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A Response to the "Anti-War" Movement.
By WildJew (wildjew@wildjew.com)

America is at war. Hundreds of thousands of young and old American and coalition soldiers are in harm's way half way around the world. Despite the expectations of some that this war would last less than a week, the facts and latest developments point to a longer and arduous conflict. But make no mistake about it; in less than 3 weeks of war, we have achieved a great deal, from liberating major cities and destroying elite Republican Guard units to feeding thousands of Iraqis and capturing thousands of Iraqi POWs. But this essay is not about how long the war will last or how well we are doing. The purpose of this essay is to respond to all of the "anti-war" protestors here in America. Over the past month, the "anti-war" movement seems to have grown immensely and it seems that every time you turn on the television or open a newspaper, all you see are thousands and thousands of people protesting the war. After the war started, I expected the protestors to settle down and show solidarity in supporting our brave troops deployed in Iraq. But after seeing countless protests in NYC and nationwide after the war started, I decided that I had to respond to their irresponsible claims and vicious allegations.

I will address this issue by breaking it up into two major parts:

1. Why going to war was the right thing to do.
2. Why the "anti-war" protestors are wrong.

Why going to war was the right thing to do.

I don't like war and I'm sure most people would agree with me. However, I believe this war was necessary for many reasons, some of which are presented below.

1. To eliminate the financial source of Palestinian homicide bombings, Al Qaeda operations, and other terrorist activities.
   • Saddam and his regime has the ability to hand off chemical, biological, and nuclear WMDs to Al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations, making him a serious threat to US security.³⁰
   • Saddam has paid cash rewards, up to $25,000 per bombing, to the families of Palestinian homicide bombers in the West Bank and Gaza.⁵
   • Al Qaeda operatives are carrying out terrorist attack in Iraq against coalition forces.⁶
   • There is mounting evidence that Iraq has definite links with Al-Qaeda and September 11th.³⁵
   • Saddam's Iraq hosts a number of terrorist groups, namely Ansar al-Islam (formerly known as Jund al-Islam), which is linked to Al Qaeda.⁷
   • Saddam has encouraged a jihad (terrorism) or holy war against America and its allies.⁸
   • Mohammed Atta, ringleader of the September 11th hijackers, is suspected to have met with senior Iraqi intelligence officials prior to 9/11 in Prague.¹⁰
   • 4,000+ Arab homicide bombers are being invited into Iraq to defend Saddam and his regime. Some have been captured by coalition forces.¹¹
   • Saddam and his regime has rewarded Iraqi homicide bombers with medals and their families with large sums of money. They also vowed that such attacks would become routine policy. This is a flagrant violation of the Geneva Convention Accords, which Iraq claims to follow!¹⁶
2. To destroy Saddam's Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) and other illegal weapons.
   • Saddam and his regime used chemical nerve agent to murder thousands of Kurds in northern Iraq. This campaign known as, Infal, lasted from 1987 to 1989, during which over 200,000 Iraqis were slaughtered by Saddam Hussein.²¹
   • Saddam and his regime used chemical WMDs on Iranian troops and civilians during his war with Iran.¹⁷
   • Saddam and his regime has fired Scud, Seersucker, and Silkworm missles, some of which violate the UN's 150km range, at Kuwait. He also has not destroyed all of his banned Al-Samoud missiles.²
   • Coalition forces have found thousands of chemical suits and antidotes to chemical exposure in Iraq. Since coalition forces do not have any chemical weapons in Iraq, this can only mean one thing: Saddam has chemical or biological weapons.³
   • Coalition forces have found a suspected chemical factory.⁴
   • U.S. forces have found banned chemical weapons (WMDs) stored in huge drums at a military training camp in Central Iraq. General Benjamin Freakly of the 101st Airborne Division said tests performed Monday indicate the presence of nerve and blister agents.²⁴
3. To liberate the Iraqi people and rebuild Iraq
   • Saddam and his regime has killed over 200,000 of his own people (the Kurdish in the north and the Shia in the south).²¹
   • Saddam and his regime has executed, tortured, and raped many who opposed him (including his own family members).³⁶
   • Now, his regime is forcing children to fight coalition forces.¹
   • Saddam and his regime is using innocent Iraqi civilians as human shields.⁹
   • The seven innocent women and children killed at an American checkpoint were forced into the "death" van at gunpoint by Saddam's forces and told to speed towards the checkpoint without stopping!¹⁵
   • The US has pledged over $2.3 billion to feed Iraqis and help rebuild the country's infrastructure.²⁰
   • The Iraqi National Congress (INC) has united all opposition forces to call for the end of Saddam's regime! From their site: "The rule of Saddam Hussein has been a national tragedy of unprecedented proportions for Iraq and her people."²²
4. To prevent massive environmental damage.
   • Saddam, during his infamous interview with Dan Rather, said he would not set fire to the oil fields. He lied!¹²
   • There has been an increase in algae in the Shatt Al Arab estuary and surrounding waters, from the dumping of raw sewage, wastewater, and garbage into the water.¹³
   • The oil fires are being put out by engineers and firefighters from America and Kuwait.¹⁴
5. To prevent Saddam from initiating any more wars. He has initiated two wars with his neighbors in the past 20+ years.
   • In 1980 he initiated a horrendous, 8 year war with Iran, during which time he used chemical weapons to kill Iranian soldiers and innocent Iranian citizens.¹⁷
   • In 1990 he invaded the oil-rich country of Kuwait. He was driven out by a coalition led by the Americans!¹⁸
   • During the fist Gulf War, Saddam's regime fired 39 Scud missiles into Israel. Israel did not retaliate!¹⁹
6. To change the view of America and the West in the Islamic world.
   • Protestors say that Islamic terror will increase against the West and America. Saddam actually funds and supports many of these Islamic terrorists (see above). To eliminate him is to eliminate a major source of funding of terrorism!
   • There is a fundamental hatred and mistrust of America and the West in much of the Islamic world. Through this war of liberation we will show that America is fighting terror, not Islam!
   • There is concrete evidence that the enslaved Iraqi people are relieved and happy to see American and coalition forces destroying Saddam's regime.²³
   • American and coalition medics and relief workers have provided invaluable medical care, food, and water to Iraqi citizens.
   • There have been numerous cases of thousands of Iraqi soldiers deserting their position and giving themselves up to coalition forces because they know we will provide them with food, water, and medical care.
   • Thousands of Iraqis in America and in Iraqi celebrated the liberation of Baghdad and thanked America for it.²⁷

Why the "anti-war" protestors are wrong.

Since the war started, the "anti-war" protestors have refused to calm down and support our troops. Below I lay out my case for why I think the protestors are not doing the right thing.

1. The protestors are hypocrites.
   • They claim to want a peaceful resolution to this, and yet they fight with police, obstruct other people's ways, and loot and destroy property.²⁵
   • When asked how they would solve this problem without war, almost all say that they "dunno, but war is not the answer."²⁸
   • Do they not see the pictures coming out of Iraq of Iraqi civilians happy and relieved to see coalition forces and them dancing in the streets, waving to our soldiers, smiling, waving American flags, praising President Bush and American forces?²⁷
   • They see America as unfair and a threat to world peace, and yet their rights to say what they want are protected by brave America's Army, Marines, Navy, and other military personnel.
   • They worry more about the condition of Al Qaeda combatants being held in Guantanamo Bay (where we give them food, water, religious freedom, and medical treatment), then they do about the American soldiers being held, tortured, beaten, and executed by Iraqi forces.
   • Many of these "anti-war" protestors accept Palestinian homicide bombings as a way to fight Israeli "aggression". I guess their views only apply if you're not in a certain group.²⁹
   • They claim that war will not solve anything. On the contrary, history tells us that war has solved many of the world's greatest problems and threats (Word War II, World War I, American Civil War, Cold War, Korean War, Gulf War, etc.) and has allowed peace to persevere and freedom to spread (the same freedom they use to bash everything that doesn't conform to their views)!
   • They claim that the US is "invading" Iraq for its oil, and yet they do not question the motives of France, Germany, and Russia, who collectively have over $100 billion owed to them by Saddam and have vast (hundreds of billions of dollars) oil contracts with the dictator!³⁸
2. Their reasoning is flawed.
   • Many believe that we are only after Iraq's oil. Why didn't the U.S. take over Iraq in 1991 when Saddam's regime was much weaker? Why didn't we attack in 1998, when Iraq kicked out the UN inspectors? Why didn't we attack prior to that when Iraq was still very weak from the Gulf War in 1991?
   • As President Bush has said, oil will be used to help rebuild Iraq and its economy. The Coalition has already declared that the oil of Iraq will be placed in trust for the people of Iraq, preserved intact by the valor and quick action of their liberators.³⁰
   • Protestors have claimed and still claim that tens of thousands of innocent Iraqi civilians will be killed. That has not been the case at all. The coalition forces are very careful not engage civilians (an this has caused casualties on our side).
   • Many oppose the war and say that this war is illegal because the UN did not approve of it. "There have been scores of military actions since the founding of the United Nations. Only two or three have been submitted for approval by the Security Council. A threatened Russian veto blocked U.N. approval for the humanitarian intervention in Kosovo. The French did not seek such approval for their intervention in the Ivory Coast, nor did Russia for its war in Chechnya. The massacre in Rwanda failed to move the Security Council."³⁰
   • Even Hans Blix admits that Iraq fooled the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) from 1981 to 1987, while he was its director general. During that time, the Iraqis managed to hide an advanced nuclear weapons development programme from the IAEA. Mr Blix says the experience taught him something. "It's correct to say that the IAEA was fooled by the Iraqis," he said recently.³²
   • They say that the international community doesn't support this war. Wrong again! The coalition is composed of 48 countries, more than the number of countries during the Gulf War in 1991.³³
   • They claim that the war in Iraq will divert critical resources away from the war on terror. That's completely untrue and based on nothing. Since September 11th, 2001, we have caught hundreds of Al Qaeda operatives, destroyed many cells in the U.S., captured top Al Qaeda leaders, and improved our intelligence on them.³⁴
   • They claim that the pre-emptive attack on Iraq is against our history. They obviously don't know America's history. We fought the War of 1812, the Mexican War, the Spanish American War, World War I, Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf War, our campaigns in Bosnia and Kosovo, and many lesser engagements – all with no direct attack on the United States. There is nothing wrong with preemption and it is necessary for taking out dangerous threats.³⁴
3. Where were these protestors when...
   • ...when 18 American soldiers were killed in Mogadishus, Somalia, and their bodies dragged through the streets? Bill Clinton retreated and did nothing.
   • ...when Iraqi forces tortured and executed American POWs and displayed their bodies on television?
   • ...the first bombing of the WTC took place in 1993 and Bill Clinton did not do anything and stayed complicit.
   • ...when two bombs detroyed two US Embassies in Africa and killed hundreds and Bill Clinton did nothing?
   • ...when the US Cole was attacked and 17 US sailors were killed and Bill Clinton did nothing except talk?
   • ...when Saddam killed hundreds of thousands of Kurds and Shia in Iraq?
   • ...when Bill Clinton shot 40+ tomahawks into Iraq? Didn't they worry about civilian casualties then?
4. Not only are they against the war, but they are against America.
   • In one incident, demonstrators said they targeted a port because at least one company there was handling war supplies and supplying our troops. This shows how hostile these protestors are towards America's own troops. They are putting American soldiers' lives on the line!²⁵
   • Anti-war protestors at a Columbia University "teach-in" said things like: "U.S. patriotism is inseparable from imperial warfare and white supremacy", "The only true heroes are those who find ways that help defeat the U.S. military.", "I wish for a million Mogadishus", "The thuggery of preemptive war leaves all rules and norms behind.", "[Bush and his administration are] shameless liars and hypocrites.", "Lately, I have taken to sitting around fantasizing about being liberated at any moment by the European invasion." Judge for yourself these disgraceful comments.²⁶
   • Many of these protestors are from socialist, anarchist, and various other anti-American, anti-government groups which sometimes, violently, clash with police. Many of them call for a regime change here in America, as though this country is a dictatorship!^{28 and 29}
   • By protesting every single day all over the country, they divert authorities' attention from fighting crime, terrorism, and safegaurding our cities and our nation. They block major roads, bridges, tunnels, and emergency vehicles. These actions result in less security for all Americans and that, I believe is very anti-American!³¹
5. They attack Bush's intelligence, personality, and his past.
   • Calling people names and attacking them verbally and not offering any sound arguments will not give you credibility.
   • They compare Bush to Hitler and claim that he is dictator and his regime should be overthrown! Sounds like anarchists doesn't it?
   • In fact, President Bush served in the Texas Air National Guard, graduated from Yale and Harvard, and has served as Texas's Governor for two consecutive terms.³⁷