I am sick & tired of being mocked by “people” when I make remarks about the current war. I have been accused of many things, & I am now going to point out the facts that back my opinion of this situation.
1. The legality of this war. Article 2(4), Article 42 and Article 51 of the UN Charter says that Member States are to refrain from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any State. Force may only be used if specifically approved by the Security Council or proportionate force may be used in self defence when a threat is imminent. This call for war by President Bush does not fall into this category & has been designated as illegal by all international laws. The United States and United Kingdom have sought unsuccessfully to have a further resolution passed which they intended would authorize the use of force against Iraq. So let me repeat myself .. this war is illegal.
2. Double standards. The first use of weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East was actually by British forces in 1917. When Winston Churchill, then Colonial Secretary, wrote: “I do not understand this squeamishness about the use of gas. I am strongly in favour of using poison gas against uncivilised tribes.” Now we have the following happening in modern day Middle East .. Syria has one of the largest chemical weapons stockpiles in the Middle East, with a ready supply of scud missiles, to be used as delivery systems. Many analysts think Iran is closer to producing a nuclear weapon than Iraq, and the US government claims Iran may have up to several thousand tons of weaponised chemical agents. Egypt is widely believed to have used chemical weapons in Yemen in the 1960s, and is still thought to maintain chemical weapons capability. Israel has the oldest and largest nuclear weapons programme in the Middle East. They have missiles with a range of at least 3,500km, and the only anti-ballistic missile system in the world. Its delivery systems include three nuclear submarines that can be armed with nuclear tipped cruise missiles. Then of course when you look outside the Middle East you have .. India and Pakistan who shocked the world when they publicly announced their nuclear weapons testing programmes through the detonation of small yield (five to twenty-five thousand tons of TNT equivalent) nuclear bombs. I think you begin to get the point there so lets move on.
3. Censorship On more occasions than I can count I have found that the information being told to people here in New Zealand is not just more detailed, but is done quicker & more openly. While I am being told about the American troops who blew up there own helicopter without checking to see if anyone was alive after it had gone down under “friendly fire” my friends in America are being told (2 hours latter mind due) that the helicopter went down & exploded due to a malfunction because it was old. Then there was the finding of over 200 “graves” in a warehouse. While Americans were being told it was bodies from executions I had herd over 4 hours earlier that it was soldiers bodies from the previous war which had been brought back into the country. Anyone see something wrong with this information? Now I’m not saying that New Zealanders are being told the complete truth .. but I know that we do not have the same stiff censorship restrictions that America has. Just ask Mage about the New Zealand radio station & all the things that they say which would get American stations shut down. Sorry to bring you into this Mage but you’re the only American I know who listens to ZM.
Seems I’m almost up to 2 pages of information about the war I feel it’s time to stop. There is much much much more I could say here but I have enough stalkers as it is & don’t need more right now thanks. This is not about fighting this is about questioning. Let me put this straight to you .. All the Americans here .. Your friends & family are not only being sent out to die in a war which is some sort of misdirection by President Bush but it is illegal .. & all you do is sit back & "pray" for thier safe return? Maybe it is that I am to use to the Kiwi fighting spirit here .. must be ..
I originally wrote this article for a msn community I co-owned.
