Love It Or Leave It?

Since the Vietnam Era, the traditional reply to a failed foreign policy has been based entirely on emotion in lieu of intellect, as supporters of war will commonly tell others that if they don't love America that they can leave it.

They usually go on to ask their counterpart whether or not they would like to live in Hitler's Germany, Stalin's Soviet Union, Uncle Ho's Vietnam (not a San Francisco Treat), or Hussein's Iraq.

These people are easy to spot; they lack intellect. Foreign policy is much more complicated than their limited thinking, so they lash out in emotional outbursts in order to justify what, all too often, is an unjustifiable act.

So, when evaluating American involvement in Iraq, Americans need to ask pertinent questions as to engagement in the region. Are American interests best served through involvement? Do future ramifications by involvement outweigh the short-term gains by military engagement? Could the threat posed by the Hussein dictatorship by handled in another manner short of war, yet achieve the same results?

Well, the answers to these questions are rather simple. No. No. Yes. Or, if one were taking a high school test, False, False, True.

First off, for better or worse, Hussein served a dual role, which, actually benefited American interests. Wearing two hats, Hussein liked to bully his neighbors, i.e. Iran, and maintain total control over a dynamic ethnic mix, as though he were the Iraqi version of Tito. While he may have been paranoid, genocidal, and egotistical, just to name a few adjectives, Hussein actually did serve American interests well, although not altogether perfect, as evident from the invasion of Kuwait.

Now, America is faced with a possibility that a Shiite dominated government, allied with Iran, will come to power. Thus, America, entirely by accident, may have given birth to a new, enlarged 21st century version of the Persian Empire.

Of course, this situation could have been handled much differently. By merely maintaining the No-Fly Zones, Saudi basing rights, and application of pressure through northern Iraq via the Kurds, Hussein's regime could have felt a constant threat, yet been unable to menace her neighbors. Thus, by virtue of leaving Hussein in power, Iranian power could have been checked without the loss of American life resulting in the ability of American threats having greater global credibility, as our military would not have been tied down in Baghdad.

So, for those who can't understand why opposition to the War in Iraq exists, there it is. While many may still prefer the emotional response, the failure to allow the exercise of the first amendment will leave you in Saddam's Iraq. Maybe not tomorrow, but someday.