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Politics : DON'T START THE WAR -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Just_Observing who wrote (21454)	3/15/2003 9:15:47 PM
From: Just_Observing	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 25898

Mass Lobotomies Key to Selling War Support Depends on Victory of Fear/Anger over Reason Regime Exploits Terrorized Nation's Desire for Delusion Forced to articulate precisely who or what the enemy is in the fight against terrorism, all rational people would conclude that the enemy is not any easily-identifiable and targeted nation, religious group, or people espousing or practicing a particular system of government, but a mindset that can take root anywhere at any time, independently of geography, system of government, social class, or religion. Razing Iraq and every other Arab country the US can get away with razing in the Middle East, the ideal solution in the terrorized minds of many Americans in the days immediately after 9/11 and from time to time since - and all Iraq war supporters now - isn't going to work. It's true that an invasion of Iraq will temporarily satisfy the residual fear and anger the 9/11 attacks provoked much better than a systematic, diligent, boring and covert "police operation" focused mainly on intelligence gathering could. But that's all it will accomplish, and it will do so at the cost of increasing the chances for all Americans of becoming victims of similar terrorist attacks, by strengthening the resolve of those who already possess the fanatical terrorist mindset as well as creating that mindset in countless new individuals. But the hawks want you to forget all of that. Listen closely to their "arguments." They repeat words and phrases like "mushroom cloud," "al-Qaida-type terrorists," "dirty bomb," "9/11" to keep the public's mind fixed on the searing images of the attacks here in the US and keep Americans emotionally incapable of rational thought regarding real solutions to terrorism. Alternative solutions or suggestions of an invasion as self-defeating are never addressed, as anyone who viewed last week's "press conference" or any of Ari's daily press briefings knows. The man-on-the-street pleadings from war supporters are always along the rote lines of, "He gassed his own people," and the pathetic, childlike, "Why don't these people understand our president is trying to protect us?" Those who offer such pitiful rationales for war indicate that they resent the anti-war movement not because its arguments are flawed but because it interferes with their successful self-delusion. The administration hawks know, too, that if Americans begin thinking rationally, they will realize that 9/11 + inspectors in Iraq + "giant mushroom clouds," the product of nukes Iraq doesn't have, do not = Necessity for an invasion of Iraq. They will instead calculate that 9/11 + inspectors in Iraq + an invasion of that secular power causing destabilization of the region + alienation of all traditional allies we depend on to assist in capturing individuals of a terrorist mindset = increased chances of every American's death at the hands of terrorists. The Bush regime's rationale for war simply doesn't "add up," and Americans' acceptance of a war now with Iraq depends on the the regime's effectiveness in conjuring persistent, terrifying images of a burning WTC and fantasy mushroom clouds in their minds. The tension between the resulting emotions and the rational recognition that Bush's "solution" is based on faulty logic - even though it might delude one temporarily into believing he'd be better off because "at least something is being done" - is the reason support for an invasion is so tenuous. All Americans know at some level that, while some things "changed" after 9/11 as Bush and the hawks are so fond of saying, the rules of logic didn't as the regime so preposterously suggests, and war with Iraq has nothing to do with fighting terrorism. more at mediawhoresonline.com

To: Just_Observing who wrote (21454)	3/15/2003 10:49:08 PM
From: PartyTime	Respond to of 25898

March 15, 2003 SHOWDOWN WITH IRAQ Poll Finds Arabs Are Extremely Antiwar By Robin Wright, Times Staff Writer WASHINGTON -- In pronounced numbers, Arabs believe that war with Iraq will produce more terrorism against the United States and greater instability in the Middle East and will worsen prospects for settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, according to a newly released poll. The poll, conducted in six countries -- all with close U.S. ties -- found that only a small minority of respondents had a favorable opinion of the United States. U.S. popularity in Saudi Arabia, the Persian Gulf giant that has served as a pillar for American economic and political interests, was the lowest, at only 4%. The findings weren't much better elsewhere. Only 6% in Jordan and Morocco, 8.8% in the United Arab Emirates, 13% in Egypt and one out of three in Lebanon have positive attitudes about the United States. "This is the ... most pervasive resentment that I have documented or have seen in any recorded surveys," said Shibley Telhami, who compiled the questions for the Zogby International polling firm and the University of Maryland. "There have been many lows, including before the 1991 Gulf War, but I've never seen it so one-sided. When support is as low as 4% or 6%, it tells you the degree of resentment that has spread across society," Telhami said. The most striking results were on the subject of future terrorist attacks. In Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Osama bin Laden and home to 15 of the 19 Sept. 11 hijackers, 97% of respondents believe that a war in Iraq will trigger more terrorism against the United States. In the other countries, at least three-quarters of the population believes that military intervention in Iraq will ignite more terrorism. "Arab public opinion indicates the level of passionate anger, the factor that most experts fear will fuel militancy in the region," Telhami said. "We are swimming in uncharted waters because of the level of opposition." The pollsters said they sampled a total of 3,020 men and women in the capitals of Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and Morocco, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.8 percentage points in some countries and plus or minus 5 percentage points in others. The questionnaires were filled out between Feb. 19 and last Tuesday. Opposition to a war is high even if the United States gets a U.N. resolution authorizing the use of force. Three out of four Arabs oppose war with U.N. backing, and 90% oppose war if the United States acts without Security Council support, the poll found. "The results tell me that the opposition to war is so passionate and the fear of the consequences so high that regardless of what happens in Iraq itself, the United States will have a tough time gaining acceptance of its presence in the region," Telhami said. The survey also showed that an "overwhelming" percentage of Arabs believe that American policy on Iraq is motivated by oil and, secondarily, by U.S. support for Israel. In a further jab at the United States, French President Jacques Chirac -- who has led the opposition to U.S. war plans against Iraq -- was cited in the poll as one of the most admired world leaders. Arabs are also uniformly pessimistic about stability in the region after a U.S.-led war. Anywhere from 60% of Jordanians to 91% of Saudis think that a new conflict will create greater instability, the survey found. Although the Bush administration has pledged that any war in Iraq would be twinned with efforts to resolve the Arab-Israeli conflict, few respondents to the survey hold out hope for a settlement. latimes.com