Saturday, January 25, 2003

'Human shields' head for Iraq. A convoy of British anti-war protesters who aim to form a "human shield" against any bombing of Iraq is setting out for Baghdad. [BBC News] It troubles me to see so many in the anti-war movement act as if Saddam Hussein is a paragon of morality and the innocent victim of a conspiracy by the United States. If the anti-war movement is to have any credibility in the United States and around the world, it needs to stop "coddling dictators" as many in the left rightly accused the Reagan and first Bush administrations of doing, and speak the truth. Saddam Hussein has gassed his own people, waged war on three of his neighbors (including Israel during the Gulf War), and runs one of the most oppressive regimes in the world. The left should be leading the charge for his removal and replacement by democratic institutions. Unfortunately, what they are doing is propping up his bloodthirsty regime through such insane acts as volunteering to be human shields. I am firmly in the anti-war camp, and believe that every effort should be made to resolve the current standoff over disarmament peacefully. But I am also a realist. It takes two sides to prevent war, no matter how much the other side wants peace. Saddam Hussein is a danger to the world if he continues to pursue chemical, biological and nuclear weapons. And while I do not agree with the Bush administration in its need to execute a war before the inspection process has been fully played out, I reluctantly admit that war may be the only option if he refuses to disarm. I can only pray that events within his country would accomplish what may be impossible otherwise: prevent war and the untold suffering it would bring to Iraqis and possibly others around the world.   5:25:57 PM

Brazilian Leader Vows He Will Plead for the Poor in Davos. "The world doesn't need war, it needs peace and understanding," he said. "I often wonder why, instead of spending billions and billions of dollars on arms, they don't spend it on bread, rice and beans that could help feed the poor of the world." [New York Times: International] The world leaders gathered in Davos, Switzerland for the World Economic Forum need to listen to this man, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. If we fail to heed his words; if we fail to address the growing divide between the rich and the poor nations of the world, then we are doomed to repeat the mistakes that helped lead to two World Wars and a Cold War. History tells us of the consequences of ignoring the cries of the poor. In the last century, it was Marxism, Fascism, and tens of millions of deaths. What will it be in this century? I can only hope that we will skip the need to re-learn the lessons of the first half of last century and move, on a global level, to the results of learning those lessons: a global "welfare state" similar to those created in Western Europe and the United States after World War II. And while those systems are not perfect, they have done much to level the playing field for all citizens in those countries and reduce the grinding poverty which afflicted so many at the turn of the last century. I am a big fan of globalization and free trade. They will be the engines which allow those in the developing world to live a life of dignity, not poverty. But they cannot do so alone. We must commit ourselves to using a portion of the profits of the new, globalized economy to build the economies of the developing world. What is needed is a "Marshall Plan" for the developing world. A plan based on economic opportunity and sustainable development. The consequences could be fatal for us all. If, in our thirst for riches, we destroy our planet; if in our all consuming greed we breed new generations of nuclear-armed terrorists; then indeed, we will re-learn the lessons of the last century. And we will all be poorer for it.   12:45:55 PM