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The Boy who Cried Havoc
Oct. 7th, 2002 09:16 amThe following is part of a blogburst, a simultaneous, cross-linked posting of many blogs on a single theme. For a guide to other letters in this blogburst, go to The Open Letters BlogBurst Index, at www.amptoons.com/openletters/
I'm awkward at being earnest - my default political mode is, as you may have noticed, somewhere along the continuum between scathing and downright rude - but other people, and the world, stand to lose a great deal more from this than face.
The world often makes me terribly tired. I'm trying not to lack all conviction.
The link to the article I mentioned is here. The transcript of the Cuomo interview is here.
Senator Clinton
Senator Schumer
Rep Meeks
I would like to express the strongest possible objection to Congress giving the President the authority to to plunge our country into a war without far stronger cause than he's been able to show in months of trying.
In the pages of today's Washington Post (a paper certainly not hostile to the President's interests), you'll find the results of a Zogby poll in which Arabs across the middle east agreed that while they respect the freedom and opportunity of the United States, they resent our politicies in their region of the world. They see us, the poll says, as clueless and hamhanded in our dealings with them.
As former Governor Cuomo pointed out on CNN last week, we have no information about the danger that Saddam Hussein poses to his region and to the world that we didn't have when Mr. Bush ran for office. At that point, his resolve was apparently lacking. At this point, all we have is what appears to be a strong determination to send a message to the arab world that the United States considers itself the de facto ruler of their lands.
Not a wise message for an administration that opposes alternative energy research to send to the people who control our oil supply, especially when our economic prospects weren't all that healthy to begin with and a potentially crippling West Coast strike is dragging on because no-one wants to risk the political damage of taking on either group of participants.
I also find it somewhat obscene that as Afghanistan (remember Afghanistan?) tries to claw itself out of the smoking lawless rubble that wave after wave of outsiders have reduced it to, we have chosen to walk away without fulfilling our commitment, freely - and loudly - entered into, to help rebuild.
The roots of terrorism are poverty, anger and powerlessness. Maybe we should concentrate on beating those enemies first.
We definitely shouldn't feed them.
I'm awkward at being earnest - my default political mode is, as you may have noticed, somewhere along the continuum between scathing and downright rude - but other people, and the world, stand to lose a great deal more from this than face.
The world often makes me terribly tired. I'm trying not to lack all conviction.
The link to the article I mentioned is here. The transcript of the Cuomo interview is here.
Senator Clinton
Senator Schumer
Rep Meeks
I would like to express the strongest possible objection to Congress giving the President the authority to to plunge our country into a war without far stronger cause than he's been able to show in months of trying.
In the pages of today's Washington Post (a paper certainly not hostile to the President's interests), you'll find the results of a Zogby poll in which Arabs across the middle east agreed that while they respect the freedom and opportunity of the United States, they resent our politicies in their region of the world. They see us, the poll says, as clueless and hamhanded in our dealings with them.
As former Governor Cuomo pointed out on CNN last week, we have no information about the danger that Saddam Hussein poses to his region and to the world that we didn't have when Mr. Bush ran for office. At that point, his resolve was apparently lacking. At this point, all we have is what appears to be a strong determination to send a message to the arab world that the United States considers itself the de facto ruler of their lands.
Not a wise message for an administration that opposes alternative energy research to send to the people who control our oil supply, especially when our economic prospects weren't all that healthy to begin with and a potentially crippling West Coast strike is dragging on because no-one wants to risk the political damage of taking on either group of participants.
I also find it somewhat obscene that as Afghanistan (remember Afghanistan?) tries to claw itself out of the smoking lawless rubble that wave after wave of outsiders have reduced it to, we have chosen to walk away without fulfilling our commitment, freely - and loudly - entered into, to help rebuild.
The roots of terrorism are poverty, anger and powerlessness. Maybe we should concentrate on beating those enemies first.
We definitely shouldn't feed them.
