Sanby Lee's article from last Tuesday's Crimson takes an interesting view of last week's election results - that the fact Bush won is not as important as the various problems of the Third World, including poverty, genocide, and the general repression of freedoms. I partially agree (Americans all too often ignore economic and social problems in other nations), but Ms. Lee fails to take into account the role American foreign policy has in finding potential solutions to these problems. When I mourn Bush's victory in this election, I am thinking about both domestic and international issues that he has either aggravated or ignored.
Of the twenty-four Third World countries Ms. Lee mentions in her article, the vast majority of them were neglected by the Bush Administration during its first four years, to the detriment of the people who lived there. But even more damning is the omission of Iraq from her list of "countries with problems." Yes, political freedom may loom in Iraq's near future, but the present situation is much more unstable.
So do what you need to. Cry until you have no tears left. Get so drunk you can?t remember which country you?re living in. Check immigration requirements for Canada. But when it?s all over, take a glance through the looking glass and realize what?s already on this side: hope for peaceful change.