Tragic but necessary?

"About 40-50 civilians who have fled Nasiriya said Iraqi paramilitary groups are forcing people to volunteer their sons to fight, according to a Marine officer with the 4th Civil Affairs Group. 'If they didn't, they said they would shoot a sibling,' said Marine Capt. Peter Tabash, who speaks fluent Arabic. One civilian told Tabash that a nine-year-old boy was shot because his family refused to cooperate with the paramilitary groups." -- Art Harris,CNN Online

War is a terrible thing. It is heartbreaking, woefully unfortunate, and frightening. However, war is something apart from being a vile and tragic aspect of the human condition -- war is necessary. In the United States, we are truly blessed to have the opportunity to pursue life, liberty, and happiness. We sometimes fail to recognize that this freedom is so incredibly precious because we were born with it, live with it, and hopefully will die with it.

I am certainly guilty of taking my freedom for granted during the majority of my existence, but the war in Iraq has made me all the more appreciative of the life that I am able to lead in this great country. Saddam Hussein poses a threat to this freedom and is a detriment to the society he rules. He poses a threat to the present and future of the free world because he is a man who does not respect human rights. His life has been about dominating others for no good purpose other than selfish pride and ego.

If he has made any significant and true contributions for the good of the Iraqi people, I certainly have not heard about them. I believe the use of force in Iraq is justified because of Iraq's use and desire of weapons of mass destruction, goals toward further domination of the Middle East, and the crimes against humanity that Hussein has committed time and again.

There is an anti-war argument that says Iraq poses no immediate danger to the United States at this time. The defense of freedom by use of force, however, need not necessarily be justified by a clear and present physical danger. It can be justified by an examination of the history and ideology of the opponent and a critical assessment of its threat to future peace.

The invasion of Kuwait in the first Gulf War is certainly a dominant episode in Hussein's career. It would also be futile to recount the many depictions of the ruthless brutality of the dictator against his own Iraqi citizens. The nature of this regime has been made apparent once again in the early stages of this war.

The execution of coalition POWs and the use of civilians as military shields are just two of the many disgusting actions that this man and his regime will carry out in the name of maintaining their oppressive power. Whatever can be said about the legitimacy of this war, it simply cannot be denied that Mr. Hussein is a criminal of the highest order.

His vile record of inhumanity is well known and clearly shows that he does not deserve to rule a country of 25 million people who are prisoners of his own self-serving will. This regime is a threat to freedom and humanity because of its history of gross violations of the unwritten code of decency that human beings should show for one another.

If we could always curtail the desires and ambitions of selfish and destructive people (and their regimes) through peaceful, diplomatic efforts, then this world would certainly be a much more comfortable place. I have wished for this kind of world. I believe that President Bush and every member of his administration have wished for this kind of world, and that they made a strong effort to peacefully resolve the problem.

The trouble with Saddam Hussein is that he does not wish for this world. He thrives on abusing power, inflicting pain and suffering, and disregarding the needs and inherent rights of others. He does not answer to notions of peace and the promise of freedom or to the authority of the international community. He has no regard for the values of humanity, productive cooperation, and reasonable political discourse. He answers only to himself and he is the antithesis and enemy of everything that the free human spirit speaks to.

It seems that in the heated anti-war/pro-war debate that has overwhelmed this country and the world over the past months, the root of our justification for war has been lost. I strongly believe that this justification, while leaving all other political banter behind, lies firmly in our duty to protect and promote the freedoms that those before us fought so valiantly and relentlessly to establish.

Pro-war arguments focus on the need to disarm Iraq immediately and prevent Hussein's regime from becoming a much more dangerous enemy. The fervent anti-war arguments include a claim that this war is for Iraqi oil, an American presence in the Middle East for imperialistic purposes, and even that this war is a personal vendetta between the Bush family and Saddam Hussein.

While I think that some of these anti-war arguments are illegitimate, I do not think that the anti-war movement is in any way wrong. Looking back on the Vietnam War, one could assert that the protesters were incredibly well justified, but we must remember that our involvement in World War II against Hitler was protested in this country as well.

It rings true that any protester of military conflict is justified in his or her attempt to rid this world of such an evil part of its history. It is proper, and even patriotic, to question the decisions of government, and in a matter of war it is perhaps especially important. Those who argue either for or against war for purely partisan reasons are fraudulent. Those who argue against war because they are poorly characterizing our President and his true motivations are speculative and inappropriately undermine the impetus for the use of force in Iraq.

However, those who oppose war because war is a horrible thing, and because lives of innocent civilians and troops will be lost, undoubtedly have a true and natural reason for protest. The problem with this argument is its unfortunate impracticality. I think the overwhelming majority of people on this earth wish that war was nonexistent. War destroys individuals, families, countries, and in some metaphysical sense it destroys the fabric of human civility.

At the same time that war is a brutal property of the past and present of mankind, it has been, is, and will continue to be a necessary one if we are to preserve the way of life that every free citizen in the world should respect and cherish. The people of Iraq do not live in freedom. They live under a tyrannical regime that does not subscribe to the benevolent values of common civility.

What has been lost in this debate is recognition of our necessity, and indeed our responsibility, to not only preserve the integrity and freedoms of the United States by eliminating the threat Iraq poses, but also to strive for the greater good of humanity. The disarmament and defeat of Saddam Hussein and his regime is a step toward this goal.

A dictator and a regime that supports and even praises a military that uses chemical weapons on its own people, encourages soldiers to kill innocent children when their families refuse to support their cause, and plays a dirty game of domestic and global propaganda is an obstacle on humanity's path to ultimate convalescence.

The argument that fighting for peace is futile is reliant on a world without Husseins and other radical threats to human liberty. I hope and pray that every new casualty I learn of on CNN is not in vain. I hope the fallen soldiers and people of Iraq will have sacrificed all they have for the eventual betterment of the human race.

It is a horrible thing that the path to that betterment is through death and destruction. Indeed, freedom itself for many people was only born on the other side of strife and warfare. Everything has a cost in this world, and liberty is no exception.

On a very personal note, I must admit that my opinion of whether or not to invade Iraq has swayed from strong favor to cautious skepticism of its validity and fear of its eventual repercussions. But when I read the quote at the beginning of this piece I realized something important: I do not condone war but regrettably recognize and accept its tragic necessity.

Todd Walters is a junior majoring in biology and classics.