I am responding to the article "Books not Bombs" written in The Spectrum on Friday, March 7, about the protests against the pending war in Iraq. Until very recently I was undecided about whether to support going to war with Saddam Hussein. I have chosen to support President George W. Bush's decision to oust Hussein from power in Iraq. I decided on this because Hussein is a threat to the world since he is storing dangerous weapons in his country.
I do not agree with some of the statements made in the article that the "continuing weapons inspection process ... is yielding weapons" made by UB student Matt Schrantz. It has been repeatedly made public by the U.N. weapons inspectors that they have found no weapons of mass destruction while doing their inspections of Iraq. Iraq has denied having those weapons and has refused to comply with over 20 U.N. resolutions made since the Gulf War in the early 1990s, over 12 years ago.
Every time there is a war, innocent people and animals are destroyed or injured. But Hussein is murdering his own people, who are innocent, even when there is no war or reason to kill them. Iraqis, just like (citizens of) any nation in this world, have a right to be free.
I know that when we go to war with Iraq shortly, it will result in some deaths in our troops and the military members of other nations, including Iraq. I do not like that result, but I know that Hussein cannot be kept in power any longer. I personally know of more than a handful of friends, including a very good friend, that are in different branches of our military. One of my friends was even in the Gulf supporting the recent war in Afghanistan and is now very likely to be sent to the Gulf to help there. It makes me almost cry whenever I hear that more members of our troops are being sent overseas.
I have compassion for all the families who have someone serving our country in the Middle East, and elsewhere. I do not like the fact that deaths (innocent or not) will occur, but it does amaze me that our military will support the president by following the orders given to them, even when they personally do not agree with the decision our president has made. They knew when they voluntarily signed up to join that there was a chance of being killed or injured, even without a war going on. And I totally support our troops and their decisions to give up their lives and time to support the other millions of people who live here because we all want to live in freedom.
I don't think the anti-war protesters are "ignorant about what's going on," a comment made by Michael Brewster, a pro-war student. I know they have all read the newspapers and listened to the newscasts. They know that Hussein is a threat, but (they) just want a peaceful end to his reign. I do not think that is possible. Hussein will not give up his weapons, nor step down from power, unless forced to. And we are one of the few nations on earth with enough resources to do that. The only way to oust Hussein is to physically go into Iraq and remove him.
Photo: Meredith Forrest Kulwicki
