(A libertarian perspective)
Virgil R. Hall II (Randy)

1. Our troops are there.  Our government sent them into harms way, they are following orders and are professional men and women who put their lives on the line for our safety. Despite our government not being “libertarian” in philosophy, it is still acting with good intention against an evil regime for the safety of our country and the freedom of an oppressed people.

2. It is a defensive use of force. The non-initiation of force philosophy allows for      “pre-emptive force” to be included in any of the three initial, defensive or retaliatory definitions of force. 9/11, Beirut, the Khobar Towers and the USS Cole among others are attacks against the United States from an enemy difficult to define, except that it’s supported terrorism and middle eastern/regional in scope. While Iraq’s Saddam Hussein regime hasn’t been more than consequentially tied to Al-Queda, the regime has been positively tied to other terrorist organizations equally as evil. There is little doubt that Hussein’s regime would in time provide assistance and or weapons of mass destruction to terrorists if left alone. A pre-emptive strike against the regime of Saddam Hussein is a “defensive” use of force.

3. Weapons of mass destruction. Many argue that Hussein would not use biological, chemical or nuclear weapons against the United States, and point out that he hasn’t used them against the U.S. before. That if he did it would surely be to his own destruction. Over the past two decades terrorism has been on the rise in the middle east, much of it is covertly state sponsored, and if not, most of the middle eastern states have chosen to ignore private interests within their jurisdictions who do. The Hussein regime has been well documented in sponsorship of non Al-Queda terrorists, it is not a stretch to believe he would covertly support Al-Queda or other terrorist networks with designs against the United States.

4. Al-Queda is only one of many anti-U.S. terrorist organizations. Terrorism and hatred of the U.S.A. are taught, lived and breathed in the Middle East. Many known terrorist organizations applauded the 9/11 attacks on New York and the Pentagon. There are many more terrorist organizations we rarely if ever hear about in the western press, who would if possible press their evil in the United States if given the support and opportunity to do so. The Iraq Hussein regime is documented to have given support to known terrorist organizations; Al-Queda is not the only terrorist organization that is a danger to western civilization.

5. Islamic fundamentalist religion is being used to justify evil.  Throughout the Middle Eastern region, tyrants are using religion to justify the subjugation of people to intolerance of natural law and western values. While Iraq and Hussein have been in the past secular, over the past decade Hussein has been using religion as a social engineering propaganda tool. A large part of the teachings of today’s modern Middle Eastern Islamic Fundamentalism is to hate the United States and western values.  This is not to say that Islam or Muslim religion is inherently evil, only that it is at this time in history being twisted in many areas to evil ends. It’s one thing to teach evil, it’s altogether something different when people begin to act evil due to their teachings. Self-defense is required.

6. Appeasing evil does not work.  It didn’t work to avoid WWII and it won’t work now, appeasing evil will never work. Within the whole Middle Eastern region evil shows its face daily, in the slavery of other human beings, in the honor killings of women and the support of “suicide bombings” as a means for social change. While the western world is highly tolerant of the sovereignty of other nations and cultures, (even evil ones), when they begin to export their evil to the western world, a war upon them is self-defense. Iraq is a Middle Eastern nation whose regime has flagrantly committed crimes against humanity, sufficiently evil enough that other nations around Iraq dislike Hussein’s regime. An evil dictatorial state whose people deserve to be freed from.

7. Lead by example. The democratic Republic of the United States has been attacked over and over again by Middle Eastern influenced terrorists with little to no retaliation. The terrorism, which is targeted on U.S. targets and now after 9/11 exported into the United States proper, requires a response. Afghanistan and the Taliban was a good start, Iraq and the elimination of Saddam Hussein’s regime is another correct step in that direction. The United States will not abide or negotiate with terrorists, and by example Iraq’s people will be free and Hussein’s regime will be eliminated. Let Iraq be an example to other nations supporting terrorism that terrorism is not a means for social change.

8. Conflict in the Middle East is inevitable.  As the countries in the Middle East continue to demonize the western world, terror, death and destruction will follow in its wake. Now is a time that works to the western worlds advantage, if there is going to be conflict, it should be pursued now while the Middle Eastern nations are not allied in any real cohesive way. While the future is always uncertain especially when waging war, destroying the Iraq Hussein regime and sowing the seeds of democratic freedom may save lives. It’s a calculated risk but in defense of the United States and humanity, one worth taking.

9. Dealing with evil nations.  Yes it’s about oil, it’s also about past and current foreign policy mistakes and it’s also about evil. Oil is just a catalyst and not a goal of the spoils of war. The United States should re-evaluate foreign policy concerning inhumanitarian evil despotic governments. Some say that the U.S. is partly responsible for propping up the Hussein regime in Iraq; if there is any truth to that then the U.S. shares some responsibility in freeing the Iraqi people from the boot of tyranny. Freedom has its responsibilities, if accountable then its time to be counted.

10. Libertarians are not in power. There are other “libertarian” solutions and policies that could or should be part of the governance of the United States. At this time, during this current political reality they are not. If Libertarians were in power the nation would not have come to this crux in foreign entanglement, but the fact remains we are entangled. In defense of the nation, in defense of what is good and right, in an accounting of responsibility to freedom this fight against evil is just. Libertarianism may have a chance in a democratic society, but it has no chance in a totalitarian one.