Column: Bombs over Baghdad

God only knows the myriad atrocities that have already plagued the nation of Iraq. Inevitably adding to the numerous monotonous war-themed arguments, I can't help but acknowledge the obvious - America has gone to war, and the repercussions of President George W. Bush's decisions will most likely be catastrophic, not only to Iraqi citizens but also to the smug and unwitting citizens of the United States of America.

French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin depicted this devastation most eloquently when he said, "the [impending war] highlighted two conflicting visions-one based on the use of force to cut through the complexities of the modern world, and the other built on the idea that progress in international relations depended on dialogue." Perhaps I haven't supported this war because of my inherent distrust for Bush and his entire administration, or perhaps my opposition is rooted in an trivial degree of patriotism toward the United States - in either case, I find myself painfully aware of the fact that bombs are not innately equipped to hone in only on the blood of Saddam Hussein. Weapons of war are neither subjective nor sensitive to the multitude of blameless victims who will be maimed, traumatized or killed in the process.

In an attempt to beat a dead horse, I will assert that the predominantly white patriarchal government in place today has been tainted from its onset. (Do I really need to delve into the inhumane colonial conquests that ultimately managed to create the "morally upstanding" nation we see today). So it's no surprise that the pre-textual ambition of the Bush administration is to democratize the Arabic and Islamic world, in part at least. The reality is that the more intuitive of us can discern that Bush has ulterior motives that eventually will aid in his quest to create subservient allies in the Middle East. What nation wouldn't want total control of the world's second largest reserve of oil?

Why hasn't Bush pursued North Korea with the same vigor? A jealous and frustrated North Korean President Kim Jong Il wonders what he has to do to attract American military attention. Within the past two-and-a-half months, North Korea has barred U.N. nuclear inspectors, withdrawn from the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, restarted a mothballed nuclear complex skilled at creating weapons-grade plutonium and threatened to resume missile tests. Unfortunately, none of that sparked Bush's attention the way that Hussein's nefarious actions have. In a recently translated interview, Kim whined, "I do not understand why President Bush is so much more interested in Saddam than he is in me. I'm a strange, tyrannical, unpredictable madman, as well, you know" (not really). The answer is that North Korea has nothing that the United States could immediately plunder and use to its benefit.

My apologies if I ask to many questions, I am curious by nature. I can't help but wonder: What grants one country the right to tell another not to have weapons of mass destruction? Paradoxically, while the United States encourages U.N. investigators to delve into suspicious countries' every nook and cranny, new inventions are secretly being worked on in a vast network that this nation has diligently devoted to weapons of mass destruction for more than a half a century. Now that I think of it, how can one really blame Bush for being among the vast majority of Americans who conveniently forget that the United States is the only nation ever to use a nuclear weapon?

Who is more moronic: Bush, for thinking that the American public would support such blatantly hypocritical and self-seeking rhetoric and action or the American public for doing just that? I have only one request, in this era reminiscent of the McCarthyistic culture of fear, an era in which freedoms are eroded and the bold voice of dissent is labeled dangerously unpatriotic, please don't mistake my ideology for ingratitude. Ample opportunities exist in this nation that citizens can only dream of elsewhere. For this I am thankful - there is a surplus of food (where else are the obese so plentiful), free education and organized law. Yet, as I sit here, with my back to the television, listening to the boom of resounding missiles, I can't help but wonder why all of this could not have been avoided.