200,000 traitors
A letter to the Age newspaper today says
If there were 200,000 protesters in Melbourne of Friday - which I doubt - then there were 200,000 traitors. They should be damn well ashamed of themselves for betraying the trust of our service men and women who will possibly become engaged in the elimination of a tyrant, a psycho-maniac, who deserves to be treated exactly like a mad dog.
They represent the same breed of stupid people who betrayed and undermined allied troops in Vietnam 30 years ago. The North Vietnamese did not defeat the men and women fighting for the freedom of the Vietnamese people - it was the rabble-rousers, opportunists and malcontents in Washington, New York, London and Sydney.
Well, if that is the case, then I guess I am a stupid person, a traitor, a rabble-rouser, opportunists and malcontent.
I can’t see the smoking gun, I can’t understand the bottom line amidst all the rhetoric that makes the current inspection process unworkable and which requires that we immediately pre-emptively strike another nation. I can’t see or understand these things, so that must make me a stupid person.
I weep at the idea of our country involved in conflict contrary to the decision of the UN security council, I am worried at the thought of our nation creating a precedent that results in us deciding whether or not to respect the wishes of the international community. I worry that this precedent may in time be turned against us, so that must make me a traitor.
I choose to discuss my views with others and air them in fora such as this, I choose to ask questions and read articles and form my own opinions and share them, so that must make me a rabble-rouser.
I took the opportunity to show my viewpoint in a small and peaceful way to communicate some of my concerns to my democratically elected leader - so that must make me an opportunist.
And I have a deep sense of discontent about the boundaries of this debate, a debate in which decisions seem to have been made before facts are known - so that must make me a malcontent.
As for betraying the trust of our service men and women, I choose to quote M from the great movie classic Goldeneye “I have no objection to sending a man to die, but I won’t do it on a whim.”