Quote:
Originally Posted by Judy Szabo
I am struck by how timeless the words to PD are. Here in the US we are living through a nightmare of war in Iraq. I really feel he had the whole idea of unjust war nailed with that song years ago.
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Judy, (and my fellow Corfiders) I send this as a reply, not as a thread starter. I also submit this reply as a lifelong fan of Gord, and one who sympathizes with the thought that Vietnam was an unjust war, but also as a veteran of the Iraq war who worked closely with Iraqis trying to rebuild their country. I spent nearly 6 months there in 2005. I befriended Iraqis who suffered deep, personal losses as a result of a very tyrannical regime. When an Iraqi gentleman sits across the table from you and tearfully describes how dear family members disappeared in the middle of the night at the hands of the Baath Party, never to be heard from again, and probably ending up in one of those mass graves, it makes an impression on you. When I grew up, I remember reading in school history books the run-up to WWII. In those books, the US and Europe were chastised for doing nothing while genocide of millions of Jews was going on inside Germany. We shouldn't forget that Saddam was guilty of atrocities on a Hitlerian scale. I saw it up close.
The purpose of this reply is not to start a sensitive political discussion on an emotional issue, but I feel compelled to gently make the point that there are powerful arguments on both sides. Thanks for your time and I hope I have not offended anybody.
With all due respect,