Scenario No. 1: After 18 months of inspections, all seems to have returned to normal in Iraq, and terrorists, acting under the auspices of Saddam Hussein, unleash biological attacks on cities in America, Britain, Turkey and Australia. People are running in the streets, skin peeling from their dying bodies. Mayhem ensues, as retaliatory attacks ensure a global outbreak of warfare.
Scenario No. 2: America invades Iraq in late March, acting with only a few allies, as the rest of the world has become increasingly hostile to U.S. imperialism. Muslim allies rush to Iraq’s aid, and Iraq fires missiles at Israel. As violence spirals into mass warfare, al-Qaida terrorists have easier access into America, and attacks at home and abroad on U.S. targets increase. People are running in the streets, comforting the bloody bodies of their loved ones as U.S. soldiers die in the Middle East.
Scenario No. 3: With all of the hubbub about Iraq, toward the end of the year North Korea gets increasingly desperate and launches a nuclear missile at an undisclosed location on the West Coast. The sudden, jarring violence galvanizes Americans into supporting a full-on war that soon grows to include much of Asia. People are sick in the streets from the fallout and suddenly Iraq isn’t so important.
None of these scenarios are that far from possible, and the ideas in them are not mutually exclusive. Our intent isn’t to frighten, but people should be afraid — afraid of foreign policy, afraid of an international response to worldwide events that ends up creating more crises.
Weapons of mass destruction, terrorism and tyranny are real threats in today’s global picture, and the way America and the international community choose to respond to those threats will determine the way people, countries and religions interact with each other for the rest of the century.
So just sit back in class and turn the page. Read something else, something harmless, something non-threatening. Worry about parties on the weekend and midterms and getting a new car. Worry about the Oscars.
The teachable moment that exists for the world in how humans treat one another, in how humans deal with threats — it’s not your business. The leaders will make decisions without you. No one needs you out in the streets, protesting, or counterprotesting, or counter-counterprotesting. Let someone else set the agenda. Our leaders know what they’re doing, after all, and they have only our best interests in mind. Leave it to the professionals.
Was that sarcastic enough? We’ll try it again, this time without the sarcasm.
No matter how you feel about war, or Iraq, or al-Qaida, or imperialism; no matter how you think the problems the world faces should be handled — the time to join the conversation is now. Stand up and say what’s right. Demand that your voice be counted when the decisions are made. Do it now, while you still can.