WAR (Formal - Nov. 14th)

"The Prince of the Marshes" by Rory Stewart has offered a alternate view of the United States and Britain's invasion of Iraq. Stewart eloquently illustrates the complexities involved in transforming a nation from an evil dictatorship to a working democracy. Although Stewart's cause was nobel, according to the Bush Administration, the invasion of Iraq was never supposed to be about the eradication of Sadam Hussein and his regime. The United States of America declared war on Iraq, without the United Nation's approval, might I add, with the intention of ridding the country of weapons of mass destruction. Some how along the way, the United States and their British allies managed to obliterate Iraq's government. Even though the war has stopped one evil, it have caused massive chaos and political unrest within the country of Iraq and much criticism of the President within the United States.



Billions of U.S. tax dollars are being spent each and every month to undo what we never were going to do in the first place. Unknown funds are being poured into such projects as rebuilding Mosques, when I feel that the main goal should be to get Iraq to a self sufficient state and then let their new government work on community development. Stewart stated that if the coalition left Iraq too soon, then the entire country would fall into an anarcial state. However many America's express their views of the war with bumper stickers that state, "Take Care of America First." So the United States, now has a choice to either cut our loses and leave an entire nation to perish from an inevitable civil war, or we can keep sinking money into the construction of a goverment that is ironically modeled after our own, yet labeled a "democracy." It is interesting how democracy is Greek for "rule by the people," yet when it comes down to a national election, the average person's vote does not even count because of the establishment of the Electoral Colleges. Therefore, we are trying to build up a democratic government without any real knowlegde of a true democracy. Stewart even stated himself that he could not define what a democracy entailed.



The invasion of Iraq reminds me of the controversial issue of hunting. No one can deny that it is better and more humane for a deer to die quickly by a bow or gun shot rather than being hit by a car or starving, however no one stops to think about the reasons that we have had to resort to hunting. We say that deer are overpopulated to justify our actions, but it was humans that invaded their environment and built sub-divisions on top of their home. Humans killed off their natural predators, almost to extinction and are now left to clean up the mess that we have made for ourselves.

"Prince of the Marshes" has helped me to look at the war more objectively. This narrative has enabled me to abandon the thought of Iraq as a faceless country. I still do not support the war, however, I do feel a strong duty as a humanist to ensure that the people of Iraq live in a peaceful and prosperous society. I do not agree with the reasons for the invasion, the killing of innocent lives, the way that our tax dollars are being spent there, or even the fact that America has a problem with wanting to police the world, however I feel that we have an obligation to the people of Iraq to leave their country better than how we found it. Hopefully we can do this with the least amount of lives and money wasted.