President Bush believes that in order to avoid war, we must declare war. Iraq may or may not be in the process of fabricating weapons of mass destruction and his main target is Sadam Hussein. Hussein defied certain UN resolutions in 1998, when he withdrew weapons inspectors after a punitive bombing campaign, and has refused them remittal ever since.

But while Bush’s administration is behind this desire to attack, the UN is looking at the bigger picture, not just a pointless “regime-change.”

What exactly will come out of this?

Firstly, there appears to be some political overtones in Bush’s desire to attack, since we happen to be facing another election.

It seems as though in between golf breaks, Bush spent some time on his ranch in August conjuring excuses, similar to those in Desert Storm, in order to help his ratings, as the idea for attack is a bit hasty.

Bush warns the U.N. General Assembly that Iraq only has “weeks to honor the resolutions” to allow inspectors in, or the U.S. may act first.

So apparently, we are acting alone on this decision. “Make no mistake about it; if we have to do deal with the problem, we’ll deal with it,” Bush said in his Thursday speech.

Iraq is willing to respect the resolutions, as long as we aren’t being selfish. Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri said, “We would like to admit these inspectors within the Security Council resolutions. If they are to come back, they have to come back within the U.N. agenda, not U.S. agenda.”

The lack of credible evidence that Iraq is making weapons is another reason why this plan for attack is unnecessary.

“These are lies; they have no evidence whatsoever that we have such weapons. Iraq has no such weapons,” said Sabri.

What is even more appalling about Bush’s decision is the fact that our president is comfortable with more unnecessary loss of life, more so, the loss of life for the sake of his campaign.

It is true he may want to finish the job his daddy could not do and assassinate Hussein, but if he succeeds in doing so, what happens then? What about our sources for oil? Bush will find a way to keep it coming to the U.S. and that may mean taking more control over the Middle East.

Many Americans do not realize that our government is already partially accountable for the staggering number of malnutrition-related deaths in Iraq since the UN’s sanctions went into effect. Our “oil for food” program is faulty, there is no potable water and Iraqi living conditions are unconscionable.

An average of 150 children under five dies each day, and Bush cares more about oil than worsening this plight with more innocent deaths; Iraqi sanctions are killing machines. “They are evil and all they want is oil,” exclaimed a sophomore concerning the sanctions.

If we go to war with Iraq, the selfish act of violence will only strengthen the hatred between the U.S. and the Middle East, including the acrimony between Middle Eastern Americans and the U.S.

There will be more division and increased alienation between different cultures. Is this really the best thing to do when we are in constant fear of terrorism?