US Attack on Iraq: Just Do It!

While it’s hard to find anyone who supports Iraq’s Saddam Hussain and thinks that he is a good man; most people are far from being convinced that the United States has the right to attack Iraq. These sentiments are resulting into growing anti-war movement across the globe. The fundamentals of the US case for war are rooted into national security and morality. But world is just not buying it. People do not believe that Saddam Hussain presents any clear and present danger to the national security of the United States. Moral case, which is based on Saddam’s human rights record, his use of chemical weapons and his invasions of Kuwait is also not persuasive enough for most people to justify a US attack.

This failure of the US diplomacy to convince the world of its case has been a great boon for the likes of Al Qaeda. They have very successfully portrayed the United States as an enemy of the Islam and significantly increased their memberships. Recent unprecedented election victory of MMA - a Pakistani version of Taliban - in Pakistani elections is a clear example of that trend.

The US has successfully portrayed Saddam as an evil man, but has failed to convince the world that it has jurisdiction over Iraq and has the right to decide Saddam’s fate. People are unable to make a connection between Iraq’s possession of weapons of mass destruction and US attack over Iraq. It’s like China declaring that it is going to attack Mexico because it has weapons of mass destruction. Even if China proves that Mexico has weapons of mass destruction, no body is ever going to buy that China has any jurisdiction over Mexico.

War is a very bad thing. It is hard to justify under any circumstances, current Iraq crises puts the US in a more complicated position to justify it. It’s almost impossible for the US to win a public debate over this issue. The way things have been progressing war seems inevitable. So, I think US should just stop justifying the war and instead it should just do it. For one thing, this would stem the growing popularity of the militant Islamic groups who are using the debate as a pretext to stay relevant and gain membership. Secondly, I think, as unintended outcomes of the war, a new Iraq could prove a catalyst for the long overdue changes for the whole of Middle East and Muslim world.

Globalization is the basis for all social and economic progress, isolation results into poverty, anarchy and terrorism. A war in Iraq would almost guarantee a long term US and global commitment to Iraq and would become a channel for change for the neighboring countries. And this would be a great thing. Middle East needs it. While Europe, North America and most of East Asian nations has been enjoying the benefits of democracy, freedom and economic prosperity, much of the Muslim world has been living under tyrant and corrupt dictators who have been promoting religious extremism to justify and prolong their regimes. Hundreds of millions of people are living under miserable conditions. Their lives probably just can’t get any worse. Anything that gives any hope for change should be welcomed. Just because Collin Powel is unable to make a convincing case at the UN Security Council, this war should be opposed. The US is going to Iraq for its own reasons which range from desire to control Iraqi oil, to the pressure of the Israeli lobby, but this war will also end a tyrant regime, bring Iraq out of Isolation and set into motion a wave of globalization which could bring hope to hundreds of millions of people who have been living under the tyranny and fear of Saddams and Ussamas for too long. So, if I would suggest that the United States should JUST DO IT.