The events of the last week have left me angry, hyper-emotional, resigned, terrified, and depressed. I have a tough time watching the news or even talking about the war without shutting down or breaking down. Whether I'm talking with someone I'm in total agreement with or someone with whom I have nothing in common, I can barely articulate how I feel because I am so enraged about the whole mess. Please bare with me as I try to compose myself enough to get out some of the compelling reasons I see for why this war is morally and ethically bankrupt.
We should always let diplomacy run its course before resorting to any kind of extreme action. The weapons inspections were working, but either they weren’t fast enough for Bush or they were working too well. If they had actually succeeded in their mission, the Bush administration wouldn’t have had a pretense to invade. And yet, while blatantly disregarding the diplomatic processes of the U.N., Bush used Iraq’s failure to comply with U.N. resolutions 678 and 687 as his primary argument for why war was necessary.
You can’t just invade a sovereign nation because you don’t like the president. Saddam Hussein is a bad guy, a really bad guy. And there are legal ways to wrest his control of Iraq. Namely: prosecution. He should be brought to trial at the International Criminal Court. It is a violation of international law and an insult to the rest of the globe to give an ultimatum to the leader of a free country allowing him 48 hours to leave his own country. It makes a mockery of our membership in the U.N. and that organization’s charter. What if Jacque Chirac gave Bush 48 hours? Would he leave?
There is no credible proof that Iraq poses a threat to America. We’ve been trying to uncover something for the last 12 years and haven’t found anything so why now? Nothing has changed. The few arms the weapons inspectors found that were in violation of Iraq’s weapons agreement were being destroyed at the time we invaded and were barely big enough to blow up the next town. I’d have to think that if the Iraqis had those kinds of weapons they’d be using them now to defend themselves. Of course, if all else fails, I’m sure we can plant some nice incriminating evidence out in the desert somewhere; just enough to legitimize the attacks.
And as for Al-Qaeda, our own intelligence experts dismiss any connection between the two. Bush seems to think that if you repeat a lie enough times it will simply become true. Or at least come close enough, the American public will stop questioning it and start swallowing whatever misinformation you decide to shove down their throats.
We all know this is just about the oil. If this is about weapons of mass destruction, why not target all of the other countries we’ve been supplying or simply stop supplying them to our “friends” who later turn out to be our enemies. “[F]or the past 20 years or so, America has been the biggest arms dealer in the world, supplying weapons to practically anyone and everyone who has the money -- or to anyone whose "friendship" is deemed by Washington to be temporarily convenient. These alliances of convenience often turn around and bite us on the butt…The U.S. sells more arms than the next nine arms dealers combined, all to profit a few corporate munitions makers -- even though our own troops often end up paying the price.” (Jim Hightower) Iraq is no exception.
There are so many more reasons why this war is not the answer. And there are so many more people who can explain them much better then me. But then again, this is my blog. However, if you haven’t read John Brady Kiesling’s resignation letter yet please do.
Thanks for listening.
Peace
We should always let diplomacy run its course before resorting to any kind of extreme action. The weapons inspections were working, but either they weren’t fast enough for Bush or they were working too well. If they had actually succeeded in their mission, the Bush administration wouldn’t have had a pretense to invade. And yet, while blatantly disregarding the diplomatic processes of the U.N., Bush used Iraq’s failure to comply with U.N. resolutions 678 and 687 as his primary argument for why war was necessary.
You can’t just invade a sovereign nation because you don’t like the president. Saddam Hussein is a bad guy, a really bad guy. And there are legal ways to wrest his control of Iraq. Namely: prosecution. He should be brought to trial at the International Criminal Court. It is a violation of international law and an insult to the rest of the globe to give an ultimatum to the leader of a free country allowing him 48 hours to leave his own country. It makes a mockery of our membership in the U.N. and that organization’s charter. What if Jacque Chirac gave Bush 48 hours? Would he leave?
There is no credible proof that Iraq poses a threat to America. We’ve been trying to uncover something for the last 12 years and haven’t found anything so why now? Nothing has changed. The few arms the weapons inspectors found that were in violation of Iraq’s weapons agreement were being destroyed at the time we invaded and were barely big enough to blow up the next town. I’d have to think that if the Iraqis had those kinds of weapons they’d be using them now to defend themselves. Of course, if all else fails, I’m sure we can plant some nice incriminating evidence out in the desert somewhere; just enough to legitimize the attacks.
And as for Al-Qaeda, our own intelligence experts dismiss any connection between the two. Bush seems to think that if you repeat a lie enough times it will simply become true. Or at least come close enough, the American public will stop questioning it and start swallowing whatever misinformation you decide to shove down their throats.
We all know this is just about the oil. If this is about weapons of mass destruction, why not target all of the other countries we’ve been supplying or simply stop supplying them to our “friends” who later turn out to be our enemies. “[F]or the past 20 years or so, America has been the biggest arms dealer in the world, supplying weapons to practically anyone and everyone who has the money -- or to anyone whose "friendship" is deemed by Washington to be temporarily convenient. These alliances of convenience often turn around and bite us on the butt…The U.S. sells more arms than the next nine arms dealers combined, all to profit a few corporate munitions makers -- even though our own troops often end up paying the price.” (Jim Hightower) Iraq is no exception.
There are so many more reasons why this war is not the answer. And there are so many more people who can explain them much better then me. But then again, this is my blog. However, if you haven’t read John Brady Kiesling’s resignation letter yet please do.
Thanks for listening.
Peace
posted by mandolinx | 2:04 PM
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