The War on Iraq

[Preface: Clearly, this post will be based on a personal bias, and isn't really too philosophical per se, but something I think we should all take an interest in.]

Is it justified? I've been thinking about this a lot lately. If the death count has risen so much since our entering, how can it be considered a humanitarian effort? If so many Iraqis want us out, who are we supposed to be helping? At first the war was justified to the American public because of the undeniable proof of WMDs. Since we found out about the lies and exagerations that backed up that claim, the justification has become more humanitarian in nature. I have no definition of humanitarianism, but I never pictured such acts involving so much death against the wishes of those we are purportedly helping. I'm no ethicist or political scholar, but my naive opinions cannot help but be contrary to those of our political leaders. If we were concerned with humanitarianism, why not help those dozens of impoverished nations who don't have such a checkered past with the US (and hence wouldn't be so resistant) by providing their hungry with food and their homeless with shelter? Why not help those in our own nation who have very little? If you're interested, go to http://costofwar.com to see how much we've spent thus far on the war. Over $145 billion. Is there absolutely no way we might've spent that money in a more productive fassion? Yes, the Iraqi government has not been the best friend of the U.S., but does that mean we need to go to these extreme measures? Are these the actions that the great spiritual and ethical leaders--Jesus, Ghandi, Mother Teresa, Dr. Martin Luther King--would have advised us to do?

When we went to war we broke the UN charter--We broke international law.

Terrorism (def.): The unlawful use or threatened use of force or violence by a person or an organized group against people or property with the intention of intimidating or coercing societies or governments, often for ideological or political reasons.

I've heard people in the department say that this war is justified, and I've heard others say that the issue is too convoluted to judge either way. I completely disagree with both of those claims. However, I know that we're all intelligent philosophers here, so I'm confident that you have well thought out arguments for your positions. PLEASE help me understand because right now I can't help but see things from only one side.

DePoe--If this isn't the sort of thing you want on the blog, you have my permission to remove it.