US ambitions out of control

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guest editorial by Jerry West
Publisher The Record, Vancouver Island

It has been over 35 years and a lot of miles since I left the battlefields of Vietnam. Yet, even after all those years that time still remains very much alive in my thoughts. It was a war that history is indicating may have been justified with a lie, the Gulf of Tonkin incident. A war it seems prolonged by Henry Kissinger for domestic political reasons, for which tens of thousands of young US service men and women paid with their lives, not to mention Vietnamese and assorted allies.

Vietnam was not the first war ever fought on false pretences, not even for the United States, nor undoubtedly will it be the last. Currently we see history repeating itself again as George W Bush keeps looking for excuses to invade Iraq. Unless wiser heads prevail, without doubt he will come up with something, no matter how fallacious or ridiculous, to get the war he seems to so desperately crave.

If he does, it will not be the Supreme Court coming to the rescue to declare the winner and loser. It will be decided with the lives of many people who will have little choice over whether or not they die in this politically motivated misadventure.

George and I are the same age, and many of his advisors and cabinet members come from our generation. One would think that they would have learned something about war from the lessons of Vietnam, but it appears that they have not, except Colin Powell. Powell is not keen on this war, and wisely so, but he had experience in Vietnam.

Bush, on the other hand, hid out in the National Guard during the war and, even then, failed to show up for duty. Ashcroft, Cheney and others all managed to duck out when it was their turn to serve, as did many of the pro-war stars in Congress and the media.

The name for folks like GW Bush is Chickenhawk, a term that denotes someone who urges war and talks patriotism, but avoids their responsibility and hides out under one excuse or another when they have the opportunity to be patriots and serve. It is into the hands of such bellicose hypocrites as these that control of the most powerful nation on the planet has fallen. We all should be very concerned.

It is bad enough that these folks want to pick fights with little countries and waste the lives of thousands, maybe millions, but they also want to control the world. Last week, the Bush administration published a 33-page document outlining the direction of US policy. In it they state that no country will be allowed to become as powerful as the United States. It points out that where American interests are at stake, there will be no compromises. It urges other nations to adopt US economic policies, and says that the International Criminal Court will have no jurisdiction over US citizens.

Over 50 years ago, in the wake of WWII, the nations of the world formed the United Nations to work out international differences and resolve issues in a peaceful manner. The system has not been perfect, but as things like the International Criminal Court come on line we move slowly forward to a more cooperative, just, and stable world society. The current direction of the United States threatens this progress and turns us once again down the path where a powerful nation seeks increasing domination over others.

Some have likened the situation with Iraq to the one in Europe in the late 1930s, and have warned that we should learn the lessons of Munich and stop Saddam Hussein now. The flaw in this is that the relatively weak Iraq is nowhere near being analogous to the military and industrial giant that was Germany. An unsavory regime, probably, a threat to conquer major portions of the globe, not likely. Worth any number of innocent lives, not at all. Rather than thinking of Iraq as Germany, perhaps Poland would be a better example.

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