The war in Iraq

Iraq

April 08 2005

It is not enough to simply say we have freed the Iraqis from their Dictator. “Freedom” is not worth fighting for unless it is well defined in the public's mind. Is it the freedom to dance naked in the streets, or is it the freedom to object (loudly) about what is being done by government? Of course freedom has nothing to do with nudity and everything to do with restraint of power in government. The media is often not enough. Noisy demonstrations with placard may not even be enough. There may not even be a way to convince a majority of people to ones contrary convictions. At this point the modesty to re-appraise one’s conclusions is as much a part of freedom as self-expression.

For instance I have been dead set against our going to war in the middle-east. It is, however, possible that our country’s action was absolutely necessary in order to forestall World War III. Our country is locked in an economic “downspout” of debt and interest on debt that may have us on the verge of another great depression. We have become the lynchpin for the world’s economy. Much of the world depends on us to buy their stuff. But nothing goes straight up forever. Prices have been doing just that for a long time now. Perhaps Saddam’s oil can buy us a little time to adjust our economy.

The last Great Depression was cured by the Great World War II. In this day and time such a war would be horrific beyond our wildest nightmares. The loss of many thousands of lives may have been weighed against the loss of many millions of lives in a World War III.

In our form of government, it is just as important to understand that with every point of an argument, there are winners and losers. Thank God we do not, as ants and bees, all agree about everything. Surely, that is one of the great blessing we have in living here and now.

Allen Wilson
Columnist

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