Letter to the editor: World peace risked by ignoring dissent

Dear Editor,

I've seen the news that there is now a grave threat to world peace, and I have to sit back and ask myself, "Which threat to world peace?"

In Spain, I've gotten to see just how much people here don't want this war. I've seen 15,000 people from all walks of life in the streets of Pamplona, a city of 250,000 (and this on the coldest day of the year). I have seen the signs, "No a la guerra" (no to the war), at every turn.

There is a threat to world peace today, because the United States has an administration that has refused to rule out pre-emptive use of nuclear weapons.

Notice that during the Sunday news conference, the Italian government, which is supportive of a war, was not represented. The cynical explanation for this would be that the ruling Italian party, Forza Italia, has a working relationship with the Italian Mafia (The Guardian, 12/05/02).

Furthermore, the current Spanish prime minister was a card-carrying fascist in his youth -- something he has yet to renounce. Then there's British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who has watched his party fragment with the resignation of Robin Cook, an important leader in his own party.

And after all of this we still don't have the man who killed 3,000 of our citizens. We only have war.

For the Bush administration the most dangerous thing that can come to pass is peace. This lesson came from his father, because in peace the suffering of people made unemployed by the Republican party's corporate agenda, along with turncoats in the Democratic party, will be exposed.

Only in the absence of knowledge can ignorance prevail, and it looks like ignorance has won the day with our president's decision to ignore the obvious opposition in the United States and abroad. May God save us all.

Adam Stant
senior


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