"But the world isn't like that"

[Otto]

----- Original Message -----
From: "jbor" <jbor at bigpond.com>
To: <pynchon-l at waste.org>
Sent: Monday, October 14, 2002 11:38 PM
Subject: Re: "But the world isn't like that"


> The stupidity of the notion that Saddam = Bush speaks for itself.
>

Of course GWB isn't to compare to SH. But try to explain this to the poor
Palestinian population (and all the millions of Muslims for example in
Indonesia and elsewhere) terrorized by the IDF with American arms. F-16 and
Helicopters with rockets are certainly weapons of mass destruction. Btw. the
Afghanistan war killed more civilians than the original terror attack on the
WTC.

> Unless the anti-Bush lobby can come up with some better arguments then
> international pressure will continue to be applied on Saddam to stop
> manufacturing weapons of mass destruction. I think that's the best course
of
> action at present.
>

The better arguments were delivered by Pete Stark and others who hardly can
be called anti-American:
http://www.salon.com/politics/feature/2002/10/10/stark/index.html

And there's still the unexplained fact the SH's WMD were good as long as
they were used against America's enemys.

> Talk of "America in decline", patently absurd, exemplifies the deep-seated
> conservatism which lies at the heart of much of the caterwauling against
the
> international alliance against terrorism, and against the increasing trend
> towards international mediation of world justice and equity issues. US
> politics is irrelevant. The American economy and standard of living still
> exceed those of anywhere else on the planet by truckloads, no matter how
> badly that wealth is distributed domestically.

This "no matter" is said too easily as long as people are homeless and dying
of hunger. On a statistical level the standard of living & welfare in
Canada, Sweden, Finland and other European countrys exceeds the US.

>Bin Laden made a grave error
> in targeting the US on September 11 2001, because that attack served to
> mobilise an almighty global police force against him and his allies.
Instead
> of the UN having to bow down and make concessions to the US to get
military
> support for the fight against terrorism, the US willingly became the
driving
> force behind the current initiative, and it has been forced to become more
> accountable to the UN as a result. Another bonus.
>

SH certainly is no ally of Bin Laden. He must fear the fundamentalists as
well as the pro-Western Arab governments. So there's a big difference
between the war on terror and a pre-emptive strike against Iraq. This is why
Schröder said no, this is why the Left says no. The current US-government
has no legitimation to attack Iraq. Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld shouldn't
repeat the Bin Laden error in underestimating the "enemy". They shouldn't
insist on another UN-declaration before the inspectors return to Iraq. If SH
doesn't follow his obligations there should be air strikes on his military
bases. He should be treated as Milosevic according to the NATO-doctrines.

Certainly it's been a great mistake to attack the most powerful nation of
the world with the most terrible terror attack the world has seen up to now.
But one error cannot justify another one.

Otto

> Why doesn't somebody organise a protest march against terrorism. I'd bet
> you'd get a whole lot more of us poor dumb sheep, from every nation in the
> world, out and doing.
>
> best
>

I doubt that protest marches will help against either the terror or the
planned war. But splitting up the power (for example of the intelligence
services), destroying the international coalition is/will be a big mistake.
The UN should focus on the terrorists and the Middle East conflict. This has
been demanded by the Arab nations and many Europeans after 9/11 and it is
still right. The demand for justice must go into both directions and begins
in my opinion with an international & fair legal treatment of the Guantanamo
prisoners (just to make sure that the "values" we claim to defend are meant
serious). None of the terrorists (or their helpers) caught in Germany will
be delivered to the US as long as they are threatened with the death
penalty.

Otto

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