The idea of America cozying up to Iraq after the Iranian revolution and the radicalization of the Iranian regime was trumpeted about by Democrats and Liberals soon after President Bush's "Axis of Evil" speech. The timing for such "revelations" concerning America befriending Saddam was premature then, but now the Liberal's are determined to make another go of it.

Forgetting the history for a moment, and, for the sake of argument, deciding that such friendship was a terrible mistake, how does that affect the present American course of disarming the Iraqi regime and wanting a regime change in Iraq? It does not. How could it? No matter how far you take the accusations of American complicity in Iraqi brutality during its war with Iran, or even the Iraqi regime's gassing of its own people during the 1980's, America's present course becomes more reasonable, rather than not. After all, if America created a monster, who besides the United States is more obligated morally (if not legally) to end that creation?

Perhaps, the reason to bring up America's involvement with Iraq prior to the 1991 Persian Gulf War is simply to discredit our present national leaders and American foreign policy as a whole. The foes of America's determination to rid the planet of tyrannical regimes that possess weapons of mass destruction want to shift the blame for the attacks on and threats to America. They want to shift the blane from the terrorists and tyrants to America herself. If we assume responsibility for the world hating us, it follows that we, and not our enemies, need to change current policies and ways of behavior.

Of course, there needs to be a tremendous leap of faith to conclude that the recent his- tory of the United States of America is the cause of the world's woes. America gives more in foreign aid than any other country, and asks for the least in return. Claiming that we need to give more foreign financial assistance misses the point and assumes that not giving--or not giving enough--justifies hate and violence. Even those on the far Left would have to admit that not giving a handout does not validate hate and violence, then again some on the far Left might refuse to make such an admission. Nevertheless, the bottom line is uncomplicated for them: So long as there are have-nots and America is perceived as having, America is at fault.

America's real or imagined missteps in past foreign policy decisions are being used to further the Left's agenda to diminish American sovereignty, national identity and unity, and vital national interests in favor of a more sensitive approach to present and future foreign relations. Unfortunately, in the case of Iraq, a more sensitive approach will only defer a catastrophe; it will not deter it. What the political Left fails to understand, or more precisely, what the Left purposefully ignores, is the present reality of the interna- tional political envioroment in which the United States of America has to operate and the reality under which the U.S.A. operated and made and carried out foreign policy decisions in the past.

During the Second World War, America was allied with Russia. It made a whole lot of sense at the time. However, knowing what transpired following the Allies' victory, it would follow that we should not have stood up to the Soviet Union during the Cold War because, after all, we "created" the Soviet Union by allying ourselves with them in World War II. Obviously, that is an absurd argument, but no less absurd than the argument that we need to rethink our strategy of opposing Saddam Hussein's regime because we "allied" ourselves with Iraq in its war with Iran.

During the 1980's in Afghanistan, the United States gave aid and support to the Afghan fighters in their quest to push the Soviet Union out of their country. It made a great deal of sense at the time, and it worked. However, America is now faulted for "abandoning" Afghanistan after that war. We left and did not impose our will on the Afghan people, and allowed them to choose their future for themselves. They made their horrible choices because we did not force ourselves and our way of life on them. In retrospect, many lives and no doubt many more will be lost because we did not stay and force a different form of government to emerge after the defeat of the Soviet Union in Afghanistan.

However, to blame America for the rise of the Taliban requires a huge leap of faith in which you must discard reality, facts, and common sense. You must assume that the Afghans, like the Iraqi regime, are not responsible for themselves or their conduct. Only America is. Saddam Hussein was created by us because we became his friend. Because we were his friend, he created a brutal despotic regime that caused the deaths of nearly two million people and amassed chemical and biological weapons, some of which he used to murder thousands of his own countrymen.

On the other hand, the Afghans, or more precisely, the Taliban, were created because we were not their friends. The Afghans created a brutal, tyrannical regime that tortured and murdered its citizens, treated women as less than property, and became a haven for terrorists.

It seems that, if you are America, you just cannot get it right in the eyes of some.

Paul Walfield, a freelance writer and member of the State Bar of California, holds a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology. In addition, Walfield has attended post-graduate classes in behavioral and analytical psychology. He resided for a number of years in the small town of Houlton, Maine, and is now a California attorney.

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