THE EDITOR, Sir:
IN MR. George W. Bush's on-and-off war with Saddam Hussein, we, like hostages with a gun held to our heads by captors, hold our breath in extreme trepidation waiting to hear if we are to be executed or to be reprieved. This is the terrifying situation to which the President of the United States has brought us.
Back in October 2000 at the time of the Presidential Debates on TV here in the USA I listened to Candidate Bush saying, "America should be humble. That America shouldn't go about the world telling other countries how to run theirs. That America shouldn't be in the business of nation-building."
But how his tune has changed since September 11, 2001, after the reckless suicide attacks on America. (Despite the grievances we have with past and present US governments, there were no justifications for such wanton destruction).
This event known as 9/11 more than any other is, I propose, what drives Bush in his quasi-religious and militaristic adventures to do what be believes is his God-given task; which is to "defend America."
However laudable and even constitutional his tasks are, his tactics and strategy are flawed and dangerous because they are based on a kind of Wild West mentality "Saddam Wanted: Dead or Alive. Billions of Dollars in Reward". This rough-and-ready, scorched-earth, take-no-prisoners brand of justice, now sanitised and modernised to become the "Pre-emptive or First Strike Doctrine"; that is, "before the bad guys get us, we are going to get them first" is a law of the jungle.
This Pre-emptive Strike notion has the world rightfully turned against Bush as witnessed in countless anti-war, anti-Bush and pro-peace demonstrations around the world.
The simple fact of the matter is that Bush has brought the world to the brink of calamity by his "shoot from the hip"; by his rhetorical flourishes like "Axis of Evil" and "if you're not for us, you're against us", and other such verbal diarrhoea. These verbal excesses backed up by military triumphalism have created states of alerts and terror the gun to our heads scenario.
And what about his nemesis, Saddam Hussein? These two villains George and Saddam should meet face-to-face, one-on-one, and iron out their differences. Were such a meeting ever to take place, the world would be a safer and better place for all of us.
I am etc.,
GEORGE GARWOOD
merleneg@yahoo.com
Port St. Lucie, Florida
Via Go-Jamaica
