Kevin D. Korenthal, September 21, 2004

After September 11th and the ensuing War in Afghanistan, the President looked around the world and he asked the question; what other of America’s many enemies are capable and likely to attack us without our being able to sniff out the plot before it is executed? The answer was clear to everyone. Iraq had spent the last 12 years resenting America, after being forcefully removed from Kuwait. Since Desert Storm, Saddam Hussein shirked no less than 17 United Nations Security Council Resolutions on WMD, offered terrorist support and committed countless human rights violations, while the U.S. and the U.N. continued to look for a peaceful way to defuse this ticking time bomb called Iraq.

In the 3 months prior to the beginning of the Gulf War Part II, The United Nations, The governments of France, Germany, and Russia, as well as every member of the Senate (which includes John Kerry) were shown all the same evidence that the president and his staff used to sell the war to the world. At the time, no one questioned the evidence. Then, in the last year, the Democrats began telling us that the war in Iraq was waged purely for political gain. Senator Ted Kennedy and other Left-Wing-Nuts have accused President Bush of this on numerous occasions.

But getting to the core of The Bush Administration’s rationale for invading and occupying Iraq is no simple task. In today’s society, the facts of today are not necessarily facts tomorrow. Take, for example, the main reason (according to many) that we went to war against Saddam. In the run-up to war, dozens of nations and the majority of Congress had been provided with background and estimates of Iraq’s WMD stockpiles and capabilities. A combination of detailed timelines regarding Iraq’s past aggressions and malfeasance, as well as Intel gathered from Iraqi defectors and documents smuggled out of Iraq was presented to the world. We have no evidence that the President saw anything different than the members of Congress who voted to give the President the power to go to war.

In the days leading up to the war, everyone agreed that the Intelligence we had on Iraq pointed to Iraq’s continuing desire to make and use Weapons of Mass Destruction and do business with terrorists. As it happens, the United Nation’s WMD inspection teams (UNSCOM) were forced to leave Iraq in 1998, mid-inspection, when Saddam characteristically denied UNSCOM access to certain sites and facilities, including his own palaces. President Bill Clinton decided after a few weeks of this subterfuge that Iraq needed a few new holes in its soil so he blasted them with some Tomahawk missiles.

On the eve of the bombing, Bill Clinton sighted Saddam’s continuing WMD Programs as the reason for the punishment.

We did not have access to Iraq again until 2002, when President Bush with Spain and Britain introduced United Nations Security Council Resolution 1441 which required that Saddam Hussein open his country to unfettered Weapons Inspections and account for all previously known WMD. This included indicating proof that weapons, still present in 1998, were actually destroyed.

Three months later, Saddam still had not given answers to the many WMD questions. All the inspectors could find was the same old Saddam evasion, and some previously unknown, unmanned aerial vehicle and missile programs that were further violations of past UN Resolutions.

Iraq was also a world leader in human rights violations through the murder and torture of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis. We are now beginning to uncover the evidence which may prove that Saddam Hussein was one of the leading sponsors of international terrorists like Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Al Qaida. Add it all together and this president had to act. To not, would have been a crime.

Supposedly John Kerry has now settled on the "wrong war, wrong time" offense against President Bush in this, the most important election in history. Senator Kerry has taken all sides of this matter since voting to give the President the power to make war with Saddam Hussein so we do not know if this is his FINAL ANSWER. But assuming for a moment that this is what Kerry truly feels, I for one am satisfied with his answer. It certainly suits his ideological style. After all, this is the same Senator Kerry that voted AGAINST the 1st Gulf War. Now we have a true litmus test for this election.

This election now comes down to one simple question; Will America be watchful and vigilant in dealing with threats to it’s security or will it go back to the past and attempt to placate those that threaten us or worse, ignore them altogether? President George W. Bush has answered this question and will continue to answer this question for another 4 years, God willing.

To learn John Kerry’s recently stated plan for how he would deal with Iraq if he became president, go HERE.

Copyright © 2004 Kevin D. Korenthal