December 5th, 2002

Heard today that opinion polls from around the world were delivered to the White House.  More and more people are not liking what America is doing.  Hopefully, most people will understand that the president is causing most of the problems.  I wonder what it's going to take before Bush and his team realize that what they are doing has fundamental flaws in the logic.

AP - "President Saddam Hussein urged the Iraqi people on Thursday to support the new U.N. arms inspections as a welcome opportunity to disprove American allegations that his government still harbors weapons of mass destruction."

Dear President Bush,

From the New York Times:

The Yemen strike is the first time an armed Predator drone has been used to attack suspected terrorists outside of Afghanistan. The attack appears to signal a more aggressive phase in the campaign against terrorism, with the United States relying less on the cooperation of other nations to arrest and detain suspected terrorists when they are discovered overseas.

One sign of that shift appears to be that the F.B.I. and Justice Department, which have investigated the October 2000 bombing in Yemen of the destroyer Cole, were not consulted in advance about the Predator strike, according to government officials. 

From the Associated Press:

An Amnesty International spokesman in Washington said Thursday that the U.S. attack violates international treaties prohibiting summary executions done without the due process of law. Bush administration officials have said it was a legitimate wartime operation against a known enemy. 

In order to claim to be a freedom loving nation, the United States needs to follow it’s own principals, even when dealing with people from other nations.  I am extremely offended that we have taken such drastic reversals of our core principals, as described in these news clippings.  As our nation’s leader, you should be doing what is right, not just right for one side of a story.

Chad Lupkes
chadlupkes@yahoo.com

October 20, 2002

Congress has passed a resolution that allows the Executive Branch the power to conduct military operations against Iraq.  How many more of their responsibilities as the Legislative Branch of our government are they willing to give away?

This is not defending Saddam Hussein. He is a brutal person and should be brought to justice. But, is our government lying to us in order to prepare us for a war? Is this really about getting rid of Saddam, or even about weapons of mass destruction? Or is this about empire building by the US. Could this be about the United States controlling Middle East Oil and ruling the world as its only superpower?

Consider the fact that you have not heard the President speak Osama Bin Laden¹s name since March 8th. He has disappeared and Saddam has become " the evil one". They are using our fear to create their agenda. 

We could file charges against Saddam in the world court of justice recently set up for this purpose, but our leaders voted against that because they don't want Americans charged before international tribunals. People all over the world are demonstrating and marching against our plans to go to war in the hundreds of thousands.

The military build up is already in full force. What can we do to take us off this road to destruction?  Remember, the 'Cold War" is over.  Now things are beginning to heat up again.  How many mushroom clouds do we need to see before we will want to return to a world of peace?

September 16, 2001

I would like to submit my opinion about the upcoming 'War against Terrorism' that is being prepared by the US Military.  I have been reading news sources online from all over the world, and the biggest common thread between all these sources is that the entire world perceives the US as a wounded animal that is preparing to strike at anything that moves.  I am frankly very worried about that being the reality of any strike against the Taliban.  Whatever evidence is being gathered by the FBI, CIA or any other source should be something that is presented to the entire world community.

The United States Government is calling on our allies in the United Nations to support us, and that is a good thing.  However, if we act alone, we must not be the bully.  We must always be on the quest to do what is RIGHT, not what is fast or easy.  It must be clear that the military assault that is coming is against those groups convicted on the stage of the world court of being guilty of the acts against New York and Washington DC. 

Any action that does not follow these guidelines is simply turning the violence around and will be seen as nothing but an escalation of the existing conflicts that plague the Middle East.

I have read in several sources that the upcoming conflict will be similar and perhaps greater than the Vietnam War.  I wish to point out that if the US does not prove the validity of the evidence against every group that we attack, the protests against irresponsible action will also be larger than the protests against Vietnam.  And we will have no one but ourselves to blame.

I am not a born-again Christian. I do not believe in Satan, and I certainly don't believe that the Afghanistan people are followers of such a negative philosophy. The Taliban is using a terribly misguided version of Islam, and Osama Bin Laden has openly declared war against the United States and its allies. But that does not give us the right to spiritually condemn him or his followers. The symbol of the United States is an eagle with arrows in one claw, and an olive branch in the other. Until we can come to an understanding of what that symbol means, we are no better than anyone else.