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New AntiWar Movement Makes Sense
Washington and Wall Street talk of war. We're talking about how to make Americans as safe as possible, about how to create new jobs for American workers while protecting the environment, and about why we need to protect fundamental American values.
The Bush administration, corporate elites, and most Democrats seem determined to go to war against Iraq. It seems as if nothing can stop them. But a new antiwar movement has been sprouting around the country. Feeling powerless, more and more Americans, especially students and young people, are getting involved, with the goal of at least trying to stop this absurdity.
It would be unwise not to take terrorism seriously. But the people pretending to be our leaders, Republicans and Democrats alike, are doing things that just don't make sense.
The incipient antiwar movement aims for security, peace, and most important, common sense. We draw our inspiration not just from the antiwar protests of the '60s but more from the long tradition of struggle for justice and freedom on which our country was founded.
"The cause of America is, in great measure, the cause of all mankind," Tom Paine wrote in Common Sense. Once again, America can spark the world struggle for freedom - but through democracy and justice, not war and terror.
America has a choice: Act like Saddam Hussein; ignore public interest and world opinion; invade an oil rich country and overthrow its government; or heed Tom Paine and do what makes sense for our country.
It makes sense to have weapons inspections in Iraq, as it would to have them in the more than two dozen other countries that have or are suspected of having weapons of mass destruction. If we wish to reduce the threat of biological, chemical or nuclear weapons in Iraq, United Nations inspections are far more practical than bloody and costly invasion and occupation. But inspections must be given the time and support needed to be thorough and effective.
No one should deny that Hussein is a murderous thug - or that U.S.-backed sanctions and bombings since the Persian Gulf war have increased the Iraqi people's dependence on Hussein's government and resentment of the United States. As the world's model for self-determination, we must respect the right of the people of Iraq to decide their future - not impose it on them under the guise of "liberation."
As the Bush administration undermines the vital inspections process with its public relations blitz making war seem unavoidable, we face a dismal economy and a budget deficit of $145 billion projected for next year. War on Iraq would cost upward of $200 billion, by Bush administration estimates.
Wouldn't it make more sense to spend that $200 billion to pioneer a new American economy, based on clean renewable energy? (Not the new Bush economic plan, which gives billions in tax breaks to corporations.)
Developing safer and more energy-efficient cars, building an affordable and convenient mass public transportation system, and making our communities more livable - those would be steps toward national security.
Our addiction to oil drives the government to prop up one barbaric regime after another in the oil-rich countries of the Middle East, making us continually vulnerable. So declaring our independence from oil makes sense, too. It would not only make us safer but could even jump-start economic recovery, creating new jobs in new sustainable industries. The costs of oil are staggering: air pollution, climate change, wildlife destruction - not to mention the countless lives lost unnecessarily to wars over oil.
Washington and Wall Street talk of war. We're talking about how to make Americans as safe as possible, about how to create new jobs for American workers while protecting the environment, and about why we need to protect fundamental American values.
Few politicians dare support such common sense, but becoming energy-independent and renewing our great American values would probably do a lot more than war on Iraq to make our country more secure.
Call us naïve, but we still believe in America's traditions of democracy, justice, and freedom. We remember that generations before us refused to give up and were able to overcome incredible adversity. Because of their struggle and hard work, America is the great country it is today. But we don't see how it could ever make sense to give up all that's great about America for oil.
We take our responsibility to defend Tom Paine's dream seriously. But we won't trade our blood, the blood of American troops, and the blood of Iraqis for oil. It's wrong, and it just doesn't make sense.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It would be unwise not to take terrorism seriously. But the people pretending to be our leaders, Republicans and Democrats alike, are doing things that just don't make sense.
The incipient antiwar movement aims for security, peace, and most important, common sense. We draw our inspiration not just from the antiwar protests of the '60s but more from the long tradition of struggle for justice and freedom on which our country was founded.
"The cause of America is, in great measure, the cause of all mankind," Tom Paine wrote in Common Sense. Once again, America can spark the world struggle for freedom - but through democracy and justice, not war and terror.
America has a choice: Act like Saddam Hussein; ignore public interest and world opinion; invade an oil rich country and overthrow its government; or heed Tom Paine and do what makes sense for our country.
It makes sense to have weapons inspections in Iraq, as it would to have them in the more than two dozen other countries that have or are suspected of having weapons of mass destruction. If we wish to reduce the threat of biological, chemical or nuclear weapons in Iraq, United Nations inspections are far more practical than bloody and costly invasion and occupation. But inspections must be given the time and support needed to be thorough and effective.
No one should deny that Hussein is a murderous thug - or that U.S.-backed sanctions and bombings since the Persian Gulf war have increased the Iraqi people's dependence on Hussein's government and resentment of the United States. As the world's model for self-determination, we must respect the right of the people of Iraq to decide their future - not impose it on them under the guise of "liberation."
As the Bush administration undermines the vital inspections process with its public relations blitz making war seem unavoidable, we face a dismal economy and a budget deficit of $145 billion projected for next year. War on Iraq would cost upward of $200 billion, by Bush administration estimates.
Wouldn't it make more sense to spend that $200 billion to pioneer a new American economy, based on clean renewable energy? (Not the new Bush economic plan, which gives billions in tax breaks to corporations.)
Developing safer and more energy-efficient cars, building an affordable and convenient mass public transportation system, and making our communities more livable - those would be steps toward national security.
Our addiction to oil drives the government to prop up one barbaric regime after another in the oil-rich countries of the Middle East, making us continually vulnerable. So declaring our independence from oil makes sense, too. It would not only make us safer but could even jump-start economic recovery, creating new jobs in new sustainable industries. The costs of oil are staggering: air pollution, climate change, wildlife destruction - not to mention the countless lives lost unnecessarily to wars over oil.
Washington and Wall Street talk of war. We're talking about how to make Americans as safe as possible, about how to create new jobs for American workers while protecting the environment, and about why we need to protect fundamental American values.
Few politicians dare support such common sense, but becoming energy-independent and renewing our great American values would probably do a lot more than war on Iraq to make our country more secure.
Call us naïve, but we still believe in America's traditions of democracy, justice, and freedom. We remember that generations before us refused to give up and were able to overcome incredible adversity. Because of their struggle and hard work, America is the great country it is today. But we don't see how it could ever make sense to give up all that's great about America for oil.
We take our responsibility to defend Tom Paine's dream seriously. But we won't trade our blood, the blood of American troops, and the blood of Iraqis for oil. It's wrong, and it just doesn't make sense.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For more information:
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/ed...
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http://www.indybay.org/news/2002/12/1555258_comment.php#1557810
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A19548-2003Jan6.html
Some liberation.
Then you no doubt support the left's advocacy of massive social legislation to alleviate poverty, since this was one of Paine's major demands during the French Revolution.
More to the point: Paine was a small r republican, not an advocate of empire. Unlike you, he appears to have actually read the Constitution, which says that the purpose of the military is "to provide for the common defense," not to traverse the globe in defense of imperial interests. In addition, he shared the view of George Washington and other Founding Fathers that a standing army was a threat to the republic, one that would eventually swallow up their ideal of "government by the people."
It was the EXAMPLE of America, not its guns, that would inspire freedom throughout the world.
So perhaps it is you who should sit down and read Paine's work.
It is Saddam and jackasses like him who always bring this crap on their own people, and then Americans go on a guilt trip about scuffing them up to clean house. Those sons-of-sphincters are the ones who start this nonsense. So Bush wants to go kick hell out of him. I suppose that if Bush just stood by and watched his genocide, he would still get the scathing criticism he has been getting.
We will try not to hurt the innocents, but since Iraqis hide behind women and children, some are going to get killed in the process of kicking the dog-crap out of Saddam. This stupid bastard cannot be left alive to do any more harm to his or any other peoples. He cannot be left wounded; he has to be killed. He has to go - the hard way. The damage and loss of life to his country in the process is 100% his doing. Forget for a minute what stupid mistakes the US has made over the years, and ulterior motives for oil. Forget for now how we got here. The point is: we are where we are now, and it's black and white - this moron is killing his own innocent people, and is a threat to more. The only way to make him quit is to kill him. And since we are a compassionate people, let's say, we won't torture him to death as he so richly deserves.