Originally posted by: Daovonnaex
Saddam Hussein, ladies and gentleman (ha!), is a psychopath. He shot and murdered a teacher of his at the age of 14. For nearly thirty years, he has ruled Iraq with his iron fist. He likes to think of himself as Saladin, and his greatest goal is to crush the state of Israel and drive the west out of the Near East by whatever means necessary. Anyone who speaks out against his regime simply dissappears in the night. To illustrate the sickness of this man, let me point out a recent example. A young man refused conscription into the Iraqi Army recently; his father then shot him in the head and killed him. Saddam conferred upon this man Iraq's highest medal of valor--for murdering his own son for disloyalty. Saddam Hussein maintains the largest military in the Gulf, with over one million men at arms. This insane madman has brutalized his people for so long, threatens his neighbors with menacing force, and, might I add, sits atop on of the world's largest oil reserves. We have tried diplomacy repeatedly, and it has failed utterly. And some of you people wish to continue to offer the olive branch? I'm sorry, but this is some of the most convoluted logic I've ever heard. There is a time for war, and that time is now.
Saddam Hussein is something of a Stalinist in his treatment of his people, and he's something of a Hitler when it comes to self-promotion. All over Baghdad and indeed Iraq at large, streets are named after him. A cruise through Baghdad streets will reveal Saddam Boulevard, Hussein Way, etc. Furthermore, it is impossible to escape Saddam's visage. Every home is required by law, on pain of death, to display a portrait of Saddam. Towering ten story paintings and statues lurk around every street corner. Those who disobey, question, or even fail to worship properly Saddam are ruthlessly crushed. Saddam maintains the world's most fearsome complex of torture laboratories in a Presidential Compound just outside of Baghdad. In it are housed some of the most evil devices of torture ever created. All the traditional implements of torture exist there; the rack, oil, electroshock rooms, etc. Saddam, ever the innovator, has one room with a network of pipes in the ceiling. Ever few square inches contains a duct which can be opened. The pipes circulate with nitric acid--acid is randomly dropped around the room. A person is forced to constantly watch the pipes and run around to avoid life-threatening burns. The person is released upon death or confession. This is the "beloved" Saddam who "gently" watches over his people.
Saddam, in addition to his iron fist at home, wields a mailed fist abroad. After seizing power, Saddam began the most aggressive military expansion in the Near East since the days of the Hegira. The Army became, in short time, the fourth largest in the world, equipped with the most modern American and Soviet weapons, trained in Soviet style wave tactics. The unprecedented buildup of Iraqi forces compelled the United States to dispatch soldiers to the Gulf in order to deter a feared Iraqi invasion of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. Saddam, however, was not satisfied with conventional military might. His goal, after all, was Arab Unity and the destruction of the state of Israel. Saddam begin to develop nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons (with some help from the USSR and the USA). He wanted nothing short than the destruction of the Jewish race by fire and the union of the Arab World by the sword. Fortunately, Israel recognized this grave threat and bombed the Osirak nuclear reactor in 1981, dealing a crippling setback to the Iraqi nuclear program. The biochemical program, on the other hand, sped ahead at full steam. Saddam had by now become embroiled in a war with newly-Islamist Iran, hoping to make it the first of many victories. This war, fought from 1980-1988, was the longest conventional war of the Twentieth Century. Nearly a million men on both sides died in this bitter clash. Saddam used chemical weapons--burning weapons of terror not used since the First World War--to advance his position. He settled for a limited victory in 1988 which recognized the status quo and gave Iraq some concessions. Saddam, unsatisfied, would turn his eyes south two years later. In the mean time, he focused his attention on a brutal suppression of the stateless Kurds to the north. Full military force, including chemical weapons, on the luckless Kurds. In 1990, over half a million Iraqi troops invaded the burning Emirate of Kuwait. In a few short weeks Saddam had conquered the state. The combined oil reserves of Iraq and Kuwait were the world's largest, giving Saddam unprecedented control of the world's oil market. The civilized world, finally recognizing the threat of this madman, dispatched a mighty US-led coalition to force the ouster of Iraqi forces from Kuwait. However, we failed to pursue the Iraqi military into Baghdad, and Saddam remained in power.
Iraq, I'd like to add, is one of the world's largest oil producing states. Its oil reserves are second only to those of Saudi Arabia. Due to a UN-US embargo since the conclusion of the Gulf War (which would be lifted if only Saddam would cooperate), Iraqi oil has largely not been seen on the world market (though gasoline in Baghdad costs approximately ten cents a gallon). Approximately one million Iraqis have starved due this embargo and Saddam's actions, and the western world has been deprived of a great source of energy. Were this tapped, oil and gas prices would plummet, thereby aiding economic expansion. Simultaneously, the Iraqi citzenry would see unprecedented prosperity and have enough to eat. Sadly, Saddam's obstinance prevents all of this.
Since the conclusion of the Gulf War, Saddam has violated sixteen UN security council mandates, ultimately failed to cease development on weapons of mass destruction, diverts medical and food aid from his STARVING PEOPLE, and continually fires on US and British aircraft attempting to enforce the peace. He was most uncooperative with UN weapons inspectors and threw them out of Iraq, though he recently allowed them in again (though Presidential Palaces were off-limits without prior notice), fearing another invasion. He is in clear material breech of the UN Security Council, yet the world does nothing. He is a psychotic dictator who terrorizes his own people. He menaces his neighbors and develops deadly weapons that he clearly is not responsible enough to control. He starves his own people and denies us a great source of energy. It is quite clear that Iraq MUST be invaded and Saddam MUST be ousted.
Prior to 1991, he was a "good friend of America", now, he's the new Hitler. Just war time propaganda to feed the sheep.
