quote:
Originally posted by skywalker:
Please correct me if I am wrong (and I'm sure someone will).
1)The USA has more nuclear weapons than any single country.
2)The US government does not want other countries to make nuclear weapons, but it is okay for the US to have them.
3)The United States does not want other countries to tests nuclear weapons, but we are about to start doing it ourselves.
4)The US wants Russia to reduce the number of nukes they have and so will we. This does not mean destruction of them (at least at our end), it means dismantling them or taking them offline for possible repostioning or later use.
5)The Pentagon has informed the Congress it is planning for the possible use of nuclear weapons against countries that threaten us.
They are preparing contingency plans for using them against 7 nations: China, Russia, Iraq (big surprise), North Korea (2nd big surprise), Iran (last big surprise), Libya, and Syria. (This from the LA Times.)
Think about what happens to this world if even one of these nukes fly.
Think of the fallout.
Think of the legacy we will leave for our children.
I know this is being a little over the top and I apologise, but the bigger danger is how other nations will react to this. We could blame the media for leaking this, but that's not really fair. Just that this adminstration would think of doing this, means BIG trouble for the 3rd stone from the Sun. We a creating a Cold War tha dwarfs the last one. The nuclear clock again approaches midnight.
This Administration is leading us down the highway to Hell and will take the rest of the World with it.
Unfortunately, there is nothing we can do, the dictator is in control.
Mark
Mark, there's a lot of emotion and reaction in this post.
There are some things I'd want to say about this.
Why the emotional outburst now? Things have been this way for decades. You've attacked Bush as a dictator, which starts removing logic and reality from your words, and actually hampers what you're saying. Same with the one sided attack. Where is the criticism of Pakistan, India, France, Britain, Russia, China, Ukraine and Israel for owning, testing and aiming Nuclear weapons.
France practically destroyed an Atoll (cracking it undersea) near Australia with Nuclear testing, and around the same time blew up the Greenpeace ship "Rainbow Warrior" in New Zealand when it was protesting the testing.
Australia has had the Nuclear Disarmament Part running for office for a long time now. Midnight Oils Peter Garret being a front running spokesman.
This is not a new problem, and people have been working to solve or at least ease the situation for decades.
So why the anger? Why the declaration of "There's nothing we can do about it"? You've given up, despite the forward advances over the last few years.
There is something 'we' can do about it. Whether we are impatient enough to expect, demand and then disappointingly not see resolution in our own lifetime; or instead have the foresight to work for a longer term solution that may eventuate after we have departed, is something to think about.
I prefer to look small as well. Look at the individual. What hope world peace when 'loving spouses' argue? When an individual conflicts with themself. While domestic violence and suicide are rampant, what hope true peace on a grander scale.
Let us look at the inside of humanity. The spirit of the individual - of oneself, and start from there moving outward.
For you and I contribute as much to the state of the world as any 'dictator' skywalker. By embracing blame rather than avoiding it - we embrace the power to change it.
So rather than be distressed by the current climate, see things as they ever have been. Be not nihlistic about the situation, but take joy in small victories, small advances. Every day the world hasn't been destroyed is a bonus. Everyday we continue breathing is a bonus.
Find hope in these smaller victories, for hope is a strength, while fear weakens.
That's my view. Sorry if I come across as pretentious or whatever. I just firmly believe in focussing on what I have now, not what I've lost in the past, or may lose in the future.
[ 03-12-2002: Message edited by: Yorick ]