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When Logic Is Left Behind

What is it that the Left do not understand about the murderous thugs of Saddam Hussein’s regime? As far as I am concerned, weapons of mass destruction or not, it was right to topple Hussein and give the Iraqi people a chance at a decent life. I personally believe that there are weapons of mass destruction, which have been spirited off to Syria. But even if this wasn’t the case, Iraq, and indeed the world, is a far better place now that Hussein is not in power.

The Left have what we in Israel call a rosh katan (literally “small head”). They have a particular mindset, from which they will not deviate. Take the following ill-conceived post from a left wing blog:

Lots of “hoorays” going around at the apparent death of Saddam’s Sons, even from some on the Left, but does it really [expletive] matter? Or worse yet, is this a bad thing maybe?

Firstly, the deaths of Uday and Qusay mean absolutely nothing to anyone in this country. Does this stop terrorism? No. Does this curb anti-Americanism? No. Does this remedy the harsh living conditions that produce terrorists? No. Does this reverse the anger that many in the world feel toward us now? No. Does this make people less scared of us? No. Does this offer absolutely any justification for invading Iraq and killing tens of thousands of people? Hell [expletive] No!!!!

Big on hysteria, small on factual basis is how I would characterize this post.

Firstly, the war did remedy the “harsh living conditions, at least in Iraq, which were the direct result of living under Saddam’s regime. There is a long way to go in rehabilitating Iraq, but already there is a marked improvement in the Iraqi people’s standard of living. For a start, Iraqis no longer have to live in a constant state of fear.

Furthermore, the belief that harsh living conditions produce terrorism is a gross simplification. What produces terrorism is a fundamentalist Islamic ideology that seeks to replace Western culture with an Islamic one. It may be true that this ideology thrives in poverty-stricken areas, but eliminating the “harsh living conditions” is no guarantee to eliminating this terror. For instance, Al-Quaida’s goal and objectives include “establishing the rule of God on earth”. Jemaah Islamiyah seeks to establish a Muslim fundamentalist state in south-east Asia. Daniel Pipes has written extensively on this subject, and in fact argues that while poverty does not generate militant Islam, wealth might.

As for “tens of thousands of people” being killed in the war, I would respond by asking for proof. Even the left-wing Iraq Body Count places the number of civilians killed at between 6000 and 8000. Assuming this is true (about which I have doubts), how does this compare to the hundreds of thousands of people reportedly killed and displaced under Saddam’s regime?

I would conclude by asking the following hypothetical question: How do you deal with people capable of this:

A man who worked as Uday Hussein’s chief executioner has revealed how Saddam’s son once ordered him to seize, and then help drag, two 19-year-old students into a cage to be devoured by lions.

“I saw the head of the first student literally come off his body with the first bite,” he told the London Times. He says he was forced to watch the animals devour the young students. “By the time they were finished there was little left but for the bones and bits and pieces of unwanted flesh.”

The 36-year-old executioner, who uses the pseudonym Abu Ahmad, was told the men “had competed with Uday where some young ladies were concerned,” according to the newspaper.

Ahmad also claims to have supervised mass beheadings on the orders of Uday, and recounted the decapitation of 36 people, including a pregnant woman, in a single afternoon.

 

About the author

Picture of David Lange

David Lange

A law school graduate, David Lange transitioned from work in the oil and hi-tech industries into fulltime Israel advocacy. He is a respected commentator and Middle East analyst who has often been cited by the mainstream media
Picture of David Lange

David Lange

A law school graduate, David Lange transitioned from work in the oil and hi-tech industries into fulltime Israel advocacy. He is a respected commentator and Middle East analyst who has often been cited by the mainstream media
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