September 9, 2002
In a message dated 9/8/02 6:12:39 PM Eastern Daylight Time, jxxxxx@juno.com writes:
Reasons for WarOn the war-propaganda, those who are pushing for war do make some valid points. The Arab and Muslim states don't seem to have many civil or religious rights. Arabs appear to get much more upset over Israeli abuses than similar or larger abuses by their own governments. Jews have endured hundreds of years of persecution and have the right to be able to live in peace. The world requires a constant supply of energy, and people will suffer from interruptions and unforeeseen price increases.
J,
Dear J,
With all due respect, my friend, I have problems with the points in the preceding paragraph.
On the war-propaganda, those who are pushing for war do make some valid points.
Yes, they have some good points. Propaganda thrives on good points, but these are used in a distorted way that does not reflect the reality of what is going on in Israel and Palestine, or Iraq or anywhere else the U.S. or Israel may want to attack. It is what they don't say that makes it a lie. Yes there are points that are made by the war propagandists, and they are good points if isolated from what is really happening. But they are not justifications for what the U.S. and Israel are doing in the Middle East.
The Arab and Muslim states don't seem to have many civil or religious rights.
Whether the people in Muslim countries have rights is not at all relevant to our blowing them to bits and fracturing their societies, making bare survival almost impossible. The idea that the U.S. is going to "free" anyone in the Middle East is about as real as a Popeye cartoon. For the U.S. government to use this as an excuse to bomb the hell out of Iraq is the height of hypocrisy in my opinion.
Arabs appear to get much more upset over Israeli abuses than similar or larger abuses by their own governments.
There is no symmetry here. The Palestinians have nothing with which to wage war. The Israelis have an incredibly well-equipped army furnished by the American taxpayer. The Palestinians don't have the capability of committing abuses that even compare to what Israel can do. They are so pathetic they strap bombs to themselves and commit suicide in restaurants hoping to take a few people with them.
Of course no killing is acceptable on either side. As it is, there is a great deal more killing going on on the Israeli side, and a great many more abuses. And it is a greater issue to the people of the United States because we supply the weapons.
The comparison with Iraq and the United States is even more out of balance. They can barely be expected to defend themselves against the mightiest war machine in history. What chance they have is like the Vietnamese against the U.S. They may prove undefeatable because they are fighting for their homeland against an invader and they have nothing more to lose.
Jews have endured hundreds of years of persecution and have the right to be able to live in peace.
Certainly they and all other people who have endured centuries of persecution have the right to live in peace. They do not, however, have the right to do what they are doing to the Palestinians and what they have been doing since about 1949. That is not about "living in peace."
I am a great lover of the Jewish people and the Jewish culture. What I see going on in Israel is a disgrace to that great tradition and a betrayal of the soul of the Jewish people. This is not a good thing to be carried out in their name. It is just as much of a disgrace to the United States, since we as taxpayers supply the weapons through our corrupt legislative system. What Jewish people have endured in the past can in no way be a justification for murder of women in children of any nationality now.
The world requires a constant supply of energy, and people will suffer from interruptions and unforseen price increases.
To use the word "suffering" in context with people suffering gas shortages and price increases in America, and using that as a justification for massive bombing of a third world country is an example of how distorted the picture is that is presented so effectively by the propaganda system. These civilians who are being bombed, killed, terrorized, starved by sanctions, unable to get medicine -- these people have done nothing to deserve this. And if we have to stop driving our cars for a few days and figure out what to do next, we should do it if going forward like this means this kind of killing of people who have no idea what any of this is even about.