on the current state of affairsHopefully the upcoming election will take place and vote him out, and our folks can come home from Iraq, and the Iraqis can govern themselves in a civilised manner.
on the current state of affairsThe United States is currently in the process of invading a sovereign nation, without international sanction or unilateral provocation. Just in case there is any doubt, I am not supportive of the current undeclared war; and I fear for the liberty of American citizens as a consequence of the political climate.
In the last few months I have paid more than the usual amount of attention to what is happening. The power of the Internet combined with American First Amendment Rights has given a slightly-above-average citizen like me the ability to research the background and various international viewpoints on a lot of what's been happening.
And I don't like it at all. I've been sending out a lot of links to people and posting more in Live Journal. Finally, I thought I should gather them all here.
Weren't we all taught right from wrong when we were children? Or am I old fashioned. Nowdays in the modern world right and wrong is a luxury few can afford to indulge in, and we have the media to tell us it's OK. Well, this undeclared, unsanctioned, unjust war is wrong.
Iraq is a country of 437k square milles and 24 million people. That's a bit smaller than the size of California, Nevada, Arizona, and Utah combined, with roughly the population count of Florida and Georgia scattered across it.
I think our Nation has seriously overstepped its bounds in international law, and in a related effect, that our President has overstepped his bounds both Constitutionally and according to current statute. I think our Government has also overreached what is acceptable for civil liberties. But don't go by my opinion. Read for yourself.
More like a lack thereof. But most folks in America only know we went to the UN asking if we could wage war almost like a bully asking Daddy if he could beat up on the dog, and having a big surprise that Daddy said no. Of course this incomprehensible No must be blamed on the intransigence of the 150 or so nations that did not want a war... or perhaps we should just blame France.
I don't believe many Americans have actually read the text of some of the speeches that have gone back and forth. Something has been seriously wrong. Our Government, the government of the United States of America, has managed to make ourselves look bad in the eyes of the world in comparison to Saddam Hussein. How can this be? Well: Hussein hasn't changed...
Articles and such that are not speeches, but are relevant (some about consequences in other situations):
War planning is triply wrong. There are the blatant announcements from the US Government defining a blitzkreig invasion and plans for long-term occupation; there are very strange plans on the part of Iraq; and there are the incredibly counter-productive plans on the part of anti-war factions to shut down businesses and stock exchanges as soon as the war starts, as if that will do anyone any good.
A side effect of the fighting in Iraq is of course a bit less attention getting paid to what's happening to everyone left behind in America.
Parallel to how Americans and immigrants are treated are the rights of those who are captured or surrender when involved in a conflict in the modern world.
This webpage is just stuff I have dug up on which I based my own opinions. Here are some more pages, which are put together by other opinionated and possibly more informed people than I.
Everyone is so grim about the situation! Take a moment, step back from the propaganda and news assault, and consider where we were 3 years ago. What has changed? Not a whole lot, actually. We seem to have moved into a Swiftian world where satire itself is unnecessary because things have become so exaggerated on their own they can't be taken seriously... we have already hit the ad nauseam point of exaggeration.
