A squeamish namby-pamby European wimp joins the Washington war debate by Ian Buruma
Discusses American Enterprise Institute, whose “members are imbued with a revolutionary mission to bring democracy to the world, backed by American force.” “Sure, a few tens of thousands may die, but what is that compared to the glories of democratic revolution?” “They reveal the “unmistakably Trotskyist antecedents of their dogmatism.” (1)

 

Kevin Michael Grace: Why so much right-wing support in Canada for an attack on Iraq?
“These conservatives are not really conservative”
Transcript of commentary I was glad to hear on CBC Radio back in September. Discusses the feeble indictment against Saddam Hussein by Bush and Blair. “… support for the emerging American empire is pretty much all that defines the so-called “conservative” movements in America, Canada and Britain.” War means bigger government. “War destroys civil liberty and conflates dissent with treason. It uproots peoples and destroys communities.” (4)

Let’s make money, not war, say US protesters

• “Anti-war movement in America grows stronger”
• “…group of prominent Republican business executives published … “A Republican Dissent on Iraq””
• “In August Daphne Reed, a grandmother, founded Mothers Against War from her home in Massachusetts. “The Government has used the horror of September 11 to strike fear into the hearts of the US people,” she said.” (5)

 

Not a Just or Moral War: The churches’ pre-emptive response to Bush’s Iraq plans.

“A group of Protestant and Orthodox leaders from the United States, Canada, and Great Britain, attending a Central Committee meeting of the World Council of Churches, issued a statement warning against the “apparent drift towards military confrontation in Iraq.”

“… a just-war assessment that finds the Bush-Blair approach to war morally questionable at virtually every turn and a realistic, sharply critical assessment of the Saddam Hussein regime.

 

“Most chilling for many is the administration’s insistent threat on the use of a pre-emptive strike, even in the absence of any imminent Iraqi attack.

 

“… According to U.N. officials and Iraqi health workers, some 1.6 million Iraq children have died since sanctions began in 1991—seven times more than in the same period before sanctions—and 1 million children are malnourished.

 

“war on Iraq could create a “humanitarian catastrophe””

Comment: It’s unfortunate to hear in this article that Southern Baptist leaders think they disagree with sound moral reasoning. They must be blinded by their political biases and prophetic beliefs. It’s especially too bad to hear that Chuck Colson is taking this approach also (6), because I liked the subject of one of his tapes, although I’m not a believer. I think he discussed “natural law” …. What’s the point of your religion if it can’t tell you right from wrong?

The Virtues of the Free Market

Resign! by Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.
Accountability. “The market economy subjects every player, even the richest and most powerful, to a market test of his worth.” “granting only authority on the basis of free exchange”. Instead, people look to politics for solutions. (2)

North Korea and Canada

Canada urges N. Korea to relinquish nuclear plans
“North Korea is known to look favourably on Canada’s non-threatening stance, its access to the corridors of power in Washington, its history of providing relief assistance and its willingness to continue its food aid even in the midst of the latest crisis.”(3)
Reputation for civilized behavior earns respect for Canada.

 

 

 

Notes

[1] http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,3604,874256,00.html
The Guardian, Tuesday January 14, 2003, A squeamish namby-pamby European wimp joins the Washington war debate by Ian Buruma

[2] http://www.lewrockwell.com/rockwell/resign.html
LewRockwell.com, January 15, 2003, Resign! by Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.

[3] http://globeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/front/RTGAM/20030117/wxkore0117/Front/homeBN/breakingnews
Globe and Mail, Friday, January 17, Canada urges N. Korea to relinquish nuclear plans, by Geoffrey York

[4] http://cbc.ca/insite/COMMENTARY/2002/9/26.html
CBC Radio’s Commentary, Sep 26, 2002, Transcript, Kevin Michael Grace.

[5] http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-545712,00.html
Times Online, January 17, 2003, Let’s make money, not war, say US protesters, Tim Reid and Anne Dixey

[6] http://www.sojo.net/magazine/index.cfm/action/sojourners/issue/soj0301/article/030111.html
Sojourners Magazine, Jan-Feb, 2003, Not a Just or Moral War The churches’ pre-emptive response to Bush’s Iraq plans. by David Earle Anderson