Let me start off by saying that I am not against this war we are waging with Iraq. I am also not for it, either. I am not a "peacenik" by any means, nor am I a "warhawk." I am "pro people." So, before we all start marching around with signs protesting a war that "doesn't make sense," let us collectively examine the facts.
This is not a second Vietnam. It's not an opportunity to be seen as liberal college students who sit on front lawns and talk politics. George Bush is not our enemy, as much as it may seem. Saddam Hussein is our enemy. We have no choice but to remove his regime from power before history repeats itself.
Yes, it is true that we are heading into the Middle East without United Nations backing. But would it make a difference anyway? What is the true intelligence of an organized group of countries that place countries like Libya in charge of Human Rights Committees and Iraq in charge of the World Committee for Disarmament? Osama bin Laden didn't ask the U.N. if he could fly a plane into the World Trade Center. Hussein never pleaded with the U.N. to use mustard gas on the Kurds.
For those of us who don't like to read, I have the shortest history assignment ever: walk into the Undergraduate Library, pick up a Britannica and look up "French Military Victories." You'll be done with that article in 30 seconds. Whether the French are with us or not is inconsequential. We cannot expect the French to help us liberate the Iraqi's when they wouldn't even help to liberate themselves.
Finally, chant all you want that "blood and oil don't mix." Then get into your Chevy Blazer and drive to Mobil and fill up your gas tank. If each and every American didn't visit a gas station for one day and not one plane took off from any airport anywhere, we could cripple the second-largest oil-exporting nation (Iraq) without firing one single missile. Do the math. $1.83 a gallon at Mobil times 200 million cars times an average of 30 gallon tanks per vehicle. Astonishing, isn't it? I saw a bumper sticker yesterday that said, "People who drive SUVs support terrorism." It was on a semi tractor-trailer on the 290. Let me remind you that 10 Ford Expeditions filled with regular unleaded wouldn't equal a quarter of the jet fuel needed to fly from Buffalo to Cancun on Spring Break. And, just for good measure, Exxon-Mobil is one of the only companies left that still buys its oil from the Middle East.
Just some food for thought.
