Peter paying for Paul in Iraq war

THE EDITOR: The Holy Bible states, “To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose...a time of war, and a time of peace.” Eccles Ch 3. When Iraq invaded Kuwait and poisoned its own people was a time for war, and war was waged.

Iraq was defeated, its army was decimated, sanctions were imposed, and no-fly zones were established. The allies and the UN were in control, and these victors allowed Saddam to remain in power. If they had objections to his subsequent ousting of the weapons inspectors, they did not take decisive action. In effect, they sanctioned Saddam’s actions. Suddenly, after the tragedy of 9/11, and the failure to capture bin Laden, the US decided that Peter must pay for Paul, and we now have Bush the younger intent on waging war on a nation that is unable to fully defend itself. Only bullies can find virtue and honour in such a one-sided war. Remember Iraq’s missiles have been conveniently destroyed, and its oil sales have been severely restricted. Surely there are ways other than war for ensuring that Iraq ceases to be a threat to the world. The entire world believes that now is the time for peace. But little do Bush and the US care about what the rest of the world believes. The US as the world’s most powerful nation considers might to be right, and anyone who dares to oppose the views of the US must be wrong.

Has anyone failed to see US chauvinism in their broadcasts of the Olympic games, where the focus only on their own athletes, and to hell with the rest? At first I wondered about the UK leader, Tony Blair, whose sycophantic alliance with Bush seemed at variance to the much-touted British reputation for fair play. Then I recalled that two to three hundred years ago this very nation invaded several countries in Africa and Asia because these countries were weak, and the British wanted their wealth. Britain now takes pride in displaying the Elgin marbles stolen from Greece and the Koh-I-Noor diamond stolen from India. Now today both the US and the UK seem bent on appropriating the vast oil reserves of Iraq. Furthermore, these two bastions of democracy have declared their intention to wage war regardless of the decision of the Security Council of the UN. In another arena, the US has regularly vetoed any resolution aimed at securing the rights of the Palestinian people. What kind of a cock-eyed democracy is this? Thank heavens that there are nations such as France, Germany, Russia and China who dare stand firmly against this blatant

DAVID SUBRAN
Chaguanas