25, July 2003 Response to local letter
RE: Iraq War
Sunil Adam's
'Analysis/Opinion (l-West 25, July) castigates India for its failure to respond
affirmatively to Washington's
request to dispatch a 'peacekeeping contingent' to Iraq. He accuses New Delhi
of being myopic by not seizing
the opportunity to become 'center stage' with the great superpower. It is a
pity that Mr. Adam ignores the moral righteous of the pre-emptive attack on
Iraq. There is little doubt that the US attack on Iraq was launched on bogus statements manufactured
by the propaganda wing of the White House. The pre-emptive attack violated the UN Charter, international and universal standards of morality. This is
borne out by the worldwide condemnation of
the U.S. attack by mainstream religious denominations and spiritual leaders.
Bush's plans for
world domination is based on the fantasy of right wing and neo-conservative and
corporate thieves, that military
power is the sole arbiter in world politics. The New World Order conceived by
the Bushies would be similar to
the Old World of 19th Century colonialism -'send a gun boat to silence the
restless natives!'.
74 billion dollars
of our tax money has been squandered. Contrary to earlier rosy predictions, it
is now costing 1 billion dollars a
week to maintain US occupation forces in Iraq. US troops are in "shooting
gallery" as Ted Kennedy stated. Does Mr. Adam believe that offering our
jawans to become part of this shooting gallery is worth the sacrifice? Are we
Indians so desperate to grovel and seek approval from Washington?
No, Mr. Adam! The
US has got itself in a pickle. Its web of deceit is unraveling and our troops
are now trapped in the mother of
all quagmires! The US must swallow its national pride, go before the UN,
apologize for its dismissive
insulting behavior, mend fences with our former European allies, the French,
Germans and the Russians and seek their help. Failure to do so will result in
more loss of lives and intensify the anger both at home and abroad.
