Should the U.S. start a war with Iraq: YES

During World War II, the U.S. stood idly by as Adolf Hitler built up military power, invaded neighboring states and executed millions of innocent civilians. Now, as the U.S. faces a similar threat with Saddam Hussein in the Middle East, we must not repeat mistakes we made in the past. The U.S. should launch a preemptive campaign against Hussein's Iraq before Hussein amasses weapons of mass destruction and threatens international peace yet again.

By toppling Hussein and his oppressive regime, the U.S. would send a message of intolerance toward outlaw states and bolster the U.N.'s effectiveness in enforcing international regulations. Although the U.S. might end up fighting a unilateral war, it would defend the security of many free nations that terrorist states like Iraq would target.

Anti-war advocates claim that Iraqi military power is not an immediate threat. While U.S. intelligence lacks specific knowledge of Iraq's capabilities, the International Atomic Energy Agency determined that Iraq has been illegally attempting to obtain materials to develop a nuclear weapon for years. CIA and foreign intelligence estimates almost all agree that if left unchecked, Iraq will eventually obtain one.

Critics of Bush's war plan argue that war should be a last resort and not a first response. But in the late 1990s, the U.N. conducted weapons inspections that failed to halt Hussein's effort to arm his country. Even if U.N. access to Iraq's facilities were unrestricted, finding all its weapons of mass destruction would be nearly impossible. According to a Sept 30 article in Time Magazine, Iraq hides its arms extremely well, loading bioweapons into sealed underground wells and mounting biological warfare research labs onto mobile trucks.The terror attacks of Sept 11, 2001, should have taught us that a policy of reaction is insufficient to protect the American people. The longer the U.S. struggles for support, the more time Iraq has to accumulate deadly weapons. Fewer American lives would be lost in a strike now than in a future war against an Iraq equipped with chemical, biological and nuclear weapons.

Hussein is a ruthless dictator known for using deceptive tactics. He has proven that he is willing to use weapons of mass destruction through events like the bombing of a town in northern Iraq, where nerve and mustard gas killed 5,000 people, according to an Aug 17 article in the Washington Times. Yet Hussein continues to deny Iraq's possession of such weapons.

The Persian Gulf War proved that Hussein will comply with U.N. regulations only when faced with a direct military threat, which is why the U.S. must once again use armed force against Iraq.
If we have the opportunity to end the Iraqi threat now, we cannot delay. America's responsibility as advocate for global peace and guardian of our own national security requires us to eliminate the outlaw regime of Iraq once and for all.