OPINION: Politicians Avoid Truth About War in Iraq
Adams seems to blame both Kerry and Bush for hiding the supposed truth behind Iraq, but he makes Kerry seem like the innocent victim of the President’s policies. He writes that Kerry is “backed into a political corner” as if that position was not a result of his own doing. Does Adams forget that Kerry voted for the war? People tend to forget that a president cannot do a single thing, spend a single dime, without the consent of congress. If we are to blame President Bush for Iraq, then congress is equally culpable, including Kerry. It’s typical for Democrats today to cover their ears to this, but I commend them for indirectly acknowledging this fact by attempting to explain Kerry’s pro-war vote- and his no vote for funding.
Furthermore, Adams uses the Duelfer report and the Kay report to establish why the war was unjustified. By doing so, he himself is avoiding the contents of those reports. He writes that economic sanctions and threat of US military action were containing Saddam. This is counter to the Duelfer report, which establishes that Saddam was using funds from the UN oil-for-food program to bribe other nations to lift the sanctions. Once these sanctions were lifted, the report says that Saddam would have concentrated on a new WMD program. Overall, the sanctions were not working, as countries like France and Germany were undermining them through their own self-interests. Bush-haters tend to ignore the reality that France and Germany had ulterior motives for opposing the war, and instead see them as peace-loving nations. They coddle a dictator, Bush overthrows that dictator, but the former is seen as better.
Adams continues by mentioning the “profound divide between the Iraq we see on the news and the Iraq in the president’s speeches.” There is a great divide. We do not see on the news the fact that Libya has given up their WMD program as a result of operation Iraqi Freedom. We do not see the heightened strength and confidence given to pro-democracy Iranian parliament members who walked out of an unjust session, thanks to the operation in Iraq. Hidden is the discovery of hundreds of mass graves, remnants of Saddam’s murderous rule. How much coverage is being given to the successful arms-for-cash programs which is disarming Al-Sadr’s violent insurgents? Did the media report on how much more energy is being supplied to Iraqi cities? Not much attention was given to the recent recapturing of Sammara from insurgents. Indeed, there have been shortcomings in the operation in Iraq, but will the successes be enumerated by Bush’s political opponents just as quickly as the mistakes?
FRONT PAGE: New Initiative Stirs Debate on an Old Job
This article gives both sides of the Measure Q issue. The duplicity of one group of supports is concerning. Measure Q would make prostitution the lowest priority for the city’s police department. Californians for Civil Liberties want a system in which an abused or harassed prostitute can go to the authorities to complain without getting themselves arrested. That’s fair. But what about the young children, who are being exploited by pimps? Perhaps this isn’t an issue that is dealt with by the Californians for Civil Liberties, unless it is a civil liberty for pimps to employ child prostitutes. If law enforcement treats prostitution with the least priority, children who are being abused and exploited will never be helped. The law of unintended consequences surrounding Measure Q will essentially allow child abuse. Pardon my clichéd plea of “thinking about the children,” but Measure Q certainly isn’t going to do that. The subject in the article, a former prostitute, mentioned that she started prostituting herself at the age of 12. It wouldn’t be a stretch to assume that there are other kids of the same age being used.
LETTERS: Support Stem Cell Research
Letter-writer Raymond Barglow dissects the ethical reasons that oppose stem cell research and shows how such reasons are illogical. I would ask Barglow that, if Stem Cell Research is in fact ethical, who will pay for the research? It’s ok to have a difference of opinion regarding stem cells, but where does the funding for research come from? Proposition 71 allows the state to pay for stem cell research through bonds, though this is the wrong direction to go. If stem cells are so promising, why hasn’t investment in biotech industries boomed as a result? The potential of embryonic stem cell research is mostly speculative, and the state should distribute money to more definitive research areas. What about the prospect of adult stem cells, which have proven to be just as effective, if not better than embryonic stem cells? These are just some issues to consider when looking past the conventional rhetoric of stem cells.
LETTERS: International World Does Not Respect Bush
Letter-writer Nicolas Sauveur of Belgium gives us the typical “America wrong, the rest of the world right,” attitude. He cites that it is “irresponsible to stay blind to the world.” He’s right, and Bush did all he could to include the rest of the world. Does Sauveur remember Bush’s speech to the General Assembly of the UN? Did Belgium news not cover Colin Powell’s long report about Iraq and Saddam Hussein to the Security Council? It’s unfortunate that France and Germany aren’t on our side, but the reason they didn’t join us is obvious. They had financial ties to Iraq, which were revealed with the unraveling of the UN Oil-for-food scandal. I also find it a shame that despite the millions of dollars that America distributes around the world, we are still abhorred.
Sauveur concludes by writing that the respect and appreciation America deserves will “never happen under George Bush.” And it will happen under Kerry? I doubt it, considering government leaders in both France and Germany have stated that they will not send troops to Iraq no matter who is president after November 2nd.
A lasting peace is achieved through strength and not popularity. When one cannot have both, strength must take precedence. It is irresponsible to stay blind to the world, but is dangerous to stay blind to the terrorism which pervades that world.
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