>Denys wrote earlier (and similarly elsewhere):
> Remember that in the late 1930's the Soviet Union was closely allied with
Nazi Germany, they did Poland together. They are the ones who helped Hitler
rearm....
I know you're referring to the German-Soviet Pact of 1939. The "problem" I have with your general approach on all this (the Iraq stuff included) is that you appear to put everyone and their opinions into distinct boxes. Stalin and Hitlers politics were diametrically opposite, yet they did deals with each other. To you, this seems to clearly indicate that their philosophies are therefore one and the same. Okay, lets go with that for a moment (and no more).
The US and China do a lot of business with each other right now. Does that mean the US and Chinese administration are morally bankrupt? Of course not. It would be ridiculous to say that, yet your very own logic applies. (Please, I don't want to get into another thread about the chinese totalitarian regime). I don't think people can be boxed up in this way. To do so is to see a world in black and white, us and them, the very language the war-hawks use. It's not original, it's not new. It is pathetic.
If you get a moment, please have a look at part of a speech by Robert Byrd, a (Democrat) US senator, produced over here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,897768,00.html
Discussion, negotiation, agreement, partnership, respect for difference. These are the terms of the world order I subscribe to. It's an order based on recognising that "I'm no better than you" and "You are no better than me", on having common principles for how states should treat their citizens and how nations should behave with each other (furthermore how all humanity treats the environment). Wayne asked "who are the international community?". Terrific question. I thought I knew a little while ago. It was the imperfect UN. It was more localised coalitions for common goals (NATO in Kosovo, the war against terrorism, US/European attempts to kickstart Israeli-Palestinian peace, the pressure for reform in apartheid South Africa).
I just took it that these are/were worthy humanitarian goals that transcended nationalism, profit and resource acquisition. I have absolutely no doubt that any military action against Iraq would be over fairly quickly. A few weeks, if that. But, what precedent is being set here? What are we saying to all the other tinpots out there that are currently our "clients"? Because they will be using our same words of reasoning to be aggressors themselves against their neighbours and their own citizens. Worse still, the North Korean example seems to be (at the moment) that if you really do have WMD then you're safe, no-one is going to do a thing about you. Pakistan and India have openly threatened each other with nuclear force, yet my government still went over to India to seal a deal for Hawk jets. What's going on? As I said before, the hypocrisy is evident to all who read more than the opinion columns. (I'm not big enough morally or spiritually to quite be a pacifist, but as Yosef once mentioned, I'm working towards it.)
Regards
Richard Ali
(comments are my own, etc...)
Richard Ali
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