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Let's listen to France
Why is everyone giving France a hard
time? The French are just trying to do
what is right for the world. I think we
should give France a chance and listen
to their advice. If the French want to
give Saddam more time to disarm then
so be it. If France does not want the
U.S. to act unilaterally in defending it
self against Iraqi and terrorist aggres
sion, then let's not. France is right! The
U.S., as a sovereign nation and the
world's superpower, has no business
protecting itself against a dictator who's
sworn mission in life is to destroy
America.
When all the evidence is weighed and
the facts are examined, France's stand
will prevail. French judgment and in
tellect is just superior to America's. We
simply cannot rebut many of France's
good points. What would the world do
if individual countries tried to remove
totalitarian governments and liberate in
nocent people? The world would be a
crazy and dangerous place.
What would the world do if nations
moved to eliminate threats of nuclear,
biological, and chemical attacks?
World order would be out of control!
Thank God for France and its attempt
to help the United States rationalize ac
tion against the Kurd butcher, Saddam
Hussein. Without French opposition,
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President Bush might do something
ridiculous like carry on a war against
terrorism!
The global community should rally
with France and let the French gov-
Lets not forget to give France its kudos
for WWI. Good thing the French Army
didn't let the Brits and Americans hold
them back, or else Germany would have
ran roughshod over Europe. And there we
have it, France's resume of greatness. That
is enough for this humble editorialist to
Look, here's how it is follow French leadership. Oh wheezers
geezers, I almost forgot WWII. Some-
Guy Reschenthaler times I just get on such a kick talking about
my favorite nation France that I lose my
self in France's glory.
WWII—The French crushed the Nazis.
The French Army held the Germans back
for years with the mighty Maginot line.
And then they didn't take German occu
pation lying down. They formed the Vichy
Regime and really shoved it in Hitler's
face. Gotta love French will power.
Maybe all the other nations of the world
ernment direct international affairs.
France is such a world power and an
economic powerhouse, that I see no
other choice. If Earth is a "global vil
lage." I'd nominate Chirac] for mayor.
That is how strongly I hack the
French.
Besides always having an enlight-
Everyone else is doing it
Yeah, everyone has his or her opinion about the war with Iraq. Most do not make
sense, though. I hear people discussing politics (or trying) and saying, "Yeah, the
economy is had, what we need is a war," or "All we're going to do is kill innocent
civilians if we go to war!" These are typical bandwagon phrases, one-liners that
people use to try to look half-way intelligent. I hear futile attempts at critical analyses
of the American government. "If Clinton was still in office, none of this would be
happening," is another popular bandwagon phrase.
The problem is, this small talk spreads like wildfire - ignorance becomes
unleashed. I'm going to explain a few things, some about the war and some
about where you should get your information from. Hell, if everyone else
can offer an opinion, then why can't 1?
First, one of the most important things to understand about Iraq is
that its citizens do not enjoy even the simple freedoms that people
in the United States and elsewhere do. There is no regard for
44144100 "
human rights, the government can harass, kill, and/or torture
anyone it chooses. Iraqi citizens know what Saddam wants them 1,
to know, which is very little. I like to think of Iraq as a fishbowl ik s
of people who don't really know the danger of their leader, and 4
don't really know that we're trying to help them. The problem r'•
is, they're not allowed to know. Many times we forget that the - • '
Iraqi population is virtually brainwashed. We, on the other hand, Chew on this
live in a land where any and all information is available for us to Rob Wynne
know, where all points of a matter can be considered, and dissent
does not equal death.
Second, to elaborate on the first point, Saddam kills his own people. For example,
during the Gulf War, the U.S. was accused of shooting at bunkers that housed
civilians and refugees. What many don't realize is that Saddam ordered to have
some of his military buildings set up as shelters; military targets as far as the U.S.
was concerned, propaganda points as far as Saddam was concerned. He wanted to
portray the U.S. as murderers, but used his own people to complete the task. This
is who we are going up against. Yes, there are many rulers like him, but he is the
worst. Many Americans are worried that too many Iraqi citizens will be killed in
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that week's issue
, .
Friday, March 21, 2003
One out of 60 sunny days
As man) avid Beacon readers know, sunshine is not one
of Erie's strong points. I still say if I could go back in time,
I would have applied to some southern state and majored in
surfing with a minor in bong rips.
But finally spring is coming to embrace Erie County with
clammy hands and a 40 percent chance of snow throughout
the week. Instead of enjoying a rare sunny- day Erie
experiences, I am bound by invisible chains inside
a computer lab being a slave to a moder
type of castration, the tip of the skin beit
brain, staring blankly at screen staring baci
wondering who's the one controlling whi
I used to blame the horrible weather
the horrible town for feeling miserable and
with a town as crappy at Erie and the
weather being so bad as to only receive
60 days of sunshine per year, it was a
pretty safe bet. But now it's a sunny
day and there's an indoor water park
off of 1-90 so now what's my excuse?
It would be really easy to point the
finger at people and say, "Hey man,
you're the reason I feel bad!" Or get in
some girl's face and say, "You're the rea
son my life sucks!" That is easy to do. But I
look around and I'm not sure anyone is having a good life
For example, I was at the bar a few Thursdays ago and
heard something about a war going. Now I have a few friends
overseas fighting and I checked with their families and they're
not happy and I know a few people who don't that the war
period; go figure. Now we can blame Saddam Hussein,
Afghani terrorists and yes, even Erie weather for feeling like
crap, but I don't think that's the problem.
I was driving up Nagle Road, windows down, blasting EMF
and saw a boy wearing glasses, jumping in mud puddles,
having the time of this life and thought about the last time I
ened view of global politics, France has a
great military record and a splendid his
tory of common sense. For starters, France
gave a 14-year old girl control of its mili
tary. Now that was a smart move. France
slaughtered its monarchy and half of its
civilians during the French Revolution in
pursuit of a democratic form of govern
ment. Man, were they successful. Napo
leon did a great job as dictator and leader
of a free France. Yep, from a king to an
emperor, France made a move in the right
direction.
1..
Mike Butala
should nickname France, "Fierce
France." I can just hear it in the UN,
"Would the distinguished ambassador
from "Fierce" France please raise and
address the humble globe as we all lis
ten to the voice of reason from "Fierce"
France on what to do?" That is like mu
sic to my ears.
Today, we should look upon France
for leadership and sound advice. With
out it the United States could go and do
something very selfish like liberate Iraq.
The U.S. might make a blunder and
bring greater rights to Iraqi women,
peace of mind to Iraq's neighboring na
tions, give Kurds and other minority
groups in Iraq freedom. God forbid we
do such a noble and courageous thing!
Without Fierce France, George Bush
may go nuts and try to protect Ameri
can citizens from Saddam Hussein: even
worse, the U.S. may try to create a demo
cratic government in the Middle East.
How foolish! I sleep so soundly at night
knowing that France is doing the right
thing.
Look, here's how it is; enough of this
nonsense, Marie Antoinette had it right
when she said, "Let them eat cake," be
cause the French are a bunch of cake
eaters. France is one of the most blun
dering nations of all time. I cannot wait
till we invade Iraq and find that Saddam
the war; but I say there are too many being killed even without war.
Third, there is one major enemy in this war terror. What the United Nations and
many people fail to understand is that Iraq is loaded with terrorists and money for
terrorist organizations and terror doesn't adhere to any U.N. inspection guidelines.
or any rules for that matter. This isn't going to be a war between civilized nations,
it's going to be a war against an unpredictable regime who moves their deadly
weapons on an hourly basis to avoid the United Nations. Cohn Powell announced
before the U.N. the proven connections between Al-Qaeda and Hussein,
something the Iraqi foreign minister denied and lied about weeks before.
Allowing U.N. inspections to continue is just buying Saddam, as well as
terrorists, more time.
However, those are my opinions opinions based on studying history and
political science for the last four years here at Behrend, with a lot of attention
devoted to watching and reading the news and I still know very little
about global politics.
Like I said before, there are many bandwagon talkers out there
proclaiming that they know what's going on. But, a good way to
begin to understand something is to study it heavily. I urge you to
watch lots of news, particularly interviews with government
officials, and lots of PBS. There are a number of informative
documentaries on this station that interview individuals who work
in the upper levels of government that have helped shape foreign
policy decision making. Also, news magazines contain lots of
information about politics and profiles on important individuals.
This is where you will really find the facts.
Lastly, regardless of whether or not you approve of this war, it is inevitable. To
that extent, we must now back our President, and more so, our troops. The best
method for winning this war is going to be providing a united front, and a lot of
support for our troops. We saw a tremendous boost in American pride after 9/11
we need to continue this pride for the fathers, mothers, teachers, and all of the friends
that have been sent out to wage this confrontation. If our country is not united
going into this war, then indeed, everyone will lose.
was that happy. I think I was at the bar on a Thursday night
bitching about Erie and Erie weather. But there was a time when
jumping in puddles amused me. It made me sadder. Sadder to
realize that the more naïve I was, the happier I was. How many
kids do you know who are clinically depressed? It was esti
mated that over 36 percent of all males over 21 have some sort
of depression disorder, which was the most common disease in
males. In women it was like 24 percent and like fourth most
behind PMS and dishwasherhands or something.
It depressing looking at these numbers and
turning on the television to see that anti-depres
sants are available practically4hrough mail-order.
If the world is so goddamn depressed, I think
something should be done about the world that
didn't involve a written subscription by your
local doctor. Something like pony rides or ev
eryone gets a free kitten because as much fun
as getting wasted, wasted off of booze that is, is
that it's still a depressant. I used to have a friend
that we called "Doc" and we'd tell him. "I have a
bruised knee" and he'd say, "Drink 5 bee'rs".
He basically remediel our pain by subscrib
ing beer and it worked. But alcohol is one
of those things that only works if you take
it all the time because after the buzz is worn
off your back where you started.
I'm not advocating the sustaining of alcoholic beverages by
any means, I'd he a hypocrite. All I'm saying is this. Quit blam
ing other people, places, and things for your life sucking, you
control your decisions and the paths you take but Erie does suck
on an unrelated note.
Butala's column
appears every three weeks
The Behrend Beacon
has violated United Nations policy and
France is proven wrong. I cannot wait
for us to free the Iraqi people despite
France's opposition
I'd love to see Colin Powell step up
in the UN and say, "How can the United
Nations expect France to man up and
fight to liberate Iraq when they would
not stand up and liberate themselves
from Hitler." That would be awesome.
My thoughts—the U.S. going to the
UN Security Council is just a ploy to
give us more time to make sure our spe
cial forces have secured Iraqi oil bases,
propagandized the military, and rallied
opposition to Saddam. I think that all
the talk about Iraq may even be a decoy
for us storming Iran first, then moving
into Iraq or liberating the two nations si
multaneously.
No matter what the reason, it is too
good know who is with us and who is
against us. France is definitely not with
us and I believe we should slap France
with every economic stick we have. If
the U.S. does this, France could easily
slide into a recession. Their economy is
pathetic, their people are a hunch of
Nancies, and their political leaders are
of an even more spineless lot. When the
dust over Baghdad settles, France is go
ing to be humiliated and its international
credibility and influence will lay in ruin.
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