I just found out that a friend of mine shipped out to Iraq 3 days ago. He probably won't be on the front lines as he is in the Reserves, but still I worry. My feelings on the war are very jumbled. I don't think that there is a good reason for it, I think that the US should have respected the international community and gone on with the weapons expections longer, I think we are ailenating ouselves from our allies and looking like power hungry bullies, and I do not think war is the answer, and yet now that the war has started I don't think there is any stopping it until it comes to its own end.
My heart goes out the Iraqi people and I hope that out of the destruction, chaos, and death something good can happen. It doesn't seem possible and yet perhaps the removal of Saddam will be a small victory. I don't know. I don't really feel like I can trust the mass media and yet things that I have read and heard is that the Iraqis live under a militaristic state with little freedom and that many of them do want a democratic state. Saddam has used chemical weapons both on his enemies on his own people in the 1980s with or without US knowledge/support and Saddam has according to a biographer Aburish, who interviewed the Iraqi dictator many times, said he will spare no effort to reach his goals, and "if that means eliminating 50 percent of the population of Iraq, he is willing to do it." I don't think that this at all justifies the war that is going on, and bombing the Iraqi people is not the way to grant them democracy or make them feel any warm happy feelings for it or their "liberators" and yet I cannot join the protestors. For myself it just doesn't seem to do any good.
I do want to help so I am going to try and do what I can, small things to help those that are TRULY effected by this war, the soldiers and the Iraqi people. I myself am going to contribute money to Knightbridge International , per Jade's suggestion. I also found out through Wil Wheaton's page that you can send books to soldiers to help occupy their down time, and as my friend who has left for the war loves to read it would almost be like sending him a book. If I find any other things to contribute to I will let the rest of you know.
Posted by nuala at March 24, 2003 10:07 AMi share your feeling of inefficacy...it does seem as though our voices are being ignored by the media and by our leaders.
what scares me the most is that it seems our country has lost almost all sense of the ideals of democracy on which it was founded, starting with the deregulation of the media in the 70s. now information is coming through fewer and fewer voices, leaving the public misinformed and uninformed. our leaders are supposed to be answerable to us, but we now have a president we didn't even elect, and we're going to a war we can't agree on, and nobody can even agree on why Bush is leading us to war...many theories, but no solid reasons. and congress is powerless to stop him...so our checks and balance system isn't even working.
we've alienated our major allies, and blown off major powers we should try to make alliances with (russia, china...) and declared to the UN that while Iraq is subject to international law, we Americans are above all that. our economy is in shambles, the environment is a disaster, education is losing funding (and it sucked as fas as international standards went anyway) and social programs are at nil. but we got tax cuts for the rich!...
i fear we will have to hit rock bottom (looks like we haven't far to go huh?) before people will wake up and demand some changes. but if bush "wins" the next election, i'm moving to france and declaring myself an ex-patriot.
sidenote: as far as Saddam gassing the Kurds in 1980, the US government and companies (as well as many other world powers) supplied weapons, chemical components and helicopters for that little fiasco. remember the iran contra scandel? yah that's us. and now bush makes it sound like we had nothing to do with it and we're going to save these people from their oppressor...and install our own government there? forcing democracy on a religion-based culture? sounds a bit like imperialism to me....not freedom of choice.
hmmm...i really should become a poli sci prof, shouldn't i? and i actually cut myself short too. well...my apologies for the long post.
Posted by: jade on March 24, 2003 12:38 PMNo it's fine. You should totally become a poli sci prof though. And if you move to France I'm coming with you cause you're gonna need a translator (not really but that's my excuse for tagging along...hee hee0
Posted by: Nuala on March 24, 2003 12:42 PM