Convention Report: John Pippy and the Truth About Iraq

The biggest event of the morning was the Support Our Troops Rally featuring PA State Senator John Pippy, who is both a politician and on active duty with the Army. He was a dynamic, engaging and often humorous speaker who not only shed like on the reasons for going to war, but also spoke about the misrepresentation of the war and the progress made thus far.

John Pippy served for 11 months as an engineer in Iraq, working on rebuilding the infrastructure from the Euphrates to Kuwait. During his time there, he was able to study the culture and learn about the Middle East.

One of the interesting things the Senator explained was the reason why most suicide bombers are from Saudi Arabia (a supposed American ally.) Because of the class system in Arabia, there is a disproportionate gap between the wealthy and the poor. So much so, that the poor families, losing all sense of opportunity, rely on payment from suicide bombings so that they can move out of their class system.

But despite the occasional bombing in Iraq, Pippy did say that they are making tremendous progress. �The media is telling the truth,� he said, �but they are only telling you 5% of the truth.� He went on to elaborate, saying that wars are not found in thirty second sound bites and in commercials on CNN. The Senator said that 75% of the country will be under Iraqi control by this summer.

When posed with the question as to why America�s invasion of Iraq is important in the war on terror, Senator Pippy listed three main reasons: Firstly, the humanitarian/democratic effort, which has saved countless lives after liberating the Iraqi people from a ruthless totalitarian regime. Secondly, the need to stop Saddam from pursuing nuclear weapons and using the chemical/biological weapons that he may have had (Pippy confirmed that there is a growing suspicion that Saddam shipped them into Syria). And lastly, and perhaps most importantly, a free, democratic Iraq will be a springboard to peace in the Middle East, and create a good ally in the American effort to promote democracy in the region.

�We need to win the fight,� Senator Pippy said. �And win the hearts and minds of the people out there.�