A little quiz from an email I got from a UUer and very cool person about the Iraq War:

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Look at this list of countries that the U.S. has bombed since the end of World War II, compiled by historian William Blum:

China 1945-46
Korea 1950-53
China 1950-53
Guatemala 1954
Indonesia 1958
Cuba 1959-60
Guatemala 1960
Congo 1964
Peru 1965
Laos 1964-73
Vietnam 1961-73
Cambodia 1969-70
Guatemala 1967-69
Grenada 1983
Libya 1986
El Salvador 1980s
Nicaragua 1980s
Panama 1989
Iraq 1991-99
Sudan 1998
Afghanistan 1998
Yugoslavia 1999

Question: In how many of these instances did a democratic government, respectful of human rights, occur as a direct result? Choose one of the following:

(a) 0
(b) zero
(c) none
(d) not a one
(e) a whole number between -1 and +1

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This quiz compliments of Vietnam Veterans Against the War.

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The email prompted me to surf the VVAW website. Old memories abound. Looking at the website made me cry. I found the link to Veterans Against the War in Iraq. This site lists a ton of actions against the war, along with some great essays. A moving flier promoting a Veterans’ Day Action has this to say:

..while veterans are facing deteriorating care, as VA hospitals close and Bush II holds up $250 million in VA funds allocated by congress. Homelessness and despair face millions of vets of past wars, while this government merrily goes off on another.

The site includes a link to an interview with Kurt Vonnegut, author, WWII veteran, and anti-war activist. Here is how he describes our current situation:

I myself feel that our country, for whose Constitution I fought in a just war, might as well have been invaded by Martians and body snatchers. Sometimes I wish it had been. What has happened, though, is that it has been taken over by means of the sleaziest, low-comedy, Keystone Cops-style coup d’etat imaginable. And those now in charge of the federal government are upper-crust C-students who know no history or geography, plus not-so-closeted white supremacists, aka “Christians,” and plus, most frighteningly, psychopathic personalities, or “PPs.”

From this interview I now have a new .sig file:

Q: ….Do you have any ideas for a really scary reality TV show?

A: “C students from Yale.” It would stand your hair on end.

Kurt Vonnegut, in an interview on the Bush II administration and the war with Iraq; with Joel Bleifuss, In These Times, 2/10/03.

1 Comment

  1. America wants to be the world’s police…do you know how many people died in wars so this could be so? millions, mabey billions, so one could could rule over the others. Did you know the affects of the vietnam war is unrully? people are still dying.america is being a sore looser and is not showing good spotrtmanship. instead of turning your back t this country, help it get back ion its feet after what you did to it.

    Remember, people… im a 6th grader and i try to do my part to help others. cant u?

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