President Bush: The Peace Candidate?
Published August 30, 2004
From here:
War makes headlines, but peace rulesThe chilling sights and sounds of war fill newspapers and television screens worldwide, but war itself is in decline, peace researchers report.
In fact, the number killed in battle has fallen to its lowest point in the post-World War II period, dipping below 20,000 a year by one measure. Meanwhile, peace-making missions are growing in number.
"International engagement is blossoming," said American scholar Monty G Marshall. "There's been an enormous amount of activity to try to end these conflicts."
For months, the battle reports and casualty tolls from Iraq and Afghanistan have put war in the headlines, but Swedish and Canadian non-governmental groups tracking armed conflict globally find a general decline in numbers from peaks in the 1990s.
The authoritative Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, in a '04 Yearbook report, says 19 major armed conflicts were under way worldwide in '03, a sharp drop from 33 wars counted in 1991.
The Canadian organisation Project Ploughshares, using broader criteria to define armed conflict, says in its new annual report that the number of conflicts declined to 36 in '03, from a peak of 44 in 1995.
To hear the barely-lucid Left talk, one would think the world was on the cusp of Armageddon. But in fact, it is largely peaceful. And where war does persist (such as in Afghanistan and Iraq), it is largely a function of the greater cause of defeating war-mongering fascists.
The world was a much more violent place when Clinton was President. Where were the protestors then?
Where were the protestors when Rwandans was being being slaughtered by the hundreds of thousands, and Clinton did nothing?
Where were the protestors when Clinton waged an "illegal war" (in other words, without the blessing of the UN) against the Serbs?
Where were the protestors when Russian soldiers butchered Chechens wholesale?
Are they hypocrites, maybe?
RJ Elliott is a graduate student studying Criminal Justice at the University Of Central Florida. His likes include nature, sports, and pierced blondes. He dislikes daytime television, left-wing dictators, and lead-tainted Chinese imports. He is ambivalent about Angelina Jolie.
- President Bush: The Peace Candidate?
- Published: August 30, 2004
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- Section: Politics
- Writer: RJ Elliott
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Where were the protestors when Clinton waged an "illegal war"
They were on college campuses. They just weren't as numerous or organized. They've always been there though.
19 major armed conflicts were under way worldwide in '03, a sharp drop from 33 wars counted in 1991
Who gets the credit for that one in your opinion RJ? It would seem that Clinton was the man in charge for the majority of that time.
To hear the barely-lucid Left talk, one would think the world was on the cusp of Armageddon.
That's funny, I've heard exactly that kind of talk from people on the Right. In fact, there's a very popular series of books based on just that premise.
And things are great in Iraq, too!
And Bush accomplished this with his unilateral invasion of Iraq?
Have the inmates escaped again?
"Honor the Fallen"
www.militarycity.com/valor/honor_alpha_j.html
"Army PFC Leslie D. Jackson, 18, of Richmond, Va.; Assigned to A Company, 115 Forward Support Battalion, 1st Cavalry Div., Ft. Hood, TX.; Killed May 20 when her military vehicle hit an improvised explosive device as she was returning to Camp Eagle in Baghdad."
Leslie, who enjoyed shopping and dressing-up and loved to do her nails, grew up in a close-knit family. She is survived by her parents. Miss Jackson
was a battalion commander in the JROTC program at her high school in Richmond before graduating.
This beautiful 18-year old black woman paid the ultimate sacrifice for our country because she felt that actions speak louder than words.
to send condolences,
www.fallenheroesmemorial.com/oif/profiles/jacksonleslied.html
"All gave some...some gave all."
MCH - Vietnam era vet
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Interesting statistically speaking...However the numbers are skewed by the Rwanda/Hutu/Tutsi slaughters that occured during President Clinton's term. To be frank there is something similar going on in the Sudan (not as big) that President Bush has not engaged in directly by using the military. I would argue that President Bush would have not gotten the US directly involved in Rwanda either and thus he would not be a peace president. Rwandan affairs have virtually zero strategic significance to the "Western World" never mind the US specifically.
"As it's often said there's lies, damned lies and statistics. Statistics can be used to say just about anything about anything. It's not the numbers it's how you use them."
I would posit that Rwanda "happened" during the Clinton term and that the US government was not prepared to intervene and it could have happened during the Bush term with the same outcome and that would have made Bush the "war" president and Clinton the "peace" president.
Regards,
Jason