by Ken King

I’ve been having a hard time settling on what I want to write about this month. Not that there isn’t anything to write about, because there is plenty. For instance, we have a looming baseball strike, that while entertaining isn't worthy of events of this time. We have been suffering a drought unlike any in recent memory, but again it just doesn’t make the cut. We have the anniversary of the cowardly attack upon our country by Osama bin Laden and his brainwashed followers, an important day of remembrance for sure, but not quite it either. We have the Executive Branch desiring to restructure the many agencies under their control for Homeland Defense, which is most definitely worthy of discussion but not my choice either. There are many more but the one thing that has kept my interest peaked is all the rhetoric coming out of the Whitehouse, and the media, concerning an impending war with Iraq because of the alleged ability to create weapons of mass destruction and Saddam’s alleged intent to use them.

To my knowledge the Iraqis haven’t done anything close to what I would consider necessary to receive an attack from our mighty military, at least since their invasion of Kuwait. We have contained them fairly well since their withdrawal and the imposition of the no-fly zones. When they have acted in the least bit aggressive we have smacked them down. Weapons inspections were halted by our government and not because the inspectors were kicked out by Saddam. Granted he was less then fully cooperative but for me that is a UN question and not one to be handled solely by the good old US of A. Furthermore, I am just not seeing the threat that the Bush administration is claiming. Speculation and conjecture are not enough for me to agree with such a first act as an attack would require. If there is evidence then the President needs to present that factual information not only to Congress but to the people. We have been living off of the fear of those cowardly attacks and it seems to have changed our political character and how we interact with other nations.

If, as claimed, weapons of mass destruction are significant issues, why aren’t we going after those countries that currently have them or that we know are willing to sell (or have sold) them to other nations? Why haven’t we demanded inspections for India and Pakistan as they both have the weapons and seem to be ready to use them upon one another, not to mention all the other nations that have these type of weapons? Why is Iraq so different? Are they more hostile to us then other nations around the world? I would say no, not when you consider that the majority of the attackers and the mastermind behind the September 11th attacks were Saudi Arabians.

I really think it is something totally different, something left over from Bush the senior that has his son wanting to create the regime change that didn’t come about after Desert Storm. This isn’t anything I can prove but it is something I feel deep inside my gut. Lacking credible evidence to the contrary, simple rhetoric won’t change this view I hold.

Other feelings I have in my gut are the memories of what it feels like when body bags and medical transports start bringing our troops home. These fathers, sons, brothers, sisters, mothers and daughters will die or suffer wounds during a war where it will be necessary for a major ground invasion to achieve the desired result, this is a virtual guarantee. This in and of itself demands that prior to any losses of American lives our leaders must be 100 percent sure that what they are doing is absolutely necessary for the security of our nation and not just believed or thought to be necessary. For that to happen the President must be totally open and honest providing the proof of what it is they have been telling us.

Most of you should remember, unless you were just too young to know, what life was like back in the 60s and 70s when we were involved in that little conflict in southeast Asia. For me those memories are very vivid and I for one am not ready to see that many young people die again unless it is for a very good reason. Speculation that Saddam is developing and might use weapons against us or any other nation just doesn’t seem to justify what a war will mean and the impact it will have on not only us but the world.

Some of you might think my view is cowardly, so be it. I just happen to believe that when you send our military into a war that it must be for a just cause, it must be in the defense of our national security, it must be approved by the Congress, and it must be in a manner that allows our members the greatest chance of success. Not like what happened in Vietnam where the actions of the military were limited by political posturing associated with a police action and an undeclared war.

I am of the belief that we must do this right, especially if we are throwing the first punch. Maybe if the President and Congress, in a joint declaration, laid out the specific need for the war (with tangible and verifiable evidence) and state that if we do enter into a war with the Iraqis that our military will be allowed to execute to the fullest ability that they are capable of. That our forces wouldn’t be limited to targets of only military nature because you can be assured that the Iraqi military will mingle with the general populace and use everything at their disposal to survive. This would make me feel somewhat better about all of this, but right now, at this very moment, I don’t think that the case for war has been made.

This impending war, if I am not mistaken, could be the first time that the United States of America will be the initiator in a conflict. This concerns me as it is a major change in the character of our nation. While we have most certainly been strong and willing to fight once attacked we have never thrown the first punch. One would think that the bar of acceptable behavior would be extremely high before we undertook what we have regularly viewed as an act of aggression. Furthermore it would have to be based on very specific and open facts presented before the Congress so that they can execute their Constitutional duty of declaring war.