[CLUE-Talk] Charlie Daniels comments, article about Saddam's sons.

[Matt Gushee]

On Sun, Mar 23, 2003 at 01:42:43PM -0700, Jed S. Baer wrote:

> The thing which is most interesting to me is the fact that it seems as if
> it's only recently that the story of the Hussien regime's barbarity is
> gaining widespread exposure.  Certainly, we all know about how he gassed
> the Kurds, and none of this information has been hidden under a barrel,
> but it seems to have been mostly off the U.S. public's radar screen (the
> world's?). So why is it that it takes the onset of war to focus the
> spotlight of public attention on stuff like this?

I guess you could call it interesting ... but it shouldn't be surprising
in the least. That gas attack occurred while Iraq was fighting a war
against Iran--with US support. Using chemical weapons supplied in large
part by us. With Donald Rumsfeld, yes, the very same Donald Rumsfeld,
having been instrumental in setting up the deal. Here's one reference
for that:

  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A52241-2002Dec29.html

Also recall that a couple months ago when Iraq submitted its 12,000-page
weapons declaration to the UN, US officials grabbed the report before
anyone else had a chance to look at it and edited out about 8,000 pages.
It's been reported that the purpose of that was to excise the names of
US companies that supplied weapons to Iraq; I haven't heard a better
explanation yet.

Saddam Hussein is not the enemy because he is a brutal dictator. If that
were a significant motivation for US policy, we would not have supported
Suharto as he slaughtered the Timorese. We would not have supported
the coup that overthrew a democratically elected government to install
Augusto Pinochet as dictator of Chile. We wouldn't have been one of the
last countries in the world to acknowledge the African National Congress
and stop supporting the apartheid regime in South Africa. We would not
now be cultivating friendly relations with China as they execute petty
criminals and harvest their organs for the transplant market. And we
certainly wouldn't be paying Ariel Sharon three billion dollars a year
to bomb hospitals and bulldoze houses inhabited by families with
children (at the same time, need I say, that domestic programs,
including veteran's benefits, are being cut and cut and cut).

Our enemies are enemies of convenience. The spotlight, overwhelmingly
controlled by a very few media conglomerates, goes where the owners want
it to.

So now, inevitably, someone is going to accuse me of hating America. I
guess it depends what you think America is. If America is synonymous
with George W. Bush or with (nominally) American multinational
corporations (like the ones that open phony headquarters in Bermuda so
they don't have to pay taxes--yeah, that's real patriotic), then maybe I
do hate America. Any questions?

As for Saddam Hussein, you're entitled to hate him. Whether your hatred
is sufficient to justify a "preemptive" "war,"--that's a matter for your
conscience, I suppose. Just remember that, though the name of the enemy
may be Saddam, we are attacking a country, and innocent civilians are
inevitably dying. 'Shock and Awe'? 'No safe place in Baghdad'? There are
5 million people in that city. If any of them has the ability to get out
of the way of the bombs, surely Saddam Hussein does.

Remember also that no credible evidence has been shown that Iraq had
anything to do with the attack on the World Trade Center. That Osama
bin Laden is still at large. And that Afghanistan is still unstable. 

Consider, too, that Iraq has not been shown to have significant weapons
of mass destruction. In fact I would say the fact that our attacking
forces have not been hit with anything worse than anti-tank shells
pretty much proves the opposite. I suppose it's conceivable that Hussein
believed up until the last moment that there might be a way to avoid war
(though he would have to be monumental idiot to have believed that), but
what possible reason could he have to hold back now?

Finally, know that this assault on Iraq has been on the right-wing
agenda for years. If you agree with that agenda ... well, then you agree
with it. But don't pretend it ain't so. One way or another, you need to
deal with that fact. This is well-documented, and--though I'd rather be
doing something constructive--I will point you to the information once
again if I have to. 

-- 
Matt Gushee                 When a nation follows the Way,
Englewood, Colorado, USA    Horses bear manure through
mgushee at havenrock.com           its fields;
http://www.havenrock.com/   When a nation ignores the Way,
                            Horses bear soldiers through
                                its streets.
                                
                            --Lao Tzu (Peter Merel, trans.)