An essay written over a year ago (January 2003) on the then current world situation. Nothing has changed--remember to vote this November.

The United States is going to war. It shouldn’t surprise anyone. Iraq has a vast supply of oil—estimated to last the US another 30 years based on current consumption rates. We are not going to fight Iraq because of any possible WMD’s (Weapons on Mass Destruction). We have made it very plain that we will invade and install our own form of “democratic” government regardless if they produce such weapons or not. As of today the weapons inspectors from the United Nations have found no evidence of such weapons or even traces of such weapons. But the build up is indicative of our intentions. Within a month the US will have 200,000 troops on Iraq’s doorstep ready for the order to attack. Iraq is in a no-win situation. They have a dictator for a leader who is not averse to killing his own people, they earn an average of $100 a month, they have little food or medicine due to the US forced embargo. The US invasion will, more than likely, create as stated by UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Ruud Lubbers, a human calamity. The Bush administration will attack Iraq if they determine that that nation has WMD or if they don’t.

We have a habit of creating human calamities. We have forced other nations to stop trading with North Korea as well because they are a Communist country. North Korea has a whole generation of children that are now deformed due to malnutrition and lack of medicine. North Korea is a desperate nation being backed into the corner by the US and being forced to take desperate measures. The latest in a series of restrictions is the US refusing to allow fuel oil to be shipped to North Korea. Because of these acts North Korea is now threatening nuclear confrontation. But, as Mr. Rumsfield so eloquently stated, the US is very capable of fighting two wars simultaneously. Never mind the underlying reasons that Iraq and North Korea are becoming hostile. Perhaps if we showed some compassion we would have more friends in the world instead of enemies. The US is viewed as an arrogant, adversarial bully around the world. We take what we want regardless of the outcomes. We are responsible for the destruction of indigenous cultures around the world by the uncontrolled plunder of natural resources. We insist that every nation should have a “democratic” form of government, based on our definition of “democracy”. We force our lifestyles, our greed, our technological manipulations on all countries and take without giving back.

Bush, Cheny and Rumsfield are dangerous men. They have taken away our freedoms under the guise of patriotism and anti-terrorism. They have created a world of fear, brought us again to the brink of worldwide disaster. In two years Bush has destroyed any advances made in the last 20 years in environmental cleanup, old growth forest protection and alternative energy. Bush is protecting his big business/oil company friends. This is obvious when the oil companies are already negotiating for their shares of Iraq’s oil production.

Bush shows the audacity of past world dictators. He demands that other nations disclose their weaponry while we hide and increase ours. He demands that other nation cease from arms sales while we maintain the number one position in selling weapons to other nations. He demands that other nations submit to invasive inspections while he wouldn’t allow even the suggestion that the US undergo the same. Bush is authorizing the use of torture with those kept at Guantanomo while the US condemns torture in other countries. Bush authorizes the illegal detention of men of Middle Eastern origin. Bush refuses to sigh a non-aggression pact with N. Korea saying that he won’t negotiate with leaders who starve their people. Lets look at this statement. N. Korea is a desperate nation. They have had a decade of constant crop failures; they have had their heating oil and other essentials of daily life cut off by—the United States. Because they are Communist the Bush administration denies them the basic dignity of life and then condemns them for it. Just as the US has consistently denied trade with Cuba because it is a Communist country, it strives to punish North Korea due to its political structure. Bush gets an “F” in common sense, environmentalism, economics and humanism. When will this nations conservative “leadership” understand that as long as the US is perceived, rightly or wrongly, as the nation suppressing the people of other nations, of keeping them at the starvation level, the US will have very determined enemies.

Bush condemns the starvation in other countries while the percentage of US citizens living at or below poverty in the US has reached a level not seen in over two decades. The “war on terror” is a convenient excuse to keep tabs on Americans as well as those from other nations. Ashcroft can have the FBI or other police agencies examine your book purchases from your local bookshop, obtain your library records, get any detail of your personal finances they wish, read your email and will soon keep tally of where you are, what plane tickets you buy and who you associate with. This is not the United States I grew up in. This is a totalitarian nation becoming even more so. To say that we may not want war but should support the president if he declares one is ludicrous. If war is wrong then we need to say it is wrong and not support the aggressive behavior of the Bush presidency. Our foreign policy is one of acquisition. It has nothing to do with what is right or wrong. The US unconditional support of Israel has turned the world against us. Israel’s inhuman treatment of the Palestinians is monstrous and it looks like we are learning from the Israeli government.

Israel has deprived the people of Palestine of food, medicine, jobs, housing, free trade, travel, justice in the courts and dignity. And they are surprised at the hostility and violent reaction that they have received? Amazing.

Bush and his cabinet and Sharon and his are enemies of freedom and human rights. They are all dangerous men who have brought the world to the brink of destruction. Remember the harm they have done and will do the next time you go to the voting booth. Today you still have time to say no to war. Tomorrow may be too late.