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| Government sponsored shutting up in WWII |
Baghdad has fallen, the statues are toppled, and the war, which we protested so vehemently against, appears to be a resounding success. We're not sure what the casualties were like on the Iraqi side, but we know they were fairly low on our side, just over 100 American and British soldiers died. While the guerilla warfare continues, the war is being spun as a " catastrophic success."
So why are we, the peaceniks, still making noise? I can't speak for the whole anti-war lobby, I can only barely articulate my own frustrated feelings about this war. I have questions, and lots of them, about the motivation behind our actions in Iraq. Until I am convinced that I was wrong, I'll continue to stand in solidarity with my sign carrying neighbors. There are a few things that the US government can do to bring me around to their side.
1, Show me the weapons. We're still looking for those famous illegal weapons. Yes, the Iraqis have chemical safety suits, but guess what, we've got them too. It's as logical to say that we're carrying chemical weapons as it is to accuse the Iraqis of having them. Furthermore, we knew that the Iraqis had chemical weapons in the past. I'm not the least bit surprised that there are safety suits lying around in warehouses.
2. Convince me that it's not about the oil. Why did we rush to secure the Ministry of Oil when the museums of Baghdad were being looted? The cultural treasures of an ancient civilization have been either destroyed or stolen, sure to end up on the black market or even on eBay. But instead of focusing on the irreplaceable treasures found in the cradle of Western civilization, we chose to protect an office building full of files of information about what? Oil.
3. Stop using the war as a distraction. Tax cuts pass side by side with an outrageous budget to pay for the war. Civil rights such affirmative action, separation of church and state, and Roe vs. Wade, are undermined. The Patriot Act and our recent treatment of immigrants are shameful examples of what's slipping by while we're tuned in to CNN. The democrats tremble in fear of being labeled unpatriotic as they betray their constituents to vote with the President. Don't think we haven't noticed. Don't think we've forgotten the stagnant economy either. "A jobless recovery" is not a recovery, it's rhetoric. The war is not an excuse for bad politics at home.
4. Open reconstruction to the rest of the world. Excluding nations from participation in the reconstruction of Iraq does little to assuage fears that the invasion of Iraq is thinly veiled imperialism. To the victor go the spoils? Who's supposed to be the victor here? Large American corporations or the people of Iraq? The secret bidding, the right wing rogues gallery that show up on the boards of companies that are awarded contracts in Iraq, the "we fought the war, we get to decide how things get rebuilt" attitude, all create suspicion about our motivation. While we're at it, what about finding some Iraqi companies to handle the reconstruction? Surely the Iraqi people have an opinion about who should rebuild their home?
5. Look up. The continuous dismissal of world opinion and the opinions of the left at home creates a sense that the administration gives not a moment of thought to the voices of dissent. If they're not with us, they're against us? We're supposed to be espousing democratic values and yet, we treat disagreement and though it's unpatriotic. There are a lot of things I don't understand about the workings of government, but if I remember correctly, we are supposed to be a government of representation. That doesn't mean you represent me only if I agree, it means you represent my disagreements as well. This has to carry over to our view of the world too. If the President of the United States can "respectfully disagree" with the protestors in the US, why can't he do the same with the leaders of foreign nations? Instead, we plow forward, heads down, minds made up, a bull in the china shop of world opinion. This attitude is sure to lead to a future of isolationism.
I tune in to the war on the Web, on TV, on the radio every day to seek signs of reassurance that the government is working to help me believe that we're doing the right thing. I have yet to find any thing that helps me look at the war with confidence. If the 2000 elections taught us nothing, they taught us that the future of the nations can be decided by just a few votes. I read, I listen, I watch the direction that America is going. And I vote. Maybe some of you are so crippled by cynicism that you don't think a single vote matters. But I'm an American at heart and to me that means I can shape the future. I'm paying attention to my government. I think it's not too much to ask that the government do the same in return.
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