Page It- THE HERALD Wednesday January The ultimate political ploy Is the ongoing conflict in the Persian Gulf between the S led coalition forces operating under United auspices and Iraqi President Saddam Husseins military machine really the war that nobody wants Judging from world wide peace demonstrations and even from the reactions of people questioned by The Halton Hills Herald this would almost appear to be the case However it should be remembered that war is the ultimate extension of politics When all else fails and the respective diplomats cannot resolve a situation it is left to the military to decide the issue It has been this way from time immemorial It has been noted in other annals that throughout mankinds recorded history there have only been 66 days of relative peace on our planet Relative peace meaning nation versus nation or consequently nations versus nations According to a yearbook publication entitled The War Annual which is published in Britain there are other conflicts presently taking place in various parts of the world which we in North America hear very little about The War Annual editor John Laffin notes that most modern conflicts are caused by ethnic or social and that despite the fearsome military technology available it is not so much the military hardware as it is the rivalries that make wars so prevalent around the globe In a nutshell this theory best explains the reason for the Persian Gulf war fuelled even more so by United States oil interests in the Middle East The region has been dominated by strong per and unstable governments ever since the 01 toman Empire was carved up to satisfy feuding factions following World War I Golda Gamel Abdul Nasser King Hussein of Iran s Ayatollah Khomeini Anwar Sadat Hosni Mubarak Syrian President Hafez Assad and now Sad dam Hussein You could also throw in Libya Muham mar Gaddafi Throw in the competing religions in the Middle East including the jews in Israel and the christians in Lebanon and you have an inferno waiting to erupt Saddam Hussein translated into English as the one who confronts became President of Iraq in 1979 and from the outset was determined to dominate the region He has amassed tne fifth largest military force in the world and despite the stalemate that was the end result of the eight year war with Iran became even more determined than ever to rule the region The war with Iran depleted his treasury despite massive aid from among others the United States and the Kuwait oil fields represented too rich and too weak a prize to resist Similarly he also felt the threat from his military machine once Kuwait was subdued would be enough to gain substantial oil concessions from Saudi Arabia He misjudged the Saudi however just as he mis judged the United States and the United Nations response to his overt aggression and ambitions The invasion of Kuwait was indeed a political manouvre necessitated by economic hardship Just another example that war is indeed the ultimate extension even expression of politics Surely there is a better system Editorial Letter of the Week Traumatic silence Editors note The following letter was released to the Hills Herald for publication Dear Mr Turner Yes I m sure it s true that pie who support the govern s involvement in Iraq are less vocal now They are pro bably glued to their television sets objectively viewing the eradication of a dictator and the annihilation of the Iraqi people Have you considered the traumatic silence experienced by the numbers of Canadians who feel profoundly and totally betrayed by your government course of despair and destruc tion We do not find solace in com with those in power who meet insanity with insanity Instead we turn to the United Church to the Disarmament Net work to leaders such as Jean Chretien Audrey McLaughlin Stephen Lewis to those who feel the suffering and bleeding of children men and women who are blown apart by the Allied forces Your Hitler arguments are meaningless With more research on your part you would realize that Hitler did not gam his power in a vacuum I would also suggest you do a little soul searching on how Saddam Hus sein became such a formidable influence the Gulf If your child s life was in jeopardy perhaps you would search more honestly for sane means to stop Saddam Hussein This is what many of us hoped for from your government Your makes me feel truly and utterly asham Sincerely Linda Ciotti Kandziora Georgetown The Halton Hills HERALD Home Newspaper of Halton Hills Established 1866 A Division of Canadian Newspaper Company Limited 45 Street Georgetown Ontario 3Z6 K ROBERT Publisher and General Manager 8772201 COLIN CLASSIFIED loan Ma CIRCULATION Marl 10 Jannla SUBSCRIPTION Copy In IS tig DO month Sain claim copyright on N original and malarial by II amployaai and In Mi Nalionil I J Taonlo Ontario adrartlaat at not of daman arUIng oul of anon In adyartlaa- bayond paid to ft by thai portion adrarUaamanl In uch lha amount paid men Peoples Forum Stayathomemom not denigrated Dear Editor I knew my letter would generate responses and would like to answer them to Mary Mam I am sorry you missed my point I was not in any way denigrating your choice to be a stay at home Mum I believe that is a viable option for any woman As a feminist working on Women Studies I am happy to tell you that many many women in the Women s Movement are saying just the things you did in your letter You should have a lobby group in government you should be recognized financially you are doing a competent job when traditional guidelines are constantly criticized your job is a key one The trouble is that the traditional guidelines you men do not help so many women in your situation who find themselves unprovided for when violence creeps into the relation ships or when husbands walk out on them Such women often can not be the masters of thur own destiny We cannot extricate ourselves from this complex society we can only work to make it better My answer to Gladys Barrett is a little more controversial Judaism Christianity Islam Buddism all the patriarchal religions that arose somewhere between BC and AD were themselves a reversal of a previous world order one in which the female principals of love for the earth and love of life were Both men and women were worshippers of the Great Mother Goddess Archaeologists are fin ding more and more evidence that these societies were en vironmentally friendly peaceful egalitarian and very advanced In these societies man did not have to be the protector of the weaker sex because women were not in any way regarded as weaker I would suggest that when males have power over females sanctioned by religion it does not necessarily lead to peace Try reading Judges Chapter 19 for the worst excesses of patriarchal religion Then read The Chalice and the Blade by to get the other side of the story Sincerely Joan Davison Georgetown NATO students reunion To the Editor We are a group of previous students of a NATO school in West Germany Most of us attended school there as dependents of Canadian Armed Forces personnel Since that time there has been no reunion or no organized Alumni Society Until now that is In December 1389 we decided to organize a committee to plan a High School Reunion in Calgary in August of 1991 for students of Brigade Schools many We began a search across Canada and the USA using any free available services such as media word of mouth Armed papers and Veterans Magazines To date we have located over students As you can imagine this has been a huge undertaking and an expensive one We have had no funds to draw and have funded the initial search ourselves Now that the base work is done we are planning the best reunion at the least expense to the Alumni As 75 per cent of the students located live out of province they are already paying transporta and hotel out of pocket so we aim to keep the overhead down as much as possible by applying for grants donations and gifts Our agenda for the long weekend in August and of 1991 is as follows Friday night Ice Breaker for Alumni and spouses Saturday morning Stampede- type breakfast hopefully at Heritage Park Saturday afternoon tourist time with packages of things to see made up for each student Saturday night Dinner and Dance Sunday morning Church parade and Champagne Brunch al the Richmond Road Sunday afternoon and evening free time to see sights Monday perhaps an organized trip to Banff or Calaway Park We know lhal Calgary will be a great Host City for this event and that the guests will be giving something back in return through hotels transportation and entertainment Sincerely M Kathleen Williams Member Committee School Reunion 191HLyUonCres SE Calgary Alberta T2C1K7