by Marvin Shilmer 142 Replies latest jw friends
Big Oil pushes the White House for a war with Iraq
The war is mainly about oil. The 911 attacks and the war against terrorism is just the pretext to go after Saddam.
This monster Saddam was never a problem when he was one of Rumsfelds' monsters.
Edited by - Emiliano on 29 January 2003 22:44:30
The war is mainly about oil
Do you not drive a car that uses Gasoline? Do you not use public transportation? I would call the oil a need.
A quick look at the US's own policies on weapons of mass destruction (WMD) quickly dispels their argument for using WMD as a determining factor for a war with Iraq.
As a signer of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), the US has a legal obligation to reduce it's nuclear arsenal, stop nuclear testing, and negotiate a binding a treaty on nuclear disarmament under strict international control. However, the current US administration is increasing its budget to build nuclear weapons, scrapping existing disarmament treaties, and restarting nuclear tests.
One of the first acts of the Bush administration was to slash funding for programs safeguarding and destroying nuclear weapons and materials in the countries of the former Soviet Union almost 21 percent while increasing nuclear weapons funding by almost 5 percent.
The Bush administration's prevalent tendency to ignore, abandon, or destroy international treaties is especially evident with regard to arms-limitation agreements:
-- In December 2001, President Bush torpedoed talks to give the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) real force. A last minute refusal after five years of negotiations infuriated negotiating countries.
-- At the NPT review conference in 2000, the US and the other signatories agreed to end nuclear weapons testing by bringing the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty into force as the first of 13 specific disarmament commitments. Shortly thereafter, the US Senate announced disapproval of the treaty. Last year the US said it no longer agreed with the additional commitments, putting the Non-Proliferation Treaty's future in jeopardy.
-- The Bush administration has also reneged on an additional commitment to strengthen the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty by pursuing its Star Wars missile defence programme. The programme is one of the primary reasons that international talks to rid the world of weapons of mass destruction have not progressed for the last three years. It also provides an excuse for other nations to improve and increase their nuclear arsenals.
Overall, Bush's weapons of mass destruction policy is arbitrary, hypocritical, and inconsistent. The world desperately needs a multinational and fair approach to the elimination of weapons of mass destruction. A war with Iraq will only serve to strengthen the existing hypocrisy.
Edited by - Emiliano on 29 January 2003 23:2:34
In the SUV thread, us 'liberals' gave the reasons why we didn't care for SUV's. I don't recall anyone saying "I hate them because I can't afford one." Conservatives love strawman arguments, don't you. I don't know anyone who would be insane enough to 'hate' someone for the car they drove. The only deal with the SUV thing is that it might be a good idea to drive something a little more fuel efficient these days. You guys create caricatures in your head of what you believe other people think and then bash them for it.
The only disagreement Republicans have is the goverment should not tell them what kind of vehicle to drive. If they charge $5.00 a gallon for gas and I still want to drive my SUV that gets 8 miles to the gallon that is my right.
And you say that it is insane to hate someone for the kind of car they drive I agree but in Blue Sapphires post she states she hates her husbands boss for buying new Mercedes is that not hating someone for what they drive?
Democrats not only hate people for they drive but for whatever they may happen to have. You feel that the rich should just give their money away and hate them for being rich, you ( as in liberals) have stated that several times in this thread.
Edited by - Scarlet on 29 January 2003 23:2:17
Edited by - Scarlet on 29 January 2003 23:18:15
Maybe hate is a strong word, but certainly there seems to be a lot of disdain for the rich, a lot of "it's not fair that they have more than me". I simply don't see things that way.
Hmm, well that brings us back to the sitting on your ass point.Yes, in fairytale land we should never have to work at all, everything will be provided. Sounds kind of like the new system to me.
Hmm, I seem to live in the "real world" however where I work for what I have and I am happy for it
Did you even read the entire exchange? Who said anything about sitting on their ass? I also live in the real world and I also work for a living. There is a middle ground between working to death and sitting on your ass. Scarlet and I were discussing the fact that in European countries they get more vacation etc. They also pay higher taxes. I was pointing out the possibility that perhaps they find fulfillment in having more time in exchange for fewer material things. Very unamerican of me I know.
The problem with the international agreements is that it makes the U.S. subject to the whims of some foreign body and does not take whats best for the American citizens into account. Thats why we have pulled out of these traties and rightly so. The pact with the Soviet Union was outdated, there is no more Soviet Union and it prevents the US from being able to defend itself from a nuclear attack by not being able to build an SDI defense. This is especially important in light of what a rogue nation like Korea could do to hold the world blackmail.
France has nuclear weapons, but are they a threat? No. Why don't we go after France, or Isreal or India? Because their weapons are controlled by relatively sane and rational governments. Really now are you saying that the US having nukes is just as bad as Saddam having them?
You feel that the rich should just give their money away and hate them for being rich, you have stated that several times in this thread.
Really? Show me one time where I said that.
O.K.
At least you agree that the war against terrorism is just a pretext to go after the oil we need.
The reason for going to war is so that the cost of oil will remain low. We will be killing for our freedom to keep low gas prices. Thats whats really happening. I dont want to pay high prices for gas either.
So lets go steal it from the Iraqies. Thats the history of the US they steal anything they can get their hands on. How many treaties did the US Gov. not reneg on with the Indians. Its what they are doing now they are calling the kettle black by saying that they are not disarming and yet they are doing the same thing. Would it be right for someone to threaten us with an attack because we are not disarming as we promised?
Going to war with Iraq will only add more grudges to these terrorists who already hate us.
We need to see why they hate us and find a way to not continue with the foreing policies that promote this hate.
Random Task, you neglected to mention the fact that I said my husband works many more hours than 40 per week for supposed "comp time" that he never gets to take. He does this for the sole purpose of his boss making MORE money. And this money his boss STEALS from his employees doesn't go for hiring additional employees (thereby helping the economy) like he should. It goes for buying himself Mercedes Benz and SUV vehicles, a yacht, a million dollar mansion, paying for his three daughters (by three different wives) educations, sports cars etc. etc.
You know what, the dude even gives his guys pagers but no cell phones then pages them 2-3 times a day. Guess who pays for the cell phones or calls from payphones. This guy got rich off the backs of honest and hard working employees. Yeah, sure tell my husband to be "grateful" he has a job. BTW, are you his boss in disguise???? People who think like you make me sick.
Our life choices are our life choices and have nothing to do with anything. Do you believe in working for free? Obviously you believe in EXPLOITATION! If you give guys like my husband's boss a tax break all they're going to do is exploit more and become richer.
