Part I: The Case for War with Iraq and Why We Must Go In.

Spurred by Monday’s anti-War on Iraq “vigil,” I decided it was necessary that I presented the viewpoint concerning Iraq and what the truthful reasons for military action were. Furthermore, in this three part series, I will put forward what our goals will be in Iraq once Saddam is gone, and finalize my series with a column outlining who exactly these “peace” organizations are.

The first and foremost attribute of Saddam Hussein’s Iraq, that supports why we must go in, is that his rule of Iraq is done in a dictatorial and repressive way. He tortures his people and his opponents. He keeps his people in a prison camp setting. His regime does not allow freedom of any kind, apart from those “freedoms” which bolster his regime and iron fist rule. He has a wide range of secret police institutions who daily kill and imprison those unfortunate souls Saddam feels are hostile to his reign. Saddam Hussein’s Iraq is basically one big concentration camp whose inhabitants are daily propagated with lies and deceit by Hussein while at the same time murdered. Let me quote some of the torture methods from the Foreign Ministry of Britain’s report on Saddam Hussein’s human rights abuses, “eye gouging – eyes are gouged out and the empty eye sockets stuffed with paper, mock executions, suspension from the ceiling, acid baths, and the piercing of hands with electric drills.” The opponents of a war on Iraq know these facts, yet they continue to state they oppose war, operating on a platform which claims to be in protection of Iraq’s citizens. How can they say they care about the citizens, if they don’t mind these citizens living under these conditions?

Iraq is also in a desperate humanitarian state of things. Its population faces starvation, malnourishment and disease on a daily basis. Food and medicine are not widely available. The sanctions are not, as opponents and Iraq state, the reason this is happening. Before the Gulf War, Saddam used most of his oil revenue to buy weapons and other luxuries for his family, himself and his army. This was BEFORE the sanctions. During this time, his people WERE starving. Now, after the sanctions were put on, he had MORE money to spend as oil revenue was no longer allowed for use to buy weapons (in the legal sense of course). However, even with the increased revenue in his hands, his people continued to starve, and they still do. The sanctions are not the reason for this, HE IS. Removing Saddam’s tyranny will indeed be a victory for Iraq’s suffering men, women and children.

The next and widely known issue concerning Iraq is Saddam’s weapons of mass destruction. Saddam has weapons of mass destruction and he continues to PURSUE them. He has used them in the late 1980’s against his own citizens. He had a period in the years 1998-2002 when no inspectors were allowed into the country, to widely increase their strength. He continues to hide them in various parts of the country and in like-minded countries such as Syria and Libya. He does not intend on disarming and the current inspections show this. The inspectors do not have a chance of finding these weapons due to many reasons such as his transportation of them to countries such as Syria, his scattering of them in various houses and other unnoticeable buildings, the fact he has germ laboratories on wheels who simply move around with each inspection, and his refusal to allow usage of U2 spy planes to search his landscape. Furthermore, the interviewing of Iraqi scientists is unproductive due to the fear the scientists have of being killed if they comply, or because the scientist is nothing more then an undercover Iraqi agent.

Evidence has also been found to support the notion that Saddam has weapons of mass destruction. The finding of 16 empty chemical weapon canisters is just one example. It does not only show he has weapons of mass destruction, but also shows that Iraq has been LYING on the question as it has stated many times to the world that it had none of these weapons which were found. The Iraqi regime has been lying all along. On the one hand Iraq states it has no weapons of mass destruction but on the other hand you have Saddam Hussein’s brother, Uday, saying that, "If they (USA) come, Sept. 11, which they are crying over and see as a big thing, will be a real picnic for them, God willing." Iraq is basically saying “If you attack us we will attack you with weapons of mass destruction we don’t have.” What other evidence do you need?

The last and not least reason we must go after Saddam Hussein is terrorism. Iraq is a state sponsor of terrorism (not just according to me, ask the State Dept). It harbors terrorist groups who want to destroy America and its allies. It funds and supports terrorist organizations and provides them with access to training camps in the country; groups such as the Mujahedin-e-Khalq, Kurdistan Workers’ Party, Palestine Liberation Front, and the Abu Nidal. Saddam’s regime funds such entities as Palestinian terrorist organizations and their activities. He hands over a check of $25,000 to each Palestinian suicide terrorist bomber’s family, those terrorists responsible for bombing pizzerias, discos, and cinemas. Iraq was the only Arab-Muslim country that did not condemn the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11 2001. Iraq is an infestation of both domestic and international terrorism. It must be cleansed for the sake of our children and Iraq’s children.

As you can see, Saddam Hussein is a ticking time bomb. The threat from Iraq is there and we must go after him before it is too late. The inspectors have failed and they will continue to fail. We must not leave the responsibility of our national security up to a failed organization such as the UN. There may be no imminent threat from Iraq, but as Bush said in his State of the Union Address, since when do terrorists and tyrants tell us when they are going to do us harm?

The time is here, the time is now. The evidence is clear. The reason is apparent. It is time for us to militarily engage and defeat Iraq, overthrow Saddam, dismantle its terrorist plague, destroy its weapons of mass destruction, and LIBERATE the Iraqi people. We will be victorious!

DAVID BROOKS: I just want somebody to say to those people and I wanted to go down there and say here's a regime that has professional rape teams in their military where they rape women and send the videotapes to the fathers. Here's a regime that imprisons mothers and babies in the next cell and forces them to watch their babies starve to death. You know, what is the defense? Maybe we don't want to take out this regime, but is that the moral high ground? What is your defense for preserving that regime?

You OK with raping women and forcing them to watch their children starve to death? You OK with mass exectutions to make more room in prison? You OK with using power drills, hot oil and torture on your political enemies? You OK with summary beheading of prostitutes in public? You OK with not only killing scientists for talking, but killing their family, women and children alike, out to the 6th relation?

What kind of man are you?

Is Saddam a dictator, yes, is it our job to overthrow him, no.

SADDAM HUSSEIN’S REPRESSION OF THE IRAQI PEOPLE

UNSCR 688 (April 5, 1991) “condemns” Saddam Hussein’s repression of the Iraqi civilian population -- “the
consequences of which threaten international peace and security.” UNSCR 688 also requires Saddam
Hussein to end his repression of the Iraqi people and to allow immediate access to international
humanitarian organizations to help those in need of assistance.

Saddam Hussein has repeatedly violated
these provisions and has: expanded his violence against women and children; continued his horrific torture
and execution of innocent Iraqis; continued to violate the basic human rights of the Iraqi people and has
continued to control all sources of information (including killing more than 500 journalists and other opinion
leaders in the past decade).

Saddam Hussein has also harassed humanitarian aid workers; expanded his
crimes against Muslims; he has withheld food from families that fail to offer their children to his regime; and
he has continued to subject Iraqis to unfair imprisonment.10

REFUSAL TO ADMIT HUMAN RIGHTS MONITORS

§ The UN Commission on Human Rights and the UN General Assembly issued a report that noted "with
dismay" the lack of improvement in the situation of human rights in Iraq. The report strongly criticized
the "systematic, widespread, and extremely grave violations of human rights" and of international
humanitarian law by the Iraqi Government, which it stated resulted in "all-pervasive repression and
oppression sustained by broad-based discrimination and widespread terror." The report called on the
Iraqi Government to fulfill its obligations under international human rights treaties.
§ Saddam Hussein has repeatedly refused visits by human rights monitors and the establishment of
independent human rights organizations.

From 1992 until 2002, Saddam prevented the UN Special
Rapporteur from visiting Iraq.11
§ In September 2001 the Government expelled six UN humanitarian relief workers without providing any
explanation.12

VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

§ Human rights organizations and opposition groups continued to receive reports of women who suffered
from severe psychological trauma after being raped by Iraqi personnel while in custody.13
§ Former Mukhabarat member Khalid Al-Janabi reported that a Mukhabarat unit, the Technical
Operations Directorate, used rape and sexual assault in a systematic and institutionalized manner for
political purposes. The unit reportedly also videotaped the rape of female relatives of suspected
oppositionists and used the videotapes for blackmail purposes and to ensure their future cooperation.§ In June 2000, a former Iraqi general reportedly received a videotape of security forces raping a female
family member. He subsequently received a telephone call from an intelligence agent who stated that
another female relative was being held and warned him to stop speaking out against the Iraqi
Government.15

§ Iraqi security forces allegedly raped women who were captured during the Anfal Campaign and during
the occupation of Kuwait. 16

§ Amnesty International reported that, in October 2000, the Iraqi Government executed dozens of women
accused of prostitution.17

§ In May, the Iraqi Government reportedly tortured to death the mother of three Iraqi defectors for her
children’s opposition activities.18

§ Iraqi security agents reportedly decapitated numerous women and men in front of their family
members. According to Amnesty International, the victims’ heads were displayed in front of their
homes for several days.

19
TORTURE
§ Iraqi security services routinely and systematically torture detainees. According to former prisoners,
torture techniques included branding, electric shocks administered to the genitals and other areas,
beating, pulling out of fingernails, burning with hot irons and blowtorches, suspension from rotating
ceiling fans, dripping acid on the skin, rape, breaking of limbs, denial of food and water, extended
solitary confinement in dark and extremely small compartments, and threats to rape or otherwise harm
family members and relatives. Evidence of such torture often was apparent when security forces
returned the mutilated bodies of torture victims to their families.20

§ According to a report received by the UN Special Rapporteur in 1998, hundreds of Kurds and other
detainees have been held without charge for close to two decades in extremely harsh conditions, and
many of them have been used as subjects in Iraq’s illegal experimental chemical and biological
weapons programs.21

§ In 2000, the authorities reportedly introduced tongue amputation as a punishment for persons who
criticize Saddam Hussein or his family, and on July 17, government authorities reportedly amputated
the tongue of a person who allegedly criticized Saddam Hussein. Authorities reportedly performed the
amputation in front of a large crowd. Similar tongue amputations also reportedly occurred.22

Will you sit back and let this go on when we have the chance to stop it?

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