President John F. Kennedy, 1963: “What kind of peace do I mean? …I am talking about genuine peace, the kind of peace that makes life on earth worth living, the kind that enables men and nations to grow and to hope and to build a better life for their children–not merely peace for Americans but peace for all men and women, not merely peace in our time but peace for all time. …I now declare that the United States does not propose to conduct nuclear tests in the atmosphere so long as other states do not do so.”
New Scientist, 2003: “A leaked Pentagon document has confirmed that the US is considering the introduction of a new breed of smaller nuclear weapons designed for use in conventional warfare. Such a move would mean abandoning global arms treaties.”
If current events are out of the question, how about events during the first Gulf War? http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=380738
That’s appalling, without question.
Someone else has written an explanation (which I didn’t provide) of why I chose to chronicle the path to war and other misdeeds of the Bush administration. This is from a column in the Austin Chronicle:
“We write, we speak, we read, we listen, we learn, we make ourselves heard, we take our stand — for we must make clear that this government is not acting in our name or with our consent. We do this for the sake of our personal honor and dignity; we do this in solidarity with peaceful people everywhere and in the frail hope that we may change this nation’s terrible course; and we do this to leave a record, to bear witness, toward the time that will inevitably come, when an accounting will be demanded and must be given, an accounting to the world and to history, for the gruesome sin our leaders are about to commit.”
But I’ve made it more than clear where I stand. Repeating myself isn’t going to help. And posting links to news stories on a little-read weblog isn’t going to change very many minds, especially since most or all of my readers already agree with me.
It would be supremely ironic if the nuclear weapons inspectors currently wandering around Baghdad started to use geiger counters on the battlefields of Southern Iraq.
The quote from the Austin Chronicle reminds me of a song by Pete Seeger (or perhaps just performed by him): “Last Train to Nuremberg”