allow these people to get nuclear weapons would be the end of civilization.

Some argue that we kept the Soviet Union at bay without going to war. However, the Soviet Union wasn't controlled by fanatics who would willingly die in the name of their religion. Also, it was not led by one person who was a madman.

Whether we go to war with Iraq or not will make no difference to the terrorists. We are still considered the infidel and they will still try to destroy us. Therefore, George Bush should get rid of Saddam Hussein as soon as possible and get it over with. It will be the start of rebuilding Iraq and removing one more threat from the world. It might also give the North Koreans something to think about. It will also allow our country to get on with business as usual instead of being held hostage by a potential war.

I hope that we have enough sense to close the borders to Iraq and shut down the airports when we invade Iraq so as not to allow Saddam to escape. If he were allowed to escape he would attain the same cult status as Osama bin Laden and would encourage the terrorists even more. Some experts feel that when we zero in on Hussein that his military leaders will abandon him in order to save their own lives knowing that he is no longer to be feared. Then I would not be at all surprised to see Saddam kill himself just like Hitler did at the end.

It is my non-religious, sober opinion that man will eventually destroy himself because of the development of nuclear weapons. It may be a thousand years away, but it will eventually happen. Until then, the United States, as the leader of the world and the champion of democracy, is obligated to subdue rogue nations to not only protect democracy, but also to preserve mankind.


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