IRAQ: Why Rush to WAR

Iraq= had nothing to do with 9-11. No hijackers and no funding came from= Iraq, so far as any intelligence agen= cies know. Even Bush now only makes vague remarks about Iraq’s links to ‘Al-Qaeda-type organizations’.

Iraq= is not a current threat to the U.S. Whatever bioweapons Saddam may be hiding from = U.N. inspectors, we’ve lived with for ten years. The CIA doesn’t exp= ect him to give his weapons to terrorists unless we attack. Iraq= 217;s nuclear program isn’t close to being at the top of the nuclear threat list.

This war will cost you plenty<= /span>. <= /span>For starters, Bush wants about $1000 per taxpaying household. Most serious cost estimates including the first couple years of occupation are over $2000 per household. Long-term economic effects are very uncertain, but could = run much more.

The world thinks we’re i= n it for the oil. Whether or not that’s right, the Administration has repeatedly said that Iraqi oil c= an help pay for rebuilding Iraq- meaning the expenses created by th= eir war and the cost of their military occupation. The first oil contract (to p= ut out the expected huge fires) has already been issued- to Halliburton, which= got a head start in dealing Iraqi oil under CEO Dick Cheney.=

This war will increase terrori= sm. Aside from what Saddam might do, it will conv= ince many Muslims that the U.S. is on another ‘crusade’ against Islam, helping al-Qaeda recruit= ers.

We have almost no allies. In most of Europe, over 80% of the public oppo= ses this war, and in Turkey and Pakistan sentiment is even stronger. Our one major ally, Tony Blair, is fighting aga= inst most of his own people. Our other ‘allies’ are generally weak governments that Bush has bribed, with your tax money, to say they go along= . Turkey = has (so far) turned down $6 billion cash, plus more in promises.=

This war is a giant distractio= n. The war does nothing to address the real proble= ms we face in our economy, our environment, our federal debt, our energy use, our crumbling educational system, our unraveling social services, etc. These problems will all be worsened by the war, even if it helps Bush distract voters.

=

Iraq= will be a mess. Already Iraqi Kurd= s and their Turkish neighbors are threatening armed conflict. Civil war between Sunnis and Shiites is possible. Our plan for Iraq seems to be to shoot fir= st, think later.

=

Bush is AWOL- again. B= ush supported the Vietnam War, but pulled strings to get a safe Texas Air Natio= nal Guard job, then went AWOL for over a year. This time, Bush and his CEO frie= nds are giving themselves huge budget-busting tax breaks, just when the rest of= us are getting stuck with his war bills.

War is hell. Many p= eople will be killed and maimed, including many civilians. Huge economic and environmental destruction is likely. Everyone knows enough to say that war = is a last resort, but this administration doesn’t know enough to mean it.<= o:p>