Message-ID: <ILEPILDHBOLAHHEIMALBEEMHFAAA.jasonc@science.org>
From: jasonc at science.org (Jason Coombs)
Subject: FW: The U.S. should not invade Iraq at this time

-----Original Message-----
From: Jason Coombs [mailto:jasonc@...ence.org]
Sent: Friday, March 14, 2003 10:50 AM
To: president@...tehouse.gov
Subject: The U.S. should not invade Iraq at this time


Mr. President:

The U.S. should not invade Iraq at this time.

Instead we should send a clear and simple message around the world to every
person mature enough to comprehend this message:

"Civilize yourselves or you will be civilized by force."

This, after all, is the real message behind your current policies.

Your current policies are making civilized people angry at the U.S. -- this
is the wrong strategy and it is backfiring.

The U.N. is already able to rally behind us in our steadfast assertion that
the world can no longer permit uncivilized regimes because they foster and
support international terrorism and those risks are extreme. Terrorists have
only begun to experiment with weapons of mass destruction; the real threat
lies in the future when every school child has the tools and the talent
necessary to create biological pathogens.

We must give the U.N. the opportunity to prove that its core mission is the
spread of civilization and the unification of the will of earth's people to
force civilization on those who reject and wish to destroy it.

This means we must lead by example and be the first among equals of the
civilized.

There would be no weakness in coming right out and saying that this is our
position and our expectation of the U.N. but there is great weakness in
pushing the world to war based on a false pretense of disarming a single
rogue nation.

We should not, and must not, stop at civilizing Iraq. We must also civilize
any who choose to reject civilization; those who adopt and encourage
politics and religious beliefs that revolve around hate and destruction;
those who seek to advance credos of plainly uncivilized behavior.

To these people our message must be made perfectly clear:

"Civilize yourselves, or lose your right to self-determination."

The risk associated with this strategy is a repeat of history: colonialism.

We must prevent the recurrence of self-interested empire-building and let
nations and peoples who seek to become civilized choose their own path and
retain their freedom of self-determination.

We must help the world understand the future risk of uncivilized regimes and
pockets of uncivilized society within civilized nations. The threat posed by
the uncivilized to our future generations is grossly misunderstood and
underestimated.

Destroying a single enemy cannot win this war. Alienating other civilized
people in the process of fighting a single enemy accomplishes only one
thing: the spread of resistance to efforts aimed at globalizing
civilization.

'Civilization' is not defined by gross domestic product, mechanical and
technical infrastructure developed around a dependence on fossil fuels, and
other artifacts of the path to civilization that we have chosen.

If we must destroy Iraq in order to rebuild it, we have an historic
obligation to set into motion a self-perpetuating system of technical and
industrial change that centers around new hydrogen energy economies with
universal access to broadband digital communications and personal computing.

We have the ability to give these gifts of real liberty to the people who we
would presume to civilize. This means building for them the factories and
technologies necessary to leapfrog our own definition of civilization with
something that is better, at least in terms of its technical and industrial
underpinnings. Doing anything else simply increases the size of our customer
base which results in oppression for those that we conquer and employ.

Sincerely,

Jason Coombs
jasonc@...ence.org

--

Soros Predicts Brief War Rally
Fri March 14, 2003 02:16 AM ET
By Reed Stevenson

SEATTLE (Reuters) - George Soros, the outspoken billionaire hedge fund
investor and philanthropist, said a short and decisive victory in Iraq would
provide brief economic relief, but warned Thursday that U.S. military policy
is creating a dangerous "bubble of American supremacy."

"Removing the uncertainty (about a war in Iraq) would be a positive for the
stock market and the economy. A reduction in the price of oil would be a
major positive," Soros said at an event sponsored by the anti-poverty group
Global Partnerships in Seattle.

Hungarian-born Soros, renowned for his bet against the British pound that
ejected it from Europe's single-currency launch, said a nascent economic
recovery could be choked by increased spending, which is fueling a
government deficit.

"The deficit policy that we are now pursuing is a very dangerous one. Not in
the near term -- because as long as the economy is languishing there is no
negative effect on interest rates. But the moment the economy shows signs of
life, interest rates would jump because of the budget deficit and choke off
the recovery," Soros said.

He lashed out at President Bush's preparations for war with Iraq, repeating
his argument published in several newspaper editorials this week that the
Bush administration's willingness to use military power to assert U.S.
dominance is creating a backlash that is feeding on itself.

"The current pursuit of American supremacy reminds me of the boom-bust
process, or a stock market bubble," Soros said.

"A rogue regime like Saddam Hussein's does pose a threat to the rest of the
world. ... But military force must remain a last resort and it must have
some basis of legitimacy," Soros said.

The United States and Britain failed on Thursday to win support for a U.N.
Security Council resolution to authorize a looming invasion of Iraq, as the
U.S. military beefs up its presence in the Middle East in preparation for
war.

Bush's closest ally, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, is facing strong
anti-war sentiment in his country, while France remains steadfastly opposed
to a U.N.-sanctioned ultimatum.

"Whatever the outcome in Iraq, I dare to predict that the Bush policies are
bound to fail," Soros said.

Soros said that the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States have made it
difficult for political opponents and public figures to voice opposition to
Bush's policy on Iraq.

"I believe that President Bush is leading the United States and the world in
the wrong direction, and I consider nothing short of tragic that the
terrorist threat has induced the country to line up behind him so
uncritically," Soros said.

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