mr humility - by request You asked:"Ridge and others. How are...

mr humility - by request You asked:"Ridge and others. How are you going to cope knowing you supported events that resulted in the murder of children? The same type of kids that you see everyday. Having innocent kids blown to pieces by "our side" just doesn't seem right."

And the reply was

IRAQ-THE WEST"S MORAL DILEMMA
February 3 2003

War would be dreadful. Non-intervention would be dreadful. But there is no third choice, says Andrew MacLeod.

Many of those who do not support intervention in Iraq argue that the human cost of intervention is too high - yet they ignore the human cost of non-intervention. No one outside Iraq denies that Saddam Hussein is a tyrant. No one denies that he continues to torture, murder and use rape as a tool of control.

For example, Saddam has a systematic plan to eradicate the Ma'dan, or so-called Marsh Arabs. Human Rights Watch estimates that the population of Marsh Arabs has dropped from 250,000 to 40,000 in just 15 years (see www.hrw.org). That is 210,000 real people dead or missing. This is on top of an estimated 100,000 Kurds who have suffered the same fate. This is on top of the countless numbers who are members of ethnic groups, political organisations and normal members of Iraqi society who have suffered at Saddam's hand without any international attention.

Added to this is the repression, rape, torture, amputations and branding that are part of the Iraqi system of "justice".

The eradication of Marsh Arabs, the repression of Kurds, the continued rape, murder and torture - this is the cost of non-intervention"