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Like America, I've Changed
By Harry Scapin, Torrington
After the terrible, tragic occurrences of September 11, 2001, I wrote letters to the editor of the Register-Citizen and also to The Voice [Living with Terrorism; March 22, 2002]. Both were published, to my surprise, since I have no special information or training in global matters. I just went by what I felt and relied on my years just surviving and my pretty good memory, in certain matters.
Recently (February 9) on Sixty Minutes, one segment was about Korea and the threat North Korea poses for the South. North Korea was shown as having a vast and well trained army. One would think the South Koreans would be in constant fear—and yet, this is not so. What is so is that there are a lot of anti-American feelings. The young people of Korea want us out. Like Sheridan Whiteside in The Man Who Came to Dinner, we've overstayed our welcome. So what are we doing there? Good question. The funny thing (if you want to call it that) is that they fear what Bush might do more than what North Korea might do. They want a unified Korea: Yankee, go home!
By the same token, I never feared another terrorist attack; I felt that the attacks of September 11 were just a one-time deal to let us know that we are no longer safe. The vastness of the outcome may have also scared the terrorists. I don't think they wanted to take us on, but I still felt that we should go after bin Laden and his crew. So what happened to that idea?
It seems we couldn't find bin Laden, so the spin started and Saddam and his "weapons of mass destruction" became the target. Why? Well, some think it's for the oil, some think the President is making amends for what his father failed to do, and some think that it's because Saddam is a terrible man who oppresses his people. Well, we've done business with many dictators who did terrible things, as long as it was in our best interest. I take no issue with that, but our leaders should "tell it straight." Bin Laden has been shuffled back like a second feature at the Strand, back when they ran double features—he's now the "B" movie.
As far as I know, wars are fought for economic gain, so I have to go along with the ones who think this one's all about oil and that making amends for the President’s father is just one of the perks. The thing that bugs me is that he's looking for help from some of the other Arab countries, and I'm sure he'll get it—but at what price? I'm sure those countries that agree to help him will want something that the American public will end up paying for, but buying friends has never been something that I thought was really worth it. The glaring omission that strikes me is that, as far as I know, President Bush hasn't included the Israelis—the most logical ones to watch our backs—in his "help me" list. Why not? Is it because it would alienate the other oil-producing Arab nations? Are we trying again to walk the foreign policy tightrope, like we did in Korea and Vietnam?
By the way, whose cronies are reaping the windfall from the increases in oil and gasoline prices, which are rising because of the threat of war looming on the horizon?
Once again, the big scare is on. Just put yourself in Saddam's shoes. He may be nuts, but he's not crazy. He doesn't want to take us on. That was obvious the last time, and right now there is a lot of sentiment in this country against starting a war against him, so why would he do something crazy that would bring us all back on the same page, as we once were about getting bin Laden? It doesn't compute in my mind.
So all this, besides making my brain hurt, makes me think that Mr. Bill Waterhouse might be right. He wrote a letter to The Voice [Abandoning All Hope in the Middle East, September 6 ] to the effect that we should "butt out." The only trouble with that is that we can't. We've painted ourselves into the proverbial corner. We've gotten ourselves so involved in the global economy that we can't survive without the help of other countries. The days of us being the Big Brother of the world are over. We've let too many of our industries go elsewhere. Like that old novelty recording of "I'm My Own Grandpaw," wherein through a series of marriages you become your own grandfather, we have segued from being a supporter of other countries to now being the supportee. We are no longer able to provide ourselves with what we need, as we once did before these large corporations were allowed to locate in a more profitable (for them) climate.
Do you think that taking Saddam out will change things? We, the infidels, are hated and have been since the Crusades. Taking out one guy is not going to change that. We’re gonna have to stay there, like the British did in India—and, like the British, we will someday have to leave. I don't think today’s generation will put up with that or with how wars are fought now. They are not the product of depression and poverty like my generation was; they are the product of instant gratification. The have an "I want it yesterday" mindset. Spoiled as I feel they are, I still think that wars have become passé and prove nothing. I think back to the two I was involved in, and all I think about is all the nice guys who didn't come back—and I ask: what for?
This may sound like I don't love my country. It was always the best and that’s the reason my parents came here, but my America has changed and it's changed me.
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