In Memory of Bob McBob, 1989-1991

It’s great to be back at the place where athletics and student life buildings take precedence over education … NOT!!!

Anyway, on a more serious note, Thursday marks the one-year anniversary of the start of the Iraq bombing. You know, the bombing that led to the War To Reelect President Bush.

It seems like such a long time ago that the blind, propaganda-eating masses were buying “flag” t-shirts and tying yellow ribbons in a spate of patriotic fervor. Bush was riding high on a crest of nationalistic pride that threatened to give him a clean sweep in the 1992 election. With the Democrats scrambling to find a viable candidate (at least that hasn’t changed), Bush was poised to make the Nixon-McGovern election look like a nail biter.

Well, Bush’s image is now in the toilet due to the sagging economy and some bad Japanese cuisine, but the legacy of the war remains.

I’m sure the question “Where were you when the bombing started?” will become our generation’s “Where were you when JFK was shot?”

Regardless, the anniversary provides a perfect opportunity to sit back and evaluate the war’s significance.

For example, Bush’s entire justification for his Splendid Little War rested on liberating Kuwait.

Well, obviously we got the job done, but who did we liberate Kuwait to? A bunch of emirs and royalty that has simply continued to exploit the oil and rule the same way as before Sadaam Hussein overran them in August 1990.

So much for the notion of democracy. If we were going to be democratic, why didn’t we push until we removed Hussein from power? He’s certainly not a democratic fellow, now is he?

The fact is, after a year, Hussein is still in power, probably looking at his nuke plans, and Kuwait is hardly democratic. In other words, nothing was accomplished. Oh, I’m sorry, plenty of American soldiers lost their lives. Many more were injured.

Even after a year, it still steams me that soldiers had to die over oil. Let’s face it, that’s what the war boiled down to—protecting our oil interests and making Bush look good. Color me a Marxist, but that’s been the case throughout U.S. history—economics determines where U.S. military might goe.

The bottom line is this—regardless of the business interests that control this country, it is wrong to send soldiers anywhere to die for oil.

Now, I’m hardly pro-religion, but there is a group that is remembering the tragedy that was the Gulf War. The Wesley Foundation, 633 W. Locust, will be holding a memorial service Thursday at 4:30 p.m. Although most of us don’t have any soul-cleansing to do (after all, we didn’t fight the war), it might be a good idea to remember one of the more recent tragedies in America.

And in an unrelated note, our first oxymoron of the week this year is “Fashions for Under $10.” It’s the name of some chain of stores. I could be wrong, but I don’t think there’s a whole helluva lot that’s fashionable nowadays for under $10.