ccchhhrrriiisss
Dec 3, 2005
Hi clownstruth...!I agree. I recently completed my graduate thesis on U.S. Foreign Relations in the Middle East (particularly with Iran). The more that I researched, the more I realized that the Middle East changed tremendously over the past 60 years, from secular states to completely oppressive fundamentalist states. Christians in most of those nations are now persecuted beyond belief. It upsets me to see "armchair prophets" and "armchair generals" use their freedom to criticize the method (war) that actually made this nation free to provide them such rights in the first place. I also get upset when I see believers that don't know President Bush personally go so far as to vocally doubt his salvation. My uncle served in Iraq for a couple of years. His job was to destroy all of the illegal weapons that Iraq had amassed over the years following the First Gulf War. Most of these weapons were purchased from the French, Germans and Russians (hence, their opposition). And the testing of these weapons was often upon the southern Shi'ites, or more often, the northern Kurds. Saddam Hussein's administration was gathering an incredible stockpile of weapons illegally. He was also paying the families of suicide bombers in Israel. He orchestrated an assassignation attempt upon former President Bush in 1993. And don't forget that he has a track record for obtaining, using, and attempting to obtain WMDs. Hussein was a ruthless tyrant who, given the opportunity, would make Osama bin Laden look like a dove.Unfortunately, my uncle's two best friends were killed when their armoured humvee was attacked (my uncle survived with only minor wounds). My uncle is now more supportive of this cause than ever before. However, he is upset that the liberal media in the U.S. continues to paint the situation with a slanted bias. Support for the U.S. operation is growing in Iraq. Most of Iraq is actually quite peaceful. There are just a relatively small number of fundamentalist insurgents that attempt to make every opportunity to insight violence. While there have been slightly over 2100 Americans killed, nearly 700 of those deaths were the result of accidents. Thus, the American death toll in Iraq is surprisingly low (especially when compared with other military operations). The Iraqi death toll is also very low when compared with other historical war operations. Of course, this would probably not be portrayed by a media that so obviously leans to the left. It doesn't make for good television. So instead, the media focuses on the bad.There are many people in Iraq that are very happy with the role of the United States in this situation. My uncle told me how Christians (as well as other minority groups) are very pleased at the prospect of greater liberty. And it would be interesting to note that, historically, such military intervention has been useful. As an American, I am very glad that the French "interfered" in the American Revolution (although I still love the British). :-)
ccchhhrrriiisss
Dec 5, 2005
Hi bubbaguy...I visited the link for the article that you cited, but the website only contained a biased and unsubstantiated conspiracy theory void of real fact. And the statement that you made about Saddam Hussein being in power because of former President Bush is not a fact. Yes, the United States did provide some arms to Hussein during his war against Iran (while the Americans from the U.S. Embassy were held hostage for 444 days). But this took place during the Carter Administration -- a time when Bush was not the director of the CIA. In fact, Bush served as the director of the CIA for just over 13 months during the Ford Administration -- some time BEFORE Hussein came into power. While I do not condone war, it can sometimes be justified. Most people recognize that World War II was indeed a "just" war. Could you imagine how different the outcome would have been if the United States had not held an isolationist position for so long? If the United States had intervened earlier, then perhaps there would have been far fewer deaths from the holocaust. Yes, we are instructed to love our enemies. But we are also instructed to take care of our family (and support our governments). The Bible also tells us that if a man does not take care of the needs of his own household, then he is worse than an infidel. A pacifist and isolationist position would allow the United States to be conquered by any enemy -- because war would never be an option. A lack of war would be wonderful in an ideal world. But we do not live in such a world. :-)
