Letters to the Editor, May 24, 2006

June 6, 2006 anti-Bush, anti-Iran war rally in Washington.

No Armageddon for Bush Rally on 666 in Washington

WAR

The Campaign Against Sanctions and Military Intervention in Iran (CASMII), WorldCantWait.net, and Stop the War.net are among the endorsers of this June 6, 2006 anti-Bush, anti-Iran war rally in Washington.

The 666 data was deliberately chosen by the admission of the rally organizers, with reference to the Apostle John's eschatological reference to the Beast in chapter 13 of The Apocalypse.

URL for 666 Rally in Washington Against Bush and War with Iran

Canadian Musician Wants to Communicate with Iraqi and Iranian Counterparts

Greetings from the West Coast of Canada,

First please accept my apologies, as well as those of so many Canadians, for our government's complicity with the US for atrocities to the people of Iraq and Afghanistan. Please believe me that most people I know are adamantly against these horrible aggressions.

I am a member of the Victoria Symphony Orchestra in British Columbia, Canada, and I am also that orchestra's delegate to the Organization of Canadian Symphonic Musicians.

OCSM is a branch of the American Federation of Musicians, the labour union representing most North American professional orchestra musicians (although it functions largely as a professional lobby group and is full of bureaucratic self-interest). OCSM has an annual conference every August.

I would be very interested in touching base with our colleagues and musical brothers and sisters in both Iran and Iraq. I would like to read some brief statements from Persian and Iraqi orchestral musicians , describing their musical life, working conditions, personal viewpoints, etc, in order to foster better relations between our two countries. My idea is that the first step in avoiding and stopping conflict is communication.

If anybody can help me contact any professional classical musicians in Iran and Iraq (both Western and traditional classical), I would be very grateful.

Sincerely,

Kenji Fuse

Principal Viola, Victoria Symphony Orchestra

Email: yk120@victoria.tc.ca

US Aggression

I read Dr Ali's list of of US Wars and Military Involvements, and it now appears obvious that the US is more of an aggressor than a peacemaker. I mistakenly supported the invasion of Iraq, and I sent an email to support our Australian troops. Now I have turned around, and I am telling everybody that we should get out of Iraq.

So, why did I change my mind? My position was this:- I was comfortable with the removal of a wicked dictator (Saddam Hussein) who flouted UN resolutions and stockpiled WMDs. However, as we all know, since then the WMDs have been found to be a chimaera, and Saddam Hussein appears not to have played a part in the 9/11 attacks. But I also started to question the US record of involvement, and it is becoming clear that the US is the aggressor, and the UN far from being strenthened has been undermined by the US invasion.

It would be interesting to plot a graph of US military involvement since the Vietnam War and see if it is any different to the previous period. I doubt that there would be much difference. My only worry is that if you call for the US to cease their aggressive foreign policy, and remove them from the political picture, would some evil leaders take advantage and start their own personal wars? For example, would every country get nuclear weapons, would we see border clashes between India and Pakhistan, and would Israel die? What would happen? It is this that keeps me in doubt.

I personally feel culturally quite similar to the US, and I find Moslem, Japanese, Chinese culture, etc, intimidating. I would not like to see a world dominated by Moslems, with their attitudes towards women. This may akll sound a bit trite, and I don't think I have said anything here that isn't being said by millions of other Westerners at the moment, but it may be necessary to express the view that many Westerners are no longer happy with US aggression. Regards John Boon Albany Western Australia

Editor:

People in the US and around the world are fed up with wars and want to see the US stop making war. The answer to your worries is strengthening the UN.

With regard to your misconception about Muslim women, I'd like to remind you that your country and the US have not elected a woman president yet. Muslims have elected Khaleda Zia as a Prime Minister of Bangladeh, Benazir Bhutto was also elected in Pakistan, Tansu Chiller in Turkey, and Megawati Sukarno-Putri in Indonesia. I hope that this is enough to tell you how much women are respected in Muslim countries.

The Filipino state’s ingratitude towards its men in uniform

I myself have no soft spot for men in uniform as majority of them have been caught red- handed to have enforced the state’s most repressive and anti-people policies. But indeed, their current issue is worth our two cents.

The forcible eviction of the retired AFP generals showed an ugly picture of ingratitude on the part of the government towards its military veterans. These men who have had to hang their ideals to stomach the corruption and the rottenness of the institution they served and protected are now treated worse than termites that should be fumigated.

This hence serves as a warning to the current set of military officers that when they are no longer of use to the government, they could just be evicted, and treated like squatters.

On a bigger picture we have witnessed the Arroyo government’s shameful sense of ingratitude, utter lack of respect for “common tao”, and glaring sense of vindictiveness. If only these retired generals were on her side of the political fence, and were as influential as the others then I’m sure they might have been spared of some of the usual political patronage being handed about.

Atty. Nasser Marohomsalic

Head Convener, Union Of Muslims for Morality & Truth (UMMAT) North Fairview, Quezon City ummat_phils@yahoo.com