I am usually not the type to speak out about our government, but this war w/ IRAQ is really rubbing me the wrong way.

It seems like bush is not truly waiting for what the UN council finds out. He seems to have his mind made up with increased deployments and rhetoric about "if you use chemical weapons on our soldiers..."

I am all behind him, but why can't we wait until the UN inspection is done? France and Germany are not behind us (but they will ask for help if anything ever happens to them).

I feel like we are acting like the aggressor that the world has often claimed us to be.

All I want to see if for every diplomatic means be used before we go to war, namely the means of talks, and letting the inspections be complete.

We are the aggressor???

You can't be serious. This guy has been a problem for over 10 years now. All the boys are over there and they're not coming home until he is dead. It's a simple as that so live with it.

Well, personally, I could care less about the UN. I think it would be better i we stopped sending them billions a year, it would help balance our budget ; ). I agree with Washington's Farewell address that we should stay out of entangling alliances. Anyways, I have swung from side to side on this issue. I do not see much evidence of chemical or nuclear weapons. As the CP noted (I think), Saddam is looking desperately for something nuclear he can hurl somewhere. We know what he has b/c chances aer we sold it to him. I think we should lift snacitons nad begin to trade in exchange for disarmament. Personally, I think he was as justified as anyone else in attacknig Kuwait. Kuwait sat by and wathced Iraq defend them against Iran for years. On top of that, the Kuwaiti's were slan drilling and stealing Iraqi oil and selling it at cut throat prices. Moreover, our hapless ambassador told Hussein that the US was indifferent to border disputes in the Middle East. Bush Sr. used it as a distracting from his feckless domestic policy and the recession. Up until this point Hussein was our boy. Coincidentally, Bush is now standing him down as our economy has been mired in recession for two years and Osama is still on the loose. Moreover, the increase defense spending has to be making the military industrial complex happy. Is it any wonder that the only area with a thriving economy is DC? We cannot afford a war economically nor is there any real reason for one. Hussein has ot been a pain in our sides. He hates us for what he sees as betrayal. I highly doubt he wants to fight us and would be happy to bicker with the otehr oppresive regimes like Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, or virtually any other country over there. Maybe we should concentrate on other issues like our economy or why we still have possession fo Puerto Rico and it's not a state? Why should we be able to hold a territory ni the balance like that? Is that not unAmerican?

Lest we forget, a war was declared against the United States and the world on September 11. Innocent men and women lost their lives because of Terrorists who have and continue to be supported by governments in the Middle East like Iraq and Saddam Hussein. If, for no other reason, then the fact that he harbors and supports terrorists, war IS justified.

In terms of the previous war, regardless of any disputes over the sales of oil, international law, which you are pressing the US to follow, was broken by Iraq and a coalition of countries, supported by the UN, fought to defend the right of Kuwait to remain a sovereign state. Thus, was was supported and well-justified then. Unfortunately, Bush Sr. did not enable the coalition forces to finish the job and remove Saddam from power. That would have solved the problem.

If you recall, diplomacy and wasted efforts to get cooperation have been been ongoing for many years now. Why all of a sudden are they the magic solution? The terms of Iraq's surrender have been broken and thus according to those terms agreed to by the US, Iraq, the other members of the coalition and the UN, a state of war is still in effect.

Many mistakes have been made regarding Iraq over the years. This is not one of them. The UN and diplomatic efforts HAVE been made.

Since I don;t think that we should have attacked them in the first place, I can't say I worry about the terms of surrender. Regardless of Kuwait's right (whatever that means) it was no more an act of aggression that our declaration of war on spain. wha ti tcomes down to is that we push democracy only when it suits us or we can use it as an excuse for pushing our own imperial interests. Iraq is the least of our worries in the middle east and it has yet to be proven that he harbored or aiede and abetted any terrorists. In fact, most of the money is coming form other middle eastern countries with whom we are friendly. picking on iraq in this sense is arbitrary. Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Libya, etc all provide money which is th emost important asset in keeping any resistance alive. The war in Iraq qill be a unneccessary financial burden in addition to being an excercise in futility. The world will not be drastically different afterwards. We still haven;t established aything Afghanistanto brag about. Moreover, bombings all over the world and attacks on Americans occur spurred by extremist hatred which feeds off the actions of a US government that has little concern for democracy or liberty. We have lost sight of what we started and have become like all empires in times past. this may be okay with some, but not with me. I prefer the consititution to the arbitrary rules of the modern US. With that said, it is doubtful I will ever agree with you but I do hope that the war is short and does not costs us much as we are already draining our economy too much.

It has been confirmed that Iraq has been making chemical weapons and that the UN inspectors have not been able to account for them. The same holds true for the materials needed to create a nuclear weapon.

I agree that there are other countries that we need to deal with in the Middle East, but Iraq is the evil we know. That is why we are dealing with it first. We have been working with Yemen, Turkey and many other countries to root out some of the terrorist cells that reside within their borders. Iraq simply has a leader who is a terrorist as well!

To say that the US does not care for democracy is absurd. I am not naive and do not think that we are always right and squeaky clean, but if you look at our record, I would say that we tend to come out as being one of the few countries who promotes peace, justice and democracy. IS there more that we can and should do? YES!

Does that have anything to do with the situation in IRAQ? NO. I wonder if you would have had the same attitude regarding Germany prior to World War II. If you remember, diplomacy and waiting led to a holocaust and one of the worst wars in world history.

Given Sec. of State Powell's testimony and the evidence presented at the UN (Click here if you mised it), does anyone still think that Iraq is innocent? If so, how can you still feel this way?

I think that we are on a course to war that can only be avoided by the full cooperation of Iraq with the UN inspectors. Something that we have yet to see in over 12 or 13 years. Unfortunately, war is the only war to ensure that the chemical and biological weapons that we all know Iraq had, do not wind up in the hands of terrorists.

U.S. Says Iraq Retools Rockets for Illicit Uses
By JOHN H. CUSHMAN Jr. with STEVEN R. WEISMAN
Weapons inspectors recently discovered rockets configured
to disperse chemical or biological agents, U.S. officials
say.

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/10/in...10WEAP.html?th

I'm with Steve. There are terrorists in Iraq. Everyone heard the reports this week, the warnings that AlQueda sympathizers were positionedin Iraq to attack our troopson the ground potentially.

I think Saddam has to be removed. I think countries like France and Spain are behind us, but they are not willing to help pay to do it. Why not let our determined president handle it, and then reap the rewards later?

Waiting would be very dangerous, I think.

~Jennifer

__________________
* Name: Jennifer Kronstain
* Status on PhillyBlog.com: Co-Founder
* Job: Principal / Founder, KMG Worldwide Public Relations (http://www.kronstainmediagroup.com)
* Connect with Jennifer / KMG. Here's how: http://www.jenniferkronstain.com/contact.htm

I think we are much more likely to be attacked again if we attack Iraq than if we don't. It is effectivemarketing for Al Queda and will undoubtedly motivate some people to attack us again. I don;t trust our news media to give it to us straight.