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Mar. 17th, 2003 03:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bellwetherDo you remember where you were when we last declared war on Iraq and Hussein? I was in 8th grade, and was skiing down Buck Hill in Burnsville, MN with the ski club from my junior high. It was exhilarating to think that we were at war--I was worried that we'd never have a war again after Vietnam.... apparently things like Grenada, and all the other smaller conflicts in the 80s passed underneath my radar. I think I screamed "We're at war!" and sped down the hill fueled by an adrenaline surge.
Iraq was bad of course, because they invaded Kuwait--to steal their oil. Of course, we should be protecting Kuwait from the invaders! That just made sense--we were powerful and had troops. It was a mission of goodwill--and if we got some oil out of it, well, that only made sense.
This was Kevin in 8th grade. A diehard young Republican, born and bred.
Flash forward twelve years.
Today, I'm scared.
I'm scared that we are entering into a situation where the government of the most powerful nation on the planet will shortly be undetaking a "military operation" without the mandate of it's people. We are not an empire, and the business of empire-building is not what the United States is supposed to be built on. It seems like the administration is forgetting that. The refusal to build consensus and work with the international community is aggravating, and ultimately will prove harmful to our relations.
The protests yesterday in Westwood, last week at UCLA, and across the country are the one ray of light in this whole situation. People are talking about the ethics of war and whether one nation has the right to throw it's weight around and attempt to make international policy. However, every day that passes it becomes clearer and clearer that the current adminstration is not interested in the opinions of it's populace, nor even their well-being.
We lack a mandate. We are going to attack a nation that has done nothing to directly provoke us. Is Hussein a "bad guy?" Yes. He's done horrible things. Does that give us the right to drop bombs on innocent Iraqis? Not in my book.
This daily chant of "weapons of mass destruction, weapons of mass destruction" is beginning to sound like Peter's cry of "Wolf!" Hussein in all likelihood does have anthrax, VX gas, smallpox, or who knows what other biological or chemical weapons. He'd be a fool not to--this morning on NPR, Gore Vidal asked if you could really expect a nation not to protect itself when the US is on such an agressive stance? Will he use them? He hasn't in twelve years. However we certainly are giving him every provocation to do so now. This situation can only get much worse before it gets better.
It's still a battle for oil--with our oil supply predicted to be exhausted by 2020, we need more fuel. Anyone who says that the war in Iraq isn't about oil isn't thinking.
I'm scared. Today, I'm much more quiet than I was twelve years ago. Perhaps that's part of the problem.
Iraq was bad of course, because they invaded Kuwait--to steal their oil. Of course, we should be protecting Kuwait from the invaders! That just made sense--we were powerful and had troops. It was a mission of goodwill--and if we got some oil out of it, well, that only made sense.
This was Kevin in 8th grade. A diehard young Republican, born and bred.
Flash forward twelve years.
Today, I'm scared.
I'm scared that we are entering into a situation where the government of the most powerful nation on the planet will shortly be undetaking a "military operation" without the mandate of it's people. We are not an empire, and the business of empire-building is not what the United States is supposed to be built on. It seems like the administration is forgetting that. The refusal to build consensus and work with the international community is aggravating, and ultimately will prove harmful to our relations.
The protests yesterday in Westwood, last week at UCLA, and across the country are the one ray of light in this whole situation. People are talking about the ethics of war and whether one nation has the right to throw it's weight around and attempt to make international policy. However, every day that passes it becomes clearer and clearer that the current adminstration is not interested in the opinions of it's populace, nor even their well-being.
We lack a mandate. We are going to attack a nation that has done nothing to directly provoke us. Is Hussein a "bad guy?" Yes. He's done horrible things. Does that give us the right to drop bombs on innocent Iraqis? Not in my book.
This daily chant of "weapons of mass destruction, weapons of mass destruction" is beginning to sound like Peter's cry of "Wolf!" Hussein in all likelihood does have anthrax, VX gas, smallpox, or who knows what other biological or chemical weapons. He'd be a fool not to--this morning on NPR, Gore Vidal asked if you could really expect a nation not to protect itself when the US is on such an agressive stance? Will he use them? He hasn't in twelve years. However we certainly are giving him every provocation to do so now. This situation can only get much worse before it gets better.
It's still a battle for oil--with our oil supply predicted to be exhausted by 2020, we need more fuel. Anyone who says that the war in Iraq isn't about oil isn't thinking.
I'm scared. Today, I'm much more quiet than I was twelve years ago. Perhaps that's part of the problem.
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Date: 2003-03-18 09:33 pm (UTC)It's so good to hear sentiments like that expressed. There are so many people around me who don't seem to give a damn about whether or not we go to war, and think protesting is stupid. I went to protests last time around. I'd like to go to some again, but it's harder this time because I don't have friends and family around who share my viewpoint and interest in protesting. My mom (
Somebody had a comment about the weapons and how we have weapons too. A lot of people would argue that we can trust our own government not to use them. I really wish I could, but I can't. I couldn't a year ago, and I especially can't now. Perhaps I over estimate Saddam, but I'm betting I wouldn't have anything to fear from him if Bush would just leave him alone.