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Posted October 15, 2002
Newsletter
Regarding "Antiwar.com Monthly Update," by Executive Director Alexia Gilmore:
Thank you for your update and newsletter ideas. The AWC club is the best...
Yesterday [October 10] was a sad day for me. It brought back the feelings I had over 11 years ago when the Bush the Elder started the war (police action). Our (but not my) government is being further centralized and it is only a matter of time 'til the completion of der total staat.
Keep up the good work and look forward to newsletters.
The Backtalk editor notes:
Those wishing to receive Monthly Updates may register here: http://www.antiwar.com/form1.html.
Decline the Horse
Regarding "Antiwar.com Monthly Update," by Executive Director Alexia Gilmore:
The "Form Follows Content" section of your interesting newsletter indicates that you are in the process of launching a Chechnya perspective similar to the India-Pakistan column.
Beware. Antiwar.com needs to stay in focus and on message.
The essence of the message that your brilliant columnists (especially Justin) have put out there is this: The leaders of our country are leading an unwary public down the path of conquest and rapine.
This message is the reason for the success of Antiwar.com. Opposition to the Kosovo War and aftermath, opposition to backing Israel's brutal occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, and opposition to the imminent war with Iraq are integral parts of that message.
Those who oppose the message want to change the subject -- to Russia (Chechnya) or China (Tibet), or perhaps some other important but peripheral conflict, such as the Kashmir dispute.
Chechnya is a Trojan Horse. Decline the horse and stay relevant.
The Congress has just given Bush the go-ahead to unleash the greatest war machine of all time on Iraq. No one knows or cares how many Iraqis will be killed. And no one knows what further horrors will follow.
Let the Muslim fundamentalists worry about wrenching Chechnya from the claws of the Russian Bear. We need to save our own beloved country from the clutches of the Christian fundamentalists and the Israeli lobby, not to speak of Bush's friends in the oil industry.
Bogeymen
Regarding "Opposing the Use of Military Force Against Iraq":
Ron Paul's column clearly states the case against a unilateral war against Iraq -- I agree completely with his position. It is a shame that we have such gutless politicians in our US Senate and US House that they have gone along with the lies told by Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, etc.
As the saying goes: "President's are never as popular as when they send the troops off to war" -- at least until the body bags start coming home.
Israel dictates our foreign policy to their benefit and to our detriment. Many years ago a US Congressman made the statement: "Israel is our only friend in the Middle East" -- he was answered by another Congressman who responded: "Before Israel became our friend, we had no enemies in the Middle East."
Throughout history, "leaders" with failed domestic policies have created external bogeymen in order to get the people's minds focused on something other than a sinking economy or some other internal problem. This is what Bush, etc. are doing -- to hide their total incompetence and inability to lead the nation.
Every American should be ashamed at the politics being played by the President and the gutless Congress!
None of the warmongers have ever been to war -- none of them!
This veteran of the Vietnam War is against war with Iraq -- Bush, etc. are to be blamed for the next terrorist attack against America!
Democrat Cowards
I can't believe that Daschle, Gephardt, Kerry and Clinton voted for the Iraq resolution. I consider them to be political cowards who sold their souls to promote their futures in politics. I would have voted for Kerry for president, if he was to run in the future. Not now! The Constitution, congress declaring war, seems to matter very little to them. My only child, my son, is currently serving in the military and it makes me sick to think congress doesn't have the guts to declare war but keeps passing these chickensh*t resolutions so as to avoid responsibility.
Boycott
Unilateral US invasion of Iraq = worldwide boycott of all US exports. Our congress was failed to do their duty, so it is up to us to pressure the Bush administration to respect world order.
The Other White Meat
...Political pork has surely played a part in convincing our elected officials to abdicate their duties in exchange for the ambitions of the war party.
While at dinner with some coworkers the other night, one of the specials was Cajun pork chops. One of the guys said "oh boy, the other white meat" which brought several chuckles. Then it dawned on me, yeah, the "other white meat". And contrary to what Bart Simpson wrote on the chalk board, I now see that pork is a verb. "Porked by the other white meat," is what our leaders have done to the American public. The elections are near, send the war party and the wimpy Democrats a message in November, it's time they are on the receiving end of a little pork!
Fascist Influences in America
Two days after the attacks on the World Trade Centre Ann Coulter said of the Islamic world: "We should invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity".
Almost exactly one year later (September 26, 2001) she asked, referring to the same countries, "They hate us? We hate them. Americans don't want to make Islamic fanatics love us. We want to make them die. There's nothing like horrendous physical pain to quell angry fanatics."
Her first comment did provoke concerned comment. The second seems to have passed by unnoticed. As extremist and fundamentalist as any Bin-Ladenite her vicious outpourings no longer seem outrageous in a world where the US teeters on the brink of fascism. In fact, Coulter's first statement has already proved quite prophetic. After killing more innocent civilians in Afghanistan than died in the infamous September 11 attacks, the US administration now seeks unprovoked war with Iraq and a hegemonic drive that threatens the regimes of Syrian, Iran and Saudi Arabia in a bid to reorder the Middle East region in America's likeness.
We should pay more attention to Coulter. She has her finger on the pulse of the key influences behind the US administration's tilt to empire. Witness the words of Richard Perle, one such key figure: "This is total war. We are fighting a variety of enemies. There are lots of them out there ... If we let our vision of the world go forth, and we embrace it entirely, and we don't try to piece together clever diplomacy but just wage a total war, our children will sing great songs about us years from now."
It is no doubt shocking for Americans to conceive that the word "fascism" can be used in relation to their once great country. The features of fascism include nationalism and super-patriotism with a sense of historic mission; aggressive militarism; dehumanization and scapegoating of the enemy which is seen as an inferior or subhuman force; authoritarian reliance on an elite and the abandonment of any consistent ideology in a drive for state power. Only the willfully blind can fail to detect these influences in America today as represented by the likes of Coulter and Perle.
No doubt Perle the influence peddler and Coulter the cheerleader see themselves as protecting America's interests. But Americans would do well to remember the warning of the Founding Fathers that the greatest threat to the Republic would come from its protectors rather than its enemies. Reading the words of Coulter and Perle can anybody doubt it?
Editor's
note:
Backtalk editor Sam Koritz is profiled in the Real World section of October's Smart Money magazine (print version only, not available online).