[IMC Bombay] Single Brushstroke Judgement
u ma
onebrowncookie at hotmail.com
Thu, 03 Apr 2003 16:43:28 +0000
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<P><BR>Hear, Hear! <BR></P></DIV>
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<DIV> </DIV>
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<DIV></DIV>>From: "yashodhara pawar" <YASHODHARA.PAWAR@UNILEVER.COM>
<DIV></DIV>>To: "imc-mumbai@lists.indymedia.org" <IMC-MUMBAI@LISTS.INDYMEDIA.ORG>
<DIV></DIV>>CC: "nity68@vsnl.com" <NITY68@VSNL.COM>
<DIV></DIV>>Subject: [IMC Bombay] Single Brushstroke Judgement
<DIV></DIV>>Date: Thu, 3 Apr 2003 10:39:39 +0530
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<DIV></DIV>>X-OriginalArrivalTime: 03 Apr 2003 14:29:30.0016 (UTC) FILETIME=[6FECF200:01C2F9ED]
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>I wanted to add in a quick opinion. I think this war is being used as a sole
<DIV></DIV>>weapon to paint the US of A as the Bad Guy. While this is absolutely the truth,
<DIV></DIV>>in a narrow sense, a more nuanced view allows one to admit that indeed the US
<DIV></DIV>>has exemplified democracy and personal freedom on many levels.
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>I ask not your inflamed , passionate retorts. While I dont support the war or
<DIV></DIV>>even the ham-handed way the US conducted the diplomatic process preceding the
<DIV></DIV>>war, I do acknowledge that the US is undermining itself and the many stellar
<DIV></DIV>>freedoms and opportunities it offers for people from all over the world. An
<DIV></DIV>>American today is likely to be a Zairian or an Chinese by birth. Americans, in
<DIV></DIV>>totality, are in fact US. We, through our immigration and our back-breaking
<DIV></DIV>>efforts in the land of opportunity, grab the right to vote for the leaders who
<DIV></DIV>>make these decisions. I am not separating myself from the multitude of my
<DIV></DIV>>nation's original peoples who have immigrated there.
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>I lived in that country for a good 12 years before returning. Like the war,
<DIV></DIV>>there were many testicularly stupid decisions the US government had made. But,
<DIV></DIV>>the freedom the society offered for me to take massive risks, personal,
<DIV></DIV>>professional, emotional are unparalleled.
<DIV></DIV>>_My opinions.
<DIV></DIV>>-Yashodhara
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>-----Original Message-----
<DIV></DIV>>From: nity68@vsnl.com [SMTP:nity68@vsnl.com]
<DIV></DIV>>Sent: Tuesday, April 01, 2003 8:17 PM
<DIV></DIV>>To: sushbee@hotmail.com; u ma
<DIV></DIV>>Cc: imc-mumbai@lists.indymedia.org
<DIV></DIV>>Subject: Re: [IMC Bombay] squeak up (against Saddam, not the war)
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>hello uma:
<DIV></DIV>>your offer of germany, russia or the US as a superpower leaves me wondering.
<DIV></DIV>>that is like
<DIV></DIV>>asking if i would prefer to get raped or murdered. Neither is my answer. as far
<DIV></DIV>>as US doing a
<DIV></DIV>>good job of being a big brother, please understand that US' interest in world
<DIV></DIV>>democracy has
<DIV></DIV>>nothing to do with democracy and everything to do with US' interests. US
<DIV></DIV>>corporations are
<DIV></DIV>>perhaps the most deadly when it comes to robbing democracy where it counts --
<DIV></DIV>>among the
<DIV></DIV>>small, often disadvantaged communities, where they operate and whose resources
<DIV></DIV>>they
<DIV></DIV>>depend on.
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>America's actions -- military or otherwise -- are blatantly dictated by and
<DIV></DIV>>done in proxy for its
<DIV></DIV>>corporations. You may have heard about the spraying of Monsanto's round-up (a
<DIV></DIV>>deadly
<DIV></DIV>>herbicide) over the fields of Colombia to wipe out cocoa crops. Despite
<DIV></DIV>>complaints by farmers
<DIV></DIV>>(not cocoa farmers) that they are poisoned by and injured by the poison spray,
<DIV></DIV>>the US goes
<DIV></DIV>>about business-as-usual. Even in war, we're not prepared to accept civilian
<DIV></DIV>>deaths. How can
<DIV></DIV>>we accept it when there is no war?
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>It would be almost clicheic to remind you that America's business of war
<DIV></DIV>>involves arming a
<DIV></DIV>>tyrant, and later disarming the same guy once things get uncomfortable for USA.
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>America may win this war. But it has forever lost its peace. If God really does
<DIV></DIV>>bless America, i
<DIV></DIV>>think that God is different (perhaps more powerful) from the one that is to
<DIV></DIV>>take care of the rest
<DIV></DIV>>of the world.
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>i hope those of you who are willing to study the problems facing your country
<DIV></DIV>>objectively need
<DIV></DIV>>to understand that the world may live with a big brother, but that doesn't mean
<DIV></DIV>>we like it or
<DIV></DIV>>would thank america for it.
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>Big brother, I hear, is cutting federal funding for schools and hospitals to
<DIV></DIV>>feed its army. A
<DIV></DIV>>wiser, more just approach would involve fighting the war against racism,
<DIV></DIV>>against poverty,
<DIV></DIV>>against illiteracy, against small-mindedness within the United States. As some
<DIV></DIV>>great sould
<DIV></DIV>>said: "It would be a great day when our schools had all the money they need,
<DIV></DIV>>and the Air
<DIV></DIV>>Force has to hold a bake sale to buy a new bomber."
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>ciao, nity
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>On 1 Apr 2003 at 4:06, u ma wrote:
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>> >
<DIV></DIV>> > Sushma,
<DIV></DIV>> > I understand completely that most people have picked a side in this conflict
<DIV></DIV>>already and are sticking
<DIV></DIV>> > with it, no matter what anybody else might point out.But having said that,
<DIV></DIV>>unfortunately I am still
<DIV></DIV>> > going to have to disagree with most of the points you brought up.
<DIV></DIV>> >
<DIV></DIV>> > The fact is I would be just as 'gung ho' about my position, if my own
<DIV></DIV>>government was run by a
<DIV></DIV>> > dictator and his cronies for over 30 years, and an external coalition had to
<DIV></DIV>>come in to remove it from
<DIV></DIV>> > power.
<DIV></DIV>> > My country does not equal thebureaucratic Establishment at the capital that
<DIV></DIV>>makes and breaks
<DIV></DIV>> > laws as they please. My country, and her population is far more important
<DIV></DIV>>than that. Edward Abbey
<DIV></DIV>> > said it best, when he wrote that a true patriot must always be ready to
<DIV></DIV>>defend his country against
<DIV></DIV>> > his government.
<DIV></DIV>> >
<DIV></DIV>> > I could probably wonder out loud, why the Iraqis you mention hadn't have gone
<DIV></DIV>>back into Iraq to fight
<DIV></DIV>> > against Saddam earlier before this whole thing snowballed into a mess,and
<DIV></DIV>>taken care of this
<DIV></DIV>> > problem by themselves instead of forcing the West to interefere, but I won't.
<DIV></DIV>> >
<DIV></DIV>> > ______________________
<DIV></DIV>> >
<DIV></DIV>> > Yes, the United States often acts unilaterally. Obviously, most Americans
<DIV></DIV>>still haven't realised that
<DIV></DIV>> > a lot of times their opinions are treated with distaste, not because of who
<DIV></DIV>>they are, but because of
<DIV></DIV>> > what they do. And that arm wrestling one's allies into submission with big
<DIV></DIV>>budget media blitzes and
<DIV></DIV>> > economic aid isn't helping them either.
<DIV></DIV>> >
<DIV></DIV>> > However, we should remember that even though the world is a dangerous place,
<DIV></DIV>>it is not particularly
<DIV></DIV>> > so, to the U.S or the industrialized West. Maybe not even for a middle-of-the
<DIV></DIV>>rung power like India.
<DIV></DIV>> > We can solve our own problems.
<DIV></DIV>> > It is the smaller nations : the Liberias, the Somalias, the Bosnias, the
<DIV></DIV>>Tibets, the peace starved,
<DIV></DIV>> > democracy bereft countries of the Middle East that need a Big Brother to keep
<DIV></DIV>>the peace. And while
<DIV></DIV>> > the US does not always do a particularly good job of playing a responsible
<DIV></DIV>>super power/ beagle,
<DIV></DIV>> > the world would be a sorrier place if some other nation were to take its'
<DIV></DIV>>place.
<DIV></DIV>> >
<DIV></DIV>> > Would any of us be more comfortable if China or Russia or Germany were the
<DIV></DIV>>most powerful
<DIV></DIV>> > countryin the world, instead of the US?
<DIV></DIV>> >
<DIV></DIV>> > I guess what I am trying to say is that as human beings, and not just holders
<DIV></DIV>>of a royal blue
<DIV></DIV>> > coloured non-alignedpassport, the larger issue we should be looking at IN
<DIV></DIV>>THIS PARTICULAR
<DIV></DIV>> > SITUATION, is not the mere sovereignty of a nation. There are times and
<DIV></DIV>>matters where world
<DIV></DIV>> > opinion and action should and must supercede the authority of a country's
<DIV></DIV>>internal governance.
<DIV></DIV>> > Human Rights and Democracy are most definitely two such concerns, that we
<DIV></DIV>>should all be be
<DIV></DIV>> > prepared to die (and hopefully live) for.
<DIV></DIV>> >
<DIV></DIV>> > For the record:
<DIV></DIV>> >
<DIV></DIV>> >
<DIV></DIV>> > * For those who think that this is purely about oil ( and of course, it is
<DIV></DIV>>not entirely NOT about
<DIV></DIV>> > oil either) may I remind you about oil-free Bosnia in the 1990's, where
<DIV></DIV>>the US led NATO
<DIV></DIV>> > troops to prevent the genocide of Muslim Serbs and Croats, and later
<DIV></DIV>>stayed on, to help
<DIV></DIV>> > restore democracy.
<DIV></DIV>> > * Some of the world's biggest, loudest anti-war, anti-Bush rallies take
<DIV></DIV>>place in the United
<DIV></DIV>> > States. I haven't seen any anti-Saddam rallies happening in Baghdad for a
<DIV></DIV>>long, long time
<DIV></DIV>> > now.Have you?
<DIV></DIV>> > * I love them funky Shanti-Tshirts too :) ( Just not right now.)
<DIV></DIV>> >
<DIV></DIV>> > This is a long one. Thanks again for taking the time to read this through,
<DIV></DIV>> >
<DIV></DIV>> > Goodwill,
<DIV></DIV>> >
<DIV></DIV>> > Uma
<DIV></DIV>> >
<DIV></DIV>> >
<DIV></DIV>> >
<DIV></DIV>> > Add photos to your messages with MSN 8. Get 2 months
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