Here is the unseemly side of American involvement in the Middle East. It is one of many examples. Our current dependency on Saudi oil is another.

The U.S., in fact, did have a hand in propping up Saddam Hussein.

No excuse can be made for it. It does not argue, however, that the current military campaign for removing Saddam Hussein is therefore misguided. The Left is fond of arguing that America's past sins render it morally unfit to address problems it helped create. Quite the opposite is true. America is obligated to correct them. One may agree or disagree with this war but not the issue of responsibility. Some would say pouring money into the Middle East, like some redistribution scheme, is the answer. Others twaddle incoherently about giving "peace a chance." Still others would have the U.S. do absolutely nothing and re-embrace isolationism. None of these alternatives will work.

If America has its hands dirty, though comparatively clean compared to France and Germany, it needs to clean them in the downfall of Saddam and the responsible reconstruction of Iraq.

It's the very least America can do for the Iraqi people.