The Rev. Dudley E. Sarfaty, HR, sent this comment on US plans to invade Iraq.  [posted 9-3-02]

I FEAR THAT I AM QUITE CONVINCED THAT A HOWL TO BE HEARD AND A HOWL TO BE SEEN IS THE ONLY THING THAT WILL PREVENT UNILATERIAL PREEMPTIVE WAR.

Vice President Cheney says it is better to do something rather than nothing about Iraq.

That presumes that there are no creative alternatives to a unilateral preemptive military attack by the USA on Iraq.

It is certainly not better to do the wrong thing but it is preferable to discover the best possible scenario alternative to the US playing World Policeman by itself.

In our parish there still are young men suffering the physical effects of Desert Storm.

Recently, North Korea was our biggest threat. Iran is scarcely an ally.

We have not yet restored democratic peace and tranquility to Afghanistan. How many wars can we handle at once?

The American people are hesitant to start a war if it would run a long time and cost us high casualties; and they are even more cautious when reminded of the chances of a long military occupation of Iraq.

Our invasion of Iraq could play into the hands of those who want to hate us and stir up another generation of terrorist hostility towards the US when we haven't managed to deal with the hostile terrorists who are already stirred up against us.

Worse yet, few disagree that until there is a genuine peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians there is no chance to put the international focus on Iraq's threatening armaments programs.

Our government talks as if it were possible to do something that would protect us from all attacks, even those as horrendous as 9/11. That is not possible; anywhere in the world. The way the world is constituted, we will always have a certain vulnerability to hostile attacks, just as
we have to expect certain child kidnappings, rapes and murders, West Nile Virus, et al.

It is easy to make a punching bag out of anyone as distasteful as Saddam Hussein. American public opinion could get whooped up to want to attack him, to prevent what he might be thinking of doing or getting ready to do. Years ago I heard that the USA had a contingency military plan to attack England in self-defense. Since then I've learned that allies also spy on one another. But how many countries would we have to attack if we chose the unilateral preemptive method to rid the world of any threatening dictatorships?

The threat that Iraq is to the world, and to the Arab Middle East in particular, is no secret from our allies and the rest of the nations of the world. We could consider some type of international
Marshall-Plan-approach to the world's poverty and discontent rather than thinking we can, by ourselves, suppress every ill willed hostility that appears.

I hear no US national legislator or candidate for President clearly suggest that we work together with our sister nations to bring about collective security. Are they all cowed by the fear of appearing
unpopular? If so, and without vision, I question whether any of them are worth having in office.

Only a few Republicans who object to the excesses of runaway big government are raising red flags, and the Democrats are clinging to the gray middle so that they don't stand out and attract pro-war hostility in the next election.

A US unilateral preemptive war in Iraq, with no real allies, entered into by any American Political Administration risks being such a failure as to cost that Party any chance to ever rule again.

The large number of deaths and injuries on both sides in a new Iraq war - since, once started, we would have to fight to win, no matter what the cost - are frightening. The high money cost to American taxpayers would short circuit any effort to save Social Security, Medicare, education improvement, prescription drugs, air and water pollution control and just about every other federal program dear to the hearts of American Citizens.

DES

Pastor Sarfaty first came to the North Country to minister in Burke Center and Chateaugay when the first Iraq war began.

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