Vicious Rants of an Angry Yellow Man

More and more people in this country are coming to the conclusion that the Iraq war is a big mistake. I was against it from the very beginning. I am not proud to say that I only made my view known to some of my closest friends at first. Even though I have lived in this country for almost 40 years, I still feel that some people look at me as an Asian and not an American. After 9/11 the whole country felt the need to stand behind the flag and that anyone going against the government maybe seen as unpatriotic. As the war is dragging on, I feel more and more frustrated and wish that I have spoken out more. It wouldn't have made a difference because we were going to war anyways but I would have feel less of a coward for not saying anything. I don't have any great answers to how to get out of this war but by writing why I was against it in the beginning and what are some of the flaws of our international policies, may be we can find some answers in the future.

One reason people are angry at Bush is that he used false intelligence about Iraq's weapons program to sell the war. I felt from the beginning that Iraq did have biological and chemical weapons. I didn't think they had nuclear weapons. It really didn't matter though. To me Hussein and bin Laden were not allies. In fact they were enemies, one a secular dictator and the other a religious zealot. Hussein was always afraid of the U.S. He used biological and chemical weapons in the 80's only with the blessing of the U.S. He invaded Kuwait because he thought the U.S. wouldn't intervene. He retreated without much of a fight during the first Gulf War. He truly had WMDs back then but would not use them against the U.S. because he knew if he did he would be completely destroyed. He would never have helped bin Laden even if he had WMDs because that would have been the end of him. Why would he risk his life to help one of his enemies? So to go after him for possible terrorism in the future is absurd especially given our complicity with him in the 80's. It strikes the rest of the world as hypocritical. It also is a waste of our lives, money, and time.

Right after 9/11 we had the sympathy of most of the world. Going into Afghanistan was the right thing to do. We should have stayed in Afghanistan and finished the job there instead of going to Iraq. Maybe bin Laden would still be at large today but we wasted chances to get him and wipe out al qaeda by taking most of the resources out of Afghanistan and into Iraq. Without finishing off one enemy we created another one. Afghanistan is not secured today. Warlords and remnants of the Talibans are still around. We should have helped ensure the democracy of Afghanistan first. By doing so the world would have applauded us. The UN would have taken over much of the work in Afghanistan by now and we would be freed to attack terrorism elsewhere.

When we attacked Iraq based on the right of preemptive strike, we lost much respect in the world. This is also against our own belief that we should not attack others unless we are in immediate danger. By claiming preemptive strike as a right for a powerful country, we have scared many peaceful nations. Can China use preemptive strike against Taiwan? Sure, Taiwan isn't a real threat to China. But is Iraq really more of a threat to the U.S. than Taiwan is to China? To the Arab world this is a case of America believing that all Arabs are alike or that we are trying to use an excuse to attack Arabs.

Let us look at the big picture of terrorism. There always going to evil people in this world. How dangerous will these people be depends on how well they can recruit others to their dirty work. We can and should chase down all the bin Ladens of the world. But we will never get rid of all of them because more are born everyday. The only way we can be secure is when we can stop them from recruiting sacrificial lambs. The suicide bombers are generally not evil people to begin with. Evil people usually don't sacrifice themselves. They get others to do the sacrificing. Bin Laden will never strap bombs on himself and walk into a market and blow himself up. The suicide bombers are misguided people. Even if the U.S. is perfectly even handed in treating the Israeli-Palestinan conflict, some will be persuaded to think of the U.S. as the enemy. But now by attacking Iraq we are adding people who can be more easily persuaded. If unsophisticated suicide bombers attack us, the result would be tragic but it would not be destructive to our way of life. My fear was and still is that there are intellectuals who were moderates in the past but see this war as proof that we are trying to destroy the Muslim world. If one of this individual is a top notch scientist living among us, the danger would be much greater than sucide bombs or planes.

I don't have many answers. But I do know that overwhelming force is not the answer. Being the most powerful nation in the world means that we can last longer than anyone else. It does not mean we are secured. We cannot bomb the whole world into submission. Look at Israel. She has overwhelming military power against the Palestinians and her neighbors and yet she is not secured. Security can only come from political solutions. This does not mean we don't go after the terrorist. We should do that and use as much resources as we need to beef up our security. we have a no win situation in Iraq right now. Even if we are able to capture Zarqawi tommorrow the country will not be stalized. Our presence there will bring more and more outside insurgents regardless even if the leader is captured. Remember Zarqawi was not a great leader before we invaded Iraq. With the help of countries like Iran, there is a guarantee of insurgents as long as we stay. Sure it looks bad to leave but our staying will not be doing any good now.