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For What It's Worth Career Diplomat Resigns In Protest John Brady Kiesling, a career diplomat who has served in U.S. embassies from Tel Aviv to Casablanca to Yerevan resigned this week in protest against the United States policy on Iraq and unilateral action. In his letter, Keisling - the political counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Athens - said, 'Our fervent pursuit of war with Iraq is driving us to squander the international legitimacy that has been America's most potent weapon of both offense and defense since the days of Woodrow Wilson." and "Why does our President condone the swaggering and contemptuous approach to our friends and allies this Administration is fostering, including among its most senior officials. Has "oderint dum metuant" really become our motto?' (Oderint dum metuant means 'Let them hate, provided that they fear') Read his letter here. Madmen At The Helm By Gary Starkweather The prow of the tall ship sends spray flying high into her sails as she cuts through the surging whitecaps. The watch on high cries out "rocks ahead" and the rigging thrums an eerie note in the howling gale. The madmen at the helm wink at each other, smile confidently, and order "More sail!". They stare out avidly, never looking at the compass. They need no lodestone, their course is fixed. The Officer of the Deck protests to no avail. The seamen, knowing that this is crazy dangerous, raise the last sails as ordered. Below decks, in the chartroom, the officers worry. Their maps are blank - these are uncharted waters. The course is dangerous, probably fatal yet the madmen will hear no warnings. Nearby, the merchants in their cabins are aware, and some count the profits to be made from winning such a long shot but most wince at each noise and pretend not to notice. In foc'sle the seamen mutter and curse. They know the folly full well but like their officers they do nothing. They know they are the best of the best and it is in their blood and their honor to follow orders. Midships, bunks are full of worried passengers. Most are not aware of the nature of the threat but are worried nonetheless. Down there the sounds are different, the creak of the spars and the thuds on the hull reverberate and then suddenly, sobs in the darkness. There is talk in one corner of raising an uproar, anything to slow the vessel down and turn the course. The ship itself is straining. Built long ago with timbers from the forefather's forests, it is a strong well crafted beauty. It has served flawlessly for many years and has carried all manner of strange and wondrous cargo. She is a grand old ship but all is not well. Her timbers, hewed so carefully by the framers, have been drilled and notched as needed to allow for things that ought never to have been stowed. Her planks have been caulked with scraps and low grade pitches and there are barnacles. Despite these indignities she is a strong and proud ship. She could be repaired if only the owners had the will. The great ship is able, but the course is hard, even for her, and she groans out loud. "Surf ahead!" cries the high watch. "More sail!" is the only response. John le Carré - The United States of America Has Gone Mad A few weeks ago, John le Carré said 'How Bush and his junta succeeded in deflecting America’s anger from bin Laden to Saddam Hussein is one of the great public relations conjuring tricks of history. But they swung it. A recent poll tells us that one in two Americans now believe Saddam was responsible for the attack on the World Trade Centre. But the American public is not merely being misled. It is being browbeaten and kept in a state of ignorance and fear. The carefully orchestrated neurosis should carry Bush and his fellow conspirators nicely into the next election.' in an article entitled 'The United States of America Has Gone Mad'. Read it here. Boss Of The World By Gary Starkweather The Iraq crisis was never about Saddam Hussein. On page 14 of a report first written by Cheney, Wolfowitz, et al back in 1992 and then republished as "Rebuilding America's Defences - Strategy, Forces and Resources For a New Century", and most recently as "National Security Strategy of the United States", you find the following statement: "While the unresolved conflict with Iraq provides the immediate justification, the need for a substantial American force presence in the Gulf transcends the issue of the regime of Saddam Hussein." It is about controlling the middle east. It's about a large permanent US base in Iraq. It is easy for Bush to talk about remaking Iraq as a "dramatic and inspiring example" to the entire Arab and Muslim world, but there is no way that America - no matter how burly - can undo millennia of Persian/Arab, City/Nomad, Kurd/Sunni/Shia conflicts by fiat. If you want a glimpse of the kind of world proposed by Rumsfeld, Cheney, Wolfowitz, Perle and the rest of the "New American Century" crowd in the Department of Defense, look at Israel. Rilchard Perle wrote a strategy outline for the Likud party as Netanyahu took office in 1996 called "A Clean Break: A New Strategy for Securing the Realm" which laid out the policy which Sharon is still following today. The policy calls for a much tougher, more aggressive Israel - ready to pre-emptively invade as needed to further its goals - free of any restraints or peace considerations. We see the results today... a country of heightened tensions, seemingly caught in a forever war, with terrorism a daily event. It is a vigilant country spending vast amounts on military conflict, ferocious in appearance, and conflicted internally. It has never looked less secure. Looking out from a newly bellicose America, we see heightened tensions in every arena, long standing treaties broken and abandoned, allies insulted, even a rush back into the age of nuclear conflict! All this in the name of a cowboy vision of America as Boss of the World. No thank you. Molly Ivins said it best so far: "No. This is not acceptable. This is not the country we want to be. This is not the world we want to make. The United States of America is still run by its citizens. The government works for us. Rank imperialism and warmongering are not American traditions or values. We do not need to dominate the world. We want and need to work with other nations. We want to find solutions other than killing people. Not in our name, not with our money, not with our children's blood." Gaining An Empire, Losing Democracy? Norman Mailer says 'There is a subtext to what the Bushites are doing as they prepare for war in Iraq. My hypothesis is that President George W. Bush and many conservatives have come to the conclusion that the only way they can save America and get if off its present downslope is to become a regime with a greater military presence and drive toward empire. My fear is that Americans might lose their democracy in the process.' The rest of the article is here. |
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