50 Reasons to not Go to War with Iraq - EverCrest Message Forums

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Topic: 50 Reasons to not Go to War with Iraq

JooJooFlop

Hungry Hungry Hippo

posted 11-19-2002 02:35:48 AM

Tonight was a special treat for my philosophy class. A professor at my school was giving a lecture during the same time our class was taking place, so my teacher decided to have us attend. As hinted in the thread title the lecture was about why the United States should not start a war with Iraq. It wasn't very interesting as it was all the same reasons I've heard before. Part of the literature handed out was a list of 50 reasons, which essentially gives you the jist of the entire lecture. So, without any further ado...

quote:
50 reasons (and counting) why the supposed need to invade Iraq is artificial, a diversion from other serious matters, dangerous, and immoral.
By: Lloyd Jansen
1. Pre-emptive war will set a new, dangerous, international standard. (China can invade Taiwan, India can invade Pakistan, etc.) We will live in an increasingly unstable and dangerous world.
2. And invasion will kill more innocent Iraqis.
3. And invasion of this ancient Islamic capital will feed more terrorists.
4. And invasion of this ancient Islamic capital may very well cause uprisings and insurrections in other Arab states.
5. Insurrections in other Arab states may lead to more generalized war in many countries.
6. An invasion is exactly the type of reckless action that Osama bin Laden was hoping the U.S. would take after 9-11.
7. U.S. intelligence agencies say it is a bad idea.
8. All the generals from the previous Bush Administration, except Powell (sometimes), say that this is a bad idea.
9. The war is opposed by almost all countries in the world.
10. There is no workable plan for replacement leadership in Iraq.
11. As the Bush Administration has little interest in peace keepers (see Afghanistan), post-invasion civil war/chaos is likely.
12. Preemptive attack violates international law. (Why is it that Rep. Dick Armey, of all people, had to point this out?)
13. There is absolutely no evidence that Iraq plans to attack the U.S.
14. Iraq has no capability to reach the U.S. with missles. This is not about self defense.
15. There is no demonstrated connection between Iraq and 9-11. (Iraq didn't produce that anthrax after all, didn't it?)
16. Cornering Hussein may make Iraqi use of biological weapons (against our troops, against Isreal) a self-fulfilling prophecy.
17. Hussein did not use weapons of mass destruction in the Gulf War. There is no new evidence that he would now. While Hussein is brutal, he is also cunning and there is no evidence that he is suicidal.
18. The reasons to invade keep changing.
19. Bush and his advisors planned "regime change" in Iraq before Bush assumed the presidency. It is part of a larger plan for U.S. dominence in the Middle East. There is no authentic or new urgency for the war other than that the White House says there is.
20. It is about oil. It is about oil. It is about oil. Saudi Arabia has always sponsered Al Qaeda and still does (see Washington Post 10/16/02). But we are told that the Saudis are firm allies, good friends, in the fight against terrorism. It is oil.
21. Halliburton Corp. made a fortune off of the last Gulf War. Cheney, the CEO before he was V.P., has a serious conflict of interest here.
22. You can't "keep the peace" (Bush's reasoning to Congress) by authorizing war.
23. The White House simply lies about evidence and refuses to produce any. (Remember the disproven White House charge that Cuba planned to use biological weapons?)
24. We never had to go to war with Stalin. Iraq is NOT more dangerous than the USSR.
25. Peacekeeping in Afghanistan has never gone beyond Kabul and is failing. War will divert even more forces.
26. It is not about supporting democracy. If that were true, then we'd be invading Saudi Arabia, Egypt, China, etc. It was only the U.S. that celebrated the overthrow of democracy in Venezuela.
27. It is not about supporting human rights. If that were true, then we'd be invading Saudi Arabia, Egypt, China, etc. And why did the Bush Sr. Administration continue to provide Hussein with biological agents and related technology after Hussein used our previous materials to gas the Kurds in 1988?
28. The war will increase the deficit by 100 to 200 billion dollars.
29. The billions to be spent on this war could buy health insurance for every poor family in the U.S.
30. The billions to be spent on this war could fight AIDS in Africa, Latin America, India, and elsewhere.
31. Bush wasn't elected President of the United States, let alone the world.
32. Karl Rove advised the White House, in writing, to play the war card to win elections.
33. It is a diversion from the Enron scandal.
34. It is a diversion from the unethical Halliburton business practices scandal.
35. It is a diversion from the Bush unethical business practices scandal.
36. It is a diversion from Bush's steady support for more deregulation that will allow more Enrons and more environmental degradation.
37. It is a diversion from Bush's continuing push to dismantle Social Security.
38. It is a diversion from the poor economy.
39. It is a diversion from our growing budget deficit, exacerbated by Bush's tax cuts.
40. It is a diversion from the failure to find Osama bin Laden and the incremental return of the Taliban in Afghanistan.
41. It is a diversion from the significant Saudi role in terrorism.
42. It is a diversion (for U.S. audiences) from our increasingly disasterous policies in Isreal and Palistine.
43. This war is promoted by "chicken-hawks" - people "who have never seen the horror of war but are in love with the idea of war." (from Tom Dalyell, U.K. Labour MP)
44. The White House will brook little debate. We must rush before the public has a real debate. We must rush before the polls change (and they are changing). Congress is being bullied. The U.N. is being bullied. We are all being bullied.
45. Invading Iraq unilaterally will significantly deepen the growing worldwide anger at the U.S. over the Bush Admininstration's already long list of unilateral foreign policy decisions.
46. Neither Bush Sr. nor Clinton nor Bush Jr. have ever given the Iraqi regime any postive incentives to cooperate with U.N. sanctions. This is a replay of the failed policy that turned the Germans to Hitler.
47. No U.S. plan has ever been put forth, in dealing with the Iraqi dictatorship, that has a humanitarian focus. We have attempted to destabilize Hussein by immiserating the innocent Iraqi people. Gen. George C. Marshall would be ashamed of us.
48. A president who brags that he didn't study and doesn't read history books can not be expected to have a grasp on the magnitude of an action such as this proposed war.
49. War should be the last option, not one of the first.
50. Avenging "Dad" is not leadership and it is not a reason for war.

*whew* I can't believe I typed all that. Anyway, I only stayed for most of the lecture but skipped out on the end and the Q&A section. I was getting pretty hungry and if I didn't catch the next bus I couldn't grab a pizza at Round Table on my way home before it closed.

So please discuss this list in a civil manner, for if I catch anyone flaming on one of my threads so help me I will strike you down and, uh, position your unconcious body to make you look really goofy.

I don't know how to be sexy. If I catch a girl looking at me and our eyes lock, I panic and open mine wider. Then I lick my lips and rub my genitals. And mouth the words "You're dead."