After Iraq - Will diplomacy replace war?

This Memorial Day we salute the brave men and women who toppled the regime of a sadistic dictator and made the world a little bit safer for all of us. While the search for weapons of mass destruction has not turned up much yet, the finding of thousands of graves of those murdered by Saddam Hussein's regime gives ample proof that we were dealing with a man as evil as Hitler or Stalin.

We found out that Saddam Hussein's boasts of military might were idle threats. In fact, Saddam has to be one of the worst military leaders ever. The fact that he would knowingly allow his army to be demolished shows how much regard he has for human life. It is unfortunate that we cannot determine if Saddam has been eliminated or if he is in hiding somewhere. Personally, I don't think there can be closure to this war until evidence is given that Saddam Hussein has been captured or killed.

I don't want to sound callous but the Iraqi War was almost like spring training for our military. It allowed us to test our military technology under real battle conditions and gave us renewed confidence. It also showed the rest of the world that we can back up our words.

The Iraqi War resulted in only a hundred or so deaths of American soldiers. At least half of them were noncombat deaths. On the other hand, the Iraqi army suffered high causalty rates. With the advance in military technology and weaponry, each new war results in fewer combat casualties. Over 500,000 American lives were lost in the Civil War, over 250,000 were lost in World War II, 37,000 in the Korean Conflict, and over 50,000 in the Vietnam War.

One of the reasons the Al-Qaida hates us is because of our support of Israel. It is my opinion that the best way to fight Al-Qaida is to be more balanced in our support in the never-ending Middle East crisis. Our country needs to put pressure on Israel to cut back on carving out new terrority for settlements in the disputed areas. Israel has enough military power to take care of itself. It's time we take a more even-handed approach to the Middle-East crisis and realize that the Arab world has a valid argument in their attempt to reclaim land that was taken away from them 56 years ago.

While we have proved that we are unbeatable in a conventional war, it is important that we do not pursue war as the resolution to the world's problems. Diplomacy and politics should still be the first means for achieving peace in the world. The fact that we can back up our words with our military might should give us an advantage in diplomacy. I am sure that every veteran would agree that diplomacy is preferable to war when possible.

On this Memorial Day we thank the brave men and women whose efforts led to the overwhelming defeat of Iraq. The results of their effort will make it more likely that our potential enemies will choose diplomacy instead of war.