Posted July 26, 2003

"The Unresolved Problem of the United Nations"

You know, I am somewhat amused if not saddened by the current views of my American counterparts. While living in America, I have found myself mystified by the feelings Americans have for an organization created for and by Americans. Both the UN and its predecessor the League of Nations were American ideas. Yet the very creators and supporters of this institution are turning their backs.

During the Cold War it was the United States that used and supported the United Nations for its purposes. Now that the UN apparently has no political benefit at the moment it is to be discarded. I find this notion lacking on thoughtfulness and bordering on arrogance.

The only reason the UN is not interesting and should be dismantled is because the US does not need to build consensus and views the UN as ineffective because the American goals are not met right away. This at least is the view of people like you and Rush Limbaugh, I find it a rather interesting club you find yourself in, Mr. Stromberg.

While the United States, advocates equality and freedom for all, apparently even bringing it to people that don't ask for it in places like Iraq – why is it acceptable for the US to break the rules our own diplomats and statesman set up some 50 years ago, and yet now those rules and regulations are not good enough for the US but are good enough for everybody else?

~ Damian Gunjak

Joseph Stromberg replies:

Since I believe I said everything about the UN that this reader says, I find it hard to see what his point is, nor do I see how I am in a coalition with Rush Limbaugh.

The UN can "work" in two ways: 1) It can be a front for great power imperialism, or 2) it could become the germ of a world state. Either way, it is spinach.

"Casualties in Iraq"

Mike Ewens does a great job on his page and I am impressed with his page. I certainly do not want to add more work, however, I think it would add a new dimension to add our allies' casualties – British, Australian, other. I feel it would not only more fully show the total human cost of war, but it would also show the US isolation and lack of world support.

~ J. Prangster

Mike Ewens replies:

I have a link to those numbers.... they can be found here: http://lunaville.org/warcasualties/Summary.aspx.

Thanks!

THE ANTIWAR RHETORIC IS ALWAYS THE SAME – IDEALISTIC SPEECH MINUS THE PROPOSAL OF ANY LEGITIMATE ALTERNATIVE.

~ Scott Wilson

Mike Ewens replies:

THE PROWAR RHETORIC IS ALWAYS THE SAME – USES CAPS LOCK TO MAKE THEIR "POINT"

HERE ARE OUR POINTS.... OUR PROPOSALS:

- Bring the troops home... ALL the troops.
– Stop all foreign aid... ALL of it.
– Leave the UN
– Avoid all entangling alliances.

How's that?

"Respect the Troops – Not Their Spineless Leaders"

Go talk to the families who lost people in the world trade centers. You folks should move out of the country, or wake up.

~ Brian Baumert

Christopher Deliso replies:

Are you trying to imply that you have info on a connection between 9/11 and Saddam Hussein? If so, please share it with the rest of us.

I was just reading the news articles on the Internet looking for articles pertaining to my unit that is located near the town of Balad. I was amazed and also comforted to find this site – not exactly for the antiwar theme, but for the simple fact that this site exists.

I was wounded in the July 3rd mortar attack on our camp, and received 6 shrapnel wounds to the left side of my body. They are literally head to toe. The only one removed was the one in my toe, because it became infected not even 24 hours after the attack.

I have seen and experienced firsthand the way that my fellow soldiers and I are treated over there. We drink water that literally scalds your throat because we have no refrigerators, we live and sleep in the scorching heat because air-conditioners are non-existent. I expected better treatment than this for the "troops that are defending our freedom." It took me a whole week just to be meddevacd from Germany back to my home station in Colorado, and I still don't have a surgery date for the removal of the rest of the shrapnel still lodged in my body.

I think that it is shameful at the way that we soldiers get treated in return for risking our lives. Yes, we all knew what the Army might have in store for us, but at the same time I expected to be treated more like a human being and not just a number. I think constantly about my unit and all my friends over there that endure everything with more than just a grain of salt. They are in my prayers every night. The soldiers are the ones that need our support more than ever as their heroic efforts to maintain good morale for themselves and each other go unnoticed.

~ CQ

Thank you for your July 23, 2003 article regarding the honor of our boy and girls in Iraq. The pusillanimous civilian politicians that created this war with the aid of the subverts from Israel should be exposed for what they are. Traitors to the Constitution of this Republic and to the citizens in it. The Mossad of Israel should also be exposed for their part in this crisis because of the alterity of theirs in running this war and occupation, by the use of the Damocles Sword that they also have over the whole middle east, with their 200 plus WMD hidden away in the Deserts of Israel. Such as facilities in Dimona, Nahal Suryak, Raishon Liston and Haifa as indicated in the independent press.

Do you also have the courage to research this information and publish the results as you have the evil ways of Mr. Bush and the war hawks?

It seems as though the administration has lost all credibility through out the world except those that they purchased, with American tax dollars.

~ Edward Tkacik, World War II combat veteran, Pennsylvania

Christopher Deliso replies:

Thank you Mr. Tkacik, for the interesting comments. Let me assure you it is not a lack of courage, but of time and resources, that limits my scope of inquiry.

As for Mossad, what I think we should be more concerned about is the "shadow Mossad" formed in the cabinet of Ariel Sharon to spread war – justifying lies with the "shadow CIA" (i.e., Office of Special Plans) formed by Cheney and Rumsfeld. It's a strange day when the CIA and Mossad turn out to be the "good guys" by comparison.

One of the best commentaries I've read. Excellent.

~ William H. Steen, Jr.

Christopher Deliso replies:

Thank you, sir. I appreciate the support.

This is so true. I feel so sorry for our troops. I lost a young nephew in Vietnam and I know how these soldiers feel. Bring them home.

~ Wanda Rinehart

"Leave Iraq to the Iraqis"

I just wanted to say I'm proud a representative from my home state of Tennessee is stepping up to the plate on this important issue.

Bravo, Mr. Duncan!

~ J.G. Zuiel

Thanks for the so-true article. Here is my read on the subject of this war.

224 US soldiers and thousands of Iraqis have died and more are dying each day because of an American war based on White House lies. The United States has been disgraced because of these lies. As a veteran who served honorably as an officer in the United States Navy, I am now ashamed of my Country. The only way the U.S. can regain its dignity in the world community is to impeach Bush and to make his advisors defend their actions in a courtroom.

~ GKR

While I agree with much of what John Duncan has written, he displays the same attitude that has landed America, Iraq and the rest of us in this soup. Yes, while Iraqis should be free to rebuild their country and "pick their own garbage", Duncan should be honest enough to acknowledge that the Iraqis didn't bomb themselves into the condition they are in. Americans need to learn to take responsibility and that seems to apply as much to Mr. Duncan as to Mr. Bush.

America should pull out its soldiers (in their interest) and pay war damages as compensation to the Iraqis for bombing them to the stone age on false premises. The war damages should be held in a UN exchequer account to be administered by those nations which kept themselves aloof from this fracas. That rules out USA, Poland, Spain, Italy, UK, Turkey, Japan, Israel, and most of the Arab world.

Let the Indians, French and Germans handle Iraqi reconstruction. After all, these governments and Parliaments opposed the invasion.

As for law and order stabilisation, why are the Americans bothering the French, Germans and Indians to send troops after launching this attack unadvised? China would be the ideal choice. Since the Chinese army is the one least likely to be trusted by America, they are most likely to enjoy the confidence of the world and the Iraqi people.

~ Anil Sivakumaran

Sure, the US should clear the dirt the military produced in Iraq, rebuild the schools that were destroyed, the US should help the women who had deformed babies due to depleted uranium used in Gulf War I and the last war. Imagine how many crippled beings are now in the world due to military know-how, in Japan after the bomb in Hiroshima, in Vietnam after Agent Orange. They all should be given help from the US government.

~ Ute-Marie Bauer, Germany

Electricity

... Maybe I have missed something but I can get in a huff at how little is being done about the electrical power grid in and around Baghdad. I seems to me that the US could do a lot in that area to very good effect.

I found one report on Goggle that the electrical generator system and grid system had a capacity of approx. 7000GW when new (in the '60's). Baghdad requires about 6000GW. Great. But the system, over time has degraded to a full capacity of 4500GW. Not enough.

Perhaps some of your readers are trained in electrical power distribution and the like and can inform the rest of us about what can logically be done.

I suggest the following It would be worth a billion dollars or so to get that essential service up as fast as possible. The citizens there could be comfy and have a regular TV service, etc. The payback (return on investment) would be very quick. Now we (US) are spending 4 million [sic] a month there.

I assume some additional power generating turbines would need to be installed and hooked into the grid. Also, the grid needs to be enhanced. Some might say that it would take a year or so to design and build such an enhanced system. I don't think so. I worked in engineering until retirement (not electrical) and I know that when projects NEED to be done in a hurry, they CAN be done. Politicians need to get out of the way, though.

Most electrical power plants in the US and probably Europe have extra generators that are for "standby." Yank one of those puppies out and put it on a big C-5 cargo plane. Fast track the whole project. Just make sure the voltage, cycles per second, etc., are right. Get those lights and air conditioners on full time.

I think the benefits would be enormous, including the safety of our troops.

Please spread this notion around and see what people have to say. Nonpolitical of course. I would love to see a complete program about this on CNN.

~ Ben Atsea

Backtalk editor Sam Koritz replies:

You've made the linguistically understandable but mathematically devastating error of stating that the cost of the Iraq occupation is 4 million dollars per month. The actual estimated cost is 4 billion dollars a month, or one thousand million dollars per week.

A thousand million dollars here, a thousand million dollars there – pretty soon you're talking about real money.

"Bogus from the Beginning"

In a recent column, Justin Raimondo correctly praised Ann Coulter for defending Joe McCarthy in her recent book, Treason. I agree with both Justin and Ann that McCarthy was essentially correct: there were Communists in the American government, they were traitors, and they deserved to be identified as such. Ann Coulter deserves credit for saying so.

But here's the rub: those Communists back in the '50s realized in the '80s that their international subterfuge was going nowhere. Communism was dying a justified death.

So what happened to the American Communists?

Antiwar.com and several other honest websites have repeatedly shown that those former Communists gravitated in the 1980s to neoconservatism. They could see that the international communist cause was lost. And they could see that Rush Limbaugh and the Conservative tide was winning. So they all had a sudden epiphany that right-wing conservatism was the solution!

The dramatic shift of former Communists to neoconservatism has been explained but not fully examined. How extraordinary and convenient of them to see where the shift of power was, to leap on it, and to attempt to lead it. And, sadly, they have succeeded, of course. The pathetically obtuse Little George Bush is now their tool. Even mildly intelligent people can see this – regrettably they are in short supply among American patriots.

But here's my point: Ann Coulter accuses left-wing commies of the '40s and '50s of treason. Okay, true, Annie. But, these same left-wing commies are now neoconservatives, whom Ann supports unconditionally. Ann Coulter is now aligned with the traitors she abhors!

The neocons betrayed America into a war in Iraq that is killing American soldiers every day and bankrupting the American people.

Inasmuch as Ann Coulter supports Neocons, she supports the traitors that McCarthy identified.

~ Bruce Hayman

Scoop

I just wanted to share something amazing with you. First, read the AFP story today about Ambassador Wilson's charges that the White House may be engaging in criminal activity in relation to his having exposed the falsity of the Niger claim in the New York Times. This story stresses how the action by the White House may be, in fact, a violation of US law.

Now read the MSNBC take on the story. They are people who got Wilson's interview. Yet Andrea Mitchell completely leaves out any mention of the most serious aspect of Wilson's assertions, that the White House may have engaged in criminal activity!

It astounds me that NBC, the party that broke this story, is covering up the most explosive content of their own "scoop."

~ Mary R., Seattle

"This is genius? I don't think so"

Dan Judge is sorry for sitting on the fence?

How sorry can he be when in his mea culpa he doesn't even mention the estimated 7,000 Iraqi civilians killed by the US attack. He still has his blinders on if you ask me.

~ Michael Chapman, Alexandria, Virginia

Robert McNabb's letter

Hey, Antiwar!

Let us have our own bumper sticker contest! My entrees:

Clinton-2
Regime change – if it works for Iraq, may be it will for US.
PETC – People for the Ethical Treatment of the Constitution.
WMD-ShmiMD
Liberate Klingon Empire!

~ Alex Chaihorsky, Reno, Nevada

Bush's Pictures

How come in every picture taken of George W. Bush there is some icon in the background? I guess I know the answer, but you guys should have a page that collects all of these in one place so we can have a chuckle at this low rent propaganda. I've seen W with Jesus, Mount Rushmore, George Washington – he just needs to add Sonny Liston and Marilyn Monroe and he will have recreated the Sgt. Pepper album cover!

~ Matt Brown