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Politics : Stockman Scott's Political Debate Porch -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: elpolvo who wrote (12329)	1/31/2003 10:35:40 AM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 89467

Some Thoughts On War From A 1999 Nobel Prize Winner... No Beginning or End to War by Günter Grass Published on Wednesday, January 29, 2003 by the Guardian/UK War is looming. Once again war looms. Or is war only being threatened so as to stop war coming? Does the limiting word "only" mean that this is just a mock threat, this staged build-up of US and British troops and ships on the Arabian peninsula and in the Red sea, with its supply of pictures to the media of overwhelming military might? As soon as one of the world's two dozen dictators has crumbled into exile or preferably is dead, will this all turn out to be a show of force which brought peace and can vanish away again? Hardly. This looming war is a wanted war. It is already going on in the heads of the planners, in the world's stock exchanges, and in what seem to be forward-dated TV programs. The enemy target is in the sights. He has been named and - along with other enemies on the stocks who will be targeted and named next - he fits the bill for those who want to conjure a danger so grim that it undermines careful reflection. We know how people create enemies where none exists. We know, and have plenty of pictures to illustrate it, what happens in war when the target is not quite hit. We are familiar with the words for damage and casualties which we are told to accept as inevitable. We are used to the relatively small number of its own dead that the world's number one ruling power has to count and mourn while the mass of enemy dead, including women and children, go uncounted and are not worth mourning. So now we wait for the new war and the old repetitions. This time new missile systems will be even more accurate. We can be confident about the choice of pictures from this looming war. The flow of images will be sanitized of every detail of horror. Familiar TV channels will be there to give us a new installment of war as soap opera, interrupted only by ads for consumers who are living happily in peace. The only issue for discussion is whether people approach this coming, already happening war as loudmouthed or half-hearted allies, or the sort who may only make a small contribution on the sidelines like the Germans, whose time for making war is over by now, or should be. Who is the target of this war which is only being threatened? A fearful dictator. But Saddam Hussein, like other dictators, was once a brother-in-arms to the democratic world power and its allies. On their behalf, and heavily armed by the west, he waged war for eight years against his neighbor Iran, because at that time the dictator who ruled there was enemy number one. But, the argument goes on, Saddam Hussein is in possession of of weapons of mass destruction (which has not yet been proved). We are also promised that after this dictator is defeated democracy will be installed in Iraq. But this dictator's neighbors, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, which are western allies and serve as launch pads for invading Iraq, are also dictatorships. Are they the next targets for wars to bring democracy? I know these are idle questions. The world power's arrogance has an answer for all of them. But everyone knows or assumes that it is all about oil. To be accurate, that it's all about oil again. The specter of hypocrisy which the last remaining superpower and its chorus of allies use to cover their true interests has become so threadbare that the drive for dominance shows right through. It stands there in its hubris, unashamed and dangerous to the rest of the world. The current US president is the perfect expression of this common danger we face. I don't know if the United Nations will be resolute enough to resist the US's clenched drive for power. My experience tells me this wanted war will be followed by other wars with the same drive behind them. I hope my country's citizens and government will give convincing proof that we Germans have learned the lesson of the wars we have caused and will say no to the oncoming madness, called war. "What should I do if in fretful sleep the ghosts of the slaughtered were to appear, bloody, pale, and wan, and weep in front of me, what should I do?" That's the question the 18th century writer, Matthias Claudius asks in his poem, Warsong. Looking back on our wars and the people we have slaughtered, this is the question we have still not answered completely. That distant, looming war which is already under way and which never stops, poses his same question yet again. "Alas, it is war, and I don't wish to carry the guilt for it." ______________________________________________ Günter Grass won the Nobel prize for literature in 1999. His new novel, Crabwalk, will be published by Faber in April. © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2003 commondreams.org

To: elpolvo who wrote (12329)	1/31/2003 7:19:28 PM
From: stockman_scott	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 89467

A Saturday Night Live parody of brokers -- a total scream... home.attbi.com

To: elpolvo who wrote (12329)	2/3/2003 3:47:16 PM
From: stockman_scott	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 89467

Lies Are Truth by Bob Wallace February 3, 2003 lewrockwell.com George Orwell's novel, 1984, is getting more and more prophetic. Everyone should memorize Orwell's three laws: War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, and Ignorance is Strength. Everyone should also keep in mind, Report Thoughtcrime, and Big Brother is Watching You. Oh, yeah, and don't forget the Ministry of Truth. You could just go on and on with these Doublethink sayings. Death is Life. Promises are Prosperity. Bankruptcy is Wealth. Innocence is Guilt. Guilt is Innocence. Lies are Truth. All of these sayings have one thing in common. We're From the Government, and We're Here to Help You. Oops, I forgot – The Check is in the Mail. Because of the above, I believe that whatever the government says, the truth is the exact opposite. Recently, Donald Rumsfeld has been making noises about how there is no need for the reinstatement of the draft. A little bell went Ding! Ding! Ding! in my head. Rumsfeld's comment is a trial balloon the administration is sending up. They're thinking about reinstating the draft. They're trying to get the public's reaction. Unfortunately, right now the public is not paying much attention to the war because, so far, we're not in a major war, even though it is World War III. Why talk of the draft? Because we're in WWIII. Cannon fodder is needed. Only the public doesn't know it yet. There are about 30 wars going on in the world today. These are the land and sea areas the government has designated combat zones (these are available on Richard Maybury's site). Land Areas Afghanistan Albania Bahrain Bosnia Croatia Djibouti Iraq Jordan Kosovo Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Macedonia Montenegro Oman Pakistan Philippines Qatar Saudi Arabia Serbia Tajikistan Turkey United Arab Emirates Uzbekistan Yemen Water Areas Persian Gulf Red Sea Gulf of Oman Arabian Sea Gulf of Aden Adriatic Sea Ionian Sea Where is the State going to get the troops for all these conflicts? Since the State is apparently going to conquer the Middle East, soldiers are going to be needed to occupy the place. Those soldiers certainly are not going to be Rush Limbaugh, William Kristol, Max Boot and Jonah Goldberg ("Sorry, we can't fight! We left our testicles at home!") The US is now in the world's first global guerrilla war. No one can fight us in a conventional war. The only thing that is left for them is guerilla war. The planes flown into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were guerilla warfare. It is not possible for troops to tell who is a guerilla or not. That was the problem during Vietnam, and why it led to American soldiers burning down entire villages (whenever I think of a Zippo lighter, I think of those pictures of our soldiers lighting a straw hut). Because it is not possible for soldiers to tell who is a guerilla or not, there are essentially three options: 1) Kill everyone. And we're not going to do that. 2) Withdraw from the war. We're not going to do that either, not right now. This will come years in the future. I suspect about ten years. 3) Have massive numbers of troops to search house-to-house looking for weapons. That's what we tried to do in Vietnam. Didn't work there, either. Number Three is why the administration is talking about why we don't need a draft. Personally, I don't think the draft is going to work this time. Too many adults today grew up during Vietnam, and they're not about to let their kids get drafted to fight another unnecessary war. We're going to see the same thing we saw during Vietnam – demonstrations and riots. And, this time, lawsuit after lawsuit. People never seem to learn from the mistakes of the past. "Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat," wrote George Santayana. Oh, yes, indeed. If somehow the draft was reinstated, who would be the first to go? Those with the lesser IQs. This is why there were college deferments during Vietnam. That's why everyone is given an IQ test when they join the military. If cannon fodder is needed, get rid of the dumb ones first. When I was in college a high-ranking officer from the Army spoke to one of my classes and tried to convince us to join. We would be officers, he told us. We'd start out as captains, he said. We would be taken care of. As for the grunts, well, he smiled, "We don't care what they want." I didn't join. Everyone's IQ is on file, anyway. That's what all those tests in middle and high school were. The SAT, the ACT – those are IQ tests. When I was 12 I pulled my school file out of a cabinet when no one was looking. My IQ was in my file. If you want to know the future, look to the past. History repeats. The people in the administration don't know this. They will find out. ________________________________________________________ Bob Wallace, a former newspaper reporter and editor, and an incurable lover of puns from St. Louis, is now traveling the country. Copyright © 2003 LewRockwell.com