Why We Fight - As

Why We Fight - As war with Iraq draws closer, commentators, journalists, and policymakers frequently question whether the Iraqi people would really support the overthrow of Saddam Hussein. But that question has already been answered. Although Americans remember the Gulf war, many do not realize that, for a few momentous days immediately after it, much of Iraq rose up in open rebellion against Saddam's regime. In fact, 15 out of 18 Iraqi provinces rebelled. I was one of the rebels.

For over a decade, I have stayed silent about what I saw. But now, as the world considers freeing Iraq from Saddam's rule, I feel compelled to bear witness to the last time Iraqis tried to liberate their country.

This is the beginning of a harrowingly intense article from the New Republic, by Zainab Al-Suwaij, executive director of the American Islamic Congress and veteran of the 1991 uprising that the US shamefully abandoned to its fate.

Please read it. Like the accounts of US and British ignorance of the unmistakeable evidence of the Holocaust, this is a barometer of the dark side of our nation's character.

Sidebar - Now that North Korea and the un-found Bin Laden have failed as Democrat diversions against the war effort, I have to wonder - will the Columbia tragedy be used to the same end? "We can't attack Iraq while we're still in mourning..."