Whay are we there

I was recently asked to comment to the question of why we invaded Iraq, why we are still there and why are our military being killed. I have sent the reply and felt my comments strong enough to warrant publishing it on the site.

Ranter

Why are our men and women losing their lives over Iraq? That is a question of vast ethical and moral subject matter and perhaps even harder to comment to in any venue. If one was to Google the phrase, “Why did we invade Iraq” you will see 5, 160,000 hits to surf ones heart content. We must ask ourselves if that question cab possibly be answered through any of the sites. I sincerely doubt it and doubt it ever will from the ethical or moral view.

I do not feel anyone can effectively answer a question of that magnitude, Personally, l have yet to satisfy all of mine, yet here we are presently engaged in a war in which once again there appears to be no end in sight.

The technical and military view of the military basis of the invasion are openly available and understandable, once we have tossed aside the misinformation, untruths and preconceived notions, however, that too leaves a tremendous amount of questions.

As a veteran of one war, never declared but hard fought, I will attempt to offer any insight that I can.

Many individuals have felt that G.W. was simply attempting to resolve something left undone by his father and of course, this was media fueled until the ad nauseam. To understand the action still leaves many questions remaining.

There are those who constantly remind us the initial attack was in response to inaccurate human intelligence of WMD that some members of the intelligence circles had already dismissed. CIA Director George J. Tenet presented it to the President as factual and when asked if the intelligence was accurate it was reported he stated, “Mr. President, it is a slam dunk.”

Clearly, the events leading to the war are still open to interpatation, but the one fact remains. The people of Iraq were being tortured and murdered by the thousands; the Kurdish people had faced massive chemical weapons attack, mustard gas, leading to the deaths of unheard proportions. This event is now being addressed in the trial of Saddam. The sons of Saddam were also involved with deaths through their own sadistic treatment of human beings, Iraqi citizens.

Let us toss aside the entire question of the WMD that is the constant political buzz word for the upcoming elections, it certainly no longer matters, we are there, boots on the ground and now we must question why we did not depart.

The people of Iraq certainly more than deserved salvation from the terror of Saddam’s rule, as fellow human beings they certainly did not deserve the sadistic terror they were living under every waking and sleeping moment of their lives.

For no other reason except America and England were powerful enough to save thousands from death and additional thousands from torture and the knowledge we were the salvation of the people.

For no other reason than as human beings, we were morally obligated to attempt to save these people from the world of Saddam. For no other reason than that of providing safety for them would have been a basis to invade.

Herein lays the dilemma, yet answers the question of why we remain. We cannot withdraw forces now that they are committed. This would leave the country in a total state of chaos, confusion and the two warring sects, Shi’a and Sunni Arabs will destroy the entire country leaving the question of the events preceding the invasion never satisfied to anyone’s total satisfaction. In retrospect now that we are committed, the question of why actually no longer matters.

Yes, the Shi’a and Sunni are fighting one another and people are still being killed. Yes, we are losing military men and women, precious lives in a battle of faith that is not ours, but the situation would worsen should we depart. We are at least attempting to build their military and give them the capability to govern and protect.

Is the death of one military man or women worth what we are attempting to do for our fellow human beings? That is still the question at large and one that can never be answered if it is still within our hearts when the answers are in front of us.