We wouldn't even care about Saddam if Iraq didn't have the 2nd largest stockpile of oil in the world. He is a convenient excuse.
The fact of the matter is that there are far more pressing threats in the world right now than Saddam Hussein. North Korea has their finger on the trigger, and the remnants of the Tali Ban still have us on "orange alert" as I type this. What's the Bush administration's response?:
"Uhhhhh... well...we have intelligence that says that Iraq is supporting the Tali Ban. Yeah, that's the ticket!."
Look at it from Saddam's point of view: even if he does have weapons, if he used them on the United States or any European country, the entire world would now have a very good reason to attack him - remember, at this point most of the civilized countries in the world are against this war. Saddam would be crazy to attack the U.S. unprovoked. But what we are doing right now is provoking him... we are forcing him into a corner. Have you ever cornered a cat or a dog? Do you know what happens?
Is Saddam a twisted, demented f***er that has no place ruling a country? Absolutely, but we didn't seem to care when we funded and supported him during his war with Iran during the Reagan administration. We even patted him on the back when he was done. Same thing that happened when the Russians were invading Afghanistan... the Russians were the enemy-of-the-moment, so we supported the Tali Ban-controlled government. Most of the weapons and training they have are thanks to us. The government will support any cause, no matter how devious it is, if popular support dictates that they are the lesser of two evils. And that's the way it works.
So let's look at why we are probably going to war in the coming weeks:
1)The economy is failing. Nothing boosts an unhealthy economy like a good war.
2) Oil is the single most profitable resource on the planet. The country that controls the world's oil controls the world. And if you have any doubt that this is true, think about the fact that the reason the US was involved in Vietnam was because they deemed the climate and soil to be perfect for raising crops. The government has admitted that the "threat of Communism" was just a convenient excuse.
3) Bush wants to go down in history with a good approval rating. Wars tend to do that: "oh, he's such a good leader!"
4) The American people are scared because of the threat of terror, and when the American people get scared, they tend to want to crush any and all threats immediately. I actually heard otherwise rational people say we should "nuke Afghanistan" after the Sept 11 attacks. Ill-informed and vengeful? If they were litigious, it would be an American hat-trick. And if you have any doubt that this really happens, please remember that after the Pearl Harbor bombings, the government put all the Japanese-Americans they could find into concentration camps.
I know I am going to get flamed for this post because Americans have the innate ability to label anyone that criticizes their government as "un-patriotic" and either a "hippie" or "commie." But remember, there is an old saying that goes "the people that love their country the most are the ones most critical of it" (i think Thomas Jefferson said that, but I could be wrong). Also, Americans have the innate ability to believe every word they get from CNN and the New York Times. Wake up, everyone... those are media outlets with political reasons for saying what they say. Just because CNN says Sadam is a pressing threat doesn't make it true.
That being said, flame on!!!!
