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A Time For Questions
by David Krieger, July 23, 2003
Readers' Comments
These are times in which there are many more questions
than answers, and many Americans are beginning to form and articulate
these questions. Some of the questions on my mind are the following:
1. If the president gives false
information to the American people about the reasons for going
to war, should he be held to account?
2. If the United Nations Security
Council does not authorize a preemptive war, can any country proceed
to war or is this the sole prerogative of the US government?
3. If a country proceeds to war
without UN authorization, is this “aggressive warfare,”
the type of warfare for which German and Japanese leaders were
punished after World War II?
4. When the North Korean government
repeatedly states that the nuclear crisis can be defused if the
US will negotiate a mutual security pact with them, why is the
current US administration dragging its feet in proceeding to enter
into negotiations?
5. Does the United States have
a responsibility to participate with UN forces in restoring security
to civilians in civil wars, such as that in Liberia?
6. Should American troops stationed
in Iraq have the right to complain about the policies of civilian
leaders responsible for our policy there?
7. With half its combat forces
in Iraq, is the US military stretched so thin that it cannot adequately
protect Americans at home or participate in needed UN peacekeeping
operations abroad?
8. With the war in Iraq costing
American taxpayers nearly $4 billion per month and the US deficit
expected to exceed $400 billion this year, was it wise to pass
large tax cuts for the richest Americans?
9. Is the desire to control Iraq’s
oil the reason that the US hasn’t asked the United Nations
for help in providing peacekeeping in Iraq?
10. What is the relationship of
companies such as Halliburton, Bechtel and the Carlyle Group,
which are profiting from the war in Iraq, to members of the current
US administration?
11. Are Americans safer to travel
throughout the world after the Iraq War?
12. Has the credibility of the
United States throughout the world increased or decreased in the
aftermath of the Iraq War?
13. What is the current status
of respect for the United States throughout the world?
14. Why has the current US administration
been hostile to the creation of an International Criminal Court
to hold individual leaders accountable for genocide, war crimes
and crimes against humanity?
15. Is war an effective way to
make peace?
It is time to start demanding answers from our
government to these questions and many more, and their answers
should not be given only in secrecy behind closed doors. Questions
about war and peace are far too important to be left only to politicians
and generals without the voice of the people. It is time for an
ongoing public dialogue that includes answers to questions from
the public. If democracy is to have meaning, the people have a
right to know and they deserve to have their questions answered.
--David Krieger is president
of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation (www.wagingpeace.org). He
is the editor of Hope in a Dark Time, Reflections on Humanity’s
Future (Capra Press, 2003)..
Readers' Comments
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Thanks for your message and the 15 questions
each human being should be trying to answer today. More and
more people actually are asking themselves these questions,
so humanity's slim chances for survival are increasing a little
every day!
- Olivier, Japan
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