March 24, 2003 Fighting For Iraqi Freedom While We Lose Our Own

Dear Ken!, With all this talk about boycotting things that are FRENCH, I can't seem to make up my mind what I should give up. I don't want to give up FRENCH fries, FRENCH toast, and FRENCH kissing; but I would be willing to give up FRENCH wine, FRENCH-cut green beans, and any movie/show/commercial featuring FRENCH Stewart. What if I encounter other things that are FRENCH?!?! Should I even use words like naivete, faux pas, bete noire, or je-ne-sais-quoi? What should I do? Perplexed in Pottsville

Dear Perplexed, Considering how so very few things that are attributed to the French, such as french fries and french kissing, are actually French, feel free to pick and choose which things you eschew. The logic behind this small minded "boycott" is as solid as the "if not now, when?" reason to start this whole ugly mess in the first place. It just goes to prove to the rest of the world that Americans are as ignorant, arrogant, hypocritical and simple-minded as the rest of the world believes. As a cynic like myself might expect, Americans are more than willing to jump on some moronic, symbolic bandwagon while ignoring substantive actions like selling their oil guzzling SUVs or voting. But what would one expect from a culture where style is favored over substance? Ken!

Dear Ken!, President Clinton twice ordered airstrikes against targets in Iraq during his administration. What are your thoughts on this bit of history? My second comment: "War is the act of sending our sons and daughters to clean up the messes made by our political failures". That's collective political failure, by the way, not just the current administration or various individual governments, but lots and lots of failures. I see this war with Iraq as the culmination of events starting way back, around 1890-1910 or so, when we all started learning how to make bigger and bigger guns. And mount them on airplanes. And fill them with all kinds of stuff. My hope is that humanity learns how to govern itself without needing a Big Kid on the Block to do it for us. But until then, I am very glad I live in the U.S. Other than your political views, I really enjoy your column, especially the advice to young people attempting to break free of the attitudes and stigma that gets in the way of becoming adults. Thanks and keep up the good work.

I have never intended to infer that this mess was the handiwork of George W. Bush and his old-school war monkeys. The roots of the conflict reach far into matters of political expediency, greed on the part of the military industrial complex and a general ignorance of anything not Western. Let me illustrate: a friend worked in the news department of a teevee station during the Gulf War of '91. Often he'd bring home copies of video fed by the network via satellite to local stations because the most important information, he believed, wasn't being shown. One such tape was a U.S. military training session in which soldiers were being briefed on the nature of the land mines used by the Iraqis. The soldier leading the briefing held up a U.S. manufactured landmine and pointed out that they were powered by Eveready batteries. How did Iraq get this stuff? Less than a decade earlier the U.S. sold Iraq those landmines during the Iran/Iraq war because at the time Iran was the evil nation and Saddam was the good guy. The same thing happened to Manuel Noriega. The enemy of the U.S. is whichever leader is most politically advantageous to depose at the moment. I won't dispute your contention that the United States is most powerful nation in the world. My hope is that some day the United States, both as a government and a people, will grow the fuck up and attempt to lead by setting positive examples rather than proving to the world that the most powerful nation in the world cannot solve its problems without slaughter and bloodshed. It's time this nation leads by (good) example and rise above war, even when it comes to dealing with the most despicable of former allies. Otherwise we're just the biggest bully on the block and no better than any of them. Ken!

Ken!, I just wanted to thank you for your stand on this war issue. I'm so tired of hearing all the war rhetoric. I'm tired of a Congress and Democrats who don't have the nerve to voice dissent. It's refreshing to be able to read your column every week because you're not intimidated by all the imperialist war-mongering conservatives and you speak the truth. The truth is, many of the people who support the war have been politically indoctrinated from the very start by our right-wing media. They've been brain-washed and they've been told it's only patriotism. I don't think it's patriotic for Americans to have their opinions silenced if they oppose Bush's policies. I'm really concerned by this and it saddens me. Many Americans don't have minds of their own. They believe everything the media says. And ALL of our major networks are owned by rich Republicans who will profit from all of this. The only guy who had the nerve to oppose on national TV (Phil Donahue) lost his job at MSNBC because of "low ratings" although it is known (and the network admits) that other shows on MSNBC have even worse ratings. The United States has a history of supporting oppressive dictatorships in the past. They supported dictatorships in the Phillipines, Mozambique, and Angola. They helped the Guatemalan military carry out a genocidal campaign against many Guatemalans of Mayan descent. They supported the Shah of Iran, who is also known to have been a brutal tyrant, although he was pro-West. The U.S. was even friendly with Saddam himself for a period of time after the Iranian revolution. They sold weapons to the Iraqis!! These are weapons that they probably still have. And our government is going to bitch and point fingers at Saddam. They supported the pro-capitalist dictator of Cuba who was overthrown by Castro. And that guy was an SOB with his people. But we supported him because he was a capitalist. The fact that the Cuban people were starving and destitute didn't make a difference. Our media never mentions the positive changes that have happened in Cuba since Castro assumed power. Their literacy rate is among the highest in the world, and they have the finest health care system (probably better than ours) in Latin America. We blame the poverty of the Cuban people on Communism and Castro but the truth is it's the American embargo that has hurt them. The same way the sanctions have hurt Iraq. There is a long list of countries where the United States has overthrown governments who were democratically elected. I won't mention all of them because it'll take too long. The evidence leads me to believe that we are not attacking Iraq because we stand for democracy and human rights. This isn't because Bush wants to free the Iraqi people. Although it is a convenient excuse, and many Americans will believe it. I do not base my opinions on our media like many others. My opinions are based on facts and actual evidence. Not on religion or patriotism. Emotions and prejudices need to be put aside when it comes to serious issues like these. And now Bush has made enemies of our former friends. Now we actually have ridiculous people who want to change French fries to "freedom fries" and French toast to "freedom toast." Neither of these foods are actually French. This is just plain old ludicrous. This isn't patriotism. It's out-of-control nationalism, and nationalism is a dangerous thing to be toying with. We need to unite with the world, not isolate ourselves with the idea that we're "superior" to everyone else. The world thinks Americans are arrogant; that's why we're despised all over the world. And not just in Arab nations. Every nation reigns sovereign over themselves. We are a nation. So are countries like Swaziland and Bhutan and Madagascar. This means we all have the same status. The United States' wealth doesn't make it more important than these nations. The lives of the people in these nations are lives too. They breathe air, and blood flows through their veins too. What makes our lives worth more than theirs? 40 million Americans don't have health insurance; 100% of Cubans do. This should be distressing to some people. Approximately 35 million Americans live below the poverty line and Bush isn't doing a damn thing about it. Instead, he's wining and dining the wealthy with his exclusive tax breaks that don't do a thing for working-class Americans. Gas prices here in some places in California are almost $4 per gallon. Why isn't Bush doing something about that? Why are there American corporations who are exempt from paying corporate taxes because they have headquarters overseas? American taxpayers are paying for these corporations' debts. Isn't this disturbing to anyone? It sure as hell bothers me. I'm not against freedom and democracy. But I am against what I'm seeing right now. This just doesn't seem like what the United States is supposed to be. I do think the U.S. government has been consistent with one thing. They have supported capitalism and spread it in any way they can. A totalitarian capitalist state is "better" than a democratic socialist one. So instead of claiming to be a champion of freedom and democracy, why don't they just be honest with us? The real cause is capitalism and the free-market. Not because we want to help the Iraqi people. I doubt Bush is seriously shedding tears over them. And Ken!, there's yet another thing that pissed me off. The same people I personally know who were kissing Bush's ass and supporting the war like automatons are now complaining because there's nothing but the "boring war crap" on TV. They supported it; now they need to sit their asses down and watch it. I have so much more to say but I'll stop there. Thanks again, Ken!. I appreciate your honesty and boldness to speak your mind. A Pissed-Off California Girl

Dear Pissed-Off California Girl, What I love the most is how the Bush administration and many Americans blather on about freedom for the Iraqis while our own civil liberties are being drained away in the name of safety. I guess freedom really is slavery. Thank you for speaking your mind. You're doubleplusgood! Ken!

Dear Ken!, If this white cotton panty-wearing fan needed to come up with a fabulous costume, preferably as a science fiction character, what would you suggest? Rusty

Ahh, Rusty! Strip those white cotton panties from your lithe frame and slip into one of these costumes: The Horta Twiki (biddi biddi biddi! Go Buck!) Ookla, The Mok Guy Smiley Barbarella Zira from Planet of the Apes (not that shit they released a couple years ago) Clarissa (the One who explains it all) Okay, Clarissa isn't a sci-fi character but Melissa Joan Hart hasn't been mentioned here much lately and I thought she was due some credit, somehow. Besides, the only thing that truly calms me during stressful times like these is the theme song from the show: nah nah na-nah, na-na-na-na nah... That's better. At least until I turn on CNN again. Ken!

Ask Ken! Home Page