They may live across the world, but young Iraquis are just like us

By Jill K. Sanders
Co-Editor

Is anyone else confused besides me? Does anyone not know whether to be for or against the war?

I realize there is a need to help free the Iraqi people. I realize that Saddam Hussein needs to be removed from power. I also know that Hussein possesses weapons of mass destruction that just might be aimed at the U.S.

But war… no matter what, it is a horrible thing. People are dying. Bombs are exploding and guns are firing. Homes and buildings are being blown away. Lives are being destroyed; these people are just like you and me, no matter what the color of their skin or the clothes that they wear.

MTV has done a report on the lives of two young men that live in Baghdad. In this report, these men show just how similar they are to you and me even though they live on the other side of the globe under a murderous dictator. They like to drive cars, listen to music their parents don't like, and have bad habits like smoking and swearing. It makes me feel horrible to know these men are in the middle of a battlefield.

Yet Hussein must be taken out of power. Maybe you are like me and think that the job should have been done 12 years ago when George W. Bush's father, George Bush, was in office. I question every day if this current battle with Iraq could have been completely avoided.

My brother is in the military. He was just married a few weeks ago. He sits in wait at an Army base in Texas for a call that could send him to Kuwait and into the line of fire… that could bring him to his death. Could it have been avoided?

But still, the situation of today must be dealt with. I don't want anyone to be hurt, especially my own flesh and blood, because war is horrible and almost inevitably lives must be lost.

Yet Hussein still reins, nuclear arsenal in tow.

I hope for a quick, decisive battle with as few lives as possible lost. I hope not only for the safety of our troops but for the safety of the Iraqi people who are just as much a part of this as any of our troops are.

We are a world community and cannot simply fight for the safety of our country and ourselves. We must fight for those who cannot fight, even if they do not welcome our intervention. There is a greater cause out there. This cause is a distant dream: world peace.

March 27, 2003 Issue