Bush uses his unilateral's approach when it is convenient: his failure to sign the Kyoto Protocol, his
abandonment of ABM treaty, his decision to build nukes and maybe test nuclear weapons above ground.
On the other hand, he expects the world to join him in his commitment to destroy the Al Qaeda and
most world leaders obliged, although he finds himself alone in his endorsement of Israel's slaughter of
Palestinians with weapons that OUR TAX MONEY paid for and in his squabble with Iraq.
"We are a lot less secure and a lot less free than when he was selected."
You are right. Bush's domestic policy is repressive because he restricts access to information and pursues
foreign policy without the support of congress. In fact, he rarely tells congress what he is up to. For instance,
he put Cheney in charge of a shadow government without informing Daschle or other Congressional members.
We are not as safe because we have no support from other world leaders
for backing Sharon or attacking Iraq. Demonstrators abroad have lumped the US and Israel together in
their hatred for our policies.
If Powell is unable to bring about a cease fire between Israel and Palestine, we may face an uprising of
the entire Muslim world, including the Islam extremists, and many of these extremists were initially
trained and supported by The United States, Britain and Pakistan to fight the Russians in Afghanistan
b4 the Soviet Union was defeated in Afghanistan back in 1979 or 1980. Osama Bin Laden was
one of those fighters trained by money from America, Britain and Pakistan. When these
fighters returned home, they were filled with pride that they defeated the Russians AND they
passed the militant views they learned from the US, Britain and Pakistan to others. They joined
arms with those at home in the hope of overturning their oppressors SO that was one way militant
Islam flourished.
What goes around comes around
A few weeks ago while waiting for the bus, I heard a high-school student say to a friend, "what goes
around comes around." I thought then that the training we provided to the Islamic extremists has
come around to haunt us with the 9/11 attack, and now our support of Sharon's invasion into
Palestinian territory has been condemned around the world. While we we will
never know when we may be attacked again, we may also discover
that the prosperity that we experienced in the 90s is under attack because Bush focuses on
a war machine and tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans which will build deficits.
Deficits encourage inflation and with a build up of a war machine,
there will not be money available to focus on the needs of ordinary Americans.
Yes, you are right when you say Bush curtails personal freedom in the US. And, you are also right
when you say we are "less secure." Bush's foreign policy exposes us to future
terrorist attacks. It is also likely that our standard of living will decline because Bush builds a bigger war
machine. Here at home institutions already suffer because there isn't money. Community
Centers must cut hours, universities must raise tuition and roads cannot be repaired because the state
doesn't have any money. It could be worse. Recently, I heard that there isn't enough food in Oregon
to go around. One in five or six people has no idea when they will eat their next meal. And, when we
most need help, we will not receive money from the Bush administration.
JMOP |
