Today is the day on which Iraq is supposed to come clean with its weapons programs, and disarm. Instead of this, though, it appears that the terms of the 10+ year old UN resolutions are not going to be met, and we will go to war…. without the UN, without allies, and without much chance of losing.
The President is speaking to the country tonight, and I have to believe that, much like his father before him, he will announce that the day is at hand, and that the attack could begin at any time. The UN pulled all its workers out of Iraq today — I have to wonder if that was because of this being the deadline day, or if Kofi Anan was tipped off that something was coming. Surprise would buy the US little advantage, I suspect, so telling the UN that something is coming doesn’t seem like it would impact the outcome very much.
History has 20/20 vision, however. I wonder if history will view this as the liberation of the Iraqi people (as President Bush would have us believe), another bullying action by a defunct superpower (as the French and others believe), or an excuse for the beginning of a governmental oppression of people living in America (as some extremists seem to believe).
My view? Well, I don’t like war. I especially don’t like a war that has promised to bring its horrid consequences to our shores. However, I believe Saddam Hussein is evil (some have called him the antichrist — I don’t know if that’s true or not), and should no longer be allowed to be in power. It appears that political, economical and diplomatic solutions aren’t bearing fruit, so I guess I’m resigned to supporting this effort.
God bless our troops, leaders and citizens. May this be a short conflict, with few casualties.