Student
Voices: Why I am Opposed to War on Iraq
To the Editors:
I oppose war in Iraq because it is simply ridiculous.
A war about oil disgusts me at a time when alternative energy is
our only hope for survival. For example, I do not know why people
are resting comfortably on some bizarre notion that global warming
may not exist. We have completely changed the surface of this earth
with our roads, buildings, agriculture, etc. How could we possibly
think for a second that we have not changed the atmosphere grotesquely?
I am from Ohio, and as I child, I remember playing in the snow and
being desperately cold in the winter. My parents remember this well,
too. However, for the last several years, the leaves have been changing
later, snow is less frequent, and sixty degree days in November
are dismissed as “nice.” Yes, I have heard the scientists
and the politicians saying that climate changes and this may all
be a natural cycle. However, look at what we have done in the past
century industrially. Could it just be that the changes are finally
intruding into our everyday lives?? Consequences are inevitable.
Change CAN occur rapidly. Also, I would like to bring up the fact
that an oil tanker split in two off the coast of Spain this past
week. If you want the socialist interpretation, visit CNN.com. Their
article goes on about the plight of the fishermen and the loss of
their prey. However, if you think of marine life in terms of its
undeniable importance and connection to the well-being of our substrate
of life, the earth, and not as a swimming manifestation of potential
profit, visit news24.com. Their article contains a healthy balance
of workers’ issues and the environmental devastation likely
to ensue for years to come. Environmental degradation is too far
from the minds of too many people. It is the greatest injustice
-- and we, as humans, both inflict and surrender to this injustice.
It is not an “issue” reserved for those who have the
time and privilege to ponder the problems. The fact is, those fisherman
are as much environmentalists as the Greenpeace newsletter-subscribing,
tofu-inhaling, Prius-cruising college kid from California. Their
lives depend on the environment and, one way or another, they realize
that. The president of this country, however, does not. And it will
not be Saddam’s weapons of mass destruction that will kill
us all, it will be our administration’s lust for his country’s
oil. War with Iraq is simply ridiculous.
–Amzie Pavlisin
College first-fear
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