With Operation Anaconda wrapping up after a few more tense weeks of fighting, the big question that continues to occur is what happens next? After Afghanistan is brought to some form of stability, where will the United States Army go next? Many people assume that Iraq is the next stop and there the army will try to finally take down Saddam Hussein.All I have to say is that it is about time. Saddam needs to taken out. I do not care how he gets taken out, whether it be by military or political means; I want to see Saddam go.

It appears that Saddam Hussein has gone out of his way to destroy his own country and then blame it on America and the sanctions against him.

He claims that his people are starving and it is all America’s fault. Saddam fails to mention that those sanctions against Iraq do not include food or medicine. It is in fact Saddam who is starving his people. He appears to have no regard for the people living in Iraq.

“Stark evidence of the government’s callous policies was documented in a recent UNICEF survey, which found that child mortality rates doubled in South and Central Iraq, where Saddam Hussein controls distribution of humanitarian assistance,” said the U.S. Department of State, “but child mortality rates actually dropped in the North, where the UN controls distribution.”

The only reason Iraq has sanctions against them in the first place is because Saddam himself would not allow weapons inspectors to come into his country.

You could make the argument that Iraq is not the only country to have weapons of mass destruction, but that argument is debunked by simply looking at the person or persons controlling these weapons. Whatever your political leanings are, I believe that most rational people would rather have our president control these types of weapons than Saddam Hussein.

To expand the argument a little further, Saddam needs to be stopped to protect not only America, but also Israel. If Iraq was ready to fire weapons of mass destruction today, one of their first targets would the State of Israel. And what has Israel done to Iraq? No crime against Iraq was committed; the only thing that Israel does to bother Iraq is to exist. I imagine few things would make Saddam happier than destroying Israel.

The biggest argument against taking out Saddam is that violence is only going to beget more violence. This is certainly a valid argument. The idea of starting another military campaign worries me. I worry that our government believes that they can roll right into Iraq and take care of business. I worry about the repercussions and bad feelings other countries would harbor towards an attack of this sort.

With all of these reservations, however, I believe that in the case of Iraq and Saddam Hussein, we need to get them before they get us. I believe that by not going in there and destroying this tyrannical regime, we would be leaving the door open for another attack against America.

Saddam Hussein is an evil man. For the protection of every country in the free world and for the protection of every individual who wants to live a free society, the elimination of Saddam Hussein and his government must initiated. War is never pleasant, but if it can rid another country in this world of a tyrant, then it must be done.