Many citizens of the United States believe we should not have gone to war against Islamic terrorists subsequent to a direct, sneak attack on one of our major cities. It seems their major objection is the invasion of Iraq, a country that was ruled by a ruthless dictator who for over twenty years had routinely murdered his own citizens, terrorized his neighbors, sponsored and funded terrorism throughout the world, violated countless UN resolutions to cease and desist his activities, and promised to lead the forces of Islam to victory in battle against the Great Satan, also know as American imperialists, with the use of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. The opponents to the war claim the invasion was unilaterally conducted by the United States, even though 40 countries formed the initial coalition and sent troops, and was unwarranted since Iraq had not directly attacked the United States.
For those who believe the effort to eliminate Saddam Hussein and his murderous regime has not been worth the cost of 4,000 American soldiers lives, I have a few questions -
117,000 American soldiers lost their lives during the one and a half years the United States was involved in World War I. Was it necessary to become involved in that war? Germany had never directly attacked the United States.
From June 6 through August 25, 1944, a period of less than 3 months, the United States lost 29,000 soldiers killed in action in Operation Overlord, the invasion of Europe that started on the beaches of Normandy. In all, we lost over 300,000 soldiers and airmen in the European Theater of Operations during World War II. Was it really necessary to storm the beaches at Normandy or even go to war with Germany in World War II? Germany had not directly attacked the United States.
In the Pacific Theater during World War II, the United States lost over 12,500 men during the 3 month campaign for the island of Okinawa and over 7,300 killed and missing during the 2 month campaign for the island of Iwo Jima. Japan did conduct a sneak attack on what was then a U.S. Territory on December 7, 1941, at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, killing 2,400 Americans. But that wasn't as many as the more than 3,000 killed on September 11, 2001, from direct attacks on American soil. Should the United States have gone to war against Japan?
In the first 3 days of July in 1863, 7,863 Americans were killed and 27,044 wounded at the Battle of Gettysburg during the Civil War. Over-all, 625,000 Americans died during the War between the States from 1861 through 1865. Was it really necessary to suffer a devastatingly bloody war among ourselves in order to preserve the Union?
Cultures of the East and West have clashed for at least 2500 years, and if not for the heroic stand of the Spartans at Thermopylae in the fifth century B.C., Emporer Xerxes and the Persians would have conquered the West and the history of Western Civilization would have been quite different.
The hostility between East and West became even more profound subsequent to the founding of Islam by the Prophet Muhammed in the seventh century A.D. Western culture separates political and spiritual authority while Islam combines it - and demands absolute obedience to its precepts. There is no common ground between Islam and the West, and western societies had better wake up to that fact in an age of weapons of mass destruction. The loss of 4,000 heroic Americans who volunteered to preserve freedom from tyranny is heartbreaking and tragic, but is it not a relatively small cost when compared with previous unwanted but necessary conflicts that have arisen throughout the course of human history?
