Guest guest Posted March 19, 2003 Report Share Posted March 19, 2003 Dear Sara - I too am an Episcopalian [with Buddhist n mystical interests], a mother, grandmother n grt-grandmother. So I have an idea where you are coming from. Perhaps we tend to be naive n not really informed. I was never very interested in politics per se but I have become more and more alarmed at the stealthy shift occurring w/the loss of so many freedoms that are the basis of our constitutional rights! I expect that the fbi cld come to my house n arrest me for reading the Koran, which I have done all thru 2002 n am still at it. I have 3 bks on Islam by my bed. Why? Because I sincerely want to UNDERSTAND where the muslims are coming from. I bel that Islam is a blind spot in our country - we know much more ab Hinduism, Buddhism, even Native American beliefs. I have no intention of converting but I am genuinely curious how the esoteric Sufis developed out of Islam. They are among the most loving and advanced souls around. Nevertheless, the Patriot Act authorizes agents to check out the bks suspects have taken fr libraries! holy moley! if i were arrested [i am in jest] I might have no recourse to a lawyer. It's things like this that disturb me n remind me [at my age] of the way the nazis started out n the KGB in the Ussr.! I realize that much of this is to protect us fr terrorists but if u read the following carefully you will grasp why some people are concerned ab Bush n wh is happening to our nation's reputation. However, for wh it's worth, I do believe he is entirely convinced he is doing God's will and so is Osama! All of us must be saddened at wh we are confronting. So keep to yr opinions but base them on being as educated as you can be. I am not one to talk! but I do try to find out. One thing we all have to admit is that muslims PRACTICE [5x daily] their relig, wh is more than most of us can say. I want to know why? One thing I have learned fr Jung is ab proj the collective shadow n this is going on big time even down to french fries etc! wh to do? 1x1x1 - most Iraqis are ordinay folk like you and me, worried ab the safety of their loved ones n facing 'shock n awe'! as jungians of any persuasion, i think holding all of them in our prayers as well as our own servicemen facing a HORRIBLE task! sad is not the word for it - grief! -------------------------- Things to Come By PAUL KRUGMAN Of course we'll win on the battlefield, probably with ease. I'm not a military expert, but I can do the numbers: the most recent U.S. military budget was $400 billion, while Iraq spent only $1.4 billion. What frightens me is the aftermath - and I'm not just talking about the problems of postwar occupation. I'm worried about what will happen beyond Iraq - in the world at large, and here at home. The members of the Bush team don't seem bothered by the enormous ill will they have generated in the rest of the world. They seem to believe that other countries will change their minds once they see cheering Iraqis welcome our troops, or that our bombs will shock and awe the whole world (not just the Iraqis) or that what the world thinks doesn't matter. They're wrong on all counts. Victory in Iraq won't end the world's distrust of the United States because the Bush administration has made it clear, over and over again, that it doesn't play by the rules. Remember: this administration told Europe to take a hike on global warming, told Russia to take a hike on missile defense, told developing countries to take a hike on trade in lifesaving pharmaceuticals, told Mexico to take a hike on immigration, mortally insulted the Turks and pulled out of the International Criminal Court - all in just two years. Nor, as we've just seen, is military power a substitute for trust. Apparently the Bush administration thought it could bully the U.N. Security Council into going along with its plans; it learned otherwise. " What can the Americans do to us? " one African official asked. " Are they going to bomb us? Invade us? " Meanwhile, consider this: we need $400 billion a year of foreign investment to cover our trade deficit, or the dollar will plunge and our surging budget deficit will become much harder to finance - and there are already signs that the flow of foreign investment is drying up, just when it seems that America may be about to fight a whole series of wars. It's a matter of public record that this war with Iraq is largely the brainchild of a group of neoconservative intellectuals, who view it as a pilot project. In August a British official close to the Bush team told Newsweek: " Everyone wants to go to Baghdad. Real men want to go to Tehran. " In February 2003, according to Ha'aretz, an Israeli newspaper, Under Secretary of State Bolton told Israeli officials that after defeating Iraq the United States would " deal with " Iran, Syria and North Korea. Will Iraq really be the first of many? It seems all too likely - and not only because the " Bush doctrine " seems to call for a series of wars. Regimes that have been targeted, or think they may have been targeted, aren't likely to sit quietly and wait their turn: they're going to arm themselves to the teeth, and perhaps strike first. People who really know what they are talking about have the heebie-jeebies over North Korea's nuclear program, and view war on the Korean peninsula as something that could happen at any moment. And at the rate things are going, it seems we will fight that war, or the war with Iran, or both at once, all by ourselves. What scares me most, however, is the home front. Look at how this war happened. There is a case for getting tough with Iraq; bear in mind that an exasperated Clinton administration considered a bombing campaign in 1998. But it's not a case that the Bush administration ever made. Instead we got assertions about a nuclear program that turned out to be based on flawed or faked evidence; we got assertions about a link to Al Qaeda that people inside the intelligence services regard as nonsense. Yet those serial embarrassments went almost unreported by our domestic news media. So most Americans have no idea why the rest of the world doesn't trust the Bush administration's motives. And once the shooting starts, the already loud chorus that denounces any criticism as unpatriotic will become deafening. So now the administration knows that it can make unsubstantiated claims, without paying a price when those claims prove false, and that saber rattling gains it votes and silences opposition. Maybe it will honorably refuse to act on this dangerous knowledge. But I can't help worrying that in domestic politics, as in foreign policy, this war will turn out to have been the shape of things to come. ---------------- love ao Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 19, 2003 Report Share Posted March 19, 2003 " . I was never very > interested in politics per se but I have become more and more alarmed at the > stealthy shift occurring w/the loss of so many freedoms that are the basis of > our constitutional rights! " If that wasn't enough, here in Australia in one state, they have just brought in a law that will see Police monitor and sureveillence of all peace protests 24/7. Talk about living in a free democratic society. slowly, our rights are being trampled upon. so who's living under a dictatorship? tell me. What makes us any better then living under a regime like Hussein? This is of serious consequence to all free societies. All the better why we must all unite and speak out. This morning one radio commentator has compared Bush to Hitler. Where the NAZI's brought naked aggression to another country, thus starting WW2, U.S is basically doing the same thing, thus breaking international law and throwing the world into conflict. It was commented upon by a former UN inspector who also said the same thing and a former White House staffer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 20, 2003 Report Share Posted March 20, 2003 it's still unreal - a ww 3? prayers - let us know when G gets home safe. much love ao Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 20, 2003 Report Share Posted March 20, 2003 Dear Alice, you wrote: > > Nevertheless, the Patriot Act authorizes agents to check out the bks suspects > have taken fr libraries! holy moley! > > if i were arrested [i am in jest] I might have no recourse to a lawyer. It's > things like this that disturb me n remind me [at my age] of the way the nazis > started out n the KGB in the Ussr.! If they arrest you, I will get Amnesty International (I have a fairly high-up contact there) on the case IMMEDIATELY. Rest assured, we will kick up the biggest international fuss EVER. I can't understand why Tony Blair has not been removed from office - everyone here is against this war. I just wish they'd give him US citizenship and be done with it - then we could revert to NOT being a fascist regime. People were arrested for demonstrating yesterday. I am a sitting duck in Central London and my husband is flying today (to Montreal). At least Canada has had the sense to stay out of the war, but I still wish he weren't flying at such a time. fa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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