March 3, 2003
I never thought for one second that a frank elucidation of my views on the looming "Gulf War II" would be well received. However, I never expected that the response would be so violently emotional and so utterly devoid of meaningful rationale.
The February 24 edition of Canada Free Press carried my column "Winds of war," and also the rebuttal "The pacifists among us" from the desk of editor Judi McLeod. Both can be seen in the "Canada Free Press" 2003 archives.
In synopsis, I expressed the view that Iraq is already defeated and unable to threaten anyone, and is aware of the consequences should it try to do so. I also stated that Iraq’s "weapons of mass destruction" could pose an effective deterrent to Israel, which enjoys a monopoly of nuclear weapons in the region. I further believe that the World Trade Center attack was payback for America’s backing of Israel’s brutal military occupation of Palestine, and that this massive and uncritical support, both military and financial, puts the U.S. at risk. I also drew attention to Israel’s cynical exploitation of American goodwill by such betrayals as the "Lavon Affair," the attack on the USS Liberty, and the Jonathan Pollard spy case. I further suggested that the Israeli tail has been wagging the American dog for a long time, and that the Americans need to re-assess who their friends and enemies really are.
In editor Judi McLeod’s response, I am called a "Johnny-come-lately-peacenik", and my "logic" is compared to that of some teenagers she overheard yelling "Death to the Americans!" at the Atrium on Bay Street while on their way to a demonstration. Indeed, says Judi, "…my lectures to Jeff Goodall are unlikely to change anything now that he’s gone over to the other side." She then praises David Horowitz of FrontpageMagazine.com, and approvingly reprints his juvenile ranting about "Palestinians and Arabs who kill their own children by strapping bombs to them and letting them blow up other children--Jew children-- so that they will go to heaven and their families will receive a $25,000 award." Tellingly, no refutation is offered to my statement that "…the Palestinians were made refugees in their own land, and it is the essential injustice of this that has produced the present troubles."
As anyone conversant in current affairs will know, Iraq is presently under pressure to destroy its longer-range rockets, which we are told "were declared illegal by the UN." But did you ever notice that we are never told why they were declared illegal? It is because such weapons could reach Israel. Without them, Iraq is no threat to America’s problem child… Thus, already faced by overwhelming military forces and a US President bitching to pull the trigger, Saddam Hussein has additionally been placed in a "use them or lose them" scenario for his best battlefield weapons. And if he feels compelled to use them, the Israelis will undoubtedly start throwing their nukes around. Armageddon beckons.
Instead of using the ghastly David Horowitz as a role model, (check out his website), perhaps Judi McLeod could try reading the late Israel Shahak’s book "Jewish History-Jewish Religion." In it, we find the following quote attributed to the Chief Chaplain of the Central Region Command of the Israeli Army, "When our forces come across civilians during a war or in hot pursuit or in a raid, so long as there is no certainty that those civilians are incapable of harming our forces, then according to the Halakhah they may and even should be killed…Under no circumstances should an Arab be trusted, even if he makes an impression of being civilized…In war, when our forces storm the enemy, they are allowed and even enjoined by the Halakhah to kill even good civilians…" (Emphasis added). (The Halakhah is the legal system of classical Judaism currently maintained by Orthodox Jews).
Issues such as these are difficult and controversial, but cannot be ignored as they have the ability to lead to confrontations that could quite literally destroy the world, as we know it. Israel has at least 200 nuclear weapons, perhaps as many as 400. These, together with rockets capable of reaching large parts of Europe, Russia and Pakistan, create legitimate concerns as to the motivations and agenda of the "Zionist Entity", and of its blatant manipulations of supporters such as the United States and Great Britain.
If this world is to survive, then we must learn to think outside the envelope, and refuse to allow ourselves to be programmed into such Pavlovian reactions as evidenced in "The pacifists among us."
Jeff Goodall worked for the Metro Treasury and City Finance Departments for 25 years, and served as a member of the CUPE Local 79 Executive Board for 14 of those years.