Opinion

Iraqi liberation not worth it

Matthew Caster
Opinion Columnist

I confess that after seeing the images on my television over the course of the weekend, I have decidedly changed my stance on the war in Iraq.

Thankfully for everyone who has actually rationalized the situation in the Persian Gulf, I have not become a peacenik. Contrarily, after seeing what I saw, I have become strongly in favor of turning the cities of Baghdad, Basra, An Nasiriyah, and Umm Qasr into sheets of radioactive glass.

This weekend, we saw images and heard stories coming from Iraq that should enrage all of us. The Iraqi citizenry and soldiers have resorted to committing atrocities as a means of dragging out this war of liberation.

We heard stories about Iraqi elite troops using innocent women and children as shields. We heard stories about Iraqi soldiers faking surrender under a white flag, only to ruthlessly murder the approaching American soldiers.

And many of us saw American prisoners of war being paraded before the Iraqi people and the entire Arab world in a blatant violation of the Geneva Convention. And now rumors are swirling that Saddamis government has authorized the use of chemical or biological weapons if our brave soldiers get within so many miles of Baghdad.

Iim not upset about the Iraqi resistance, as long as it conforms to the rules of civilized warfare. Over the weekend, someone said that if some foreign army had invaded the United States during the Clinton administration, many Americans would have fought like hell, even though the invaders probably would have been better leaders -- unless they were members of the Axis of Weasels.

Iim upset about the blatant disregard for human life and decency the Iraqis are showing. You can blame Saddam Hussein, if you like, or perhaps the Baath Party troops known to be dispatched throughout the country.

However, Iim content to blame everyone over there. The ordinary civilians and citizenry should rise up in disgust after seeing how their regime, the tyrannical monsters weire trying to liberate them from, are acting.

Quite simply, we are paying the price for 30 years of Iraqi cowardice. No matter how powerful Saddam and his henchmen are, the millions of Iraqis in the nation who value freedom and human decency are stronger. Even now, with a chance to prove to the world that this is a decent and legitimate regime, the Iraqis have turned to treachery and atrocity.

The coalition forces, on the other hand, have conducted the war in an admirable way. When you see Iraqi POWs on your TV, itis usually because theyire being fed more than they ever got under Hussein or because theyire receiving medical treatment.

Our POWs were neither humiliated on live television nor executed. And in fact, the Red Cross has indicated that more coalition soldiers than Iraqi civilians have died in what may be the most precise bombing campaign ever conducted. Weive left as much of the Iraqi infrastructure intact as we can, so when this war is over weill have less to rebuild.

So what do we do? We are taking a war of compassionate liberation to the Iraqis, and they are responding with brutality and indecency. It is, quite frankly, an abomination.

Since itis apparent that our "shock and awe" display wasnit quite convincing enough the other evening, letis lob a few Massive Ordnance Air Blasts (MOABs) at 'em, or maybe a couple of tactical nukes.

People who would willingly act like the Iraqis, especially in defense of a regime that has brutalized them for three decades, are not worth shedding American and British blood for their cause.

I am still pro-war, and I have no grievances with the way our brave American soldiers have waged this war, with the possible exception of the fact that any surrendering Iraqi who is still carrying a weapon of any kind should be shot on sight.

The American military, and indeed the American people, have shown the world that even in the face of the infinite horrors of war, we are still willing to give everything that may be asked of us in the name of freedom.

May God bless the families and victims of this war, the soldiers who are so bravely fighting it and all of us lucky enough to call the United States of America "home."

Caster, a senior petroleum engineering major, can be reached at patrioticcatmaster@yahoo.com