This is why Saddam must go! [Archives:2003/628/Letters to the Editor]

Don Hicks
[email protected]
USA
In response to your editorial on March 19 entitled “Case for war not made”, there are a few points that I would like to respond to as an American.
It is simply amazing to me that people around the world, inclusive of American and British citizens, are marching and protesting to keep Iraq and its leadership in place. They are standing up for the man and the regime that has:
– killed more Muslims than any other person on the planet.
– used weaponry of extreme lethality on its enemies
– used weapons of extreme lethality on its own citizens
– tortured and killed thousands of people based on political, philosophical, and religious beliefs that differ from those of the regime
– consistently oppressed and starved its own citizens

This list could go on and on, but the simple fact remains that he is a tyrant, and has continually thumbed his nose at the international community that in your words is too naive and stupid to understand.
Your editorial vastly oversimplifies the situation. Twelve years of deception, concealment, and outright fraud by the Iraqi regime cannot be dismissed, and a 5km drone has nothing to do with the fact of an impending war. The UN has had one debate after another, one resolution after another during this twelve year period. President Bush is the only person in the world with the initiative to finally say “enough”. Nations were told to publicly state their position, and now we know who is against the Iraqi regime and who is for it.
Americans are free to think what they want to, and can express their views openly and publicly, without fear of government retribution. Each American citizen controls their own destiny, and chooses so openly and freely. We are respectful and understanding of other cultures, which is what made America what it is today, and what it will become tomorrow. We have the freedoms which make us the envy of the world, and as a result the enemy of many in the world. As you lack an understanding of the most basic elements of freedom, I can see why you would make a comment about Americans being brainwashed. I'm curious how the citizens of Yemen would feel if their country had been invaded instead of Kuwait, or if their country was chemically attacked instead of the Kurdish people or the Iranians for that matter.
I honestly don't see how you can take moral superiority in any discussion, considering your country has sentenced a woman to death by stoning for an alleged crime of adultery.
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[archive-e:628-v:13-y:2003-d:2003-03-24-p:letters]