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Tylor Brand
philosophy sophomore
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Hey, President Bush: Inspect this!
The front line of the war for · uh ·
The war's newest phase: The war on truth.
I'm confused. This is my normal state, but right now I'm even more confused than usual. First, El Presidente comes out and rattles off various vague accusations against Saddam, stopping just short of challenging him to a fistfight, says we're still considering other means besides armed confrontation ÷ and in this spirit immediately seeks a coalition of regional allies. Shortly thereafter, he claims that Saddam has violated the treaty he signed by kicking out the U.N. weapons inspectors and demands that the inspectors come back in or he'll be outta there like a National Guard pilot was outta Vietnam. Then, Saddam says he wants the inspectors to come in and President Bush says that he never said he wanted that, and anyway that's too little too late (Translation: We've already made plans. We'll meet you later.) and we're coming in if we damn well please and the U.N. can kiss it.
It's gone beyond fighting a war based on a legal loophole. What we have here is total deception based on the assumption that the public's going to be with him whether he's wrong or right, and really the news sources have made it that much easier by putting a knife in the back of anyone opposing him (see Scott Ritter). Despite what we're being told about Saddam's intent, we have to remember that this guy is not a fundamentalist ÷ he'd be on their list for being a secular leader ÷ and that as a despot, his reason for being is to maintain his power (and 33 huge palaces). Giving weapons to terrorists would be like him holding up a big "I did it!" sign and he'd be gone.
The real question is not whether Saddam has weapons of mass destruction (likely, but how long have we known this?); it's whether we are justified in making "heroes" out of any number of the bright -eyed troops who are only too happy to sacrifice themselves for · what? We've changed our reasoning behind this little foray so many times that I'm almost for supporting it just to get them to shut up and stop lying about it.
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Daniel Cucher
creative writing senior
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I pity the fool who trusts Saddam
The following is an excerpt from a discussion between U.N. weapons inspectors and Saddam Hussein:
U.N.: We need access to the milk processing plant for inspections.
Saddam: Why, are you thirsty?
U.N.: We can smell noxious gasses from three miles away.
Saddam: That's spoiled milk.
U.N.: Huh. Then where are your bioweapons?
Saddam: I have none. Let me show you my Greenpeace membership card (shows card).
U.N.: Well, looks authentic · but if you don't have chemical weapons, how did you gas 80,000 Kurds in 1988?
Saddam: That was the old Iraq. This is the new Iraq for the 21st century. It's pronounced "I rock" and we only gas our people with friendly, happy nitrous oxide.
U.N.: Groovy, but why have you been constructing biological and chemical processing plants and equipment, and smuggling in materials used to build missiles?
Saddam: Milk.
U.N.: Oh, Saddam, you so crazy.
The United Nations cannot reasonably believe that Saddam has turned over a new leaf and is no longer producing weapons of mass destruction. Iraq has been in violation of 16 U.N. Security Council resolutions for many years. Instead of complying, Iraq uses U.N. sanctions against it as a bargaining card: "You can inspect Iraq when you promise to lift sanctions and not attack."
Last time U.N. weapons inspectors were in Iraq, they encountered one roadblock after another. Why? Saddam has the stuff they're looking for, and he doesn't want them to find it. He hides weapons, moves them around and restricts access to key sites. He has never complied with inspection teams and he won't start now. Superficially opening Iraq to U.N. weapons inspections only serves to delay military action, and complicate Bush's attempts to rally international military support.
If Saddam is really interested in cooperating, he will come forward and abandon all of his chemical and biological weapons to the United Nations. And because the United Nations seeks primarily to disarm Iraq, nothing short this move will get the Uited Natioins and the United States off of Saddam's back.
There's no reason to play hide and seek with Iraq. Let Saddam reveal his arsenal, or suffer the consequences of stockpiling internationally banned weaponry.
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