Bush or Kerry

By Dr Shahid Athar

US

One of the rules in medical ethics is to take the lesser of the two harms, i.e. which is more harmful to the patient - a major operation or strong chemotherapy which may kill the patient or not doing anything and let ting the disease take its course.

Politicians have also used this logic. Thus, when I asked an American diplomat many years ago as to why did the USA support Saddam Hussain in the Iraq-Iran war, knowing well that he was a tyrant and had oppressed and killed thousands of his own people, his reply was, “We considered the Iranian Revolution as evil and we had to take the lesser of two evils.”

Now that President Reagan’s “Evil Empire” has collapsed, somebody has to fill the void, Al -Qaida tried on 9/11 and the ultimate burden fell on an American president to portray the USA as a new colonial imperial power. Close to 500,000 American troops are now stationed in 40 foreign countries. Ddoing what? Passing food and candies or enforcing global US economic and military domination on the pretext of the “war on terrorism.”

Let us now bring this rule of “taking the lesser of two evils” to the home scene, i.e. US election only two weeks away and decide how we are going to apply it in making our voting decisions. It is wrong to call either presidential candidate as “an evil.” They are not. They are good patriotic Americans with their own vision of America and the American people. Many Third World countries would love to exchange their sold out tin pot dictators with our democratic candidates. But, there is evil in all of us, including myself! So, let discuss which one is less harmful for us in 2004-2008.

The political parties:

There is not much difference in the two parties except how they plan to spend our tax dollars. There is a saying in the USA that when you are young and poor, you are a Democrat and when you become rich and old, you become a Republican. Democrats like to spend our money on welfare and jobs while the Republicans expend it on defense and business. The Democratic Party has more members among the Afro-Americans, immigrants and minority groups while the Republicans have more upper class white Americans, Christian evangelists and business-minded Americans as their members. They both compete with each other supporting Israel and Prime Minister Sharon’s policies. This will not change , no matter who is in power.

The home front:

There is a basic division on ethical issues. While Republicans are against abortion, the Democrats are pro-choice, while Republicans are against funding for Stem Cell research, Democrats are in its favor. I do not read lips, thus the pledges of not raising taxes are not taken seriously. With so much deficit, there is no way the taxes will not go up. While President Bush promotes the Patriot Act in its entirety, Senator Kerry wants to amend it and “end racial and religious profiling.” The President is concerned about nuclear proliferation and nuclear programs of certain nations, Senator Kerry is also opposed to nuclear proliferation.

Foreign policy and the war on terrorism:

I am not sure what Sen. Kerry will do if elected but I know what President Bush has done so far. On the pretext of waging a war on terrorism, he has got us in a big mess and I doubt Sen. Kerry will be able to get us out of the quagmire in the near future. For a year or so he will have to continue the policies of his predecessor. Over a thousand American soldiers and 100,000 Iraqis have died unnecessarily (Iraq had never attacked us). The war has cost us $200 billion now and there is no end to the misery of the Iraqi people. Suddenly, those who were not terrorists before 2001 were transformed into terrorists by our attack and occupation of their country. This has also alienated our “friends” in the world and those who are “with us” are so either because of money or arm twisting. I personally feel the foreign policy of the current administration has been a disaster and I hope President Bush, if re-elected , would do a better job during his second term.

The Choice:

The voters have a responsibility to act on behalf of our children who will face the consequences of our choice: the economy, environment, collaboration with world community, dissolving the culture of war and terrorism is the agenda on our watch .The voters must decide for themselves as to which candidate may be better for our economy, for all Americans, and for winning the heart of those who hate us abroad. We should not be like the leader of one of the “axis of evil” country who endorsed Bush on Oct. 20. Iran’s endorsement will backfire against President Bush as those who do not like Iran will vote for Kerry.

American Muslims, before they expect the candidates to support them, must put their house in order. They will find support from like- minded peace-loving fellow Americans, especially the religious community. The choice for 5% undecided voters is simple. If they like the policies of President Bush and give him the mandate to continue they should vote for him. However, if they want a change, they should vote for Senator .Kerry. What we do now affects our own homes and the world we live in.

(Dr. Shahid Athar is a naturalized US citizen and an author of 7 books (www.islam-usa.com). He can be reached at sathar3624@aol.com )

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