Number eight.
Are we really doing this?
We're going to WAR?
W-A-R - WAR?
As I pinch myself over the inherent forthcoming reality of this, I keep thinking, no - uh uh, it's not happening. I'm going to wake up any second... We're not really sending the troops out - are we?
Somebody wake me up! I can't seem to be able to do it myself.
On second thought - what's wrong with a little sleep?
In my dream world there is no violence, no war; no young men marching with boots on carrying machine guns into the deserts and streets. No army tanks rolling through cities leveling what were once perfectly nice buildings housing perfectly nice people we've never met. No weapons-of-mass-destruction aimed at the entire population of a city - and no biological and chemical weapons engineered for the express purpose of causing sickness and death to as many human beings as possible. Nope. There's none of that. My dream world is a peaceful world; a world where violence is not a solution - to anything - not to violence itself, or to some power-hungry-human-being's thirst to control as many other human beings as he or she can.
I don't understand this world. I really don't.
What does violence create except fear, death and destruction? Where is the sense in creating war?
Unfortunately, the world as we know it hasn't yet caught up with my utopian vision of how life on earth should be. I understand the opinion that if one is attacked, an argument for self-defense may hold merit under such circumstances - but self-defense does not have to include violence - and in this one earthling's humble opinion - should not until every other conceivable effort has been made and one is in the direct line of a violent attack. And are we, now, being attacked by Iraq? No. Has Saddam Hussein, however twisted and detestable a man he is - declared war on the U.S.? No. So, what's going on?
It's not as if the U.S.hasn't been aware of what Hussein has been doing for the last decade. We have. And last time I checked, it was Al Qaeda that had professed its hatred for America and flew two airplanes into the World Trade Center and a third into the Pentagon. And as I understand it - Al Qaeda is planning more attacks. So - I'm a little confused here.
All of a sudden we're on the warpath to Iraq??? Aside from my very strong belief that killing, for any reason, on any level, is not the right of any human being and that intentionally ending the life of another human being is murder - whether it is one or one million, on the street or on a battlefield - aside from this belief - why are we sending thousands of Americans to their possible death and subjecting thousands of Iraqi civilians to the same fate on the pronounced words of one man?
Yes - Iraq has "weaponsofmassdestruction." So do several other countries - including North Korea - which is far ahead of Iraq in its nuclear capabilities and who is threatening to use its weapons against the U.S. - but who Resident Bush is paying far less attention to for some insane reason. (Oh, yeah, I almost forgot - the leader of North Korea didn't try to kill his Dad - and they don't have a desert full of, uh, what's that stuff we're so dependent on? Oh, yeah, that's right - oil.).
Of course, Iraq is a country that needs to be watched very closely - but is turning the entire Arab population against us an intelligent thing to do? Ah, no. Is alienating the U.S. against most of the rest of the world a wise move? Well, gee, let me think for just a millisecond...no.
We have been told that the entire Arab Nation sees this as an attack not just on Iraq - but against all Arab countries. And we have now also been told that Al Qaeda will come to the aid of Iraq and further its attacks on the U.S. Is anyone surprised by this? If Iraq and Al Qaeda weren't working together against the U.S. - well, they will be now. And others, who would not normally join with Al Qaeda against America, will do so in reaction to this action.
What are we doing? This has got to be the single most irresponsible thing this country has ever done. The backlash will be intense. A war to prevent war??? What sense does this make? We're not at war, so, to prevent war, we're going to start one? ??? I'm sorry but this deeply confuses me. And I believe the consequences of this action will severely endanger the lives of Americans.
If Resident Bush spent half as much of the energy he's put into pushing this war into support for renewable energy sources which would make this country far less dependent on foreign oil - we would be much better off.
But he isn't. And why not? I believe it is possible that GW brought a big emotional bag of 'I'm-gonna-finish-what-Daddy-didn't' into the White House. He said as much in one of his speeches; words to the effect of, 'this is the guy who tried to kill my Dad.' Words we shouldn't forget. I haven't heard him say it since, so I guess one of his speech gurus told him not to say it again. Go figure - too many people might get some insight into one of GW's real reasons to start this war?
WAR. This is a very serious word with very serious consequences. If GW had to be one of the boys going over there to fight it - would he be so eager to start it? (GW's history in that area would suggest that he would not).
This is the United States of America. This is not what we do. We don't start wars. We're the good guys. We don't invade other countries before they invade us. And until someone in our government convinces me that Iraq clearly threatened or waged war on us - I will not support this action.
I do, however, support non-violent action and peace for all the people of the world - and every non-violent protest against this action across this entire planet in as many countries as human beings have the will to assemble.
O.K. Somebody really needs to pinch me and wake me up because I just can't believe we are really doing this. We can't do this. This is absurd.
I officially object to having the country I live in engage in such a completely reprehensible action.
And that's all I have to say about this. For now, anyway.
Peace 2 u.
Last Update 3/2003
(c) 2000 - 2003 Terry Alice. All Rights Reserved.