just in case anyone was interested to know how long this war has really been going on, you can visit this site:
http://www.ccmep.org/usbombingwatch/2003.htm#2003
and really get frustrated.
i was having a discussion with my husband today and he wanted to know how I felt about the U.S. attacking/attempting to assasinate a world leader. He said he hadn't heard any condemnation of the U.S. trying to assasinate another world leader. I had heard brief mention of it on NPR...but it's too much of a condemnation of U.S. action for TV media to refer to the fact.
It's not a good feeling when the U.S. (the world's policeman?) violates many international laws. If the (so-called?) policemen are breaking the rules, what hope do we have to ask the rest of the world to abide by the rules?
I'm not saying Saddam should be forgiven or protected. I wish he wasn't in charge. But I also wish Bush wasn't in charge. It's just too easy for him to lead the country against a "known" enemy than to battle the scary, sickening, sad things that make life here in the U.S. so terrible for many. I'm talking about poverty, health care, literacy, racism, etc.
I'm not saying I want more terror attacks. I want all terror attacks to end. Maybe one way to do that is to pave the way for better relations between the U.S. and other nations. Maybe we need to think about abandoning our internationally exploitative capitalist economy. Maybe we need to be more tolerant of different faiths without accepting discrimination and violence. From ANY faith.
I am mostly sickened by the way people polarize into different corners and never even try to see the sense of protestors who *perhaps* legimiately fear the effects of this war...which VERY LIKELY could be the same effects of no war. Who's to say taking action or NOT taking action will cause more terror...or won't?
It's not really useful to just talk about any scenario, negative or positive, tomorrow or next year, without thinking about how our past actions (as a citizen, a city, a nation) have led us to where we are today, and using that KNOWLEDGE and LESSONS to guide our future choices. That's why this website is interesting. It gave me some perspective on what's been going on in the past. Throught my training as a historian, we always teased people who over-quoted Santana, but it's appropriate now. "Those who don't learn from the past are doomed to repeat it."
What lessons can we learn from the past? How can they help us now? Let's take a look at possible scenarios of the future and discuss rationally how we can work to avoid the worst ones and achieve the best....