Views on the war, Onion-style

KinjaPoint-Counterpoint: The War On IraqBy Nathan Eckert"This War Will Destabilize The Entire Mideast Region And Set Off A Global Shockwave Of Anti-Americanism"George W. Bush may think that a war against Iraq is the solution to our problems, but the reality is, it will only serve to create far more.This war will not put an end to anti-Americanism; it will fan the flames of hatred even higher. It will not end the threat of weapons of mass destruction; it will make possible their further proliferation. And it will not lay the groundwork for the flourishing of democracy throughout the Mideast; it will harden the resolve of Arab states to drive out all Western (i.e. U.S.) influence.If you thought Osama bin Laden was bad, just wait until the countless children who become orphaned by U.S. bombs in the coming weeks are all grown up. Do you think they will forget what country dropped the bombs that killed their parents? In 10 or 15 years, we will look back fondly on the days when there were only a few thousand Middle Easterners dedicated to destroying the U.S. and willing to die for the fundamentalist cause. From this war, a million bin Ladens will bloom.And what exactly is our endgame here? Do we really believe that we can install Gen. Tommy Franks as the ruler of Iraq? Is our arrogance and hubris so great that we actually believe that a U.S. provisional military regime will be welcomed with open arms by the Iraqi people? Democracy cannot possibly thrive under coercion. To take over a country and impose one's own system of government without regard for the people of that country is the very antithesis of democracy. And it is doomed to fail.A war against Iraq is not only morally wrong, it will be an unmitigated disaster.-------------------------"No It Won't"By Bob ShefferNo it won't.It just won't. None of that will happen.You're getting worked up over nothing. Everything is going to be fine. So just relax, okay? You're really overreacting."This war will not put an end to anti-Americanism; it will fan the flames of hatred even higher"?It won't."It will harden the resolve of Arab states to drive out all Western (i.e. U.S.) influence"?Not really."A war against Iraq is not only morally wrong, it will be an unmitigated disaster"?Sorry, no, I disagree."To take over a country and impose one's own system of government without regard for the people of that country is the very antithesis of democracy"?You are completely wrong.Trust me, it's all going to work out perfect. Nothing bad is going to happen. It's all under control.Why do you keep saying these things? I can tell when there's trouble looming, and I really don't sense that right now. We're in control of this situation, and we know what we're doing. So stop being so pessimistic.Look, you've been proven wrong, so stop talking. You've had your say already.Be quiet, okay? Everything's fine.You're wrong.

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With all of this talk of war, many of us will encounter "Peace Activists" who will try and convince us that we must refrain from retaliating against the ones who terrorized us all on September 11,

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I doubt that you will find many Americans who are against the effort to find Osama bin Laden.Too bad we aren't putting 80 billion dollars into finding him. I'll bet we would if we did.Saddam Hussein didn't have anything to do with Sept 11, although the Bush regime has done some excellent spin to make the majority of Americans think he is responsible.

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2001, and those who support terror.

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WE have supported terrorists, including Saddam Hussein and Bin Laden, for decades.

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Oh really? I know! We can line up US soldiers arm-to-arm, and WALK them from one side of Afghanistan to another.

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Look, Gene, I seem to remember some emessaries from Afghanistan coming to speak to congress some time ago, to plead for us to not forget about them because our eyes turned so quickly to Iraq.

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He was harboring and supporting terrorists,

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He was? When, who? Are we going to invade Pakistan, Israel, and Ireland now, too?

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developing WMD,

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Which Bush says are there but nobody seems to have found yet...

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and flaunting international law.

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What do you care about international law? I thought that only what Bush/the US thinks is moral and justified is important. You seem to think that any country that we think MIGHT do something to us in the future should be invaded. See the problem with this?

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You remember when he last expelled the inspectors?

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Huh? He never expelled the inspectors. We withdrew the inspectors.

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He suddenly opened back up when Bush demonstrated he was a bit more serious than Clinton.

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And that's why I thought, very briefly, that bush might actually be really smart with all of this saber-rattling.Turns out he is just a war-monger and the inspection stuff was just to try to appease the UN. He was always going to invade Iraq, because the inspectors didn't find any WMD. Just like I don't suspect we will find any WMD now.

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But why should we have had to keep hundreds of thousands of US troops stationed in the Middle East until Uday dies of old age? It's unreasonable.

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We will have to keep thousands of troops there for decades now anyway. As many predicted, the fundamentalists are coming out in force, as they are the majority in southern Iraq, after all, and demanding to be allowed to form their own government.If we don't want another Iran-style theocracy, we will have to be there for decades.This is a surprise to you? It isn't to me.

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And why did we oust Milosevic for "ethnic cleansing" and do nothing about Saddam when he was doing worse?

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We did nothing about Hussein because he wanted to go to war with Iran. We supported his secular government, however brutal, over the fundamentalist muslim government of Iran, and we knew he was gassing Kurds when we gave him support.

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You liberals

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I hate that kind of language, Gene. It's really bigoted and really stupid and only meant to be disrespectful and belittling. Grow up.

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love to talk about human rights -- but are vehemently opposed to actually doing anything about their violations. Before this war started, if I had shouted "Free Tibet!" into a crowd of liberals before this war started, they would have cheered, but had I yelled "Free Iraq!" I probably would have gotten roughed up. It is hypocrisy of the highest order, and it is also the unrealistic belief that people can be free without the occasional war. War is sometimes necessary, as it was in this case. Saddam was invited to leave and he didn't. So the troops paid him a visit.

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If this war was really about Iraqi "freedom", then why don't we get out and let them elect their own leader, like they are asking us to?Oh, and about freedom? Why won't the US agree to sign the international ban on land mines, and why does it refuse to stop using cluster bombs?[This message has been edited by schrafinator, 05-04-2003][This message has been edited by schrafinator, 05-04-2003][This message has been edited by schrafinator, 05-04-2003]