Iraq War – A Just Cause

Dedicated to my son who is a true warrior for his country.

Just over four and one half years ago we bombed Baghdad. Although many of us had struggled with the President’s evolving decision to go to war, the consensus seemed to be that we were being forced to make a choice. Especially after Saddam refused to let the inspectors back in, giving apparent proof that he did harbor weapons of mass destruction. Saddam was a mass murderer on a smaller scale than Hitler only because his ambition exceeded his grasp. He was a malignant growth on the world community.

It’s true that as far as we knew, Saddam was not directly involved with 9/11, and somehow we were led to believe that he was. Any person or group is notorious, when building a case, for stacking the decks if they can. Exaggerating a point for or minimizing a point against. The Republicans do it, the Democrats do it, your Mom does it, your Dad does it, your teachers did it, etc. Even your dog does it, with his soulful looks exaggerating his hunger for steak and minimizing the stain on the carpet.

So when did this trait, common to all sentient beings, become equated with deceit, lies, and impeachable offenses? We need to get our facts right. Those who led us into war went wrong in not just flat out admitting they sometimes overstated their case. We began to war with each other, one side refusing to admit they had misstated anything and the other side determined to force the admission.  It took me awhile to figure it out, that this is what they keep calling “partisan politics”.

Now the biggest issue in the 2008 Presidential race is the Iraq war and bringing our troops home. Lately even those against the war seem to be acknowledging it isn’t that simple, is very complicated as a matter of fact. What really bothers me and many people I know is that while the country is arguing this issue we are letting down our troops.

Please don’t jump on a partisan bandwagon and yell at me but hear me out. When we send our military off to war we have already decided the cause is just. We have already given these brave men and women a reason to be willing to die. Enough people in this government and this country made this choice, whether some later felt lied to, betrayed, or what. For us to tell any of our warriors they have died or will die for an unjust cause is the most horrendous thing I can think of.

We owe them our lives, for it is the tradition they carry forward from all our military past that continues to give us the life of free self-expression we now have in this beautiful country of ours. As Americans we must insist that our troops be provided with the best that we can give them for their every need. We must, in every way, continue to remain loyal to the choice we’ve already made.

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