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While watching several hours of C-SPAN coverage of last weekend’s antiwar rallies, I noticed something.
Not one speaker, not one sign, not one slogan, not one banner denounced or criticized Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein – a brutally repressive tyrant who has probably killed more people than any other man alive today.
President Bush was compared with Hitler. The U.S. was characterized as the greatest threat to peace and freedom in the world. But Saddam Hussein and Iraq were given a free ride.
Hussein himself was quite encouraged and emboldened by this show. It’s not hard to understand why.
While his name was not mentioned frequently in western rallies, in Syria and the Palestinian Authority banners referred to him as “Our Beloved Saddam,” and urged him to “Strike Tel Aviv!”
It was a strange coalition indeed that made Saddam’s day – Islamic centers, feminist groups, Christian peace activists and atheist revolutionaries.
There’s an irony to the support Hussein is getting from Muslim activists around the world. Of the 1.5 million people he killed in the Iraq-Iran war, during the slaughter of the Kurds and in uprisings by Shiites after the war, most were Muslims. Thus, he is not only the most prolific killer in the world, but the most prolific killer of Muslims.
“They (the demonstrators) are supporting you because they know that evildoers target Iraq to silence any dissenting voice to their evil and destructive policies,” Saddam happily told a group of his top military officers, including his son Qusay, commander of his elite Republican Guards.
“It’s a fight between faith and evil,” he triumphantly declared in a speech later carried on Baghdad’s state-run TV.
I can respect an honest opinion opposing the war in Iraq. I think there are some good and legitimate arguments against it:
- Congress should declare war;
- If U.S. security is threatened by Iraq, Washington should stop playing footsy with the United Nations;
- Building coalitions with some countries that are nearly as evil as Iraq makes no sense;
Nevertheless, at the end of the day, this is a battle between good and evil. Iraq has sponsored terrorism since the 1980s. It has supported al-Qaida for more than a decade. It has invaded its neighbors. It has been developing chemical and biological weapons for years – and using them. It is trying to develop nuclear weapons and, if it does, it will use them, too.
But the demonstrators last week saw no problem with any of this. Their problems were exclusively with the U.S. The closest I saw any of them come to criticizing Saddam Hussein was a sign that said: “The only difference between Saddam Hussein and Bush is that Saddam Hussein was elected.”
Ha ha. I’ll bet thousands of political prisoners in Iraq were yucking it up over that one.
Who’s the principal force behind these demonstrations in the U.S.? A group called International A.N.S.W.E.R. What does it believe? “The world is being menaced by weapons of mass destruction in the hands of a government that is openly threatening and planning to use nuclear weapons in pre-emptive wars of aggression against others, including non-nuclear countries.” The group adds, “The real threat of nuclear war and the use of weapons of mass destruction arises within the U.S. administration.”
I expect Syrians and Palestinians to support Saddam Hussein in their demonstrations. If they took any other position they would risk being shot. But it’s a little difficult to watch Americans like Jessica Lange, Tyne Daly, Jesse Jackson and others align themselves with America-haters, with those supportive of Saddam Hussein.
There’s going to be a war with Iraq. The U.S. is going to win that war. It’s going to be a good thing for the people of Iraq. It will give them their first chance to be free of this monster Hussein since 1979. But this war is going to require a sacrifice by Americans. Make no mistake about that. It will cost lives.
When it’s over, remember these enemies in our midst. They will be back – with new causes and new vitriol and new heroes to replace their fallen Saddam.
