OUR VIEW: Support needed for Bush’s attack plans

Should we or shouldn’t we?

The question lingers in the minds of many Americans, whether or not we should go to war with Iraq.

Why start another Gulf War? The truth is, the Gulf War never ended. In 1991, the United States and Iraq agreed to a cease-fire on the condition the United Nations could inspect and regulate the manufacture of weapons in Iraq. For nearly four years now, those weapons inspectors have not been allowed to enter the country and intelligence reports show Iraq is attempting to manufacture nuclear warheads, a flagrant violation of the 11-year-old cease-fire.

Beyond the potential for Iraq to invade and destroy another small country, further reports show the everyday inhumane treatment of the Iraqi people -people like us who strive to make it through school, work hard to provide for their families, and parents of a new generation. These are people who work diligently for the few freedoms they enjoy.

What does that have to do with us? Plenty. As a nation we have seen both sides of the coin. We fought for freedom in places like Bunker Hill, Lexington and Yorktown. In the history of our nation we’ve tasted the indignities of oppression and the sweet rewards of freedom. Let’s pass that freedom on to a new generation of people. To us they are a faceless people, but ones who are just like you and me. We can wait idly by until Iraq let’s us back in. Or, even at the cost of a few human lives, give Iraq back to the common people who work and live in the country every day.

In the poetry of Francis Scott Key, the words of our national anthem still ring true today: “Oh thus be it ever when free men shall stand between their loved homes and war’s desolation … And conquer we must when our cause it is just. And this be our motto: ‘In God is our trust.'”