CD: Beastie Boys, "Hello Nasty"

I had the chance to answer a few questions about Americans' view of a war in Iraq for a student paper in Brazil, so I thought I'd post my answers here as well:


Do you think that it is really important to USA win the war?

If the USA actually does start a war, yes. By "winning" we mean the USA would have to take Saddam Hussein out of power permanently. Many Americans believe we should have taken Hussein in the last war, when we had the chance. Personally, I do not think this is a war we have to fight. If we do not fight a war we will probably be no worse because of it. The only problem is that our country has made threats to Iraq for so long, if we do not back our words with our weapons we will look foolish to the world. President Bush put us in a bad position: if we are for him, we look like a bully, but if we stop the war from happening, we may make America look even worse.

"Veja", the most important magazine in Brazil (like Newsweek) is showing in the front page: "Bush makes the world furious". How do you fell about that?

I am against the war myself, so I can understand if the world is "furious." "Worried" might be a good word, too, because violence may spread in the Middle East. Since the attacks on September 11, 2001, however, America feels different from other countries. There is now the belief that much of the world hates us anyway, even if there were no war, because we are a rich, powerful nation. If you ask people that are for a war, they will say that the world simply does not understand that we have special responsibilities as a superpower nation, and that by taking out Hussein (even without UN support) we will be helping the rest of the world and not hurting it. Americans have all seen the protests from around the world on television, and some of the biggest protests were right here in places like Washington, D.C. and New York City. Americans have been very accepting of anti-war activists, though some of our leaders do not say it. The only backlash I have seen against the "furious" parts of the world has been towards France. Many Americans think France owes us for saving them from Hitler, and are only trying to gain politically from not agreeing with us. We also find it ironic that some of the nations that accuse us of starting a war for oil (France, Germany, and Russia) also have some of the most money invested in oil contracts with Iraq.

Are you nervous about the consequences that this war can bring to your economy? What do you think about the Iraq population? Are you afraid of terrorist attacks after the war?

The war has already hurt our economy. Petroleum prices are rising sharply now, and though oil companies blame the situations in Iraq and Venezuela for the cost, we believe they are just trying to make greater profits. The stock market is down, and consumer confidence is at a ten-year low. The war will make the economy worse still. As for the Iraqi population, Americans genuinely believe that Saddam Hussein is evil and is a greater threat to Iraqis than America could ever be. We have heard horror stories of torture and mass killings by Hussein for years now. Some of us think that the UN sanctions against Iraq killed many thousands of people, too. It seems that the only way for the sanctions to be lifted is to get rid of Saddam Hussein. Though I do not think war is necessary right now, it seems the only way anyone will ever remove him and restore Iraq will be by force.

I do not know what Brazilians learn about American society, but it seems that Americans are split between two ideas about terrorism. One feeling is that we should be very afraid for future terrorist attacks, should always be prepared, and should be willing to send the military around the world to prevent terrorism from striking again. The government has even created a color-coded Terror Alert System. Starting at this year's hajj in Mecca, the alert was at High Alert until yesterday. If you watched the news on television, there was a symbol on the screen saying "TERROR ALERT ORANGE: HIGH."

The second group of people is a bit more pessimistic. They think terrorism will happen again, yes, but what can we really do? We will be as prepared as we can be no matter what occurs. That group of people think the government is using terrorism to scare people into believing that policies like a war in Iraq are necessary, even when it was Osama bin Laden, not Saddam Hussein, that attacked the USA. They also think that President Bush is not giving the public evidence that there is any reason to be afraid, but by starting a war in Iraq, they will only make more people hate the USA and create more future terrorists. I am in this second group. The government recently recommended that citizens buy duct tape, plastic bags, bottled water, and other items in case a terrorist strikes. Only a few people in the first group thought the items would be useful. In the 1950s, the government said we could protect ourselves from nuclear radiation by hiding under a table. It will take much more than that to convince Americans--and the rest of the world--that we are using our common sense in 2003.