March 20, 2004 The World Still Says No To War

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The protests were an example of people around the world expressing their disgust at the invasion of a sovereign nation by a superpower without a "good reason".

I personally disagree that there was no "good reason" and I think that those that will only see injustice perpetrated by the west have a somewhat warped sense of the world. When confronted by anti-war groups at uni I asked what they though about the prospect of millions dying well into the future due to the UN Sanctions that were essentially used as a weapon by Saddam against his own people and all I got were blank stares and the occasional "this is a war for oil". Very few on the anti-war group had the capacity to reciognize that there are some legitimate reasons to intervine in Iraq and then justify there case against the war in light of that.

Being pro-interventionist is an unenviable position to justify because you are invariably labeled pro-war (a highly dubious name since barely anybody truly wants war, it is the anti-thesis of life) or called a liberventionalist as if it is a bad thing to be (I wear the name with pride). When we bring it all down to the world view between some pro-war and the anti-war movement it is about how to guarantee peace. The anti-war movement feels that peace must be attained through multilateralism and diplomacy and that war must only be used after a massive and rapid event has happened, I do not agree with this concept that we should stand by while people die all over the world. I think that the "peace" brought on by this is really an illusion that leads to a two-tier human rights system where the west gets peace and stability while the third world is left to destroy itself and nobody cares. I think the only way to a true and just peace is through action. It doesnt have to be millitary and it must usually be economic actions as well as diplomatic. The final goal of such actions would be to create a world of co-dependence where countries rely on eachother and will not go to war lightly. It may be utopian but it is the next step of human society. We have gone from warring tribes to nation-states to nations to communities of nations. The next logical step is a global government and it should be the cause of all the free peoples of the world, it would ensure peace and allow humanity to move forward as a whole.
 
A_Wanderer said:
The protests were an example of people around the world expressing their disgust at the invasion of a sovereign nation by a superpower without a "good reason".

Oh, certainly there was a reason for protests. But people around the world are obviously very selective about what and who they get really vocal and disgusted about. It's just the way human nature works I guess.

We have gone from warring tribes to nation-states to nations to communities of nations. The next logical step is a global government and it should be the cause of all the free peoples of the world, it would ensure peace and allow humanity to move forward as a whole.

I think that one of the big problems is, in many parts of the world people are living in nations that are really still warring tribes.
 
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Saracene said:


A fair point indeed. Which nevertheless makes me wonder what, then, the anti-war protests in countries -not- involved in war in any way were about. The people there, after all, were protesting about the actions of a government they didn't choose and which doesn't need to answer to them.
I hope that they figured that their protest would influence their government in its decisions re. the Iraq situation
so the government would at least keep in mind not everyone supports this war in decision re. sending military troops in after the war etc.

I can't say I really know this though
personally I do think the war in Iraq was inevitable
 
Great post, A_Wanderer. Definitely food for thought. Stuff like this is why I tried to be a "moderate" on the Iraq war controversy. There were definitely some arguments in favor of intervention that were not without merit. I questioned some of the motives for the war myself, and still do. But it's a complicated situation, not black and white the way I felt some were trying to paint it. I felt that the Bush Administration's approach was too simple, vague and naive.
 
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