• No one wants war • Danger around No one wants war “Why of course the people don’t want war. Why should some poor slob on a farm want to risk his life in a war when the best he
• No one wants war
• Danger around
No one wants war
“Why of course the people don’t want war. Why should some poor slob on a farm want to risk his life in a war when the best he can get out of it is to come back to his farm in one piece? Naturally, the common people don’t want war; neither in Russia, nor in England, nor for that matter in Germany. That is understood. But after all it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship… Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger.”
That was Herman Goring, Luftwaffe commander, in an interview, April 1946, from Nuremberg Diary by Gustave Gilbert, and it’s as true today as it was then.
Yes, Americans died on American soil on that terrible day in September, as did citizens of about seventy other countries, but there was not an Afghani or an Iraqi on any of those planes. Fifteen of the nineteen highjackers were Saudis as we all know, but we did not attack Saudi Arabia. Perhaps someone should ask our leaders about that.
To protest an injustice is as American as Valley Forge. I think all those who are so committed to war and down on peace should enlist immediately and experience with their own eyes – their own flesh and blood – what it’s like to be an armed stranger in a foreign country that does not want them there.
Bettejo Dux,
Kalaheo
Danger around
Thank you, Brent Forrester of Pacific Palisades, CA, for your thoughtful letter of 11/5 informing us that you have cancelled your vacation to Kauai because you fear for your children’s safety in our waters due to the recent shark attack. I applaud a parent who is so concerned with their children’s safety. Following your lead, I am canceling my families vacation to California. The danger to our children is just too great. Each year over 230,000 people are slaughtered and millions are injured on California’s roads. There are also over 2,000 murders each year. We just witnessed the great California fires in which 750,000 acres of land were burned, 3,500 homes and 22 human lives destroyed. These fires were allegedly started by some California sharks, er, arsonists, and were virtually unstoppable because “devoted environmentalists” (as you described yourself) used legal means for eight years to stop the controlled burning of the dry brush that fueled the fires.
We get over one million visitors to Kauai each year and, to my knowledge, never has one been harmed, let alone killed by a shark. I’m sure you cannot say the same about visitors driving on California’s highways. Please do the math and if you are truly in fear for your children’s safety LEAVE CALIFORNIA IMMEDIATELY. It’s just too dangerous there.
Biff Whiting
Kalaheo
