Conservative camp cries 'Foul!'

Justin Ray
Guest Columnist

In response to Brandon Moeller's column "Persian Gulf War: play it again Sam," (Opinion, Jan. 18) I feel it is my duty (and, of course, my privilege) to convey the silent majority's position; or, for all you Hillary Clinton fans, the position of the "vast right-wing conspiracy." 

I don't know if Moeller is a flaming liberal or not, but according to this article, he certainly does dance a little too much on the left wing for me.

Moeller takes a position that definitely illustrates a liberal dislike for armed conflict, even when necessary. Situations like the Gulf War vindicate conservatives who for years advocated a well-executed military build-up for just such a situation.

God forbid that it vindicates Ronald Reagan, whose military won the war.

Liberals always proclaim the need for everybody to come together as one. They don't, however, accept Americans coming together and unifying behind a military cause like we did in 1991. (Anybody remember Lee Greenwood singing "God Bless the USA" on an American warship and all those yellow ribbons?)

I guess they just can't fathom Americans unifying anywhere else besides an Earth Day fair while bashing corporate America and reading Karl Marx.

The Gulf War was a necessary conflict for all the right reasons. For one, former President George Bush has stated many times that the human atrocities committed by the Iraqis towards the people of Kuwait were reason enough to oust Saddam Hussein from the region.

Was oil another concern? You bet. The United States consumed 70 percent of the world's oil production and Hussein threatened to drastically affect America's economic interests.

Bush told the American people this would not be another Vietnam. Vietnam was a war hampered by liberals and politicians who wouldn't allow the military to execute an effective war.

Unfortunately, in war, people die -- including civilians. Anybody has to give the U.S. military some credit for having the capability to pinpoint military targets as skillfully as they did, drastically reducing the number of civilian casualties. It was only 60 years ago that bombing tactics included squadrons of B-17s and B-24s indiscriminately dropping tons of bombs over towns in Europe and Asia. 

Finally, remember this fact: This operation was so successful and so popular around the world that Bush attained a 90 percent approval rating at home only to have people forget a year later.

So yes, I'm glad to see the next president surround himself with the people who called the shots during this conflict. At least we know that this Bush administration will have people who can get the job done in tough situations.

One more thing. Moeller got one last dig in on Dubya by referring back to the comment he made to Vice President Cheney about the reporter. Trust me, I've said much worse about Jim Parsons, and more often. (Just kidding.)

Ray is the Student Government Association's Speaker 
of the Senate. He can be reached at dccampus@mail.uh.edu.