Theory on the current War on Terror, a.k.a. Crusade.
This is not a war between countries, it is a war fought by the rich against the poor, the powerful wanting to get more and the powerless soiling the sand crimson. Money is taken from health budgets where they would help people, and put into war industry, where it makes a few men very, very rich. The rich are not paying for this war (they are getting tax cuts in the US as we speak), the poor are. Saddam and his family were the only ones not starving in Iraq. One has to transcend the notion of nationalities here and see who is bleeding and who is making money on it. Kids from Mississippi and Eufrat are bleeding, powerful men are cashing in.
Sorry about the drama, but I don't give a rat's ass whether it's Americans or Iraqis who get killed. They are mere peons in a game played by capital, with the rules of neo libertarianism, on an increasingly pockmarked and soiled chessboard of our Earth.
The hostilities won't end until peons realize that there is more to life than a bit of a whoo hoo at the start with two steps, then trudging along one at a time, if you're lucky a change of lanes at someone else's expense, and finally sacrifice for the powers that be. Very few peons become queens. And we peons don't seem to get it.
On a larger scale it is even worse though. We now have one super power, breaking International Law with impunity, and the UN is at a precarious threshold. How long until they say no? And what then? Niklas Dahlquist, closet lefty
Personally, I get to sleep at night by dreaming of the day america is disarmed and banned from having an army for the next 100 years or more. Steve Malloch, Scottish, colonized by losers.
On the Netscape home page this morning there was a 'survey' - you could tick the appropriate box and have your opinions heard. The question was 'what worries you most about war with Iraq?'. The options were:
1. American servicemen getting killed/injured;
2. An increased risk of terrorist attacks; or
3. An economic downturn.
Oddly, no mention of 'innocent Iraqis being killed'. I wanted to put my fist through the screen.
Tracey Morgan, Welsh, also colonized by losers.
Quotes:
I do not understand the squeamishness about the use of gas. I am strongly in favour of using poisonous gas against uncivilised tribes." Winston Churchill
Of the Palestinians, "I do not agree that the dog in a manger has the final right to the manger even though he may have lain there for a very long time. I do not admit that right. I do not admit for instance, that a great wrong has been done to the Red Indians of America or the black people of Australia. I do not admit that a wrong has been done to these people by the fact that a stronger race, a higher-grade race, a more worldly wise race to put it that way, has come in and taken their place." Winston Churchill, 1937 (whose bust President Bush has in his office.)
Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter. Martin Luther King
$900+ billion USD (900 000 000 000) is spent on military budgets a year, 50% of this money is spent by the US (a US that only has 5% of the worlds population). 10% of this military spending would ensure the essentials of life to everyone in the world. Luckily, all the bullets and bombs are to be used for peace. ( UN figures)
How can one say that the US economy is effective when it wastes almost half the worlds raw materials and energy on a mere 5% of the worlds population, with no measurable increase in happiness or well-being whatsoever? -paraphrasing E F Schumacher
Not to be attached to someting is to be aware of its absolute value. - Suzuki
When walking, just walk.
When sitting, just sit.
Above all, don't wobble. - Yun-Men
Where are the Tam-Tams? (The Buddha, in Sigalovada Sutta)
To give His Holiness the Dalai Lama the Nobel Peace Price is like giving Mother Nature an art award. (Salzberg, in Lovingkindness)
Hatred can never cease by hatred. Hatred can only cease by love. This is an eternal law. (The Buddha)
Recommended readings:
Dennet's "Conciousness explained". Pure science, but good food for thought. One of the best books I have ever read.
The heart of understanding, by Thich Nhat Hahn, explain the buddhist concept of everything's interdependence, or emptiness if you like. He does this beautifully and simply, the book is highly recommended. It is actually a commentary on the Prajnaparamita Heart Sutta from Buddha.
Nothing Special, by Charlotte Joko Beck, relates to Zen in an intense way. Deep stuff, and good.
Herman Hesse wrote Siddharta, the story of a buddha in a way. That book is very good, yet I would recommend The Glass Bead Game. Bear with him in the difficult beginning, you will be rewarded. Hermann Hesse thinks like I do, or rather, I think like him.
For an introduction into meditation, try Sharon Salzberg's Lovingkindness. Indeed, this is more than an introduction, it carries great depth but in a light and loving way.
Recommended sites:
For regular news that is not fully endorsed by editors from the establishment, www.guardian.co.uk
For the down to earth facts and reports, go to www.reliefweb.int, run by OCHA (a UN Agency)
For an excellent weekly newsletter, or a daily one if you join, check out www.zmag.org
And finally, two short stories:
The Criminal , by Khalil Gibran (who wrote The Prophet)
A young man of strong body, weakened by hunger, sat on the walker's portion of the street stretching his hand toward all who passed, begging and repeating his hand toward all who passed, begging and repeating the sad song of his defeat in life, while suffering from hunger and from humiliation.
When night came, his lips and tongue were parched, while his hand was still as empty as his stomach.
He gathered himself and went out from the city, where he sat under a tree and wept bitterly. Then he lifted his puzzled eyes to heaven while hunger was eating his inside, and he said, "Oh Lord, I went to the rich man and asked for employment, but he turned me away because of my shabbiness; I knocked at the school door, but was forbidden solace because I was empty- handed; I sought any occupation that would give me bread, but all to no avail. In desperation I asked alms, but They worshippers saw me and said "He is strong and lazy, and he should not beg."
"Oh Lord, it is Thy will that my mother gave birth unto me, and now the earth offers me back to You before the Ending."
His expression then changed. He arose and his eyes now glittered in determination. He fashioned a thick and heavy stick from the branch of the tree, and pointed it toward the city, shouting, "I asked for bread with all the strength of my voice, and was refused. Not I shall obtain it by the strength of my muscles! I asked for bread in the name of mercy and love, but humanity did not heed. I shall take it now in the name of evil!"
The passing years rendered the youth a robber, killer and destroyer of souls; he crushed all who opposed him; he amassed fabulous wealth with which he won himself over to those in power. He was admired by colleagues, envied by other thieves, and feared by the multitudes. His riches and false position prevailed upon the Emir to appoint him deputy in that city - the sad process pursued by unwise governors. Thefts were then legalized; oppression was supported by authority; crushing of the weak became commonplace; the throngs curried and praised.
Thus does the first touch of humanity's selfishness make criminals of the humble, and make killers of the sons of peace; thus does the early greed of humanity grow and strike back at humanity a thousand fold!
I want a list!
A full weapons accounting is long overdue -- in the U.S., not Iraq
I want a list.
I want a full accounting of every weapon in the country. Not Iraq; I don't give a fig about Iraq. It's halfway around the world, it has no means of threatening the United States from its territory, its economy is decimated, it has been disarmed more effectively than any other country in the history of the world, its every move is closely monitored by any number of other agencies and countries, and it knows that any move to threaten any other country would be instantly suicidal. There are plenty of threats to the safety of Americans. Iraq is not one of them. Among all the American-trained dictators plaguing the planet, he's the least of our problems.
I want a list of our weapons.
After all, we pay for them -- and pay, and pay, and pay. John W. Snow, the CSX chairman nominated yesterday to replace the loose-tongued ex-Alcoan Paul O'Neill as Treasury Secretary (great, just what we need -- another titan of corporate America, and veteran of the Ford Administration, in Dubya's cabinet) was strident in the mid-'90s in his advocacy for a balanced budget. I wonder what he'll say now about his new boss's infliction of a giant sucking wound where the federal surplus of 18 months ago once was? That money, yours and mine, went almost entirely for weapons and the capacity to use them. I want an accounting.
It's the United States, after all, which has proven that it poses a threat to not just its neighbors but countries anywhere in the world -- ask Iraq, Afghanistan, Kosovo, Serbia, Pakistan, Sudan, Haiti, Somalia, Bosnia, Panama, Libya, or Grenada, all countries the U.S. has bombed or bullied in the last 20 years. It's the United States whose foreign policy is now officially predicated on reserving the right to strike militarily anywhere in the world, any time it likes, for any reason, and without any backing by an ally or international body. It's the United States whose weapons are sold to one or more sides of virtually every one of the five dozen or so wars now raging in the world. It's the United States with the oldest and biggest nuclear weapons program in the world, the U.S. alone that has proudly used such weapons on civilian populations, in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
It's the U.S. whose weapons are now the weapons of choice for everyone from mentally disturbed serial killers to jungle guerrillas to kleptocratic dictators the world around. It's the government of the U.S., including every embassy and consulate around the world, that makes it a priority to pay for the marketing, credit underwriting, and purchase of those weapons, and closes the deal. It's the U.S. that underwrites and trains intelligence agencies and secret police the world over, including any number of countries where state torture and murder is the norm. We pay for it all. I want a list.
I want it in three weeks.
I want to know every single weapon or potential weapon in the possession of the United States government. Not just the Pentagon or the Department of Defense, but every single agency down to the U.S. Mint and the Library of Congress. If the Library of Congress's assistant medical archivist carries a can of mace in her purse when she goes to the parking garage, I want to know about it. Not just what the government owns; I want a list of every potential weapon that government employees possess, too. Every firearm John Ashcroft and his NRA-loving appointees own, and everyone else down to the grade C-3 summer interns. That includes dual-use weapons, like nail files, or certain kitchen spices which when mixed with a nasal decongestant can produce a certain redness in the eyes. I want the list. All of it. Typed. Neatly. No typos, please.
But that's not all. It's not just our government that poses a threat to the world; corporate America does, too, and as we've repeatedly witnessed (ask Mr. Snow), our government is a revolving door with corporate boardrooms. They're all in on it together, and if Coca-Cola doesn't constitute an invading army (and a global menace) I don't know what does. Therefore, I also want all of the weapons or potential weapons possessed by any business in the United States. Let me clarify that: any entity that does business in the United States, whether or not they're owned by Americans. Air Botswana, this means you. That includes all their employees, and all of the subcontracting employees and agencies (like Coke's bottling plant at Ouagadougou)) they work with. Can't be too careful.
You've got three weeks. And it had better be complete. Alphabetized, please. With an index.
Of course, I don't think you'll cooperate. I don't think everything will be in the list that has been specified in my demand. The Pentagon alone routinely can't figure out what it's done with billions of dollars of taxpayers' money. Asking it to account for every single paper clip -- after all, it might poke an eye out, and besides, at $90 per paper clip they've got to be able to do something other than hold paper together even during a nuclear war -- seems like a long shot. And I expect many companies won't fully cooperate, either. They'll claim proprietary information or some other lame excuse.
Weasels.
We'll have to inspect them, of course. Unannounced visits, preferably accompanied by a battalion or two. When they object, we'll call it part of their sustained pattern of non-cooperation.
Have I mentioned that I retain the right to shoot down any aircraft that appear over the skies of Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, or certain parts of West Virginia? They'll probably pitch a fit about that, too.
But then, that's what you'd expect from people whose love of power is so fierce that they would willingly endanger their own people, right?
After all, by making America a country loathed by billions of people around the world -- some of which are virtually guaranteed to be as omnicidally inclined as the power-crazed, money-poisoned thugs now running our country -- it's you and I who are being put at risk. We're the ones who will be walking past the exploding hotel or working in the office tower that collapses. We're the collateral damage.
And we're paying for it. We're filing the tax returns, we're getting the money extracted from our paychecks. We pay for the carnage. Now, and later.
The least we can get out of the deal is a list.
Three weeks.
Geov Parrish, workingforchange.com, 12.10.02