Wednesday, March 12, 2003

President Bush faces classic Catch 22 on war with Iraq

Catch 22 is a term taken from a Joseph Heller novel of the same title. It means, in more common terms, you're damned if you do, you're damned if you don't. President George W. Bush is caught in a modern-day Catch 22.

With the recent events of Sept. 11, the world has seen what deadly situations can arise from a lack of attention to clues and details that the United States government knew about. Allegations that came forth after Sept. 11 found that our top agencies had information that would have possibly been about to stop the extremely deadly attacks.

Now, fast-forward a year and a half. Sitting at the brink of war, America has to make a decision that will dictate the next few years of everyone's life, not to mention the future of this world as a whole. President Bush is presented with a Catch 22. If he acts now, the public and some of our allies will think less of us for "acting without information." If he does not act now, the possibility of something horrible looms on the horizon.

One must take note that the details that were known about Sept. 11 were not released to the public for a reason. Do any of you think that the general public would have been able to comprehend the possibility that major jet airliners might be flown into the twin towers?

What if, and given that this is a big what if, our government does have information that Saddam Hussein is planning to attack someone? Would America be ready to hear President Bush present a public announcement saying, "Ladies and gentleman, Saddam Hussein is, as we speak, prepping his long range nuclear missiles to attack various American cities," or, "Saddam Hussein is currently sending agents into America to release a strain of insert biological pathogen into the public water supply"?

President Bush is faced with one of the hardest decisions anyone can make. Should we send our soldiers, our American lives, to war? I say yes, send our boys to war; defeat the problems of the world that threaten peace and freedom. Make this a better place for everyone to live, without fear, with freedom, and justice for all.

Ryan Duckworth

Atlanta