Yes, there are many positives and negatives

Submitted by Maggie (Australia), Sep 12, 2005 at 05:11

Prior to the invasion of Iraq by the coalition of the willing (Australia included), I was against such a move. However, I changed my mind as soon as I saw the Iraqi citizens welcoming the American, Australian, British and other national troops into their land. There was very little resistance from the Iraqi population. Only the men loyal to Saddam Hussein have put up any kind of a fight. At the same time, I learned about the terror that was perpetrated upon the people of Iraq - thousands of citizens had disappeared because they had been captured, taken to the police cells, tortured and murdered. At last the crimes of the Ba'ath Party in Iraq had been uncovered.

It is a well known fact that those who walk in darkness will end up having their secret lives being revealed, and this is what happened to Saddam Hussein and his Ba'ath Party supporters. Justice was served when the invasion took place. The people are still fighting for their freedom.

Within the last few days I learned of a very generous collection and donation of funds from Iraqi soldiers to be given to those who have suffered from hurricane Katrina. The amount collected was 1,000,000 dinars, which is the equivalent of $680. The soldiers were willing to give up the equivalent of one month's pay out of their gratitude and compassion for the people of the USA. To me this is a positive outcome from the invasion that I did not want to happen.

There have been other benefits that have been overlooked. For example, another enemy of the USA, and the coalition of the willing is the leader of Libya, Col. Gaddafi. To my amazement, the invasion of Iraq has brought about a change in Gaddafi's attitude and he is no longer such a threat to the western world. You have already mentioned changes in Lebanon.

Then there is the issue of the extremism of the Islamofacists. Many pundits look at the reactions that we are seeing around the world. They see the bombings in Madrid, London and other countries and they claim that these things would not have happened if the coalition had not invaded Iraq. I disagree with the pundits who think along such lines. The invasion of the USA by the Islamofacists was in reality a declaration of an unofficial war. There are pundits who cannot understand the dangers presented by Islamofacism. Madrid had previously been subjected to acts of terror, but the bombings in question were more overt as far as working out the perpetrators. It must never be forgotten that the Muslims had tried to take over Spain in the past, and that they almost succeeded, by Queen Isabella of Spain exerted enough of the right kind of pressure to prevent that invasion (by rooting out those who were funding the invaders in secret). London has also had a chequered past and certainly we cannot overlook the invasion of London by the Germans during the second world war.

What has changed, and I believe that this is a positive, is that the invasion has flushed out a number of secret operatives of the Al Qaeda network. How much longer would these cells have managed to stay secret if it had not been for the invasion of Iraq. Here in Australia the threat is very real. In fact the Al Qaeda operatives have issued a threat against my very own city, Melbourne (I was born in Melbourne and my family live there, whilst I now live in Sydney). The Al Qaeda network failed in their bid to disrupt the Sydney Olympics when their cells in Singapore and New Zealand were discovered. Without the invasion of Iraq I believe that few people would be aware of the real threat that is posed by the growing numbers who are members of Islamofacism.

The attack against the Pentagon, the World Trade Centre, and the attempted attack against the White House was not a triumph for the terrorists. The attacks were a declaration of war and for that reason I do not think that a gloves off approach against any predatory Islamofacist nation is warranted now or in the near future. If they attack again, then they must also suffer the consequences for their deeds. They are no longer hiding in the shadows.

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