quote:
Originally posted by astrowill:
I'm not sure which side you're on here. This nation is a republic--we elect people who will make the right decisions for us.
Yet again, I am forced out of my retirement in the sheer interest of correcting the opinions of certain people on this board- opinions, which, I believe, are representative of the type of superficial thinking which characterizes much of America, and indeed, much of the world. We are a nation that is all to often too preoccupied with who is going to get voted off the island next, rather than our own inner lives, nor the real lives of those in this world around us.
Because people like "Astrowill" are too eager to label, and dichotomize people into a for/against oversimplified delusion, I will state that I am happily neither. As a tendency, I don't support violence, but I am not totally opposed, either. Frankly, the Bush administration scares me. Saddam should go, but their is so much that is going on in addition to the obvious conflict. I think that we need to view this as a geopolitical conflict, not a moral crusade against the evildoers-- everyone who harbors that notion needs to be lined up and shot...well, not really, as I've said I'm not extremist unless by necessity: they need to shut up, and start actually thinking.
As proof of my assertion: The Bush administration has covered up that it was the Saudis who were largely responsible for 9/11, you don't see us "punishing" them. In fact, they may play a role in the post-Saddam Iraq. Iraq has terrorist elements, obviously. But they also have a lot of the world's oil. Guess what, the Bush administration has recently announced that they are going to let the coalition forces have the first dibs on the oil, and the opposition- France, Germany, Russia, China - NONE. Also, they have indicated that Dick Cheneys former company-- which he only reluctantly resigned from AFTER the election-- has already been approved to be a part of post-Saddam Iraq reconstruction. Unlike what certain people on this board have so emotionally, and so pathetically asserted, it seems that this war may be just "blood for oil". In addition, our officials have pursued a hard-line policy of economic intimidation to scare the rest of the world into supporting us. And that's not all. Our secretary of defense, Donald Rum-Field, has already said that Syria and Iran are going to be "held accountable" and "punished" for their committing activities which could be described as "unhelpful". Our attempts at intimidation went so far as to threaten to cut trade-relations with Germany, a move which would cost the Germans billions of euros. In addition, we are already tense with the Germany-led europe over their funding and support of the PLO in Palestine. In short, Iraq is just an extension of geopolitical manoeuvring which will lead us further down the path of isolationism, and into a world filled with more violence, ignorance, and xenophobia. Patriotic yahooing contributes to this problem, so does the type of thinking which wants to break everything down into for/against yes/no good/evil and other such binaries. Until we overcome such thinking we are nothing but domesticated apes, with a serious ego-tripping complex.
All that I've said has totally ignored that domestically we are getting SCREWED by Bush's policies and this war in general. Our civil liberties are threatened, our money is being siphoned off, and conservative yahoos are on the rise. This nation is ideally a republic where we elect leaders to make the right decisions for us. In reality we have an unelected president, and a whole milieu of leaders who are unwilling to properly support their reasons for war, and who are content to mislead the public. If you are unsure about the previous statement I refer you to my previous posts, and if you still need more than I have prepared a list of certain government agencies and policies which I will email to you, on request. This is the same list which was deleted by the powers-that-be on this board.
So in the end, am I for or against the war, you ask. I repeat, I am neither, and proud of it. I don't like Saddam and I don't like Bush, unfortunately one leader is vastly more powerful, dangerous, and willing to flout his cowboy guns at the expense of his own country than the other.
K. "Happily Hammering the Idols" O.
