Bad decisions in Iraq reflect bad decisions here at home

by James Simpson
Potomac News
Friday, May 7, 2004

The people in the Middle East have been at war with each other for thousands of years, and the only thing that gets them to pause in their fighting is taking on the "Great Satan" - America.
I pray for the day that the only product we need to import from the Middle East is sand to line our beaches. I would love nothing more than to see the people of the Middle East sitting on top of a slimy substance of decomposed prehistoric swamp life worth less than the cost to pump it out of the ground.

I supported our invasion of Afghanistan; however I opposed the conflict in Iraq. When a county attacks the United States, or does nothing to terrorists residing in it that are intent on attacking the United States, then we have a right and duty to protect and defend ourselves. We should go in and level the place to set an example of what will happen to those who wish to do us harm.

I would have been in favor of the Iraq conflict if the case had been put before the American people, and Congress had voted on a formal declaration of war. We should leave the United Nations, and I am disappointed that the Bush Administration and Congress used a UN resolution as justification to invade Iraq.

Even if no WMDs had been found, at least the war would have been based on constitutional grounds (a formal declaration of war) and not on a rogue pseudo government made up of despotic governments intent on spreading their evil throughout the world.

We should never send our armed forces into other nations to help them build or rebuild their infrastructure. We should never take money from the American people to build or rebuild other nations.

Beyond the fact that this is an inappropriate use of our military and tax money, it is a waste. The people of Iraq will never be thankful for our sacrifices. The people of Japan and Germany were given their freedom, as well as many other European and Asian nations, and what have they done for us? Japan has waged an economic war against us for years and Germany refuses to support our efforts against terrorism. And this is just the most recent "thanks" we receive from them.

Like all other nations on this planet, which we give taxpayer money to and have troops deployed to protect, they turn on us at the first opportunity. Iraq will be no different.

The Iraqi people have not won their freedom. It is being "handed over" to them. Like a child who is just "given" a new car, they will not appreciate its value because they have not done the work necessary to obtain it. Iraqi freedom is doomed to failure. All Middle Eastern nations are ruled by religious zealots.

Unlike our own nation, which can exist in relative peace because the founders knew that politics and religion don't mix well, Iraq and other Middle Eastern nations will not know peace and freedom until they separate their religions from their governments. Unfortunately this will never happen.

The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, commonly referred to as the 9/11 Commission, is "chartered to prepare a full and complete account of the circumstances surrounding the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks" as one of its primary missions.

Just as the House Un-American Activities Committee was guilty of investigating private citizens for Communist-related activities, while the House and Senate were passing socialist legislation and budgets, the 9/11 Commission is investigating the heads of various intelligence departments and the Administration instead of where the real problems exist - in Congress.

The truly guilty were the 19 individuals who hijacked the planes. However, there is culpability on the part of our elected representatives who give taxpayer money to foreign countries and send our troops around the world rather than focus on the first and greatest constitutional priority - to protect the lives and freedoms of Americans.

Congress, like the Virginia legislature and Prince William Board of Supervisors, has failed to prioritize correctly. Until their first duty is accomplished, they have no justification for moving on to other unconstitutional goals. Not surprisingly, when they fail miserably at protecting us their first reaction is to remove focus on their blunder by creating feel good laws that do nothing more than provide a false sense of security while providing terrorists one of their goals - less freedom for Americans.

The real disappointment is that these same men and women will get reelected, as the overwhelming majority are during every election. The system is rigged in their favor.

So the cycle goes: Bad decisions are made, worse corrections are instituted and they get to sit fat and happy in their ivory tower while Americans foolishly return them to redemonstrate their stupidity.

James Simpson lives in Lake Ridge.