THE RECORD
September 25, 2002
Editor's Corner
It has been over 35 years and a lot of miles since I
left the battlefields of Vietnam. Yet, even after
all those years that time still remains very much
alive in my thoughts. It was a war that history is
indicating may have been justified with a lie, the
Gulf of Tonkin incident. A war it seems prolonged by
Henry Kissinger for domestic political reasons, for
which tens of thousands of young US service men and
women paid with their lives, not to mention
Vietnamese and assorted allies.
Vietnam was not the first war ever fought on false
pretenses, not even for the United States, nor
undoubtedly will it be the last. Currently we see
history repeating itself again as George W. Bush
keeps looking for excuses to invade Iraq. Unless
wiser heads prevail, without doubt he will come up
with something, no matter how fallacious or
ridiculous, to get the war he seems to so desperately
crave. If he does it will not be the Supreme Court
coming to the rescue to declare the winner and loser.
It will be decided with the lives of many people who
will have little choice over whether or not they die
in this politically motivated misadventure.
George and I are the same age, and many of his
advisors and cabinet members come from our
generation. One would think that they would have
learned something about war from the lessons of
Vietnam, but it appears that they have not, except
Colin Powell. Powell is not keen on this war, and
wisely so, but he had experience in Vietnam. Bush,
on the other hand, hid out in the National Guard
during the war and even then failed to show up for
duty. Ashcroft, Cheney and others all managed to
duck out when it was their turn to serve, as did many
of the pro war stars in Congress and the media.
The name for folks like GW Bush is Chickenhawk, a
term that denotes someone who urges war and talks
patriotism, but avoids their responsibility and hides
out under one excuse or another when they have the
opportunity to be patriots and serve. It is into the
hands of such bellicose hypocrites as these that
control of the most powerful nation on the planet has
fallen. We all should be very concerned.
It is bad enough that these folks want to pick fights
with little countries and waste the lives of
thousands, maybe millions, but they also want to
control the world. Last week the Bush administration
published a 33 page document outlining the direction
of US policy. In it they state that no country will
be allowed to become as powerful as the United
States. It points out that where American interests
are at stake, there will be no compromises. It urges
other nations to adopt US economic policies, and says
that the International Criminal Court will have no
jurisdiction over US citizens.
Over fifty years ago in the wake of WWII the nations
of the world formed the United Nations to work out
international differences and resolve issues in a
peaceful manner. The system has not been perfect,
but as things like the International Criminal Court
come on line we move slowly forward to a more
cooperative, just and stable world society. The
current direction of the United States threatens this
progress and turns us once again down the path where
a powerful nation seeks increasing domination over
others.
Some have likened the situation with Iraq to the one
in Europe in the late 1930s, and have warned that we
should learn the lessons of Munich and stop Saddam
Hussein now. The flaw in this is that relatively
weak Iraq is nowhere near being analogous to the
military and industrial giant that was Germany. An
unsavory regime, probably, a threat to conquer major
portions of the globe, not likely. Worth any number
of innocent lives, not at all. Rather than thinking
of Iraq as Germany, perhaps Poland would be a better
example.
Jerry West
Copyright © 2002, West's International
-- Jerry West THE RECORD Editor/Publisher/Janitor http://www.island.net/~record
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