Open your eyes, Bexter, and stop pretending that what's happening isn't happening. We, as a nation, have permitted many, many people into this country who have absolutely no respect for us, our customs or our way of life. These same people exploit our freedom of speech and our 'tolerance' to promote an ideology that would take away those very freedoms. I don't see much freedom of speech or faith in countries like Iraq, Saudi Arabia or Iran, do you? In fact, we're already seeing it in action: anyone who publicly stands up and actually criticises such people is automatically branded a 'racist' by you and your fellow Guardianistas; apparently, we must respect their views, however repellent. These people, of course, are the same people who would move heaven and earth to use all means necessary to silence the likes of the BNP and other ideologies of the extreme right.

We have, in our very midst, individuals who are sworn to overthrow what they see as 'the evil West' by whatever means necessary, with the full support of people like Bin Laden and Saddam Hussein. Nothing is done about them. The full panoply of the do-gooding trendy left is wheeled out to protect them.

We are inextricably linked to the US, economically, culturally, genealogically and historically. Bush is not our 'new buddy' by any means; he and Blair are mere repreentatives of a greater and much more meaningful intertwining dating back many years and we have an absolute moral obligation to support them; as I said before, this country would have simply ceased to exist in 1940 without their assistance. To underline this, our so-called European 'friends' have shown their true colours this week in the shape of France, Belgium and Germany refusing to sanction the defence of Turkey (their economic and military ally) in the event of a possible Iraqi attack.

By virtue of your citizenship of this country and your own cultural heritage, Bexter, this war is in your name but I am left wondering what cause you actually would fight for.

Reading this, anyone would think it wasn't allowed for us to express a preference for peace over war in our so-called free country.

It seems to me that more people than we realise have swallowed the propaganda... both pro-war and anti-war.

When it comes down to it, I say the taking of life is wrong. I wouldn't do it, so I don't see why I should support someone else doing it for me.

Bexter advocates means other than war and destruction as a way of achieving our aims, and yet she is castigated and almost labelled a traitor. Very strange indeed.

face up to your share of the blame you filthy terrorist sympathiser - Petealiator 8/7/2005
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Intolerance of ambiguity is the mark of an authoritarian personality - Theodor Adorno

while thrusting in some serious stereotypes of anti war symapathisers! the guardian - i just wish i had the time!

Aside from any feelings I may have about Saddam and his cronies, one thing I do know. From all I have seen and read throughout my life, and particularly in the last 18 months, I do not and cannot trust anyone in the US Government.

Not one piece of "evidence" they have produced is remotely convincing, and until they come clean with their true aims and motives, I will always fight them (not military, of course).

As Bexter said, isn't it convenient that the latest Osama tape has been pushed out so fast, and immediately confirmed by the USG, because this time it appears to support their arguments.

I'm sorry, but I'm just not taken in by this at all.

face up to your share of the blame you filthy terrorist sympathiser - Petealiator 8/7/2005
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Intolerance of ambiguity is the mark of an authoritarian personality - Theodor Adorno

How much time would you give the weapons inspectors?

To fuel the debate, I passed on NickinOX's comments to an anti-war/anti-US work colleague (I have loads in my office!). So the following answers are not mine!

No one ever said we sold him ALL the weapons but if you remember a small thing called the Scott Report on the Arms to Iraq affair, you will recall
the then Tory govt. was lining its pockets with these sales. Also, perhaps this why we are seeing Russia, France and Germany being a little more
circumspect than we are.

That's like saying, it's my football and I'm going home so you can't play. It's a nonsensical argument and is no excuse for killing thousands of
civilians.

1) This is sepculation
2) We were actually "at war" then. This build-up of pressure on Iraq cannot be called a war. Anyone who watched any of the BBC's coverage last night will have seen that Iraq's three pea-shooters held by several blokes standing in a line with their hands over their bo***cks may not exactly be a match for the 43,000 British troops already in the region (not to mention the Yanks).

Yes, but the US doesn't. BP also plans to get back the oil fields it lost when they were nationalised (only 10% of BP's oil comes from the North Sea - most comes from Russia at the moment). If oil reserves were expressed as a ratio, the US has 10 years left and Iraq has more than 500 years.

A "fine and moral war" in Chechnya backed and fully supported by America, that is - Bush recently added several Chechen groups to his "banned" terrorist organisations giving Russia absolute legitimacy to conquer.
Amnesty has campaigned for many, many years against arms exports and specifically against the export of weapons used for torture (electroshock batons) still available from any good British retailer backed by a convenient export credit agreement from the Department of Trade and Industry to regimes such as Iraq and Saudi Arabia.
Yes, everybody knows Saddam Hussein has used the sanctions (which we imposed remember, not him) to crush his people - as a Sunni Muslim he is actually in a minority in Iraq. His opponents, the Shi'ites, represent a large majority of the ordinary people he controls and aims to crush with our "unwitting" help. Surely, this is an argument to END the sanctions not continue them.
After the 1991 Gulf War, America encouraged the Shi'ites to rise up and overthrow Saddam and at the exact moment when they looked like doing just that...the US troops stood aside and allowed the Iraqi "elite" Republican Guard to quash the rebellion. In whose interests do the US and UK government's operate?...