Its going, going, it’s down. As one commentator put it, all that was left of the statue of Saddam in Baghdad were the bronze boots.
Skeptics and neo-pacifists, even after being proven wrong about the length of the war and the reaction of the Iraqi people, still remain against the tides of reality.
Baghdad was taken in under a month, Iraqi citizens welcomed American soldiers and few civilian lives have been lost.
Dr. Colin Baxter, history professor and WWII expert whose father fought in both world wars, discussed foreign policy, the Middle East, Iraq, the Ivory Tower and the emergence of neo-pacifism.
“I supported the overthrow of Saddam Hussein and the Taliban in Afghanistan,” he said. “I’m optimistic that a democracy will be set up in Iraq.”
Baxter said April 9 was a black eye for terrorism and for other regimes that are harboring terrorists. Could Iraq take the place of Turkey in the Middle East?
“Yes, for example, Iraq has an abundance of oil fields which Hussein wasted,” Baxter said. “The people of Iraq can benefit from the financial gain of those resources in which the Baath regime horded.”
Last week Prime Minister Tony Blair and President Bush met in Northern Ireland to discuss peace plans for Europe and the Middle East.
Is the peace process in Northern Ireland a road map for Israel and Palestine?
Baxter said the hostilities in Northern Ireland are long standing.
“I’m optimistic, people have changed, they can overcome hatred, that’s been proven by the race question in the United States,” said Baxter.
Baxter, when referring to the race question, was speaking of the American people overcoming prejudice and eventually coming together. The question as Baxter put it is the forgiveness factor in both Ireland and the Middle East.
Clemency may be given to IRA in Northern Ireland and Baxter believes this will be an important part to peace in both areas of the world.
He said, “Democracy and liberation are not just for the United States and Britain, it’s for the Chinas, North Koreas and the Middle East.”
The democracy question is a really debatable idea within the ivory tower. Appeasement and containment often take precedent over intervening for democracy.
Baxter said in reply that the academic world searches for the reasons why and that sometimes leads to cynicism and hostility.
“For example reading the Communist Manifesto or Kapital can lead to accepting a powerful idealism of equality,” said Baxter.
Baxter said that this pure idealism only works in the ivory tower and that through rationalism he keeps a realistic view of the world.
“As far as the question of oil being the reason for war in Iraq, through reason you could figure out that the U.S. could have had Iraqi oil through another solution, such as contracts and treaties,” said Baxter.
Baxter understands stopping evil regimes because he was a child during Nazi bombings in London. He knows empirically that evil dictators, when given the chance, will try pushing the limits of their borders. Baxter’s father and both of his brothers fought to extinguish the fires of fascism that Hitler tried to spread in Europe.
Many questions must be answered at this time such as democracy in Iraq and peace in the Middle East. A plethora of questions have been answered already concerning the stability of rogue governments and the ability of the West to peacefully bring them down.
Democracy should prevail and intervention can go smoothly even when battling a fascist regime such as Hussein’s.

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