[jjr69] Re: Martin Luther King's Opposition to the War on Iraq
- From: "Phan, Khai KT" <Khai.T.Phan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "'jjr69@xxxxxxxxxxxxx'" <jjr69@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 16 Jan 2003 06:58:01 +1100
Hello Viet,
The point MLK made about poverty and racism was that spending millions or
billions of dollars on a poorly justified war is bound to divert that amount of
money from the funds needed for social reforms and eradication of poverty.
Of course, we can't equate Vietnam to Iraq but there are similarities in the
way the present administration tries to put a smoke screen on the real reasons
for their actions. And, as a Vietnamese, I agree with you on a personal level
that it's not a dishonourable and unjust war for us but, on an overall
historical level, looking at the outcomes of the war and the actions and/or
inactions of the US and other allied forces (including the British and the
French) before, during and after the war, I am not so sure about this. I think
you could argue either way.
As to the armed forces, I don't know the actual statistics but I suspect the
poorer segment of the population may be more than over-represented there. But
is it really far fetched to suggest that because of this most members of the
congress (who all belong to the upper/richer class of the society) are more
willing to send them to the front ? Interesting and pretty cynical thought ?
Khai
-----Original Message-----
From: Dat Duthinh [mailto:dduthinh@xxxxxxxx]
Sent: Wednesday, January 15, 2003 1:21 PM
To: jjr69@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [jjr69] Martin Luther King's Opposition to the War on Iraq
Recently, a congressman from NY introduced a resolution to re-instate the
draft. His argument is, if your son or daughter is likely to lead the
charge into Baghdad, you would be a bit more careful about starting a
war. At last reckoning, there was only one or 2 members of congress who
had children in the armed forces. Of course, President Bush took the
smallpox vaccine first, but I don't know how well represented are the
children of highly placed officials in the military service.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
>Recent criticism of war brought up the point of the disproportionate
>numbers of people who died in fighting a war as compared to the
>“rich”. If this is true, I believe it is an economic and
>social problem (more poor men and women join or are drafted into the
>military because they don’t have other opportunities?), and not a
>policy problem. To suggest that a country (the USA) sent or is more
>willing to send its young men and women to die to prosecute a war because
>most of them are poor (and black), is a gross simplification.
EOM
NOTICE - This message and any attached files may contain information that is
confidential and/or subject of legal privilege intended only for use by the
intended recipient. If you are not the intended recipient or the person
responsible for delivering the message to the intended recipient, be advised
that you have received this message in error and that any dissemination,
copying or use of this message or attachment is strictly forbidden, as is the
disclosure of the information therein. If you have received this message in
error please notify the sender immediately and delete the message.
Other related posts:
