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Eighteen Reasons to Oppose the War by Kenneth Prazak True leaders lead by example, not by force. The U.S. made Saddam what he is. We provided him with vast armaments to fight Iran. He was our ally. The U.S. also provided him with weapons of mass destruction. How do we know he has them? We have the receipts. Those who are pro-war state that Saddam is so evil because he used chemical weapons against the Kurds. But the U.S. tacitly allowed the gassing of the Kurds. And Janet Reno gassed the Branch Davidians with internationally-banned CS gas. When did the U.S. policy change on gassing innocent people? Our founding fathers believed in non-intervention, “Free trade with all, entangling alliances with none.” A pre-emptive strike would set up a new set of international rules for war that would endanger the U.S. What prevents other countries who may have nuclear weapons from pre-emptively striking us in the future? Remember, the U.S. remains the only country in the world to use nuclear weapons against civilians, with the result of over 150,000 people dead. Aggression against Iraq will spawn new radical fundamentalists from the population of moderate fundamentalists. That will increase terrorism in our country. Look upon Saddam’s head as a Hydra. Cut it off and multiples will take his place. There is no credible evidence that Saddam Hussein has any direct connection with Al Qaeda, Osama bin Laden, or with the tragedy of 9-11. It is impossible to prove a negative which is what the UN and the US are asking of Saddam. “Prove you don’t have weapons of mass destruction.” I would suggest that the supporters of this war prove to me that they have never committed rape. An impossible task you say? Of course it is. The whole basis of Western civilization justice is based on the premise that those who accuse others of committing a crime must prove positively that the crime happened by the one accused.. Iraq has violated UN resolutions but so has Israel and the U.S. Does that mean other countries should invade Israel and the US? Congress has not declared war against Iraq. Aggression in Iraq is Unconstitutional. Iraq is a sovereign country. Invading Iraq will cause thousands, and maybe hundreds of thousands of innocent people to die as well as our own soldiers. The only time the U.S. should ever invade a sovereign country is in defense, in retaliation for them invading the U.S. first. Intervention in Iraq will cost our economy hundreds of billions of dollars, money we don’t have. Intervention will increase the world’s hatred of the U.S. Virtually the whole world is opposed to our intervention. There are dictators in the world who have proven to be more ruthless than Saddam, and the U.S. isn’t going after them. War is the health of the State. Government officials are using the excuse of war to take away the remaining fine thread of Constitutional rights that are supposed to be guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. Uncontrolled wire tapping, computer surveillance, big brother cameras, secret arrests without the right of habeas corpus, deportation of American citizens as a result of accusation only by the Attorney General–these are just of the few of the many draconian steps already taken or are in the planning stages of Patriot Act II to strip American citizens of our remaining rights. Remember, once our rights are gone, it is virtually impossible to get them back. Benjamin Franklin said,"They that give up liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." “Forcing democracy” is an oxymoron. Our founding fathers provided for us, as again, Benjamin Franklin said, a Constitutional “Republic, if you can keep it.” American Empire is inconsistent with this. Christians, ask yourselves this question: WWJB (What Would Jesus bomb)? Kenneth Prazak is a co-founder of the Fox Valley Libertarian Party, newsletter editor for the Libertarian Party of Illinois, and weekly radio talk show host for a live call-in show called “Freedom Rings” streamed-live every Monday mornings, 9:00-10:00 AM at www.freedomrings.net. Email ken@fvlp.org