March 12

Well, it's hard to think about much else but the increasing sense of turmoil in the world, in large part, centering primarily around the Impending US attack on Iraq.

Reader reply to my March 11 concerns about US-Canada relations rant... 

" I read your journal article about the US and I respect your point of

view.

However, as an educated American, with a decent brain, a desire for the

truth and a sense of perspective, let me offer an alternative view.

First, America is blessed with many things, including a oceans on our

coast, decent neighbors on our borders and vast resources, So, our

views tend to be very USA-centric. That's not good or bad, just the

way it is.

At the moment, the people don't really pick the leaders of this

country. The parties pick and fund the candidates and, when it's all

said and done, it's either going to be a Republican or Democrat. So,

we don't always get the best and the brightest.

Right now we have Bush which, in my opinion, is a result of a middle

class backlash against Democrats. History, I believe, will show that

Bush will be an awful president as have been most recent Republicans

have.

After all, politics is about money and power and making rich people

rich. And, that's the issue right there.

Much of what the Republicans are doing is typical for Republicans.

Bush's father ran the CIA. So, is it a surprise as to what he is doing

regarding personal freedom in the US?

But, the real issue I think is people and money. Hussein is a dictator

who has taken over the Iraq and ruined the lives of the people there.

He's worth $30 billion and doesn't want to lose control of his

ill-gotten empire. He has these weapons to hold the region hostage.

The issue in not religion or politics there...it's just money.

Poverty and despair are the breeding grounds for anger and hate. Give

hope in Iraq self-determination and a country to build and terrorism

would fall by the way. Look at post-war Japan for an example of that.

But, in think the most frustrating thing happening right now from an

American citizen's point of view is what is going on in the United

Nations. France, Germany, Russia and China are basically blocking the

US from taking action against one of the countries that facilitated an

attack in our homeland. The US has the right to strike back...and it

should, lest it be seen by the Muslim world as weak.

But, why would America's former allies turn against it? Well, France

makes billions by reselling Iraqi oil under the "Oil for Food" program.

Germany sells Iraq chemicals, including Potassium Cyanide, a precursor

to cyanide gas, and also sells the technical equipment for their

'research' programs. Hussein owes Russia $8 billion, that is wants

back, and China sells weapons, technology and built their underground

weapons plants.

So, if there is a real inspection, these countries will be 'outed'. If

there is a war, they lose money. If they can delay the US, the heat

will cause the US to have casualties from the heat as it's tough to

live in a biohazard suit in the desert in the summer.

As for the war, the bottom line issue is that the US is a nation that

is entitled to strike back for acts of war. The UN is acting based on

economics and is challenging the US's right to act.

The real risk is that the UN will be seen as useless as the US will

pull out.

There is only one superpower left in the world right now...and that's

the US. I can understand how other countries could be uneasy. And,

leaders are people seeking money and power.

But, the fact of this matter is that Hussein is an evil dictator that

has already committed genocide. The US has already been attacked and

has the right to respond. The UN is blocking the US because of

economic interests.

If you think the US is evil, the people are evil or that we are trying

to take over the world, you are entitled to that opinion. But, I

disagree and think that it's not consistent with the facts.

Spend some time over this way. Hang out. Read more. Learn more..and

I bet you'll feel better.

Plus, wait til next election. Bush won't be re-elected..and that will

be a good thing too. "

The only thing that I don't relate to in this respondents letter, is that area in which the UN, myself, and others, don't feel that the US was attacked by 'Iraq' and has a right to retaliate on the 'Country of Iraq'.  The US was attacked by a terrorist group, that may or may not have been fully or partially funded by one very corrupt man.  Should the world and the US be working towards persecuting the terrorists and those who funded them, yes.  Should they be acting without good proof that this is for certain the case, or retaliating in an act of war towards and entire country full of innocents... well, my humble opine and that of the UN currently, is no.  Is it likely that this person is responsible, and likely that they have weapons of mass destruction... yes.  But acting simply on 'belief' is simply not good enough.  Why, because it does set a dangerous precedent.  If the UN or other countries, support a countries decision to attack another country based on the -possibility- that they may have done something, or may have something, is really a rather disturbing concept.  

I have never been a person who follows world politics very closely, I haven't done a lot of research into these areas, this is perhaps the most savvy I've ever been in terms of being aware of what political struggles are in the public eye.  I have spent a fair bit of time in the US (I have a brother who lives in San Fran, and friends in a number of places) and I have other... first hand observations, particularly about striking race relations issues that we don't see the same... stratification/discrimination in as outright a fashion here in Canada (discrimination and prejudice is everywhere, it just doesn't present itself quite as overtly as some of the ways I've seen across the border).   I definitely don't feel the people in the US are evil, or the US as a whole, culturally is evil, in terms of political systems... well, I'm not so sure, mind you, I think our own is pretty fucked too.  The money making big business driven political.. monster, that in many ways, originates perhaps at least in part, from US culture, is not a pretty thing, and I think evil may be a word I'd apply to it.  Unfortunately, it is a driving force, it is this aspect that constitutes the 'world power' and effects people in the US, and the entire world.  I think if I was a US citizen, I would likely feel similar (as I said, I have similar issues with my own country).  I think the influence and power the US has, makes it a force to be reckoned with, and makes it at times, potentially as something, conceptually, symbolically, sadly and unfortunately... scary.   

The difficulty with educating oneself more on topics such as these, is the propaganda machines that are always in the works.  Any information we get is often supplied from sources who have specific interests or motives or beliefs associated with the situation, which means, it's often misleading.  One can only try to gather information from a variety of sources, and listen carefully to what is actually being said, and make as educated a decision as possible, while keeping to one's own beliefs and values. 

Here's one other little tidbit I found online, and interesting:

"March 11 2003

A veteran US diplomat resigned today in protest over US policy toward Iraq, becoming the second career foreign service officer to do so in the past month.

John Brown, who joined the State Department in 1981, said he resigned because he could not support Washington's Iraq policy, which he said was fomenting a massive rise in anti-US sentiment around the world.

In a resignation letter to Secretary of State Colin Powell, Brown said he agreed with J Brady Kiesling, a diplomat at the US embassy in Athens who quit in February over President George W Bush's apparent intent on fighting Iraq.

"I am joining my colleague John Brady Kiesling in submitting my resignation from the Foreign Service - effective immediately - because I cannot in good conscience support President Bush's war plans against Iraq," he said.

"Throughout the globe the United States is becoming associated with the unjustified use of force," Brown said in the letter, a copy of which he sent to AFP.

"The president's disregard for views in other nations, borne out by his neglect of public diplomacy, is giving birth to an anti-American century," he said.

"I joined the Foreign Service because I love our country," Brown said. "Respectfully, Mr Secretary, I am now bringing this calling to a close, with a heavy heart but for the same reason that I embraced it."

Two senior State Department officials confirmed that Powell had received the letter from Brown, who had served at the US embassies in London, Prague, Krakow, Kiev, Belgrade and Moscow before being assigned to be a diplomat-in-residence at Georgetown University in Washington.

Brown and Kiesling are believed to be the only US diplomats to have resigned from the foreign service over Iraq to date. "

I think I found the above letter of resignation interesting, because he hones in right on the sentiment that I think I was trying to capture that is seems to be growing in the minds and hearts of many Canadians.  It worries me, I -know- that most Americans are caring respecting intelligent individuals.  With this move on the part of US government, I think the global view, Canada included, is going to be become increasingly -anti-US- which is incredibly unfortunate for my friends across the border.

Another spot...

"The horrible events of September 11, 2001, shocked everyone. Everyone knew that something must be done to stop international terrorism. With the support of many Americans, President Bush started a war in Afghanistan, against the Taliban government there.

Many of President Bush's advisors had hoped that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein had been behind the terrorism. They've been obsessing over him for over a decade and wanted an excuse to re-start the Persian Gulf War. But there is no link of Iraq with Osama bin Laden. But in 2002, the American people are still rattled by the destruction of the World Trade Center towers and part of the Pentagon. They are afraid that the U.S. still hasn't found Osama bin Laden.

There are many in the Bush Administration who want to use this fear to start a war against Iraq anyway. Remember: there is absolutely no connection between Iraq and the September 11th terrorists and absolutely nothing has changed between Iraq and the United States for years. But Bush is apparently planning a war anyway. Troop buildups are starting and a war could start later this year. To do so will require that he come up with reasons for a war, and so we can expect to see him provoke Hussein. President George W. Bush will also need to convince the rest of the world that another war is needed, and this will be tough.

 

What Else is Going On?
Saddam Hussein is not the only world leader with weapons of mass destruction. There are plenty of countries with even more lethal nuclear weapons including the U.S., Russian, the Ukraine, China, France, Britain, South Africa, India, and Pakistan. Most notably, Israel has also undertaken a nuclear program and they certainly have a small arsenal with missiles capable of reaching Iraq. It is arguable that their development of atomic weapons upped the ante in the Middle East Arms race and helped fuel Hussein's development of chemical and biological weapons, the "poor man's nuclear weapon." Yet the United Nations and U.S. Presidents have never proposed bombing Israel or any of the other countries for their weapons of mass destruction. There is very much a double-standard going on with regards to Iraq."

The Federation of American Scientists has some good neutral information, and at the bottom of this page, links for sites with good information, what I find interesting, is the category they have for links... there doesn't seem to be a pro-war section, other than the US Govt. section.

I also found this little article interesting.

I'm not trying to 'US Bash'  I'm trying.. to express a growing unease the world is feeling towards this super power, particularly since 9-11.  The us and them mentality that came off to many as the US bullying other countries to either give them money and other aid in their war on terrorism, or be counted as 'on the side of the terrorists'. Again, even in the sentiment of the respondent who wrote back to me, that former US allies have turned against them.  In the respondents mind, now, because they do not agree and support the US in a pre-emptive strike war, they are no longer allies, they are 'former' allies.  Perhaps he, and others, should wonder a little harder, at why the majority of the world's countries are not 'supporting' this war.  Is it really the economic factors he stated?  Is it really all it is.  I have nothing invested, economically or otherwise in Iraq... but I honestly don't think declaring war on the country of Iraq is justified, and certainly, far from ethical.  I'm not siding with Iraq, I'm not against the US, I'm anti-war given this particular set of circumstances.  The circumstances being the same between any two countries, my own included, would not change my opinion.