Danusha V. Goska

An Alternative to War in Iraq

This is Danusha Goska.

With great misgivings about war with Iraq, I seek an alternative. Unfortunately, leftist and pacifist leaders have not provided one. They chant anti-American slogans, they depict Bush as Hitler. And then they get into their SUV's, with environmental bumper stickers, and then these leftists and pacifists fill up at the exact same gas pumps used by militarists and right wingers.

The United States makes up less than five percent of the world's population; we use thirty three percent of its resources, including petroleum.

Where did Saudi Arabia get the money to fund the madrassas that pumped out Taliban foot soldiers? What was the ultimate source of Osama bin Laden's astronomical wealth? Why has the West installed or supported anti-democratic regimes in the Middle East? To each of these questions, there is a one word answer: oil.

Mahatma Gandhi never divorced his political stance from his consumption patterns. He and his followers, even the highly educated elite like Nehru, wove their own cloth, rather than purchase cloth whose condition of manufacture increased oppression. Soldiers volunteer to sacrifice their very lives for what they believe. Are pacifists willing to sacrifice a tank of gas? When today's leftists and pacifists walk or use public transport, there will be a true alternative to the militarist solution.

For Speak Your Mind, this has been Danusha Goska.

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