The Lesser of Two Evils
Shahid Athar
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 the disease do same job.
Politicians have also used this logic. Thus, when I asked an American diplomat many years ago as to why did the USA supported 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 had 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 doing what? Passing food and candies or enforcing global US economic and military domination in the pretext of “war on terrorism.”
Let us now bring this rule of “taking the lesser of two evils” to home i.e. US election only two weeks ago and decide how we are going to apply it in our voting decisions. It is wrong to call either presidential candidate “an evil.” They are not. They are good patriotic Americans with their own vision for America and American people. Many third world countries would love to exchange their sold out tin pot dictators with our democratic candidates. But, there is some 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 two parties except how 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 Republicans on defense and business. The Democratic Party has more membership from Afro-Americans, immigrants and minority while 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 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 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 as such, Senator Kerry wants to amend it and “end racial and religious profiling.” While President is only concerned with nuclear proliferation of certain nations, Senator Kerry is opposed to same by USA also.
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. In the pretext of war on terrorism (or occupation of oil fields in Iraq- read my lips), he has got us in a big mess, and I doubt Sen. Kerry will be able to get us out in 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 Iraqi people. Suddenly, those who were not terrorists before 2001 were transformed into one by our attack and occupation of their country. This has also alienated our “friends” in world and those who are “with us” like are so either because of money we gave them or arm twisting. I personally feel foreign policy of current administration has been a disaster and I hope, President Bush if re-elected does a better job in the second term. “You break it-you fix it” rule applies here.
The Choice:
The voters have a responsibility to act on behalf of our children who will shoulder 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. Iran has endorsed President Bush considering him to be “lesser of the two evils”. This will back fire as those who do not like Iran will vote for Kerry.
American Muslims before they expect the candidates to support them, must clean their own acts, put their house in order, and dissociate themselves from all terrorists and terrorist activities. They must abide by the “pledge of allegiance” they took when they took the oath of citizenship. They will find support from like minded peace loving fellow Americans especially from religious community. The choice for 5% undecided voters is simple. If they like policies of President Bush and give him the mandate to continue them, they should vote for him. However, if they want a change, they should vote for Senator .Kerry. What we do now affects our home and the world we live in.
Dr. Shahid Athar is a naturalized US citizen and author of 7 books (www.islam-usa.com). He can be reached at sathar3624@aol.com
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Shahid Athar, MD
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