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Re: Dubya causes chaos in the Heartland...

Hi liesel! Hi Don!

> --- Amy N Macrellis <macrell1 at pilot_msu.edu> wrote:
> > > What I haven't heard are unbiased and fact-based
> > reasons for our friends
> > > and parents and sons and daughters to go marching
> > into war.  No wonder
> > > much of the rest of the world is concerned.
>
> > > While Hussein is certainly guilty of atrocities
> > towards his own people,
> > > he has not attacked us.  He just plain hasn't.
>
> brilliant argument.  japan hadn't attacked us either
> until pearl harbor and if i remember correctly germany
> never directly attacked us.  they started with smaller
> countries.  actually they started with their own, got
> their people in a frenzy through propaganda and then
> force and then began a multi-million massacre.  can
> you imagine if hitler had had nukes?  yes.  let's sit
> on our asses because it's the easy, kind, politically
> correct thing to do.
>

First, I agree with Don that there are many types of
action that we could take that do not include direct
attacks on Iraq.  I am disappointed that the U.S.
leadership has not tried other peaceful means of "regime
change" before deciding that war is the Only Way.  I was
not trying to draw any parallels with history, other than
that I sincerely wish that our leaders could take the
longer view and realize that when they support dictators
and despots they are just setting themselves up for more
trouble...the enemy of one's enemy is *rarely* one's
friend.  I certainly was not drawing any parallels between
the current situation and WWII, and quite frankly I'm
disappointed that liesel chose to put those words in my mouth.

Having said that: my heart goes out to those people who
must carry out Bush's orders in the Middle East.  I have a
cousin in the Marines and two very good friends in the Navy
(one of whom was on the USS Enterprise at the time of the
World Trade Center attacks).  I support these brave people,
and their struggles to come to terms with what they must
do, but I do not yet support the leadership that sends them
off to "war".  (How we do seem to throw that term around these
days...I wonder if we've forgotten what it really means.)

I think the thing that bothers me most about this situation
is that, while I've seen a couple news reports that say
"there's evidence of construction at a nuclear facility in
Iraq" and the like, (1) I've had to dig for these reports
and (2) we aren't hearing about this supposed evidence from
the administration.  They say that they have "evidence"--but
we the people don't get to know what that "evidence" is.  I
understand that some information cannot be released, that
some such disclosures might threaten national security, etc.;
but this attitude that the leaders have the evidence and we
the people should just blindly accept what our leaders say
gives me, to quote Don, the "screaming heebie-jeebies".

Finally, I apologize for not being more involved in this
discussion over the weekend (no computer at home).  And I am
quite impressed by the rationality and even-temperedness that,
for the most part, has characterized this discussion.  Good
dogs.  Very good dogs.

I must actually go do work now.  Happy Monday!

--Raven
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