Sarah wrote: "I'm not familar with ANSWER. I'll take a look at their website. It doesn't surprise me that the anti-war movement is basically Marxist."
Sarah, I've learned a lot from much that you've written, but to call the anti-war movement (if there is such a thing) "basically Marxist" seems like a HUGE leap to me. I am much more familiar with individuals, churches, and other community organizations simply deciding, on their own, that for various reasons, they can't support this war. They don't need prodding from a deep, dark conspiracy. Why is that so difficult for some to accept? Sarah also wrote: "I have to say that I don't understand the morality of the Left when it opposes a war like this." Well. . . 1) Some of us have problems with the U.S., or a small group of nations, serving as the "world's policeman." Who appointed this group, under what legal or moral authority? 2) The West preaches democracy, and them interferes consistently in the internal affairs of others. Yes, here we're talking about the internal affairs of a dictatorship, but at what point does the means taint whatever good end may be accomplished? 3) The further loss of innocent life. 4) The timing and location: why Iraq? Why now? To some of us, this seems to be more about politics-as-usual than about solving a problem. 5) The hypocrisy of the "weapons of mass destruction" argument (slippery phrase, by the way. What exactly does it mean?). Which nations have the most "weapons of mass destruction"? What if some othe nation, or cadre of nations, decided to regulate THEM (us)? Who decides, and based on what? And, by no means least, 6) The slippery slope that's being created by the U.S., perhaps aided by some allies, launching a preemptive first strike against a nation that *it believes* has weapons that it *may* use irresponsibly. First strikes have never been official U.S. policy: at least, not for major actions. Why start now? Is this threat that much removed, categorically, from all others that the U.S. and other Western nations have faced? And it is, where's the proof? Is there ANYTHING that Iraq could do to convince the U.S. and its allies that it doesn't have what it's thought to have? I think not. I hear a lot of bluster from our leaders and administration, but not a lot of (current) FACTS. I'm sure that that doesn't exhaust the list, but I'd start there. Mary.
