philosophicSCARY "I know what I believe. I will continue to articulate what I believe and what I believe – I believe what I believe is right." – Gee Dubya, Rome, July 22, 2001
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politics COMMENTdiligenceMarch 5, 2002 We are a nation at war. A war on terrorism they say. My Mom and Dad told me some about their experience with war. They were very young children in Hawaii, December 7, 1941. They were there the last time the United States was attacked on our own soil on a large scale. Their lives changed dramatically. They had gas mask drills at school, they had black-out drills at home, there were shortages of metals and other resources, the entire country was focused on the war effort. Our enemies were clearcut and powerful and the outcomes of the battles were absolutely uncertain. This war is different however, in almost every way. Its a modern war (at least our part is modern) fought on TV with Geraldo Rivera commentating from the front lines or fairly close to them anyway. It is being fought against an enemy that is almost completely outmanned and outgunned. But how have our lives changed? The war isn't even front page news now unless one of our soldiers is killed or wounded and that has happened more as a result of accidents and friendly fire than it has from the enemy. We watch it on TV like a giant video game, our high-tech, unmanned drones sending back video from the front lines. What worries me most about this "war on terrorism" is, just who exactly is the enemy? At what point can we declare victory? Resident Bush has very carefully framed this as a "war on terror" not as retaliation on a specific enemy who attacked us and he has now gone to great lengths to include many others in the faction known as "Terrorism". His now infamous "Axis of Evil" designation has broadened the scope of the enemy worldwide but in a very muddy, unfocused way. Even if Iraq, Iran and North Korea were in some way comparable to the original Axis powers (Axis Classic?) why even speak those words? What did he hope to gain? Basically he is trying to position the US to act militarily anywhere he wants for whatever reason he wants under the guise of fighting terrorism. He has positioned himself to be a wartime president indefinitely. He has publicly said he plans to get rid of Saddam Hussein and our allies worldwide are understandably concerned. I'm concerned. Everyone should be concerned. With the Israel/Palestine situation quickly reaching critical mass, he opens his mouth and creates even more tension in the region. For what? Why? To what end? And now that he's made his arrogant announcement, what are the chances his macho hawks will back down? We may have to lose the lives of more U.S. soldiers just so he can keep face. Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle is one of the few to have the courage to publicly question the Resident's actions. He's been called a traitor and unpatriotic by the republicans for even asking the questions. (Notice that the republican pseudo-patriot politicians never explain the reasoning behind the policies they support they just call names. Republican politicians are remarkably good at calling names. They could go toe-to-toe with most 10-year old boys at name-calling.) But it is our right and our duty to ask those questions. Resident Bush and his hawks are having a ball playing Army but as I predicted before, its not their sons and daughters who are dying in the fight. Resident Bush is using his current and undeserved popularity to do whatever he wants both domestically and abroad and the U.S. citizenship needs to wake up and call him on it. The President Select has figured out that its easier to be a wartime president with a big flag than a good president with good sense and the American public is falling for it with gung-ho patriotism manifested almost entirely by putting U.S. flag stickers on their SUVs. I just wonder how many people with a new flag sticker on their bumper bothered to vote last Tuesday? Voter turnout in California was barely 20%. We must be diligent and we must question the motives and method of our government. It is our duty. © Copyright iriguchi 2002 |
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