Iraq - To Amy

The following is a response to my cousin's comment to my post about being sad because my other cousin, her brother, is in Iraq.

Dear Amy,
Since I have talked a little about politics on this site, I suppose I should say more about why I feel the way I do. I have thought about the other side of the coin; I've thought about this from many angles. I love Greg and I know he truly believes he is doing the right thing by being in Iraq. I completely respect that and am so grateful that he and the many other people in the military are willing to risk their lives for the rest of us. Even though I don't support the war, I have been tempted to buy one of those "Support Our Troops" stickers because I do support them, especially now that a family member is there.

I am a pacifist by nature, disliking conflict in my own life and abhorring warfare. I remember vividly when we began fighting in Afghanistan. I cried, but I believed we were there for a reason. Al-Qaeda attacked the US and the Taliban harbored Al-Qaeda. The war in Afghanistan was a defensive war. If we had done nothing I would have been very angry. However, once the people in the Bush administration turned the focus to Iraq, they lost my support. It happened so quickly. In the 2002 State of the Union address, only four months after 9/11, Bush began talking about "the axis of evil" - Iraq, Iran, and North Korea. Suddenly the focus was off of Afghanistan, where the Taliban was routed and Al-Qaeda dispersed to an extent, but not destroyed or dismantled.

I didn't and don't understand the point of being in Iraq. I didn't support being there in the early 90's either, but at least there was some semblance of an argument for force - that Iraq invaded Kuwait and we were fighting against that aggressive action. This time we were told that there were weapons of mass destruction - I remember Bush and Cheney and Rumsfeld telling us so. Once it was revealed that there were no WMD's, the main argument they gave for going to Iraq, I was furious. The people in the administration began backpedaling, stating that they hadn't been sure, and had never said they were sure. But I remember them saying the weapons were definitely there and we needed to go in so Saddam Hussein couldn't use them against us. They also told us that Al-Qaeda and Iraq were linked. Another untruth.

Now we are there and Americans die every day - for what? Now that we are there, it is a mess, and I hope someone has a way for us to extricate ourselves before Iraq becomes simply a protectorate of the United States.

I do not believe in offensive war, which is what the war in Iraq is. I believe in fighting to protect home and family and a way of life. Iraq was not a threat to any of those when we started this war.

Some may argue that Saddam Hussein is an awful dictator who killed his own people. This is true. However, that can be said about many despots in many different countries. Will we be fighting in those countries next? China has been cited for many human rights violations over the years, but we will not question them for many reasons, one of which is the mass amount of trade between our two countries. I don't believe that it is the responsibility of the United States to be the world's police, especially by taking unilateral action.

I don't have an answer to the world's ills, but on the other hand I don't believe starting a war is an answer.

So these are my opinions. I usually don't discuss politics with you and the rest of the extended family because I know we have very different opinions and I would rather just enjoy our time and communications with each other, rather than foster contention. I hope you understand that I love and support Greg and hope with all of my heart that he comes home safe and sound. I hope all of our troops do, and I hope they can come home soon.

Love,
Kelly