| If
you believe that this war is about anything other than imperialist
intentions to take over oil supplies and control them for the continuation
of the power structure's accumulation of wealth, you are listening to the
corporate owned media way too much. Try KPFA. |
It is clear that the war in 1991 was to liberate Kuwait. Yet if there were no oil there, we might not have bothered, true. But this war is obviously a direct result of 9/11. We must democratize countries that would otherwise incubate future terrorists. The risk of one suicide terrorist killing thousands of Americans is too real. We cant take the slightest chance here. We have to realize the magnitude of this threat. Pacifism is dead wrong here. |
| And
if you really think that the troops dying in the desert are dying for your
safety, look again, who will gain most. It is business concerns who
like to run rough-shod in all the small countries of the world without
regard for the local populations. This lack of caring or
understanding for the vast majority of people in the world has made us the
Ugly American (and I don't mean us tourists). And they hate us for
this careless exercise of power, both economic and military. |
We are not doing this for business, please!
Read above. Whether business gains or not, the reason is clear. This war is aimed at those who have oppressed the Iraqi people and will produce few innocent casualties. America has shown great care in this act. We did not establish the dictatorships with which we did business. They existed before. It was not up to us to depose them. You expect us to say "we are not going to buy oil from you until you change into a democracy"? We did that to Saddam already. He starved his people (except his chosen ones) and it made no difference to political change. NOW we are making that difference. Be supportive of this activism. We are not doing business with a Shah/Dictator/King here. |
| If
you think that a first strike against a country that was cooperating fully
with a U.N. team of inspectors (who were doing their job as prescribed by
the U.N.) is justified, please identify which international law you are
using to back up your justification. (There aren't any.) |
What law gave us the right to try and save 8,000 Croatians from genocide, whilst the rest of Europe sat back and ignored it? Clearly we did the right thing in Serbia and Europeans were guilty of allowing murder on their own doorstep. I could say there was no law allowing us to save Europe from Hitler too. Even if there are no weapons of mass destruction (WMD), we need to prevent Saddam from training terrorists. Reports from Iraqi defectors in December 2001 and March 2002 say Saddam now has "mobile germ laboratories disguised as milk delivery trucks, and a network of underground bunkers for chemical and biological weapons production ". |
| If
you believe that Iraq was behind the 9-11 terrorist attacks and deserve to
be pummeled into non-existence, please explain why there were no Iraqis on
the terrorist flights on that fateful day, and why we are not invading
Saudi Arabia, when most of the terrorists hailed from there. |
Czech intelligence officials now say they have a photo of
Mohammed Atta, one of the 9/11 hijackers, meeting with an
Iraqi intelligence agent in Prague. Two of his co-conspirators were also said to have met with
Iraqi intelligence officers in the United
Arab Emirates, while Bin Laden aides
reportedly met with officials in Baghdad. But even if there had been NO link to 9/11 we must stop the highly likely future terrorist acts that Saddam would perpetrate. The risk is too high. |
| If you believe that we are attacking Iraq because they have weapons of mass destruction, please explain why we are not invading Israel or North Korea, both of which are KNOWN to have weapons of mass destruction | N. Korea is a worry for sure and we should
probably take out their nuclear capability before its too late. Here is a
country where the leader has so TOTALLY indoctrinated his people that they
love him while he starves them (more than Saddam starves HIS people). So
much nuclear power in the hands of one uncaring autocrat is not
tolerable. Israel doesn't kill thousands of innocent civilians and is a democracy where WMD will not be used other than as as deterrent. |
| I
don't believe Saddam Hussain is anything but a two-bit dictator, created
and supported by our own CIA. As long as he was useful to U.S. interests,
he was our kind of guy. As soon as he said "No" to U.S.
corporate interests, he was suddenly a bad person who needed to be
destroyed. Who sold him weapons of mass destruction? We did. Who sold him
poison gas? We did. (So did the French, those terrible people...). Please -- let's get real. |
We may have a spotted past but too late to
dwell on it now. And US sales to Iraq are way-back. Suffice to say we're
trying to do the right thing now. And democratizing a country instead of
supporting a co-operative dictatorship is the right path. If the Saudis treated the people worse, and they suffered more, perhaps we would act more to democratize them too. Most Arabs are ignorant people who have been indoctrinated from birth. Yes, they may have SOME education but it is founded in a warped view of the world. They have illogical beliefs with no rational basis. Otherwise someone would have put a bullet in Saddam by now and the Saudi Royalty too. But there are too few enlightened, brave AND with leadership abilities able to organize against suppression. |
| This war will not put an end to anti-Americanism; it will fan the flames of hatred even higher. It will not end the threat of weapons of mass destruction; it will make possible their further proliferation. | We could not be any more unpopular with the Arabs than we were before we went into Iraq. History will acknowledge us for a just act, giving human rights to suffering people. Even the Arabs will credit us when they all finally will be living under a democracy. Only by educating ALL the people in a free and democratic society will we ever have a chance of eliminating terror and threats from WMD. |
| it will not lay the groundwork for the flourishing of democracy throughout the Mideast; it will harden the resolve of Arab states to drive out all Western (i.e. U.S.) influence. | It WILL catalyze democracy in the Arab countries. Qatar is the example to follow right now. Their leader is willing to give up his power so that his citizens will be free, educated and prosperous. Saudi Royalty had better start thinking hard. |
| If you thought Osama bin Laden was bad, just wait until the countless children who become orphaned by U.S. bombs in the coming weeks are all grown up. Do you think they will forget what country dropped the bombs that killed their parents? In 10 or 15 years, we will look back fondly on the days when there were only a few thousand Middle Easterners dedicated to destroying the U.S. and willing to die for the fundamentalist cause. From this war, a million bin Ladens will bloom. | There will be even more "countless
children" if we don't educate them out of the suicide mentality that
a dictator will foster in an indoctrinated populace. Education will
enlighten them into understanding the error of their father's ways. PS Bin
Laden's father was Saudi Royalty! Go figure? Don't need to be an orphan
evidently. A lot of the orphans created here will have had fathers, who were Saddam's thugs, who raped their mothers. I think we created a lot more fatherless children in 91 than we will here. Education, freedom and prosperity will show them justification for OUR actions. |
| And what exactly is our endgame here? Do we really believe that we can install Gen. Tommy Franks as the ruler of Iraq? Is our arrogance and hubris so great that we actually believe that a U.S. provisional military regime will be welcomed with open arms by the Iraqi people? Democracy cannot possibly thrive under coercion. To take over a country and impose one's own system of government without regard for the people of that country is the very antithesis of democracy. And it is doomed to fail. | We gain appreciation from the educated Iraqi
people . (Just like the Afganistan people's hatred of the Taliban), The
Iraqi people will come round when they see the vast humanitarian aid and
realize the oil wealth they now can share. There is no reason for it
to fail. We wont be ruling them. They, themselves, will. And we will get our money back (as we should) before relinquishing power to the new Iraqi Government. |
| A war against Iraq is not only morally wrong, it will be an unmitigated disaster. | Only if we get into a guerilla war will we suffer significant casualties. The outcome, regardless, is certain. But there are too many Iraqis who will be so glad to get rid of Saddam. (They're not ALL THAT ignorant). And soon they will become "aware" enuf of how better off they are. Only the few "Gestapo types", salaried by Saddam, will resist but will be in jeopardy of reprisal from the Iraqi masses. |
| Who is ruining the environment? it ain't Saddam. Who is giving away bags of money to the rich when we don't have enough money for schools and health care?, it ain't Saddam. Who wants to go backward on all the social goals we have achieved over the past 50 years?. it ain't Saddam. This anointed president and his keepers are the biggest threat to this country since McCarthy. | agreed, tho Saddam ain't no John Muir. |
| Please
explain how our oil got underneath Iraqi sands, and why we would accuse
Saddam Hussain of "War Crimes" if he destroyed his oil fields,
when as a leader of his country, the oil belongs to him. Normally, "war crimes" are brought against people who kill people, not destroy natural resources. |
Em, I think he's guilty of other crimes? PS the oil belongs to the people. |
| US
made Mexico, and especially Tempico, safe for American oil interests in
1914. Made Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys
to collect revenues in. Raped a half-dozen Central American republics for the benefit of Wall Street. The record of racketeering is long. "Purified" Nicaragua for the international banking house of Brown Brothers in 1909 to 1912. "Brought light" to the Dominican Republic for American sugar interests in 1916, killed grandfathers, and raped grandmothers. Made Honduras right for American fruit companies in 1903. In China in 1927, saw to it that Standard Oil went its way unmolested. The US might have given Al Capone a few hints. (The best he could do was operate his racket in three city districts. The US operated on three continents)." |
Oh well. Long ago stuff. Good that we're not doing anything like that any more! Oh you mean we are raping the Iraqis? I think not! |