BRISTOL, Connecticut, U.S.A. — One of the things that really irks me about the arguments made by supporters of the war in Iraq is their claim that war is in the best interests of the people who live in Iraq .
While it’s true that in the past Saddam Hussein has been a tyrant — brutally killing his own people, among other crimes — our struggle to get him out of power now is not worth all of the carnage that we are so thirsty to inflict.
The fact of the matter is that many more civilians are going to die during this war than Saddam would kill.
And how would blowing all these innocent Iraqis to pieces be worth it to those who’ve already been born into suffering?
While I am an avid believer in protecting America and its values – after all, if it weren’t for America , I wouldn’t be here right now writing this — waging war against Saddam is not the way that we should go about obtaining our security.
The reason? Iraq poses no threat to us.
Without hard evidence that Iraq even has “mass weapons of destruction,” let alone any proof that it has any intention of using them, we have absolutely no business in Iraq .
That’s why I believe that President Bush’s motivation lies elsewhere.
We have no legal or moral justification for war, or even a shred of proof that Iraq directly threatens the United States , though it perhaps threatens our empire-building agenda.
Does our government truly believe that this war will bolster our nation’s feeling of security? From what I’ve observed so far, it has only aggravated peoples’ fear.
We are living in such a nauseating state of paranoia that it has led to altering our daily lives, stripping us of the liberties that America stands for.
We are absolutely cold-hearted, callous, and downright murderous to believe that wiping out masses of people over mere speculation is justified. The idea of slaughtering the helpless over mere guesswork is appalling.
The fact of the matter is that we don’t have real evidence of Iraq doing anything at all that should worry us. The American government has connived and schemed to bring up so much that proved false that even if something genuine turned up, it’d be hard to believe.
The comic book story that the Bush administration is giving as an outline and justification for this war is sickening.
These are real lives we are playing God with, yet all our government has to do is create propaganda and it gains approval and popularity.
Well I must say, Mr. Bush, if it’s popularity you wanted, it’s definitely what you’ve got.
With elections coming up in 2004, there’s no doubt in my mind that Bush will be a tough act to follow for anyone who’s running against him because of the support he’s secured through war.
It’s a horrifying reality to accept.
The real threat is the 2.5 million jobs lost since Bush took office, the plummeting stock market, the soaring deficit and our retirement funds in danger.
I cannot accept shipping young, healthy Americans – our nation’s future – to shed blood to help a president win re-election.
Sam Yosafi is a Reporter for Youth Journalism International.
