U.S. should not attack Iraq

Dear Editor,

The United States should not attack Iraq and start yet another war in the Middle East. Military intervention is a poor choice.

Previous U.S. military involvement in foreign countries has never had a positive outcome, as displayed by our interactions with the countries of Iran and Guatemala. The injustice promoted by our governing body creates double standards that hypocritically raise the value of American lives above those in the rest of the world.

In 1953, the U.S. overthrew Mossadeq, the leader of Iran. He had nationalized the industries in his country and taken control of Iranian oil. The United States, claiming to see a communist threat but really incensed by the lack of control over oil, designed a military coup in which the Shah was able to assume power. The Shah proceeded to oppress the Iranian people, and created the Savak, a secret police force to terrorize the people and protect him. These crimes were overlooked, and in fact favored by the United States, for it had reassumed control of Iranian oil.

Similar intervention in Guatemala resulted in a corrupt leader that didn’t support progressive social reform. In this situation a U.S. corporation, The United Fruit Company, had profits threatened when two consecutive leaders, Arbenz and Arvelo promoted land reform to diminish economic disparities linked to land ownership. The U.S. responded to these actions with military intervention and a regime change, to secure the private corporation’s investments, again placing profits above justice, or human life.

As illustrated through these and various other U.S. interventions, economic gain in a common theme in U.S. involvement. It is important to question why we are willing to attack Iraq and negotiate with North Korea. It is also critical to evaluate our definition of the Queda network, and not the innocent people of Iraq. Hopefully, the U.S. will make the right decision. Sometimes doing the right thing means taking a stand, and the U.S. nation needs to do just that.

I believe that President Bush has sense on things and to see clearly and we should make sure we have the proof before we take any kind of actions against different countries.

Pasang Sherpa

Carbondale