America needs to think before it acts

By Ryan Jenkins
Staff Writer

With all the talk lately of the United States possibly invading Iran I think it just might be a wise move for Americans to look back at the War on Iraq and remember how we were lied to.

As I, and any recording from that time period, recall, the reason for our invasion of Iraq was based on evidence that asserted that Saddam Hussein was illegally building weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) in order to attack the United States. Yes, that’s the actual reason we went to war.

First, anyone who knew anything at the time had to know Iraq had no WMDs. After all, the head of Iraq's weapon development program, Hussein Kamal, defected in the late 90’s and told us that there were no plans to build or develop WMDs. Another person we could have listened to would be Hans Blix, the guy who was in charge of the UN weapons inspectors, who said Iraq most likely had no WMDs. When dealing with politicians, remember what they’ve told you in the past and how that matches up to reality before siding with them.

What about the latest reason given - we had to invade Iraq because we thought that maybe Saddam might have possibly been violating a UN resolution? Supporting the UN is obviously justification for taking an action considered illegal by the UN. Wait, something there doesn’t make sense. Oh well, must be liberal propaganda.

Finally, the reason most recently given in support of the War on Iraq has been the “liberation” of the Iraqi people. Hey, I’m all for peace and love, but let’s take a moment to be critical. Is this a reason they were thinking about beforehand, or just some attempt to justify their actions after the fact?

As this is the only justification for the war left standing, I feel the need to point out that there are several nations I can name off the top of my head that we should have invaded first if this is our standard. Sadly, as much as Bush pretends to be brave, he’s too cowardly to take on North Korea or China, nations that could actually hurt us.

Don’t let yourself be lied to about Iran. Remember what they say; watch how it changes as they’re proved wrong.

And for God’s sake, don’t get us into a war using justifications that can be dismantled by a college sophomore. That’s just stupid.