I am writing as a concerned citizen of the United States of America. I feel the need to voice my displeasure with the current and former actions of our government in the sphere of foreign policy. As our leaders prepare to launch a massive attack against Iraq, I find it curious that no one in the media or the current administration seems to remember what has been done to this country in a little more than a decade.
During the Gulf War, the U.S. military dropped the equivalent of 7.5 Hiroshima size bombs on Iraq. That's 88,500 tons of explosives, which thoroughly shredded the civilian infrastructure of the country. This was all done in a little over a month. After destroying the country and leaving the main problem still around, our leaders have pursued a policy of economic sanctions that only hurt the innocent people of Iraq. The UNFAO declared in 1995 that over one million Iraqis � 570,000 of them children � have died as a direct result of economic sanctions. This does not include the hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians who died in the war. That was seven years ago and the sanctions continue.
Since 1991 we have also seen seven years of weapons inspectors and billions of dollars in weapons sales to Iraq's neighbors. After all of this we still see a threat. While I agree that Saddam Hussein is a tyrant, we must remember that we supported this man with a huge amount of arms in his war with Iran in the 1980s and we left him in power in 1991.
Another attack on Iraq will only inflict more misery and destitution on the people who always pay the biggest price in modern war, innocent civilians. One would think that after Sept. 11 our leaders would understand what it feels like to have a great tragedy inflicted on its innocent civilians. Since WWII, our government has been responsible for millions of civilian deaths in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and numerous other countries. We need to understand that our pursuit of global domination and the almighty dollar enriches the few, while the many suffer.
Before we embark on yet another foreign escapade, I urge our leaders to seriously consider the consequences of our actions. If we do not, I fear for the future of Humanity.
Tyler Carlson
Junior
History
Political Science
