Utah Free Press

Kirdish Child, Saddam’s handy work.

Originally published March 9, 2006 by Richard Okelberry

When I see someone with a “Support Our Troops: Bring Them Home” or “US out UN in” sign in their yard, I can’t help think to myself, “what a total idiot.” Of course while these people are total idiots, I at least respect their convictions, no matter how hypocritical it is. What I truly can’t stand, are the people that were for the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq, but are now turning tail and moving against the war on terror.

It appears that a large number of people don’t have the basic moral compass to stand behind what they once started. You see, every one of us who supported going into Iraq are and will forever be responsible for what happens over there. Just as the citizens that originally supported going to war against the socialists in Germany during World War II get credit for that decision, so we will get credit for ultimately bringing peace, democracy and stability to the Middle East. Now those of you who are tucking your tail between your legs and now calling for withdrawal, you are no better than those hypocritical idiots that I mentioned before.

Why do I call them hypocrites? Because, they make, at their convenience, a differentiation between the use of our national military and our domestic military to resolve conflict. When there are international atrocities and threats against our country, they want us to stay as far away from it as possible. However, they are also the first wimpy wimps to call the police if anyone even brushes up against them or looks at them in the wrong way. You see our domestic police are nothing more than another form of the military. Their primary job is to enforce our standards and laws and protect us from those that might harm us. To this end we empower them to use force, even deadly force when necessary, to complete their mandated mission.

It works like this: if these hypocrites see that someone is being raped, they call the police. The police then come and enforce the law. But when they see thousands upon thousands of people not just being raped but tortured, maimed, gassed and killed, they want us to do nothing. It’s not our business to interfere in the affairs of another nation, right? WRONG! Not only is it our business, it’s our moral obligation. Now, I know that most of you socialist liberals just cringed as your eyes passed over the word “moral.” No doubt it conjures up images in your mind of right wing evangelical Christians bent on world domination. What you don’t understand is that morality is the one thing that most peoples of the world have in common.

With the exception of the sick and deranged, most people are repulsed by images of dead babies lying on the ground, bloated from exposure to toxic gasses. Now, I will, and have from the beginning, disagree with “Weapons of Mass Destruction” as the reason for going to war in Iraq. I felt that the need to root out terrorists and bring an end to a brutal regime (that not only directly sponsored terror via payments to the families of suicide bombers in Palestine but also committed some of the worst atrocities ever seen against its own people) was reason enough. And for those of you screaming in your head that the war was just for oil, you are only partly right. Of course it was for oil. If there was no oil in Iraq, our chances, unfortunately, of being there today would be slim to none. But that is something we must all work to change. Economic interests should no longer be our motivating factor for war. However, we must not shy away from using our military to enforce international moral standards when necessary.

I hope the next time you see an idiotic peace sign in someone’s yard that you remember one thing. While these people say they are against war they are also telling us what they are for. They are for the shooting of women in the back of the head for simply wanting to learn how to read. They are for midnight abductions and rape houses. They are for the torture and murder of political and religious dissenters. They are for genocide in the form of chemical and biological warfare. They are for the draining of the world’s larges wetland so that tanks can be brought to bear against a civilian population. If you are against the use of force to prevent these things, then you are simply turning your back on the millions of victims and are ultimately responsible for letting that happen. Are there tragedies and civilian death in war? Of course there is, but now you know the alternative. Don’t be a hypocrite, stick to what you once believed in and keep your promise of a better life to all those souls so far away. If you have any doubt about how bad it was in Iraq before the war, check out the Reports section at Amnesty International.