[IMC Bombay] squeak up (against Saddam, not the war)

[Vickram Crishna]

At 4:06 AM +0000 01/04/2003, u ma wrote:
>However, we should remember that even though the world is a 
>dangerous place, it is not particularly so, to the U.S or the 
>industrialized West. Maybe not even for a middle-of-the rung power 
>like India. We can solve our own problems.

Yes, we solved three of them in a shoot-out ('encounter') in Mumbai 
the other day. Surgical strike, as in habeas corpses.

>It is the smaller nations : the Liberias, the Somalias, the Bosnias, 
>the Tibets, the peace starved, democracy bereft countries of the 
>Middle East that need a Big Brother to keep the peace.

I don't suppose it was actually intended to be as patronizing as it reads.

But most of them already have a Big Brother who keeps the peace, and 
it is this peace that makes us shudder.

>And while the US does not always do a particularly good job of 
>playing a responsible super power/ beagle,  the world would be a 
>sorrier place if some other nation were to take its' place.

Isn't it odd that the repressive leadership of most of these 
countries mentioned are propped up for good and bad reasons by one 
superpower or the other? Why else do the people of the country find 
it an impossibly unequal battle to get rid of their oppressors?

The peace of the world is not the responsibility of any one 
superpower, and it is hard to believe that it is a less sorry place 
because of the actions of any of the superpowers at any time.

>the mere sovereignty of a nation. There are times and matters where 
>world opinion and action should and must supercede the authority of 
>a country's internal governance.

Unfortunately, and this was only too obvious before the conflict 
escalated, what we are witnessing is enough people who prefer their 
devil to an outside one.

>Human Rights and Democracy are most definitely two such concerns, 
>that we should all be be prepared to die (and hopefully live) for.

Live for, certainly. But what a pity that this democracy is not 
evident enough, either in the US or in our non-aligned India, that 
the opinions of ordinary citizens cannot be respected.

>For those who think that this is purely about oil ( and of course, 
>it is not entirely NOT about oil either) may I remind you about 
>oil-free Bosnia in the 1990's, where the US led NATO troops to 
>prevent the genocide of Muslim Serbs and Croats, and later stayed 
>on, to help restore democracy.

We also remember oil-free Panama and oil-free Afghanistan. I could 
name many more, but prefer to stick to the recent past. Just to 
remind the list that these two countries also had governments 
supported by the USA at some point, till the wind changed. And did we 
forget Djindjic's assassination already, in the restored democracy?

>Some of the world's biggest, loudest anti-war, anti-Bush rallies 
>take place in the United States. I haven't seen any anti-Saddam 
>rallies happening in Baghdad for a long, long time now. Have you?

No. Very unlikely while the dictator's troops are geared up with 
sufficient small arms (how surprising! they weren't made in Iraq!) to 
throttle any opposition.

And let us not forget that the US is also a place where there can be 
some good anti-Saddam rallies. People who oppose the war do not 
necessarily support Saddam Hussein. Actually, it's pretty hard to 
find anyone who does. I mention this only because of the tone of this 
posting, which seems to suggest that everything is either black or 
white.

But yes, there are some 1,200 (the exact number may have changed 
since I last read a report) people imprisoned without charge in the 
US, and another bunch, none of whom were arrested in the USA, held in 
custody and subjected to torture in Guantanamo Bay (which, when I 
last looked at a map, is on the island of Cuba, a region that does 
not look like the continental USA, but then this war is not about 
territory either, is it?). Of course, these prisoners are still 
alive, which is a lot more than can be said for those caught in the 
oppressed countries (not counting the ones *not* transported to 
Guantanamo Bay, but left to rot in the sun, under US supervision, in 
steel containers. Which is ok, as long as they weren't gassed to 
death).

>I love them funky Shanti-Tshirts too :) ( Just not right now.)

Good. It's heartening to know that there is an appropriate time for 
peace, and that this is not it.

-- 
Vickram