The war in Iraq has divided the people of USA and the world. Very good arguments exist for why we should not have invaded Iraq. I never seem to hear the reasons from anyone or even the media. Instead I hear ridiculous statements like the following….

1)      Iraq has no weapons of mass destruction

2)      The Bush administration wants Oil from Iraq

3)      The Bush administration used fear and Iraq to win a second term

Because I support the decision to go to war I am put in a box and labeled with the following…

1)      Ultra Religious

2)      Prejudice against Arabs

3)      Warmonger

4)      Victim of the Bush administrations campaign of fear

    In all of my conversations with people, one or all of these labels are stuck to me before or even after I engage the topic of war in Iraq. NO ONE ever asks the simple question of why I support the war without telling me how I think? Well since no one seems to want to hear the answer and just would rather assign my argument to me here I go…. 

   The world can be divided in to two groups. The Haves and the Have Nots. Look around and you will see that the quality of life a person lives in a country has everything to do with crime, violence, and oppression. When I say quality of life I am not referring to Big Screen TVs, Luxury Cars, and Gold Necklaces. I am referring to Food, Shelter, Health Care, and other basics.

   We say we want to help people in Africa by sending medicine and food. What happens to that medicine and food? Taken by corrupt warlords and dictators. We try to deal in diplomacy with North Korea by sending them money and food. Where does it go? To the military because it was given to the dictator to hand to the starving people. When the UN with peace keeping troops are sent to insure the delivery of the needed goods. What happens? Look at Mogadishu, Somalia in 1992. What did we do? Turn our backs to the problem. Did we do anything about Rwanda in 1994 or Darfur in 2003? Who is to blame? Oh yes it is we the American people not the government. We don’t support wars. War is bad! This simple minded narrow thinking is great for feeling good about yourself. No responsibility or blame. I can be a good person because I do not support war. Excuse the sarcasm but it is appropriate. To be fair you are not narrow minded if you can come up with what I consider a legitimate reason for not going to war. No I am not going to make it easy for you and let you know what that the reason is. If you know you don’t have to ask.

   Sorry but I challenge someone to show me another way. The dictators, regimes, and warlords need to go before the civilians of that country can receive aid and a decent chance for quality of life. Why not attack North Korea or the Soviet Union when it was in power then? Fair question but simple answer. Because we could not dismantle the oppressive government without threat of nuclear war or the threat of World War.

   I think you can see where my argument is going now. If you don’t support the war then don’t tell me you give a shit about anyone else in the world. You would rather just feel good about your moral high ground. If you want to help poverty around the world and bring food and medicine to the people that need it then you must remove the dictators, warlords, and regimes. Please do not give me the B.S. about how we are forcing our way of life on other cultures. Since when is forcing someone to have a choice a bad thing. Democracy is Choice!