"Ignorance leads to fear; fear leads to anger; anger leads to violence; violence leads to war." Unk.
“You, you were talking/ Like it’s the end of the world.” U2
And you were right. The current despot who is presumably in charge of his faculties and the vast arsenal of weapons of mass destruction the United States has developed, and continues to develop, seems determined to continue his mad dash for war-glory of days done by rather than eat his ego, step back and listen to the voice of his people and the peoples of the world..
Hussein will not win if the inspectors are allowed time to perform their jobs properly. Hussein will not win if Bush relaxes the (impotent) political pressure he imposes on our allies, allowing them to make the intelligent choice for their own country. There is plenty of time to keep Mr. Hussein’s army and weaponry contained while inspections continue.
America loses when her president uses soft-bribe diplomacy to gain access to a strategic country's airfields. America loses when her president ignores the words of the majority of the world and especially her allies, regardless of any economic ties with Iraq. America loses when one man’s ego becomes more important than the peace of the planet.
Perhaps if the Pentagon would be more forthright in its distribution of intelligence of Iraq’s military capabilities, more people would be willing to understand the position. How do we know where to strike if we don't already know where the weapons factories are? I find it hard to believe that the Bush administration was ever serious about allowing the inspectors to perform their tasks. After all, immediately after winning approval from the UN to send inspectors back to Iraq, Bush sent 150,000 troops to the region. The major problem seems to be that Mr. Bush and his administration have not produced a valid argument for attacking Iraq unprovoked. Perhaps if Mr. Cheney were willing to share exactly what Halliburton sold to the Iraqis and the potential uses of said equipment, then they could make their argument more effectively. But I suppose that would mean that Mr. Cheney & his ilk would have to have integrity and a willingness to take responsibility for their previously irresponsible behavior in the name of making a buck.
(There is good reason why the White House & Congress did not back the World Court. Looking at the past behavior of this administration and their ties, the math should not be difficult to compute. And, hence, the reasons why support for the WC was not ratified by the United States’ government should become obvious. SEC violations have not made the news in a couple of years. What, did all of corporate America wake up one day and change their accounting practices? I hate to say it, because I respect the ability of everyone’s brain to function properly, but the reality of America is that everyone has an opinion, but most people have no idea what they’re talking about. They buy into the spoon-fed American TV propaganda and don’t look beyond it. Hey, America, all these Reality TV shows are anything but; read a fucking newspaper from France, GB, Germany, Russia, or Iraq! But I digress.)
Granted, resolution 1441 has been ignored. Granted, Mr. Hussein is a dictator and tyrant. Granted, he might harbor and give money to terrorists. (But we supply Israel with money and arms. They constantly inflict terror on the Palestinians. Can you say double-standard boys and girls?) Granted, Mr. Bush has the support of about 60 nations. (There are 191 members of the UN, which is not inclusive of all the nations in the world. Bush’s share is not even one-third of that number.) But in this case, it is the world’s responsibility to choose whether to confront the Iraqi government, because it is the UN that passed resolution 1441. It is not the American taxpayer’s burden to support Mr. Bush’s ego.
There is a much larger threat in ignoring North Korea than a small relatively well-contained country in the Middle East. The North Koreans have proven they can fire missiles to Japan. Stop and imagine for a moment what would happen if, in the middle of Day 16 of Gulf Wars II, North Korea began firing missiles in earnest at Japan. And/or the border were crossed and Seoul were invaded. What would Mr. Bush’s response be then? To further ignore the greater threat because the answer is neither swift nor decisive and victory requires patience and intelligence? (Make note of the word ‘ignore’ and realize that it is of the same root as ‘ignorance’.) I submit the truth is that Mr. Bush obviously does not understand global economy, or even the national economy (yesterday was the three year anniversary of NASDAQ’s peak, it has since dropped some 4000 points) and because of that short-coming, he continues to redirect the minds of the public to his Axis of Evil/ War on Terrorism/ Movement to Fascism.
And the sad part is that Americans play into this misdirection. Fortunately, there are other nations involved and we can read their opinions and hear their stories. We do not have to root ourselves in this rhetoric put forth by a few which is only meant to cull the minds of the many “free” thinking Americans.
If we disarm anyone, perhaps we should begin with ourselves. I wonder how many secret chemical & biological weapons factories the US has. I wonder how much Anthrax is stored around this country by our own government. I’m more frightened of my own government than I am of the Iraqi government.
Ya know why?
Because real terror comes from fear of being mistreated by those whom you are conditioned to trust.
8:48:35 AM 
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