THIS IS FOR AN IRAQ TROOP SURGE

PRO IRAQ TROOP SURGE

PAUL FISCHER

The pentagon spends over half a trillion dollars every year fighting wars abroad. Pro-peace lobbyists decry this as despicable; American boys and girls should not fight wars and shed blood for any other cause than imminent threat to US soil. They cite anti war demonstrators such as Thoreau, author of civil disobedience, and anti federalists including Thomas Jefferson, forger of the declaration of independence. Both of these great Americans were terrified of the strong central government that the colonies had fought so hard to shed itself of. Therefore, argue peace lobbies, the pillars upon which this country stands are threatened by increases in federal military strength. Furthermore, the war is immoral and unjustified, a random precalculated act of violence the Bush administration utilized to direct money to their corporate constituents. Senators who voted in favor of a pre emptive strike now question the viability of a war they claim is corrupted. This leads to their final point which is that the war is economically impossible to escalate. Apparently, it is George Bush’s own tax breaks that make completion of the Iraqi crisis impossible.

Of course completion is not what those senators have in mind, far from it, special interest groups convince them to support immediate withdrawal. Because Iraq is thousands of miles away, America has no business protecting vital trade interests that may be there. Here it becomes necessary to remind the assembled of a situation that Thomas Jefferson was confronted with and his own actions and views. The forger of the declaration of independence faced, as an ambassador to France, a crisis when the Barbarossa pirates disrupted American trade. Thomas Jefferson recommended a coalition of navies from European nations and the US to fight pirates mutually. Lafayette loved the idea and brought it before king Charles’s court. Unfortunately, European nations stood to gain too much from the fruits of piracy at America’s expense to ever agree to such a progressive solution. Looking at European contracting firms’ eagerness to “assist” with Iraq, I conclude that little has changed in apathetic Europe. As a result of Congress refusing to contribute either economic or naval support, Jefferson was made a laughingstock in Europe, and Barbarossa pirates were only neutralized when, after 30,000 dollars and many executions of American hostages, Congress authorized a navy. This navy resolved the Barbarossa pirate situation and proved vital to the US victory in 1812.

Another political legend, Henry Thoreau, draws attention to the Mexican war. The annexation of Mexican land was the result of manifest destiny advocates such as Albert Beveridge delivering impassioned speeches including the march of the flag. Being foresighted enough to recognize the not only the immediate economic benefits of modern day Texas but these politicians were also well aware of the policy that they were creating, one that would prove to be imperative to the American expansion into Hawaii, Alaska, Porto Rico, the Philippines, and California. A detail of the Mexican war specifically pertains to this bill: the slaughter of Americans at the Alamo and disheartening results from battles across the southwest is comparable to the current situation in Iraq. The American people responded not with quivering hands and meek words, but with a troop surge of thirty thousand men, a bold declaration of American foreign policy that showed the world that America was a superpower to be reckoned with. Today, I entreat those present to stand behind America as President Bush protects her interests abroad just as Thomas Jefferson and Albert Beveridge protected the fledgling democracy’s interest in the times of greatest peril.

The Iraq war was not, as Paul O’Neill claims in his book The Price of Loyalty, a premeditated decision the Bush administration made in order to line the pockets of corporate constituents. The decision to go to war was a spontaneous, courageous action in response to both 9/11 and the prospect of a rogue nation obtaining nuclear weapons. Bush fought a war with only a shoestring budget and defeated a police state controlled by a charismatic dictator. Mr. Bush should be given due credit for his brilliant political decisions and his ability to unite both a congress and senate fragmented by hundreds of committees and subcommittees. In _____’s book, the president has proven himself to be an effective and objective military and domestic leader of the American people.

Economically, the Iraq war has been fought with a minimum budget in order to keep five trillion dollars of tax cuts in Americans’ private wallets. These tax cuts have proven essential in helping the economy remain extraordinarily strong despite Enron, 9/11, and hurricane Katrina to name a few of the disasters that Bush has persevered through as head of state. Far from putting money in corporations’ pockets, the Bush administration has protected it by eliminating five trillion dollars of taxes that would have been expended by the government in ineffective socialist projects that lose billions to contractors and wealthy individuals through corruption. From Amtrak to NASA to Social Security, government dollars are better spent by the common man. Today, with the deficit shrinking and the economy booming, the government must recognize how effective individuals have been at expending their own money.

In summary, our nation was founded on principles of democracy, freedom and equal sovereign rights as a nation. Recognizing the war in Iraq is historically justifiable; America should rally behind Mr. Bush, who has elevated the presidential office to levels unknown since before Watergate. Our president should be given the credit he deserves for fighting big government lobbies to keep the anti-federalist ideals of Thomas Jefferson alive. Thoreau believed that only after man attains security economically, militarily, and socially can he begin to ponder the most important pursuit: philosophy. The constitution recognizes the government’s duty to provide security and few presidents have provided security as effectively in every sector domestic and foreign as George H. W. Bush. By authorizing this troop surge, America thanks Bush for providing security from foreign governments, militants, economic disaster, and corruption.