Every so often appears a question that we have to answer for which the options are all doomed to upset someone.   I remember having a full week planned. Every minute of daylight hours had me at work or at a function.   I was only at home during the night.   One night, my wife said that the lawn needed to be mowed.   We had different values. I thought it could wait another week. She wanted it done sooner than that.   My only opportunity before my busy week began was the very next morning.   The council by-laws allowed mowing from 7.30am.   At 7.30am exactly, I began the quickest lawn mowing of all time!   Then I left for  work.

The next time i saw my neighbour, he told me in no uncertain terms that he thought my mowing of the lawn at 7.30 was not a neighbouriy thing to do. As an unemployed person he slept late. I had woken him.   In hindsight, my wife was happy that the lawn was mowed. I was not happy at having to do it when I didn’t want to. however, i was happy that it was now done. My neighbour was unhappy with the noise.   What would you have done?   

When I worked in Afghanistan, I read an article where coalition forces could carry out a risky plan to capture Taliban leaders. The problem was the Taliban leaders were over the border in Pakistan. If the plan was successful, everyting would be ok. however, should something go wrong on Pakistani soil there would be a huge problem.   What would you have done?

There are a myriad of opinions relating to the Presidency of George W Bush.   Elected with a promise to reduce USA involvement in international affairs he suddenly encountered the effects of terrorists hijacking planes and killing thousands.

Without condoning or opposing what he has done, I ask you this…

If you were the President, what would you have done?

For those of you who support President Bush, the answer is easy because it is done for you. However, after many years of asking people who oppose President Bush, I am yet to hear a clear cut answer.

The most consistent answer has been to leave a response up to the United Nations.   Most people I’ve spoken to agree, however, that this means a dilution of sovereignty.  Here are a list of some pertinent facts.   If you leave your political allegiances aside, this makes an excellent exercise for the mind.   There are many things to consider. It is a difficult question.

The war in Iraq began with Iraq and Iran at war for seven years.    Then Iraq invaded Kuwait.   The UN responded with an international alliance to defeat Iraq and save Kuwait.   The UN did not allow persuing of Saddam Hussain.   The UN demanded that Iraq allow weapons inspectors to check for weapons of mass destruction. It gave Iraq 90 days to cooperate.  

Because of Iraq’s refusal to cooperate, the 90 days extended to over 13 years!

Both UN weapons inspectors, Richard Butler and Hans Blick, made public comments that they expected Iraq DID have weapons of mass destruction.

In January 1998, Richard Butler, reported that Iraq has loaded biological weapons onto missile warheads. Butler said, “that the biological weapons were loaded onto missiles that could be put on mobile launchers and driven away to avoid being hit by bombs.”  Iraq had enough biological material like anthrax or botulin toxin to “blow away Tel Aviv.”

Butler even suggested the UN was assisting Iraq. In an interview with a Melbourne newspaper, The Age in 1999, Butler stated, ‘There was a convergence of interests between Saddam Hussein and Kofi Annan. Saddam wanted UNSCOM (United Nations Special Commission) out of his life so he could get on with his weapons program and Annan and his people wanted UNSCOM out of their lives because it was too independent.’   “Kofi Annan and his people sought to hand to Saddam Hussein the greatest possible prize—the destruction of UNSCOM.’

In 1998 President Bill Clinton approved Operation Desert Fox, the bombing of Iraq without UN approval.

During the 13 years, a military perimeter was set around Iraq to enforce sanctions.   In effect, the war had never ended.   UN sanctioned planes still shot down any Iraqi plane that flew.

After terrorists attacked the USA on September 11, 2001, the USA pleaded with the UN to enforce the UN’s own demands on Iraq. The 90 days had become 13 years, and, the USA had now been attacked.   The UN refused to enforce it’s own demands.

What would you have done?

Most people digress into rhetoric about USA supplying weapons to Iraq earlier and other answers that do not answer this question directly.

So, the question to stimulate hours of discussion is….What would you have done?

A habit you may regularly hear is people criticizing others for what they have done. Often, without even knowing what they would have done themselves.

When you Discover Peace of Mind, you will find yourself less critical of people.  You will see how and why people have done things. You may not agree, yet you will understand their thought processes more.

Rodney Lovell