The Individualist: I'm Officially Anti-War

Posted by Joe Rivett on 12.28.2006

Face it, Saddam ran the country better and I'll tell you why...

So Saddam will finally be executed, swiftly and secretly. Over the last couple years I have come to understand the man the myth and the legend that is Saddam Hussein. For some reason people in our government get away with calling the man evil. Evil is an ignorant word. What is evil? Does that mean he is possessed by the devil? Does that mean someone cast a spell on him, which controlled him to do bad things? Does it mean he is mentally ill? What is evil?

Evil is an ignorant word because it prevents us from looking at reasons why things happen. It is such an easy thing to say we need to stop Saddam because he is evil. When I ask what did Saddam do that was so evil, I hear that he killed his own people and tried to take over other countries like Kuwait. Okay so maybe that makes him brutal or an asshole, but evil?

Part of the reason why Iraq is such a mess is that I believe we ignored how Saddam ran his country. Where the hell was all of this factional violence before the US invaded? Why wasn't Iraq a mess under Saddam? Maybe, just maybe Saddam knew the only way to keep the country together was to install terror. Again, not evil but he definitely believed in the concept that the means justify the ends, hence he was brutally pragmatic.

The US is not brutally pragmatic. We know the best way to stop the violence in Iraq is just to kill enough people to make the Iraqis fear doing anything wrong. However, that stance goes against our beliefs and concept of morality. The US does not believe the means justify the ends.

Remember when the Iraqi people looted businesses and museums after Baghdad fell? Now picture our troops killing everyone in the street out past 9 o clock, do you think there would have been looting? Of course not.

The US will never win the war in Iraq because we will never run the country like Saddam did. Saddam did what most dictators do when someone tries to kill them, they kill that person, their families, their friends and anyone associated with them. If a crazy militia tries to kill Bush, wouldn't you expect the government to come down hard on the militia? I'm not saying Saddam was justified in slaughtering every person he did, but I'm sure many of the slaughtered deserved to die and were revolutionaries against the government.

If you listen to the Howard Stern Show, every week Howard pleads for the US government to put Saddam back in power because he at least could run the country. At first it started as a joke but Howard is now more serious. What I am trying to do is add some intellectual legitimacy to the argument that maybe Iraq was better off with Saddam.

Since the invasion, (Excuse me Zell Miller, liberation) how many innocents have died compared to when Saddam was in power? I'm not sure of the answer but I do know people didn't have to fear suicide bombings when they went to a mosque or market.

To wrap up the first part of the column, my point is that Saddam was a brutal man that used any means to justify the ends. He was not evil. He had a purpose, even if it was an immoral and flawed one. His brutality also stabilized a fractured nation that probably shouldn't be a nation to begin with. The US will not win the war because a democracy cannot be brutal and use any means necessary. Since we cannot win the war in Iraq, why in Sam Hill, (I have always wanted to use that expression) are we still there?

411's Joshua White brought up a point to Mr. Crow that we already won the war. He has a point. What was the objective of the war? To disarm Saddam Hussein and enforce UN resolutions put forth by the Security Council over the years. Mission accomplished. Saddam can no longer hurt his neighbors or America. Maybe we did win the war and if we did, then our problem is that we cannot win the peace.

There are some reasons why we are still there. First, some in the government believe Iraq can provide a democratic model for the Middle East. People should never listen to Bill Kristol again. This is a crazy idea.

Even if you don't believe we have a chance there are other reasons we need to be there. Firstly, an unstable government will be a training camp for numerous terrorist groups. Just look at Somalia today which has no functional government and how it is Al Qaeda's top African playground.

Another reason is to prevent Iran from dominating Iraq. The majority of the Iraqi people are Shi'a Muslims. The majority of Iran is Shi'a. The Shi'a in Iraq are upset over being the majority but having no power over the Saddam years. Now they want it but the minority Sunnis are afraid what they will do with it. This is what has led to civil war in Iraq. If the Shi'a win the power struggle, Iran will likely be the number one ally.

So what should the US do with Iraq? Biden wants to divide it into three countries. I actually like that idea as it will then at least be three united countries. Some want a strict timetable for redeployment. Troops would be redeployed to Kuwait, to guard the oil pipelines and to specific sites in Iraq. Kucinich wants everyone home right now. I think he needs to realize that some troops have to remain to protect US interests the way we have troops in South Korea.

But there is one man that wants to do the worst thing in the world. His name is John McCain. He wants to send 30,000 more troops to stabilize Iraq. Will it work? Well, did you read this column? Did you read that our troops cannot stabilize a country without deliberately killing a mass amount of people and using terror. If we cannot win with the current strategy, using more troops does not solve the problem. It makes it worse and it leads to the death of more Americans and Iraqis.

I recently read in the paper that we have lost more troops than we lost people during 9/11. If we had not invaded Iraq, do you think 3,000 more Americans would have died as a result of terrorist attacks? Considering Saddam had nothing and did not have a link to Al Qaeda, I'm guessing probably not. Remember, Saddam was Sunni/Secular and Al Qaeda is Shi'a. They don't mix.

Based on this new found knowledge, I am officially anti-war. This war can't be won because we don't have the means to do it. Sending in more troops will only make the situation and death toll worse. Here is what the Democrats should do with their power. They should tell Bush that taxes have to be raised to fund the cost of the war and if he does not raise them then troops will be redeployed and withdrawn. If they do that, maybe then we will see how confident Bush is that we are going to win. My guess is that my taxes will remain the same and our brave men and women will get to see their families.

Peace