Letter to Editor
The Alberta Doctors’ Digest
May/June 2003 : Volume 28 : Number 3
Waste of Blood, and waste of Tears,
Waste of youths most precious years,
Waste of ways the saints have trod,
Waste of Glory, waste of God,
War!
Studdert Kennedy G.A. (1883-1929)
The war in Iraq is underway. It is generating a great amount of emotions amongst people all over the world. Some show signs of satisfaction that finally Saddam Hussein will be taken care of. Some are worried about the human cost of the war. Others are worried about the political and economic fallout.
War does not determine who is right only who is left Anonymous.
This war is affecting millions of people all over the world it is the fear factor. Of course, the biggest brunt will be borne by the people of Iraq. Many thousands will die. Millions are or will be without food, water, electricity, and medical help. How many of us can tolerate few hours without these necessities?
Sweet is war to those who have never experienced it Marcel Proust (1871-1922).
It is easy for us to sit in the comfort of our homes, watching on big screen television sets Baghdad sky lit up with “shock and awe” bombing, and say that it is okay to kill thousands of innocent people in order to get rid of one tyrant. And this is okay as long as our children and family members are safe; our economies are thriving and have cheap gas available to keep us comfortable.
We make war that we may live in peace Nicomachean Ethics.
This is the best argument advanced by people who support war in Iraq. We wish that would be true. But very few wars are brought to an end tidily (Lord Owen). How many wars have been fought since God put man on earth? If wars solved all our problems then we should have had peace many years ago.
Under conditions of tyranny it is far easier to act than to think Hannah Arendt (1906-1975).
Dictators who inflict tyranny on their citizens are entrenched in that position by a strong army. There are no democratic means to get rid of them. Historically, most dictators have met their match within the system or have been removed by popular uprisings. But
Saddam has been a tough ruthless dictator. Is war the only option to remove him? Isnt that a sign failure?
When war enters a country, it produces lies like sand Anonymous.
If Iraqs main export would have been sand or dates then I wonder if President Bush would send his young soldiers and spend billions of dollars to liberate the people of Iraq.
A war regarded as inevitable or even probable, and therefore much prepared for, has a very good chance of eventually being fought Anais Nin (1903-1977).
It is now well documented that the Iraq war was scripted well before Bush became President. The script was written by many of the current members of the Bush administration.
When the rich wage war its the poor who die Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980).
The war and the reconstruction in Iraq is going to cost 100 to 200 billions of U.S. dollars. More billions will be required to keep happy the countries who have agreed to support the U.S. position.
If these billions were used to provide clean water, electricity and food to the poor in Middle East, Asia, Africa and South America then I believe this war would have been unnecessary.
Mankind must put an end to war or war will put an end to mankind John F. Kennedy (1917-1963).
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