Letters to the Editor

Just Wars

As someone who wasted a month in 1952 being brain-defiled at the Royal Military College at which Prof. Dorn teaches, (“Just Wars…” etc., Jan-Mar issue) I wonder how he would rate World War I among those 18 US wars since 1900—an inexcusable catastrophe without which there would have been no “World War II” (at least in the form and on the scale that transpired) as well as no “Iraq” nor “Israel,” etc. The usual labels applied to the USA’s criminal wars in Asia are of course all mendacious, such as the wars against the Philippines, Korea, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Iraq, Libya, and Afghanistan. To call this monumental media and governmental hypocrisy acceptable simply won’t pass muster any more than WWI could be justified.

While one’s at it, try to find anything but asininity and lunacy in the War of 1812 and the US Civil War, not to mention their unpar­donable waste of lives. Mean time, North American soldiers to this day are being welcomed home as heroes by brain-dead families and towns after the misled youths were bribed and duped into serving their terms of “duty.” Count them lucky if they don’t return mutilated or in a box.

Rob MacLeod
Sirdar BC

Negotiate with Iran

Imposing more pressure on Iran will not work. This approach has been tried re­peatedly for years but has not halted the advance of Iran’s nuclear program. Sanctions have caused serious harm to the Iranian economy but have not changed the regime’s political charac­ter. On the contrary, the octogenarian rulers in Iran seem to have grown even more reactionary and un­yielding.

To break through the Leader’s reluctance will take a significant initiative from the United States. We know what we want from Tehran: binding limits on its nuclear program, assurances that it is not building a bomb, and more rigorous international monitoring. What is the US prepared to offer in return?

If Tehran permits more in­trusive inspections and guarantees the peaceful character of its nuclear pro­gram, the US should accept Iranian enrichment and begin to lift sanctions. With each step to ward greater Iranian transparency we should further ease sanc­tions, aiming toward the normalization of economic and political relations.

Reaching these goals will require a long journey, given the historical animosity be­tween Washington and Tehran and the divisiveness of these issues. A negotiated solution is indispensable, though, and is the only way to prevent proliferation and avoid war.

David Cortright
Kroc Institute, Notre Dame University, Indiana

For Albanian Adventure

For the sixth year we will be taking volunteers this summer to remote Albanian villages in some of Europe’s most beautiful mountains.There they will work with young people for two or three weeks, teaching English and social/environ-mental issues. All volunteers are responsible for their own expenses. Contact me at www.balkanspeacepark.org.

Antonia Young
President, Balkans Peace Park Committee UK

ICAN Meeting in Oslo

I have finished attending the ICAN civil society forum section. The ICAN government forum continues tomorrow [4 Mar.]. Norway invited all countries and 132 governments responded positively by sending reps. Only the Security Council or P5 nuclear weapon states did not send anyone. Booo! They’d better hope we don’t come up with a real nice and strong nuclear weapon con­vention in their absence which will hurt them where it hurts most—their public and electorate!

I met with sever­al other IPPNW members here in Oslo. We agreed that each country has to contact its Red Cross to make sure that they will collaborate with us and the ICAN goals in the next 12 months. I do not know how this works in English and French Canada, in the provinces, etc. Any suggestions?

Dr. Juan Carlos Chirgwin, Montreal
juan.chirgwin@mcgill.ca

GDAMS Coming Up Soon

Science for Peace will hold its Global Day of Action on Military Spending on April 15th 7pm. Come and join in.

Did you know that the mil­itary is the single largest in­dustrial emitter of green-house gases in the world and that it is all exempt under the Kyoto Protocol?

Did you know that police are increasingly militarized, using more lethal weapons and surveillance that is often technically illegal?

Did you know about the military-prison complex?

Did you know that the Canadian Pension Plan in­vests millions of (your) dollars in the military?

We want to stop the mili­tary and its greenhouse gas emissions. Come and dis­cuss it with us.

Judy Deutsch, Vice-President, Science for Peace

Peace Magazine Apr-Jun 2013

Peace Magazine Apr-Jun 2013, page 5. Some rights reserved.

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