U.S. citizens must have all facts before going to war
Bush has failed to fully inform Americans about some aspects that could lead to a potential war with Iraq.
COMMENTARY
Janelle Stecklein

We as Americans must be sure that we have all the facts, and have time to make an educated decision before we go to war with Iraq.

According to a Gallup.com survey conducted Oct. 3 to 6, 2002, 53 percent of Americans favor sending ground troops to Iraq. This is down from 61 percent in June. Though Bush still has a majority of Americans supporting him, according to this poll, Bush is obviously losing support for his war plans. This poll was also before Bush made his speech in Cincinnati.

This loss of support may be because Bush is pressuring Congressional representatives to support his proposal on going to war with Iraq. Many of them seem to be somewhat tentative about going to war with Iraq, and are thus sending mixed messages to the American public, though Congress has recently approved a bill to use force with Iraq.

Bush has put Congress in a bind because he wants them to vote before the session ends, which is right before they are up for re-election. This move pressures Congressional representatives to rush into a decision before they have time to really consider it.

According to the Gallup poll done Oct. 3-6, 24 percent of Americans list the potential for war with Iraq as their most important issue in the up-coming election. This comes in a close second after economic conditions which polled at 25 percent.

Congressional representatives need to focus on what their constituency wants, instead of focusing on what may be best for the American public. The vote may have turned out differently if Bush had allowed the Iraq vote to take place after the elections.

Also, Bush has failed to prove that Iraq really has nuclear weapons. He claims that Iraq has the weapons, but the burden of proof has not been proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

Bush claims his basis for war is that he wants Iraq to let U.N. weapons inspectors into the country. Saddam Hussein said that they will allow weapons inspectors into the country, and yet Bush is still talking about going to war with Iraq. I think Bush needs to give the United Nations time to act. I’m not alone: in a poll released by CBS-New York Times and reported by The Associated Press, a “strong majority of Americans believe that Bush should give U.N. weapons inspectors time to act.”

One last thing to consider is if we go to war with Iraq, there could be a draft. Thus, people you know might be shipped off to war, and there is the potential to lose friends and family. Bush smartly has not mentioned anything about a draft. But this war may turn out like the Vietnam War. Bush and the government might be planning a draft as a worst-case scenario, and if you are feeling safe as a college student, there are no guarantees that the “war” will be over by the time that you graduate from school.

We should be very careful before we attack Iraq and make sure that it is the right thing to do. We need to especially make sure that we have all the facts before we jump into an over-seas war with Iraq.

Copy editor Janelle Stecklein is a freshman journalism and political science major from Plano.