Pro-war views not ignorant

In response to Devika Wickremesinghe’s letter on March 24 entitled ‘Pro-war sentiment narrowminded[sic], ignorant,’ I have a few things to say (pg. 9). First of all, to broadly declare pro-war sentiment (or anti-war sentiment for that matter) as ignorant reveals not the ignorance of the subject but of the speaker. You cite various articles and columns that you have read well, congratulations, Hooked on Phonics worked for you. I read many of them as well and also listen to roughly 20 hours of National Public Radio each week at work. But simply reading articles by no means gives one wisdom you have to understand them as well. When people ask you if you know your world history, they are referring to such concepts as the policy of appeasement that led to the rise of Hitler prior to the second World War. So there is no need to snidely respond that you of course know your history because in the case of many anti-war protesters I have questioned, they do not.

In your self-congratulatory manner, you point out that the United States is in part responsible for giving power to some dictators. It is so wonderful to see that an 18 year old (19, 20, etc.) has such clarity of thought and ability of understanding. While it is true that we helped some, there are several good reasons as to why we acted in such a manner. Could it possibly be that in the 1950s and 1960s our government aided those rulers to counter the threat of communist countries that once brought nuclear missiles within striking distance of Washington and nearly initiated an all out nuclear war? Hindsight is 20/20 and despite the fact that it is incredibly easy to make blanket statements about history, I think you should realize that there is much more to global politics and international security than meets the eye.

Furthermore, you denounce economic sanctions against such states as Iraq as only fueling anti-American sentiment and terrorism. Yet at the same time, you denounce war. Well then, in your infinite wisdom and vast repository of historical understanding, how then would you deal with a man like Saddam Hussein? Have you even met an Iraqi? Do you understand what he has done to those people? I have met one, and I will tell you what this Iraqi man told me. Saddam has killed nearly 2 million Iraqis through poison gas, torture and genocide. This man who was forced into the army under the threat of death mentioned that few families have not had at least one member killed by Saddam’s regime. In many instances, he simply would not speak of his experiences he would only tell me that they were truly horrible.

My problem with anti-war protesters is that I find them to generally lack important information and understanding. They use bits and pieces of images and information gleaned from newspapers and magazines to wage war on an idea without fully considering the consequences. As each day passes, I fear that this country sinks further and further into the depths of the naïveté and ignorance which a large portion of the protesting masses seems to exhibit. It is important to remember that there are no perfect solutions to the crises we as a country face only preferable ones. And as such, we can only do our best as a people.