SOUNDING BOARD is an outlet for opinions on good and crazy things going on at home (wherever I may be). All are welcome. You are not expected to bring anything except your common sense & sense of humor.
'If the automobile had followed the same development cycle as the computer, a Rolls-Royce would today cost $100, get one million miles to the gallon, and explode once a year, killing everyone inside.'
-Robert X. Cringely (from geek wisdom)
SOUNDING BOARD
Monday, March 24, 2003
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God help us all
While US-Iraq war is at Day 6, we have just gone through our 6th day of interesting discussions on using statistics for gender-responsive policy analysis and advocacy. I feel a certain weird feeling staring at the monitors in the UN building watching a blow-by-blow account of the war. What a coincidence. I am watching the events inside the UN building. Reflecting on the events leading to this war, there are two main points I wish to put forward: (1) the war characterizes the kind of democratic process the US has at the moment, and related to this, (2) the outcome of this war is not so much whether or not US and its allies win, but whether or not Weapons of Mass Destructions (WMDs) will be found.
Democracy is all about influencing policies from outside. If non-state actors are having a hard time doing that, then we need to reflect on the level of substantive and procedural democracy we have. The past and current demonstrations against the war implies a certain inadequacy of the process which was undertaken by the Bush Administration in establishing the rationale for going to war. One doubts whether there was genuine public consultation. One doubts whether the inadequacy of consultation was deliberate.
But the main issue arising from this issue if inadequate debate or consultation is more exciting. What if US and its allies do not find any WMDs - the rationale for going to war? What does it imply to the kind of decision-making process in US?
More than the fear of Saddam's use of WMDs (if, indeed, there are), if US and its allies don't find any WMD, God help us all.
posted by Allan at 6:26 PM (GMT+8)
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