War, the Only Way to Peace?
By Jake Vigliotti
February 8, 2003
Dear David,
I also feel I need to speak my mind on the current situation going on in the world. Of course, no mind speaking would be replete unless the proper background is laid. I have little doubt that you, Dave Matthews, are the most talented songwriter ever. Better than Dylan. Better than Neil Young. Better than McCartney. Better than Lennon. Better than Lennon and McCartney put together.
But I don't want you as my foreign policy administrator.
You peacefully ask America to question the commitment to war with Iraq. I can't agree more with that issue. We should look at the facts, and decide if Saddam Hussein, the De Facto High Chief in the Police State of Iraq, should be removed because of what we, as Americans, see as a threat.
In paragraph three, you question why his neighbors don't openly call for his removal. It may be possible that Saudi Arabia and Kuwait know what most everyone else knows; Iraq has chemical and biological weapons (which the UN says is bad). If US troops launch from their countries, those weapons will be lobbed into their neighborhoods. They will kill civilians. Innocent civilians.
Paragraph four begins with a lineage question. Saddam Hussein is not Al Qaeda. Is Saddam Hussein making weapons of "mass destruction" (as opposed to weapons of singular destruction, I guess)? Yes, we all know he is. Is Al Qaeda, simply on the surface that we as Americans know, willing to get weapons via any source to kill American civilians? Indeed. They'd buy weapons from anyone; their "fire" is already gasoline soaked. Al Qaeda does not need motivation to attack the US. Don't forget, Al Qaeda didn't fly planes into American civilian targets (as opposed to military targets, like Army's do during wars) because of something America did to provoke them. They did it because they hate you. Don't feel bad, they hate me too. They hate every American.
I'm sure that Saddam Hussein is simply making weapons of "Mass destruction" to defend himself, and not to sell to a third party, who then can pass them off to an Al Qaeda operative, who then can sneak it across the Canadian boarder, and set it off in an unsuspecting city.
Paragraph five is contradictory. If Saddam is not Al Qaeda, why would they make him a martyr? ("Radical Islam" makes martyrs) Remember, Al Qaeda doesn't need any motivation to attack the US. But that's not all; to believe that the children of Iraq would be: a. Injured purposely by a US attack; or b. are not already harmed; is naive. The children of Iraq are dying everyday because Saddam Hussein is accepting money that is for humanitarian causes, and keeping it for himself to live the life of a god. Anyone remember that little dance we did with Iraq back in 1991? That same leader who is not a threat to his neighbors opened up a daycare at a bombmaking factory, and put it on TV so we wouldn't bomb it! I can still see the video of those poor kids being danced around that place. The children of Iraq deserve to be liberated from this Police State.
In Paragraph six, you rationalize that the true meaning behind the war may be oil or our failing economy. While the failing economy may work in a "Wag The Dog" or FDR scenario, there is a bit more to it. The economy has been sliding since 1999. It didn't bottom out until after the terrorist attacks. The Tech sector fell apart because it was falsely inflated. It was down, and then after my wife's birthday (Sept. 11 if you're scoring at home) the entire economy slid (just type in the tech stock of your choosing at morningstar for a personal analysis). Oil, you question? At best, in the last 10 years, the US has imported 12.6% of it's oil from the entire Persian Gulf region. Go back to pre-Iraqi invasion of Kuwait (1990- the invasion wasn't until August) and it's 11.6%. (source) Where does the US get all its oil? A few places with weird names like "Texas" and "Alaska". Oil is a Red Herring to the uninformed. (Remember that the next time you go to the pumps)
I know I certainly hope that the US congress passes the legislature that President Bush presented in his State Of The Union Address to make cars run on hydrogen. Imagine all the pristine land in Alaska and the west that will be spared because cars run on water.
Bottom line: War is a necessary evil and America was sucked into it.
I wish that we could all solve this peacefully. I have a daughter a few months younger than your twins, and each day that I go to work, I plan what I'll do to get to her in the event of the next terrorist attack. Stopping Iraq and their weapons development systems will help me relax a bit more during my work day.
I wish it were simple enough to "contain" Saddam, and all the bad guys would go away. I studied a bit of history back in college, and it didn't work in 1937, and it's not going to work now. Granted, Nazi Germany invaded countries, and Iraq is merely making weapons that can kill us, but it's close enough for me.
I will still chant for "The Last Stop" at shows (if I can get tickets after this), and always respect your writing, singing, and playing abilities. Every night, I will still pray for peace. I wish it weren't, but unfortunately in this situation, war is the only way to peace.
Peace,
Jake Vigliotti
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