Not the American way

[xela]

Can't sleep. I keep thinking about the "Bush Doctrine".

This is not the American way.

This is not the American way. America doesn't start fights. America doesn't fire the first shot. America stands strong and ready, and makes it clear that attacking us is not a good plan. But we don't strike the first blow.

Our most aggressive modern President, Theodore Roosevelt, said "walk softly and carry a big stick." Of course, President Roosevelt knew what it was like to be shot at on the battlefield, unlike the chicken hawks in Washington who are so anxious to send other people off to fight and die.

There may be legitimate reasons to attack Iraq. Their refusal to comply with the terms of their surrender at the end of the Gulf War certainly demands a more concrete response than the handwringing and hot air the UN has come up with to date.

But Iraq is a special case. Dealing with Iraq does not require us to reverse 230 years of American policy.

The Bush Doctrine would make America no better then the schoolyard bully who beats up anyone whose face he doesn't like.

Comments

completely in agreement.

[nellwyn.livejournal.com]

There currently is an advertisement on TV here for a newspaper. It shows a picture of Saddam on the screen and the narrator says, "There is a man with powerful weapons threatening the world." The top half of the picture is torn away and the picture you now see is George W. Bush's head, and the narrator says, "The question is, What are we going to do about George Bush?" It ends with a plug for the newspaper saying something akin to, "'The Mirror'. Not what you'd think." The idea being it gives a different slant on things, I suppose.

I get the impression that most people here in the UK are holding their collective breath to see what, or more to the point when, President Bush will land the first blow. I've seen too many movies and read too many books - I'm almost of the mind that if it does come to war, somehow, the US will have made it so it seemed like Iraq struck the first blow when they didn't technically do so. I just hope it doesn't come to war, but that hope is wearing thin.