What Has Been Done

In The Name Of Democracy

To the Editor:

In response to James Swift, Richard Siebert, and others who failed to appreciate Martin Blanco’s cogent argument for getting out of Iraq: I urge them to reread his letter. I won’t repeat the points that he made, but I want to comment on Mr Swift’s reference to a “slaughter of genocidal magnitude,” and Mr Siebert’s characterization of the Iraq war as a battle for civilization.

Implicit in these remarks and those made by this country’s war hawks is that we must remain in Iraq as a moral imperative, but in light of all we’ve learned recently about this administration’s lies and cover-ups, it’s extremely disingenuous to attribute any humanitarian motive behind escalating the war. Now that the atrocities of this war can no longer be hidden from public view, President Bush finds it expedient to play the humanitarian card more forcefully, but a close look at recent history belies the sincerity of this. Let’s not forget that Saddam was placed in power with the help of our government and the CIA and that the helicopters he used to gas the Kurds in 1988 were purchased from the US government.

Unfortunately, past history also shows that in the name of promoting democracy, we have supported military dictatorships in Chile, Bolivia, and other countries without feeling any moral compunction to prevent these regimes from killing and torturing their own citizens. My fear is that the motive behind escalating the war has more to do with gaining control of oil reserves and establishing a strategic military presence in the Middle East for self-serving political ends. I find it ironic that President Bush condemns tyranny while at the same time establishing close ties to President Islam Karimov of Uzbekistan whose record of torture and human rights violations is well-documented and rivals that of Saddam Hussein, but then it wouldn’t be politic to alienate a man who has the power to grant access to much of central Asia’s vast oil reserves. As for defending Western civilization, who appointed President Bush the spokesman for Western civilization? He has rejected any discourse with most of Western Europe in the pursuit of his own personal jihad.

I feel that a troop surge will only result in a perpetual war leading to even more terrorism and an escalation of the bloodbath. Already our military machine has resulted in the deaths of thousands more civilians than were killed in the World Trade Center attacks. If Mr Swift is concerned about genocide, why not divert some of the billions of dollars spent on this war to alleviate the suffering in Darfur? Our armed forces are already being overextended without sending in more troops to be killed in a civil war where the enemy cannot even be clearly identified. Also, Mr Siebert should not be so presumptuous to speak for veterans. I know of veteran groups whose members proudly served in past conflicts but who are strongly opposed to an escalation of this disastrous war.

Richard Horvath

7 Phyllis Lane, Newtown                                            February 6, 2007