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Tariq Aziz, the foreign minister of Iraq, is planning to visit the Pope. Is he going to ask the Pope for a reprieve for Saddam Hussein? The foreign minister was quoted as saying, "They want to crucify Saddam Hussein like Jesus." That's a desperate statement if I ever heard one. How can the United Nations allow the Iraqi people to be oppressed to such a point that they mistake Saddam Hussein for Jesus? I think the best solution that exists today is that Saddam Hussein should be exiled from Iraq. This way thousands of people will not be killed in the war to liberate Iraq. A democratically elected government for Iraq will be a model for all Middle Eastern countries with similar ethnically diverse populations. The anti-American policies of the Iraqi regime are at odds with practically all Arab counties in the region. Ironically the people of Iraq are the least fanatical of all the Middle Eastern countries. Exile is a viable solution for Saddam. King Farouk of Egypt was exiled. He lived in France until his death of natural causes. There have been many exiled leaders who have lived outside their countries in the last century. If war starts, there will be many unnecessary deaths, until the Iraqi army finds a way to surrender without being shot in the back by their own leaders. The few top generals who remain loyal to Saddam Hussein will have to commit suicide. Saddam Hussein will have no other option himself. If he fires his weapons of mass destruction, he'll ruin the reputation of the Iraqi people and all Arabs as well. It's not honorable to use biological and chemical weapons on innocent civilians. The military forces have masks and other methods of shielding themselves from the harmful effects of biological weapons. It's the civilian populations who will suffer the most. To accept exile is the sensible thing to do. The US government has left no stone unturned in their efforts to forestall a military invasion. There simply is no option left for the US but to replace the regime of Iraq with a democratically elected leadership. The US waited for the Afghanis to change their government, but when they couldn't do it on their own, the US went in. It's the same in Iraq. The waiting game is over. The Iraqis have failed to make the transition to democracy. With war there's no telling how things will turn out. The US is committed to the war on terrorism. This war will go on regardless of what happens in Iraq. The only question is how many Iraqis will have to die to satisfy the Iraqi leadership and how big will the tragedy be? When the nineteen suicide bombers attacked the United States of America on September 11th, 2001, that was the beginning of the end of international terrorism. Those who live like an animal on the prowl, do not live the life of a human being. And when tragedy strikes innocent people, those who dance in the streets at the news, will no longer have homes to go to in the future. February 7, 2003 |