War.  It's been a hot topic for months now (to say the least) and as many people are speaking out on it, and mostly against it, I thought I'd jump on the band wagon and have my say.

 

So where do you stand on the issue?  Are you for or against war with Sadam?  Well, if you're for it, for goodness sake don't tell anybody.  For, unfortunately, it seems as if in the past few months, speaking out in favour of war has become taboo, and consequently unheard of.  There have been so many anti-war demonstrations and shouts of “war is not the answer'!” that I have started to question whether in fact anybody is in favour of this war.  Does this overwhelming anti-war feeling prove that war in Iraq is wrong?  According to the anti-war crowd, yes it does.  But who are the anti-war crowd? 

 

Recently, I have heard again and again the slogan 'war is not the answer'.  Fair enough, I say, maybe it isn't.  So what is the answer?  I'm yet to get a response to that question.  Alarmingly, I have heard not only anti-war statements but anti-those that support war statements.  “People in favour of this war can f*** off!” is one such comment I heard recently.  Now, there are always going to be people who insult others for not having the same opinion as them, but what concerns me is that such statements are coming out of the mouths of otherwise very intelligent people.  What causes these normally articulate people to come out with such simplistic things?  And why are they so dismissive of people who have a different opinion to them?

 

Recently, I have become tired of the whole topic of Iraq, mainly because when I talk to someone about it, I invariably know exactly what they are going to say.  It is as if the whole world has been swept up in a tide of anti-Bushism and is content to just go with the flow, not to ask why 'war is not the answer' and certainly not to ask what the elusive answer may be.

 

Don't get me wrong, there are many people who oppose this war for very valid reasons, but there are also many who do so because it is the ‘politically correct’ thing to do, the current trend.  There are indeed many reasons both to support the war and to oppose it, and this is an issue over which I am personally unsure of where to stand.  What concerns me, however, is the unthinking attitude of many people, including JETs, towards this issue and the subtle suppression of free speech that is being performed, not by our political leaders but by people around us. 

 

The anti-war crowd is demanding more discussion and less aggression from our political leaders.  Maybe it's time we turned these words into action ourselves, for progress can be made through proper discussion, but certainly not through one side shouting so loud the other can't be heard.

 

Many JETs are calling on other JETs to exercise their right to free speech by speaking out on the topic of war.  Please feel free to voice your opinion by writing something for the 'Saitama Mama'.  All opinions are of course welcome.

This week’s contributors:

·    J.D.Sparks, 3rd year ALT, Sakado

·    Dave Long, ALT, Saitama-shi

·    Anne Grieve, 2nd year ALT, Saitama-shi

·    Claudio Soto, 1st year ALT, Kasukabe

From the Editor

Saitama Mama Editor:

Katie Anderson, 1st year ALT, Tokorozawa-shi

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