Bush was wrong to bomb Iraq

Feb. 16, two dozen American and British warplanes fired upon Iraqi air defense targets to, in President George W. Bush's words, "make sure that the world is as peaceful as possible."\nIn an effort to make Iraqi president Saddam Hussein less volatile towards the rest of the world, Bush has done the exact opposite. \nSeveral Western news agencies' staffers in Baghdad reported an Iraqi television station cut into its normal programming to play patriotic songs and show pictures of military training. They also said they heard anti-aircraft fire and explosions in the city.\nThe action, in response to what military officials called heightened attacks on planes in the southern "no-fly" zone, established at the end of the Persian Gulf War, came at a questionable time.\nThe "no-fly" zones have been in effect since the Persian Gulf War, but Iraq has never recognized them. The Pentagon reports Iraq has fired at allied planes more than 700 times since Dec. 1998, and Iraqi planes have flown through the southern "no flight" zone more than 150 times since then. \nNow the question remains, "President Bush, why now?"\nThere are several reasons Bush could have chosen this as the proper time to flex the United States' muscles to Iraq. \nBush learned well from his father, former President George Bush. The Persian Gulf War, which came during the elder Bush's tenure, has always been bragging rights for the Bush clan. The former president quickly learned nothing raises popularity ratings faster then a good old-fashioned war against foreign bad guys.\nAfter a few already controversial weeks in office, it seems the younger Bush is following in his father's footsteps. The new President Bush sees what his father turned into a political victory salvaging his ratings as well. \nAlthough no more attacks are expected in the near future, the common enemy of Iraq reverted attention away from Bush's hotly debated policies to Hussein. \n"We will continue to enforce the no-fly zone until the world is told otherwise," Bush said at a press conference.\nAll the world is really being told by Bush's actions is that the United States is reverting back a decade and itching to start another war the country cannot handle.\nStaff vote: 7 - 2