Dear Editor:
This past weekend the nation witnessed the birth of a movement to stop the Bush Administration’s drive for war on Iraq. The truly remarkable thing about the thousands of protesters this weekend was their diversity: African Americans, white Americans, Asian and Hispanic Americans, Muslims and Christians, the young and old, working people and white collars joined together to raise one question: Is this war in the best interest of We the People?
Joining the protesters, over 50 cities, including Chicago, Philadelphia, Minneapolis and my own, Jersey City, have decided it is not. Their counsels have overwhelmingly passed resolutions in opposition to the war.
How can we sift through the competing opinions about the rightness of the proposed war? I suggest we ask ourselves very two simple questions: One, is Iraq, an impoverished nation a half a world away with no known links to Al Queda, a direct and lethal threat to the people of the United States? Two, in a time when many of us are losing our jobs and retirement security, is the cost of invading Iraq – in American dead and in 100-200 billion dollars spent – justified? This MLK weekend hundreds of thousands of citizens of this country and of countries around the world answered a resounding: No!
All people who love this country have the patriotic duty to consider the sense, the rightness and the prudence of an attack on Iraq. It is ultimately We how must be held accountable for the actions of our leaders. Let your voice too, be heard. The time is short.
Joshua Bisset
Jersey City