WJPBR Email News List [EMAIL PROTECTED] Peace at any cost is a Prelude to War! How Independent Are We? Paul Weyrich July 3, 2000 Tomorrow is what we call Independence Day. We celebrate our victory over the British and the birth of a New Nation. But as we begin this new century, it might be well to ask ourselves just how independent we still are. First, thanks to a host of presidents and compliant Congresses over the past half-century, we are tangled up with the United Nations and a host of other international organizations. It is not entirely clear how much independence we even have to defend ourselves if necessary. Do we need the UN's permission? The merits of the Gulf War are open to debate but one thing is for sure - then-President George Bush set a terrible precedent by seeking the okay of the UN before we put the coalition together against Saddam. And when it comes to energy, it is clear we are not independent at all. The OPEC boys are laughing all the way to the bank as we approach them on bended-knee to ask them to increase production. There was a moment, during the oil crisis of 1973 and '74 that we might have taken the road toward independence. President Gerald Ford isn't noted for much, but that was an initiative he tried to take. We had the resources at the time to handle our energy needs internally if we were willing to develop some of the sources now tied up in wilderness areas, and if we had been willing to pursue oil shale. But instead we took the easy road and became more and more dependent on foreign sources. Those sources could shut this country down cold if they ever wanted to. Meanwhile, the federal government keeps locking up not only additional oil and gas sources, but it continues to make it increasingly difficult to mine coal as well. There seems to be a deliberate strategy on the part of policy makers to continue to keep us dependent. And what of our defense? We have poured nearly $60 billion into the strategic defense initiative. So far we have almost nothing to show it. America right now cannot be defended. That doesn't suggest to me that we are very independent. Strategic defense is absolutely the right way to go, but we have not had people in charge of the project who really believed in it for a long, long time. There may come a time very soon when the question will be academic. And, of course, there is the globalization of the economy. Many argue that it is a good thing that we are all becoming so interdependent on one another. You can scarcely name a product or appliance that is totally produced and assembled in this country anymore. Perhaps there is, as many suggest, nothing we could have done to stop this trend. All I know is that I felt a lot more secure knowing that this country could produce whatever it needed to for whatever reason whenever it wanted to. Now everything from strategic minerals to various parts of everything from weapons to washing machines are in the hands of someone else. And if that someone else decides for whatever reason they don't want us to have what they possess or make, we can well be up a creek. The more visible third party candidates, Pat Buchanan and Ralph Nader, have no chance to be elected, and many of their views don't make sense in the current world. But they can do their nation one enormous service. They can raise this question of independence. They can make Vice-President Al Gore and Texas Governor George W. Bush answer some questions and face up to the issue of what they would do about our situation if elected. By the grace of God we have survived the presidents and policies we have had inflicted upon us over these past decades. But we can't hide our heads in the sand forever. It is high time we look at just how independent we really are and if there is still time, take steps to get back down the road toward genuine independence. Happy Fourth of July! *COPYRIGHT NOTICE** In accordance with Title 17 U. S. C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for nonprofit research and educational purposes only.[Ref. http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ] Want to be on our lists? Write at [EMAIL PROTECTED] for a menu of our lists! ****************************************************************************** ******************* A vote for Bush or Gore is a vote to continue Clinton policies! A vote for Buchanan is a vote to continue America! Therefore a vote for Gore or Bush is a wasted vote for America! Don't waste your vote! Vote for Patrick Buchanan! Today, candor compels us to admit that our vaunted two-party system is a snare and a delusion, a fraud upon the nation. Our two parties have become nothing but two wings of the same bird of prey... Patrick Buchanan <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. 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