Did we all forget about the Kurds? People are quick to rally behind such causes as a free Tibet or more rights for Native American reservations, all very worthwhile causes, but when it comes to the Kurds, people are quick to forget about them. A distinct ethnic people with their own language and culture, the Kurds have inhabited northern Iraq, Eastern Syria, and Eastern Turkey for over 2,500 years.

It was 1988 when Iraqi troops were ordered by none other than Saddam Hussein to kill every Kurdish male between the ages of 18 and 55. Over 100,000 men disappeared and 4000 villages were completely destroyed, but this wasn’t enough for Mr. Hussein, and 60 more villages were gassed with chemical weapons and tens of thousands more died. Those who survived the gassings and went ahead to bury their dead relatives, later became ill and died from the deadly chemicals that remained on the people they buried.

To this day the Kurds are suffering from cancers and birth defects connected to the gassings. Numbering over 20 million, the Kurds have no country. Their one hope is that the United States destroys Saddam Hussein’s murderous regime, which could lead to independence for the Kurds.

I hate war, but sometimes we don’t have a choice. As much as I’d love it if we could all just get along and hug and all hold hands, I know that in reality it’s not going to happen. At least I have a hard time with a mass murderer like Saddam Hussein getting away with such heinous crimes. My quarrel is not with the Iraqi people, as our president said, but with their dictatorship regime. If the government of Iraq could wipe out hundreds of thousands of Kurds without blinking an eye, I don’t even want to think about what would happen if Saddam Hussein were given a chance to do what he wants.

I’ve heard all the excuses why we shouldn’t attack Iraq. People say that the United States has weapons of mass destruction too, but they forget that the United States is a responsible country that doesn’t gas or kill its own people. Another popular argument against a war with Iraq is that it’s not the United State’s place to be the world’s policeman. What’s a society without police officers I ask you? It’s a society of crime and chaos.

Someone needs to do it, and the United Nations has proven itself time and time again incapable of meeting the task. Any organization that has such countries as Sudan and Syria on the human rights board can’t be taken seriously. In Sudan the Muslims in the north enslave thousands of Christians in the south while the government turns a blind eye, while Syria can fill libraries upon libraries on their human rights abuses.

In addition, antiwar protesters charge that the United States created Saddam Hussein in the first place, and whether or not this is true, it’s never too late to try to fix a mistake. Whether or not Bush wants Iraq gone for the right reasons, Saddam Hussein is guilty of countless atrocities against the Kurds of Iraq, against the oppression of his own people and against the environment. Saddam had his troops intentionally release oil into the Persian gulf during the Gulf War, an amount that was 20 times larger than the Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska and twice as large as the previous world record oil spill.

Furthermore Saddam Hussein gives away tens of thousands of dollars to families of suicide bombers every year to encourage more death and terrorism. The fact that he’s a ruthless dictator everyone agrees upon. The problem is that most people don’t want to do anything about it.

During the Gulf War not one American tank was destroyed by Iraq, and since then the Iraqi army has not been getting any stronger, while ours has. Furthermore, in the age of precise computerized cruise missiles, Iraqi civilian casualties would be minimized.

Chances are that Saddam does have chemical weapons; with a country over double the size of Idaho there are infinite places where he could hide them. It’s no secret that cash tight countries such as North Korea are desperate to sell their nuclear weapons to someone, and Saddam is desperate to find a seller. Ignoring this situation would only worsen everything.

We recently saw what happens when you try to negotiate with ruthless dictators. Clinton struck a deal with North Korea to supply oil as long as they didn’t develop nuclear weapons, rather than destroy their military capabilities. Well surprise, surprise, North Korea announced that they have nuclear weapons and possibly missiles that can reach some parts of the US.

Angry at the United States for halting his conquest of Kuwait over a decade ago, Iraq’s Machiavellian dictator would love to get his revenge and Al Qaeda would be a perfect tool to do so. Someone like Saddam would jump on the opportunity to use terrorism against the United States if given the chance.

The reality is that Iraq under Saddam’s rule will always be a threat, a threat to the citizens of Iraq and to the rest of the world. It’s time to bomb Iraq and get a step closer to world peace.

Information from the BBC, the CIA World Factbook, the Christian Science Monitor, CNN.com, and the Columbia Encyclopedia was used in this column.

Gilad Skolnick is a Collegian Columnist.