New Civilization News: If we are so right, why does it feel so wrong?    
 If we are so right, why does it feel so wrong?10 comments
picture13 Mar 2003 @ 00:51, by Quidnovi

"Justice is about Truth, and truth has many sides. Justice and Truth have shapes that change among nations and throughout the seasons of history. Mercy is Love, and that has the same strength and beauty for all people, for all time. I serve Mercy, not Justice."
---A. A. Attanasio, The Wolf and the Crown


Operation Desert Storm was about the "good guys" liberating one Arab state, Kuwait, from occupation by another Arab state, Iraq. But the roles are not so clearly defined in the current conflict and while I'd love to have the same kind of self assurance as G. W. Bush has been displaying that we are doing the right thing and that God is on our side, this new situation with Iraq looks to me (and to others) uncomfortably too much like an effort to install a client regime in Baghdad.

Worse, while some have been denouncing oil as the motivating factors of our current administration for its military presence in the Gulf region, there have been some troubling and alarming signs from the administration that Iraq is only the tip of the iceberg:


"Iraq is only a piece in the broader U.S. plan to reconfigure the Middle East political map and make it conform to democratic changes that have swept much of the rest of the world over the past 15 years," U.S. official says.
--- Robin Wright, LA Times, 02.25.03, "Bush Set to Be Pivot in Diplomacy"


Such a vision does echo PNAC's own ambitions of a "New American Century". I quote:

"We aim to make the case and rally support for American global leadership. As the 20th century draws to a close, the United States stands as the world's preeminent power. Having led the West to victory in the Cold War, America faces an opportunity and a challenge: Does the United States have the vision to build upon the achievements of past decades? Does the United States have the resolve to shape a new century favorable to American principles and interests?"

In his impassioned article on that very subject, "Of Gods and Mortals and Empire", William Rivers Pitt denounces PNAC's Rebuilding America's Defenses report as "the institutionalization of plans and ideologies that have been formulated for decades by the men currently running our government":

" The PNAC Statement of Principles is signed by Cheney, Wolfowitz and Rumsfeld, as well as by Eliot Abrams, Jeb Bush, Bush's special envoy to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad, and many others(…) On September 11th, the fellows from PNAC saw a door of opportunity open wide before them, and stormed right through it."

And while there are those who fear that such aggressive ambitions will put the stability of the whole Middle East at risk and could lead to a "war of civilizations," there are those who are calling for such a war with all their might. They are calling for it because they believe that such a war is winnable and that the window of opportunity is now.

Much of the administration's talk of good versus evil has a familiar ring to most Star Wars' fan and while I am not sure what Yoda would think of G. W. Bush, one thing is clear, to the eye of many abroad (our allies included) methinks we are starting to look a lot like we are turning into the evil "Empire."

I sense a disturbance in the force.


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10 comments

13 Mar 2003 @ 02:33 by istvan : Well of course...
As Organelle pointed out once SCIENCE FOCTION MAY BE a short of PROPHECY.It is well that we recognise this.  


13 Mar 2003 @ 04:02 by shawa : Oh Yeah.
And wait : it´s not about POLITICS, either. It´s about wiping out Islam. They´re crazy, real f...g crazy.  


13 Mar 2003 @ 05:48 by martha : darth
Well I'm concerned if Darth is on our side. Also the manufacturer of that new walking tank will make a fortune selling it to Iraq.  


13 Mar 2003 @ 06:36 by catana : Has anyone noticed...
that in invading Iraq, we will be guilty of exactly the same thing that Iraq was guilty of when they invaded Kuwait?  


13 Mar 2003 @ 08:13 by invictus : Yoda would take one look at Bush and...
Well, why else would Yoda have moved to the Degobah system?

Sadly, not all of us can move to a nice swampy planet. Not all of us would want to. We share this one. Which makes any plans for global domination, including so-called "benevolent" ones, very scary indeed. And the war... it's absolutely nuts.  



13 Mar 2003 @ 14:49 by sharie : Reply to Catana re: guilt
Iraq invaded Kuwait because Kuwait was slant-oil drilling into Iraq's oil reserves. http://www.rense.com/general3/slant.htm Iraq attempted diplomatic negotiations to bring the theft of millions of dollars to a halt, but Kuwait would not stop, so Iraq began to assemble troops at the Kuwaiti border. The U.S. Ambassador to Iraq (a woman) told Iraq that the U.S. had no interest in their border disputes. Iraq invaded, and then the U.S. slaughtered them.

Was Iraq "guilty" of a crime against Kuwait? We all have the right to defend what is ours.

We do not have the right to murder and steal. Self-defense is not murder.

Do we have the right to use radioactive weapons - such as the depleted uranium used in the Gulf War which has resulted in severe birth defects for nearly 70% of all babies born to Gulf War Veterans (U.N. soldiers included)? The sky-rocketing rates of cancer in Iraq is killing yet more innocent people, more murders.

To affirm our human dignity and the value of life, we might acknowledge how inhumane it is to live in luxury while millions of human beings die of starvation. I refer to the billionaires of the world who are allowed to commit mass murder, while their people cheer them on.

Is Iraq as "guilty" as those who murder in order to steal what does not belong to them?  



13 Mar 2003 @ 21:55 by quidnovi : A growing uneasiness
U.S. Diplomat Resigns over Iraq War Plans
---Reuters

Monday 10 March 2003

A U.S. diplomat resigned from government service on Monday in protest at President George W. Bush's preparations to attack Iraq, the second to do so in less than a month.

John H. Brown, who joined the U.S. diplomatic corps in 1981 and served in London, Prague, Krakow, Kiev, Belgrade and Moscow, said in a letter to Secretary of State Colin Powell made available to the media: "I cannot in good conscience support President Bush's war plans against Iraq.

"Throughout the globe the United States is becoming associated with the unjustified use of force. The president's disregard for views in other nations, borne out by his neglect of public diplomacy, is giving birth to an anti-American century," the diplomat added.

Brown has recently been attached to the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University in Washington. Immediately before that, he was cultural attache at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow.

A senior U.S. diplomat based in Athens, political counselor John Brady Kiesling, 45, resigned in protest at the Bush administration's policy on Iraq last month.  



13 Mar 2003 @ 22:05 by quidnovi : A worldwide concern
Australia - Gov't Rocked by Resignation of Anti-War Official
---Inter Press Service

Wednesday 12 March 2003

The Australian government has been stunned by the resignation of one of its senior intelligence analysts who argue that, based on U.S. and other intelligence information he has seen, there is currently no justification for a war on Iraq.

"I'm convinced a war against Iraq at this time would be wrong. For a start, Iraq does not pose a security threat to the U.S., or to the U.K. or Australia, or to any other country, at this point in time, former Office of National Assessments intelligence analyst Andrew Wilkie said, announcing his resignation late on Wednesday evening.

A critical factor behind Wilkie's resignation was claims made by U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell to the U.N. Security Council purporting that a link exists between al-Qaeda and Iraq. "As far as I'm aware there was no hard evidence and there is still no hard evidence that there is any active cooperation between Iraq and al-Qaeda,'' Wilkie told Australia Broadcasting Corp (ABC) television.

Three years ago, Wilkie, the 41-year-old career military officer, was seconded to the Office of National Assessments, which prepares briefings for the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet from a wide range of intelligence sources.

Wilkie has worked on global terrorism and transnational issues including Afghanistan and the likely humanitarian consequences of a war on Iraq.

In the make of mass rallies in mid-February in which well over half a million citizens publicly demonstrated against the war, Wilkie's resignation has demonstrated the depth of concern amongst the normally conservative ranks of the intelligence and foreign affairs establishment.  



13 Mar 2003 @ 22:09 by quidnovi : Even New York
New York City Council Approves Resolution Opposing Iraq War Until Options Exhausted
---Newsday

Wednesday 12 March 2003

The City Council in the place hit hardest by the Sept. 11 attacks approved a resolution Wednesday opposing war with Iraq except as a last resort.

The 31-17 vote came after months of debate over whether New York should stake out a position.

"We of all cities must uphold the preciousness and sanctity of human life," said Councilman Alan Gerson, a Democrat who voted for the resolution and whose district includes the World Trade Center site, where 2,792 people were killed in the attacks.  



17 Mar 2003 @ 12:15 by quidnovi : UK: Cook resigns from cabinet over Iraq
Monday March 17, 2003

Robin Cook, the leader of the Commons and a former foreign secretary, today resigned from the government in protest over the prime minister's stance on Iraq.

Mr Cook said in a statement: "It is 20 years ago that I first joined Labour's shadow cabinet. It is with regret I have today resigned from its cabinet. I can't accept collective responsibility for the decision to commit Britain now to military action in Iraq without international agreement or domestic support."

"In principle I believe it is wrong to embark on military action without broad international support. In practice I believe it is against Britain's interests to create a precedent for unilateral military action.

"As our foreign secretary I was impressed by the energy and skill with which you [Blair] ended Britain's isolation in Europe and achieved for our country equal status and influence to Germany or France. I am dismayed that once again Britain is divided from our major European neighbours (…)

The political significance lies in Mr Cook's five years as Mr Blair's first foreign secretary, the post now occupied by Jack Straw.

A PPS to Margaret Beckett, Andy Reed, has already quit over Iraq, and Mr Blair has survived a rebellion by 122 Labour backbenchers, all of whom voted for a motion saying the case for war on Iraq was "not proven".

Although the Conservative frontbench has pledged its support for the prime minister's position of allying Britain to a US-led attack on Iraq, several high-profile backbench Tories have come out against military action, including former chancellor Kenneth Clarke.

A Conservative junior whip, John Randall, has also resigned his post in the party.  



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