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		Letter to Editor September 10, 2002 Letter © 2002 Jim Brisky Published with Permission

Peace, Not War

By Jim Brisky

I am increasingly horrified by the President and his advisors pushing our going to war on Iraq. After World War II, the leaders of the free world got together and formed the United Nations in order to deal with just such problems as those of Iraq. Our allies are not behind us on this, but we seem to want to forge ahead relentlessly? We are not fooling the other countries. They know it is all about oil. We are making no effort to become less dependent on foreign oil and, in fact, seem to believe that we have an inalienable right to the world's oil.

Are we on our way to being controlled by a dictator and are we heading toward being a terrorist nation? Ever since World War II, we have been constantly getting into "peace keeping" missions which allow us to try and control the rest of the world. How can we say we are promoting democracy when we ourselves don't really have one? Our "leader" was not elected by a majority of the people. He was really appointed by a Supreme Court. What is so difficult for many of us average citizens to understand is why he now thinks he has a mandate to do just what he wants. Possibly one reason for his attitude is that Congress allowed itself to be railroaded into giving tax breaks to the rich -- knowing these tax breaks would not help the general populace. I feel that these same tax breaks have contributed to our current fiscal problems.

That surplus could have been well spent here at home for health care for the many unable to afford it; for reduction of a National Debt, which continues to plague us; and for help to college students who, unless they are from wealthy families, are finding it more and more difficult to meet the rapidly rising cost of higher education. And, furthermore, there are many poor in this country with undernourished and unvaccinated children -- a disgrace to a rich nation like ours.

Now, the President is prepared to start another long-term military engagement. And, if we do go into war against Iraq, our sons, daughters, fathers and mothers who will be involved in this action will tell us it is a war no matter what name we give it. We will again face body bags coming home. We have a President anxious to send our youth to fight, yet his military experience was in the National Guards and it appears that he did that very half heartedly.

These "peace keeping" actions have not been a wonderful success in the past. Korea after all these years continues to be a problem, and we hardly can call our results in Vietnam a success. Just how many countries do we plan to police? We killed one million Vietnamese but never conquered North Vietnam. In Panama, we killed 3,000 civilians to get one man. Those like Scott Ridder who have studied the situation and have spent time in Iraq say that we will kill a lot of innocent people and destabilize that part of the world if we go to war on Iraq.

I do believe that once we go in we should finish a job. If the Senior Bush had done so, instead of allowing the elite troops to take their helicopters and go home, we would not even need to consider going into Iraq to complete the mission. We are getting a terrible track record for not sticking to our word. The United States promised to help the Kurds and didn't do so -- apparently because they didn't have oil. How can we claim to be lovers of peace when we continue to be the biggest arms supplier in the world? We sell to both sides and thus help keep those wars going by our actions. Where is our sense of justice and fair play?

I also find the President's moral tone about Enron executives and people like Martha Stewart rather two-faced since some of his own financial dealings have the appearance of his having done the same type of manipulating. If one really checks into his Harken dealings, one finds not one but four stock transactions worth $1 million during the time in question; and, every time, he was months passed the deadline when he reported it to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

I have become disillusioned with both parties. I am reading a book by Kevin Phillips titled Wealth and Democracy. It is interesting and informative. It is a reflection of our times that he no longer considers himself a Republican.

I mentioned earlier some needs that should have been addressed with the surplus. The billions used to try and control the world could also be better spent on solving the problems in those countries and in our own. When we do give to needy countries much needed food, we must assure that it is not funneled off to be sold by greedy, unscrupulous persons. We need serious research on alternative fuels and other social and economic problems. One thing I personally wish that we were willing to work on is a foolproof voting machine. How is it that we can go to the moon but can't assure that every vote will count? Many other countries make election day a national holiday. At times, I find myself questioning whether the government really wants every citizen to vote and to have every vote count.

We can look to history and see countries that were once super powers in order to realize that there is no guarantee that a country will always be mighty.

We only need to look at England to see this. When I was young, we still heard about how the sun never set on the British Empire. We sure haven't heard that for a long time. Other countries that also were once powerful are Spain, Portugal, Holland and Rome.

History should teach us a lesson that with great power comes the responsibility to use that power wisely.

Well, our President said that he wanted the input of the people, so here is mine.

Editor's Note: Jim Brisky and his wife Gayle are seasonal residents of Mohawk and Mattawan, Mich. Jim was raised in Copper City and worked for 20 years as an ironworker on such Upper Peninsula sites as White Pine, the Portage Lift Bridge and the former Radar Base (now Keweenaw Academy).

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