IDS ‘hate speech’

The editorial printed in the Jan. 16 IDS regarding the Jan. 6 incident in the Gulf of Hormuth is not a serious attempt at a discussion of the event. A better way to describe the editorial is “hate speech.” \nRegarding the incident itself, two options of thought are provided. One is direct action (attacking the Iranian speedboats) while the other train of thought is to regard the incident as “a grave threat from a terror-sponsoring, theocratic dictatorship.” Neither train of thought is correct.\nIran is not a threat to the U.S. If our battleships were not messing around in the Gulf of Hormuth, if our unwarranted and non-productive occupation of Iraq was not continuing, there would be no chance of a factual, or propagandized, “incident.”\nAmericans need to consider the needs of the U.S. first and foremost. Do we need to go to war again? Do we need to bomb another nation? What would be proven if we bomb some speedboats? On Jan. 17th, we were reminded over and over by the Federal Reserve Chairman, Ben Bernanke, that we must either cut spending or increase taxation in order to correct our current economic crisis.\nThe best way to decrease our spending is to get out of the Middle East. Immediate withdrawal means immediate savings. Bring all the troops home, and support them here until they can get employment. While we’re at it, we should bring our troops home from South Korea and Europe as well.\nWe simply cannot afford to continue our imperialistic adventures abroad. We are too deep in debt. Our increasing debt and lack of production capability is the real threat to our society economically. We must also stop our nation’s acceptance of torture and the acceptance of curtailment of human rights in our nation, such as the “Patriot Act” and the “War on Drugs.” It is all related. Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are good concepts on which to enact policy, both in our nation and abroad.\nEditorials that demonize non-existent threats, such as this war-mongering editorial spewing hatred toward Iran, only muck up the understanding necessary for long-term policy adjustments.\nDo not fall prey to this nonsense of fear propaganda.