Subject: Iraq & Spot 

Thank you for your message. 

I am really happy this week. Like walking-around-at-night-laughing-to-myself-like-a-damn-fool happy. 

The situation in Iraq has become much worse since I sent you that email. Because it has been revealed that U.N. weapons inspectors were planting electronic surveillance on behalf of American spy agencies CIA and NSA.  This is a violation of UN regulations - the UN is not supposed to act as a spy on behalf of one country against another. So the weapons inspection effort has totally collapsed. Also, in my opinion, Iraq now seems pretty justified in not letting those weapons inspectors into their top-secret installations. Since they were illegal spies. So the stated reason the U.S. gives for bombing Iraq is a fraud. Iraq committed no greater crime in not allowing the inspectors in than the inspectors themselves were committing. 

Yet aggression against Iraq continues. American airplanes are attacking military installations "in self-defense." It is like all of America is being treated by its own government like a stupid child. We are being lied to and condescended to. And popular support for the US, internationally, is nonexistent compared to what it was in 1991. Not even the countries that neighbor Iraq (except perhaps Israel) support the US anymore. And if Saudi Arabia (one of the only countries that Iraq can even threaten with its medievel army and short-range inaccurate missiles) doesn't want the US to defend it then the US has no leg to stand on. 

Meanwhile, economic sanctions are devastating Iraq. I read an article yesterday that described children dying in a hospital that had no medicine - not even aspirin - and the hospital had raw sewage in its basement. Because the 1991 war effectively destroyed the civilian infrastructure - including water supply (very important in the desert) and plumbing - and because economic sanctions have made it impossible for Iraq to rebuild itself. Economic sanctions are only hurting the citizens, not the admittedly bad Hussein government. Iraq didn't use to be a third-world country. We have made it one. 

And there is still talk in the air of a new bombing campaign. 

I encourage you to get mad about this and to read the newspapers about this and to irritate your friends, coworkers, and loved ones, by making them talk about it and not ignore it. Politicians do pay attention to public sentiment, even if they do it for votes instead of to serve the populus. Don't let it get you depressed. But watch what is happening because if it is not stopped it will happen again and again. I am hoping for a peaceful new millennium and I am looking for ways to work toward it. Meanwhile, the Pentagon is about to get the biggest budget increase since the cold war.  

I hope this email doesn't sound like I am yelling at you. I read a lot of  news these days and I thought I'd share what I've learned because the news is unpleasant and hard to read.  

I am optimistic. I love the world. I am appalled but I can't let it make me not care. I have a schoolboy crush and my cats are healthy. 

Your second email was the first I've really heard about Spot since I toasted him at your wedding. It sounds like you are taking very good care of him and dealing with his aging in the best way. Spot has, thanks to you and pretty-much you alone, had a really good life. Your dedication to him is a model to me, and an important one. It is not just a model of how to treat a dog, but also a person or a project or an idea or even one's self. You are a thoroughly wonderful person and Spot's golden years are something any human would be grateful for: to be so loved when one is least capable of returning affection. 

Thank you for writing. 
All my love, yr. friend William 

P.S. If you go to my homepage you will find links both to Gulf War Syndrome and Newspoetry 1999. These are both collaborative political-poetry projects and you are welcome, even encouraged, actually encouraged as much as I can without intimidating you, to submit poems to either. 

******************************************************** 

Dear William, 

     Thank you SO much for your letter.  It was exactly what I needed. In fact, in one way or another, in my last note, I was asking for your help, just not in so many words.  No, you didn't sound like you were yelling at me, don't worry.  You're passionate about it and encouraged about finding ways to stop it.  You give these feelings to me when I read what you write.  It is a good example to me.  So, we trade good examples (thank you, by the way, for what you said about Spot and me.) 

I will read the paper and truly endeavor to learn and understand, so that the actions I take to help make changes will be based on knowledge in addition to plain emotion.  My emotions may, however, be more powerful than the words I can string together about the facts.  I do tend to get a little confused about what all the things mean... like "economic sanctions"... I'm going to have to look that up.  Don't tell me, I'll figure it out. 

I remember what you used to say about that aspect of my character, "That's part of your charm."  I've always remembered that, while I still have tried to hide it a bit.  How is it that I can be so smart about so many things and all mixed up about others.  So, I've tried to hide it, not discussed things and avoided political conversation.  It is time for that to change.  I'll try my very best.  Thanks for inspiring me to find out about things I don't know. 

I don't mind revealing to others that I don't know, or that I'm just learning, if it can help to make changes.  I've always been a firm believer in the "one person can make a difference" theory.  I've been doing it about environmental issues for years.  That political arena has never threatened me.  So, I don't see why I ought to feel so intimidated by learning about and discussing the politics of war.  I guess I'll just have to decide not to be anymore. 

I will go to your website and do some reading there for starters.  I also have a newspaper right here. (time passes)  Okay, I just read an article, and now I have another new thing to look up: no-fly zones.  It looks to me from this article that 11 people died because we missed. What were we aiming for in the first place?  If we'd hit whatever it was wouldn't people have died there too?  Oh, I get it. 11 civilians.  It sounds as if civilians count more than soldiers. (?)  That's dumb.  I clearly have a lot of reading ahead of me. 

I'm glad to hear you're "walking-around-at-night laughing-to-yourself-like-a-damn-fool" happy.  That's sounds like a real fine kind of happy.  May there be much more where it came from.   

Thanks so much, I'm off to your website now. 

Love, Kathy