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Give Me A Reason...
Personal opinion by V. Bee
July 25th, 2005
As
we enter our third year in the “war” with Iraq, I find that I’m more
against this war than ever before. I was seated at my computer
engaged in a amiable debate with a friend a short while ago. The
more we bantered back and forth, the more I realized just how senseless
I felt this war is. It made me think of the words from a very old
song 30 years ago......
“War, good God, yah, what is it good for?
Absolutely nothing!
War, good God, yah, what is it good for?
Absolutely nothing!”
“Absolutely nothing.” I could not agree more. But this war
with Iraq is especially senseless. Iraq’s war is the Viet Nam of
the Middle East for U.S. soldiers. Similar to Viet Nam, U.S.
military personnel are not familiar with the terrain, are not familiar
with the weather and are unsure of how to survive in the
country’s elements.
So, the government tells its citizens, what we're really doing is
fighting terrorists? Where? Where are the terrorists? The only time we
see them is when they blow themselves and something else up. The
survivors crawl back into their gopher holes. The enemy is
completely invisible. We can't see them. How can we fight what we can't
see? for what? revenge on innocent civilians?
The “Oil for Food” program instigated by the United Nations from 1996
to 2003 was a facade for dishonesty. Illicit oil exports took place
outside of the program; allegations of corruption and mismanagement are
currently under investigation by five congressional committees, the
Justice Department and other agencies/authorities. According to
investigators, Iraq received more revenue from exports than from the
alleged Oil for Food program kickbacks. So, although Sadaam did
allow his people to starve during the abuse of the Oil for Food
program, surrounding countries, France, Germany, Russia and the U.S.
did not honor sanctions in place designed to make the Oil for Food
program effective.
The United Nations decreed 11 to 18 ineffective “resolutions” which
demanded Iraq reveal its WMD’s (weapons of mass destruction)?
Reportedly, Sadaam had hidden them on barges out to sea. Once more,
that was merely falsified information so that the American public would
stop questioning the government’s involvement in the war. Recently, it
was admitted that there never were WMD’s...what a surprise. As far as
I’m concerned, North Korea poses a darker threat to the world’s safety
than any other nation in the world.
George Bush the second (which is what I like to call him) ignored
protests from all over the world (and continues to do so).
Numerous European, Eastern European, Nordic, Asian, African and Middle
East citizens voiced their disdain, made their voices heard and were
united in opposition to a war in Iraq. Americans also voiced a
very strong anti-war voice in nearly all of her big cities
nationwide. I was one of the protesters (imagine, at my age!) who
blocked Lake Shore Drive that day. Our voices were strong and loud.
We have to “free” the Iraqi people, the government tells its
citizens. Show me an Iraqi who ASKED to be free? Who made
the U.S. the international police, who gave the U.S. the right to
decide that this tiny country’s citizens should be free, when its
people were saying nothing? How many Americans do you do know that are
aware of what was going on in Iraq or Afghanistan prior to the U.S.
military invasions? Worse, how many American do you suppose even
gave it a single thought? I daresay, very few and far between.
When the thirteen colonies of the American continent wanted
independence from the crown, didn’t they rise up against the British
and fight for their freedom on their own? If a people wants to be
free, shouldn’t they have the guts to do it themselves? If a
people shows a want for independence, another country can help them,
but that should only apply after the people of that country rise up on
their own.
War is useless. War is devastating. War destroys. War causes only
grief. Like the song says, “...war can’t give life, it can only take it
away.”
I will never support the kind of "war" the U.S. is presently waging in
the Middle East. It is a senseless exploitation of American and
Iraqi lives alike all for the purpose of gaining control of Middle
Eastern oil.
For more articles by V. Bee, visti her archives...
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