Rites of Spring

Spring has finally come. The official beginning of Spring was 22 days ago, but that means nothing. Today one can go out without a coat and enjoy the sunshine. The thermometer has been reading above 0 degrees Celsius in the daytime for almost a week now and has been staying above minus 10 for the last few nights.

The ice is still in the lake and there are pockets of snow here and there waiting to melt. However I am optimistic and am actually considering removing the winter tire s from my vehicle in favour of all seasons.

As I walk around my property, I see the effects of the winter. My two Colorado Blue Spruce that I have nursed from year old transplants are gone. One came down as a result of a winter storm, right on my power lines, I might add. The other I had to have taken down to avoid the same thing happening again.

There are a few green sprouts peaking up here and there, and is it just my imagination or do I actually see the tips of the high branches on the trees beginning to swell? The cats are going out every day now, in fact one of them just chased a robin. Poor bird!

The deck furniture is out on the deck again. Today it is 7 degrees, warm enough to sit out in the sun for awhile. The evenings are growing longer. As I was driving home around 8 o’clock last night it was getting dark enough to turn on my headlights. With the longer daylight hours people go out walking, stopping to chat with neighbours. A regular Spring rite, stopping to chat and getting re-acquainted with neighbours we have seen very little of since the snow began to fly in November.

There I Have Said It

by Matthew Szweda

The United States should have invaded Iraq years ago.

Yes, there are protesters around the world today decrying the efforts of the US in Iraq. So what of these protesters? Where were these protesters when Saddam Hussein was gassing his own people, sending countless others to be ground like hamburger in antiquated trenches along the Iranian borders, or sacrificing a generation of untrained soldiers in a futile attempt to try to grab oil in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia? And what of his death camps, torture chambers, hit squads? Where were all the protesters then as an estimated two million Iraqis perished?

Many argue that The United Nations should have been given more time to be effective. If only the US had waited longer, more countries would have joined the coalition. Two points: One Saddam Hussein was only allowing inspectors back into his country because the US had massed forces on his boarder. Second, even by the inspectors own accounts, Saddam Hussein was being less than helpful. Saddam sent the UN an accounting of their weapons program that was antiquated and much of it copied from generic reports and information supplied almost a decade before. Inspectors were still not given access to all sites and inspectors were not allowed to talk privately with key individuals. Simply put, Saddam Hussein was not cooperating fully. Why not? The US and others assumed, logically, that not cooperating meant that there were things that were being hidden. That is a simple logical conclusion.

The question remains, could the UN have been effective if it had been given more time? History tells us repeatedly that the answer is no. The UN inspectors are in Iran this week and out of Iran next week. If they issue an unfavorable report in the eyes of the Iranians, they are locked out from investigating key sites. So the UN issues more reports. And what are they reporting on? They are trying to decide whether one of the richest oil countries in the world is developing and building nuclear reactors to create an atom bomb. Or, as the Iranians would have us believe, they are exploring alternative methods of energy production. Really. Who believes that? And yet the UN needs to file more reports, make more visits, conduct more tests. Who do you think will conduct his test first the UN or the Mullah cleric?

But, of course, the protesters point out that, “Hey, you found no bombs. You conducted this war because you told us he had bombs, and now there are not any.” The only mistake made by the US and British governments are playing this silly shell game with protesters. It does not matter that there were or were not weapons!

It does not matter that there were or were not weapons! There I have said it. Saddam Hussein was a megalomaniac. His goal was to be remembered as a god and unite the whole Arab world under his rule. He fought every neighbor in the region. He committed acts of horrendous genocide. The difference between Saddam Hussein having weapons of mass destruction and Saddam Hussein having the will and means to make the weapons of mass destruction is semantics. Maybe in some Hamburger Courtroom semantics are real important. The war in Iraq was not fought to find weapons of mass destruction. The war in Iraq was fought to keep Saddam from acquiring and using weapons of mass destruction. Mission Accomplished.

Protesters now say, but Iraq is now an unstable and dangerous place. True enough. And the Arab community is now firmly set against the US and the Western World. Time and Patience. After World War Two, it took the allies four years to put together democracy in Germany. More years followed before Germany became a powerhouse in Europe. Reconstruction does not happen overnight. What will surely kill the peace is this demand for immediate elections and a quick US pull out. Yes, there are deaths almost on a daily basis. And yes, there are some amazing images of violence. But this present violence does not compare to the millions who died in Iraqi wars and Saddam’s dirty death chambers. Take a deep breath when you see the next charred car and then hold your breath and pretend you are one of the forty thousand Kurds who were gassed to death hanging your underwear behind your house.

Arab resentment against the West is a serious threat. No doubt. But did we really think that this resentment would go away by simply sitting on the sidelines and letting Arab Mosques and schools spread their messages of hate. The US was involved in Bosnia (saving Muslims against Christians), in Kuwait and Saudi (saving Muslims from a megalomaniac) in Lebanon (saving Muslims from the Israelis, Christians, and Druze), in Somalia (saving Muslims from a Warlord who was starving his Muslim brothers), in Afghanistan (saving Muslims from certain starvation at the hands of Osama and his thugs). Still, we had September 11th.

The US policy in Iraq is realistic.

No, it does not rest on the formalities of making certain everyone agrees and every member of the world community has a voice. Those are luxuries. Nice, certain and wouldn’t we all feel better if we all stuck to the same rules? And yes, rule under Saddam was much cleaner and prettier. Now we have these Muslims going to Mosque when they want and their Imams saying all sorts of nonsense. And instead of wars where millions perished and their bodies were quickly anesthetized and whitewashed before the cameras got there, we now have live, burning people.

The US policy in Iraq is one of hope.

The goal of the Bush administration is to turn Iraq into a powerful symbol in the Arab World. Iraq is one of the few Arab countries, besides Iran, where the population is reasonably well educated and where the resources can be easily channeled to create a thriving, prosperous economy. And look at the possibilities. Iran is ready to collapse from within under pressure from democratic reforms. How important would it be to have a powerful Iraq nearby as Iran morphed into a democracy? And what about the Palestinian people with an Arab ally in Iraq willing to promote the cause of peace and pressure Syria to renounce terror.