2003 Soap Box Archives

Rebuilding Iraq 04/28/03

The war in Iraq is barely a month old and already the critics and the
boo birds are coming out of the woodwork. Rome was not built in a day
and neither will Iraq be.

Of course the money grubbing Jacques Chirac and his French lackeys are
back in the middle of things demanding to be included in the action.

And the weapons inspectors under the leadership of Hans Blix want to
come back on board and waste more time with their politically correct
and unproductive sniffing around.

The politicians are gearing up with their criticisms and demonizing
rhetoric and a goodly portion of Planet Earth is ready to pounce on the
administration for their handling of the situation.

Doesn’t it seem a little early for everybody to get their jockeys in a
wad? Shouldn’t we sit back and assess the situation before we start
passing out contracts? Shouldn’t we at least have the blue print for a
stable government in place before we start pouring concrete and driving
nails?

The political pot in Iraq is on full boil with the people being incited
by the angry mobs egged on by the radical Muslims who have conveniently
slipped over the border from neighboring Iran.

The Kurds, the Shiites, the Sunnis and others want and deserve a place
at the table while the new government is being formed. Their
differences are ancient and deep and there is no way we can truly
understand them.
And there is no way for them to truly understand democracy. It is as
foreign to them as totalitarianism is to us.

In their society it has always been that he who had the most swords
ruled.
It’s time for some world class diplomacy in Iraq and I don’t believe
that The United Nations can do the job. Everybody comes to the table
asking not what they can do for Iraq but what Iraq can do for them.

If the Coalition lets go of this and puts it in the inept hands of
Kofi Annan, the Iraqi situation will be a disaster.

It’s going to take a strong hand in Iraq. If there is to be democracy
somebody will have to protect the rights of the minorities and make
Iran toe the line.

I believe that most of the jobs created by the reconstruction should be
given to qualified Iraqis. That, along with what should be a thriving
oil business, should help to get the economy going.

A good economy will go a long way in promoting democracy.
When a man can feed his family and have some of the little luxuries the
rest of the world enjoys he is less likely to follow some radical imam
preaching hate and rebellion.

We need to stay the course in Iraq in spite of criticism from the rest
of the world and opposing political parties, and I’m sure there will be
plenty of it.
We freed Iraq from Saddam Hussein, now we will have to keep it free
from the political faction who would turn it back into a repressed
radical Muslim, terrorist sponsoring country with no more freedom than
they had under Saddam.

The radicals want us to get the lights back on and leave. I think we
should get the lights back on and stay. We have the resources in place
to assure free and fair elections for the Iraqi people.

If by their vote they choose to be ruled by the radical element
that’s their business. But if we play our cards right I don’t believe
they will.
Once a person has had a taste of real freedom and a little money in
their pocket why would they want to return to the middle ages?

We won the war, now let’s win the peace.

Pray for our troops.

What do you think?

God Bless America

Charlie Daniels

 

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