Re: [casi] Mark Twain: on anti-war support

[pbrooke@DELETETHISukonline.co.uk]

Dear Hassan, group

I don't know if the Pope personally knows much about Iraq but the Roman
Catholic Church as a whole ought to since so far as I can see the main body of
Christians in Iraq are attached to Rome. I assume that this is what is behind
the Vatican's consistent opposition to war and I assume also that it reflects
their quite intimate knowledge of a substantial body of Iraqi opinion. Since of
course there are many Roman Catholics in the US army its by no means an
automatic assumption that they would oppose the war quite as forcefully as they
have done.

Mark Twain certainly knew next to nothing about Iraq but he did know quite a
lot about the USA and particularly its international ambitions, since he
witnessed the beginning of what has been a long, continuing, consistent process
of world domination. As with all Empires, the US has made use of the political
difficulties of other parts of the world, entering into alliance with weaker
parties in world disputes as it advances its cause. And sometimes that means it
is supporting 'just' causes. But the main thing is the extension of US power.

As a British citizen I belong to a culture which had a great world empire,
maintained by a mixture of brutality, bribes and a thoroughgoing racist
confidence in our superiority over all the other peoples of the world. We lost
the Empire and I, like many other people in Britain, think this was a Good
Thing. I don't want to play any role in the building up of a new one, whether
it is our own or the Americans'. It may be that the Iraqis are unable by
themselves, or with the aid of their Arab neighbours, to solve their own
political problems; but if Hassan and his friends want us to help them (that is
to say, a particular faction of the Iraqi population) out then they should bear
in mind our interests as well. And it is not in our interests to commit the
sort of mass murder we have committed in Iraq over the past twelve years. It is
destructive morally, politically, intellectually and even materially as it sets
us up as the enemy of the world.

If we do help Hassan and his friends to 'liberate' Iraq then I hope fervently
that our Iraqi allies will have sufficient national pride to immediately turn
against us and knife us in the back. After what we have done since 1991, we
will have deserved it.

Yours

Peter Brooke


Dear Elga, list,
Since when have we needed to listen to people such as
the pope or Mark Twain regarding politics?  Does the
pope have any clue about what's really going on in
Iraq?  Probably not, and I'll bet neither do most of
the anti-war protesters.  Maybe we should get some
meaningful opinions, like the ones of the Iraqi
people.  People whose lives and futures are being
discussed around the world without their say being
included.  If you happen to read some of the
high-ranking emails from people in Iraq, you'll find
that they'll quickly show their love for Saddam and
their hate for any American interference.  For those
of you who actually believe these people, I'll let you
in on a little secret:
The average Iraqi would welcome the long overdue war
against Saddam with open arms and hearts.  They have
suffered so much because of Saddam, that they would
kiss Ariel Sharon's feet, if he were installed as the
puppet for the Americans after Saddam is ousted.
Castro is not slaughtering the Cuban people for us to
be worrying too much about them right now.  We should
be focusing on the people who are really suffering.
For all you human rights activists: Where have you
been the in the last twenty to thirty years?  Do you
all of a sudden have a voice when the US is finally
helping out the Iraqis?  Where were your voices when
Saddam deported, tortured, and murdered his people?
Why are you all of a sudden interested in the
estimated number of casualties that will take place
when the Americans take out Saddam?  These numbers are
a mere fraction of the number of lives already lost,
and the number of lives that will be lost if Saddam
stays.  The people that die because of a war with Iraq
will end up dying under Saddam's regime.  Most Iraqis
would rather death than the continuity of Saddam's
rule.
Let's pray that the Iraqi people stop suffering by
making sure the American government finally gets rid
of the dictator that inflicts the suffering.
Yours,
Hassan


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