To no one's surprise and after long months of debate and rhetoric, the United States and its coalition of allies have invaded Iraq en masse in order to achieve the goal of regime change through a campaign of \shock and awe."" Alongside the troops rushing toward Baghdad is a veritable army of embedded reporters, sending footage and analysis back home almost as soon as it occurs. Non-stop reports of casualties, explosions, surrender and communiques are seized upon and parsed through by news anchor people on live television. The process of watching it all unfold is addictive and surreal, as history is being written right before one's eyes, yet thousands of miles away.
But along with the speculation, flashy graphics, press conferences and chaos, there is raw human emotion to be found. Whether it is reading accounts of Iraqi refugees sobbing with thanks and repeating stories of gruesome torture practices, hearing twenty-something Marines try to reassure their families they are coming home soon or seeing a stoic news anchorman at a loss for words as he is handed a report of American troop casualties, war leaves the confines of a computer, radio or television in order to hit the heart with the reality and magnitude of the events ""Over There.""
As everyone, especially Madison residents, are painfully aware by now, this war is controversial. Hundreds of thousands of people throughout the world condemn the war, as spokespeople, celebrities and world leaders express their disappointment and urge peace, humanity and non-violence. The United States of America is being disparaged at every moment throughout the world for its aggressive foreign policy, its growing addiction to oil and its arrogance. There is a very large and legitimate opinion out there that the destruction and death could have and should have been avoided. And the multitudes who hold that opinion are becoming increasingly frustrated that they are being ignored and marginalized.
But then again, hearing the Iraqi people express themselves calls into question the protesting and the anti-Americanism. According to United Press International, Iraqi refugees on the border of Jordan tell groups of anti-war protestors that they would have committed suicide if the American bombing campaign didn't start, that Saddam is ""a monster the likes of which the world had not seen since Stalin and Hitler"" and of torture practices where human beings are shredded alive, feet first. CNN shows Baghdad mosques holding evening prayer earlier so that coalition missiles will be much less likely to hit civilians later. British reporters tell of Ajami Saadoun Khlis of the town of Safwan telling U.S. Marines, ""What took you so long? God help you become victorious.""
Only after the dust settles and after Saddam and his regime are relegated to the history books can we fully assess the morality of our actions. If America and its coalition of allies provide Iraqi families with the reality that Iraqi children will never know the hardships their parents faced, then may the heads of those who fought against that reality hang in shame. But if our goals and actions fail to adhere to the idealism in which they are being presented, hold those responsible for that failure accountable and do not forget.
Right now I can only watch events like grinning soldiers standing over executed POW American troops, pillars of smoke blossoming throughout Baghdad and pray. There are extremely good reasons as to why this war is both necessary and unnecessary, but apparently the time for debate is over. You and I are not in control of the situation; we can only now observe and pass judgment along with the rest of the world.
President Bush, be humane to our enemies and protective of our troops. Throw Saddam and those who create terror and injustice to the dogs, correct past wrongs to the Iraqi people and create safeguards against future wrongs to them, then leave Iraq to its self-determination.
Pray for peace, watch the war.
