Anti-war. Yet, I didn't sign the peace petition pre-Iraq War

Ten years ago, we in the US, and people elsewhere, were following the preparations that were going on to invade Iraq.

When the US and NATO forces got ready to strike against al Qaeda and the Taliban forces in Afghanistan, I half-heartedly supported it.  There was no doubt that the Taliban and al Qaeda were evil, especially for the people living in Afghanistan.  Though, it seemed to me like the war was in haste and that we might be better with a little more planning, I supported it even as the specter of the Soviets, the British, the Greeks all loomed large in the background.

As President Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld started beating pretty loudly the war drums to invade Iraq, I was completely opposed to it.  I recall watching on television Colin Powell's presentation at the United Nations and feeling sick in my stomach.  It was difficult to watch even a minute of arrogant war talk from Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and their likes, who made the proverbial snake oil salesmen look saintly.

I was no longer a Californian, having made myself home in Oregon.  My colleagues at my new place of work, which is where I continue even now, decided that they would collect money to publish a peace petition in the student newspaper.

But, despite my intense anti-invasion pacifist sentiments, I did not sign the peace petition and nor did I contribute for the advertisement expenses.  I hadn't yet been tenured and, yet, was firm about not signing on with the rest.

A couple of years ago, I found the petition on the bulletin board and made a copy for myself.  It was interesting to note that somebody had scribbled there about 9/11--perhaps a student who supported the war, and I continue to have a strong urge to convince that scribbler about a lack of connection between 9/11 and Iraq.

There was only one other colleague in the division at that time who didn't sign on that page, and he dissented because of his affiliation with, and support for, the GOP.  In my case, political party affiliation has never been a factor, nor was I in favor of the war.  But, no singing kumbaya with the group.

I was not a signatory for a very good reason.  Not because of the phrasing, which is indeed a poorly constructed argument, especially considering the number of PhDs involved in the effort.

Unlike my faculty colleagues who apparently thought their duty ended after such a rhetorical display, which would have impressed only a few gullible students, I thought I ought to work on helping a few more students and members of the public understand about Iraq, the Middle East, and Islam.  As an academic, I have never been convinced that signing peace petitions or organizing marches is the best way I, or most academics, can contribute to society.  To join the academy is to think and inquire, which then means that by sharing the products of inquiry with students and the public we can contribute--a lot more than by signing petitions.

I write op-eds, which is one heck of a political activity, like the old-style pamphleteers.  But, even more a political activity, which Azar Nafisi noted as "subversive:

SOME ASSUME that the only way academics can engage the politics of the day is by coming out of their ivory tower and protesting in front of the White House. But in conveying knowledge, the academy has a far more important and subversive way of dealing with political issues. Knowledge provides us with a way to perceive the world. Imaginative  knowledge provides us with a way to see ourselves in the world, to relate to the world, and thereby, to act in the world. The way we perceive ourselves is reflected in the way we interact, the way we take our positions, and the way we interpret politics.
Curiosity, the desire to know what one does not know, is essential to genuine knowledge. Especially in terms of literature, it is a sensual longing to know through experiencing others—not only the others in the world, but also the others within oneself. That is why, in almost every talk I give, I repeat what Vladimir Nabokov used to tell his students: curiosity is insubordination in its purest form. If we manage to teach our students to be curious—not to take up our political positions, but just to be curious—we will have managed to do a great deal.

It is not that I am political in the classroom; far from that.  I ask questions, present facts, and make them think.  I make them at least a tad more curious to know.  I tell them that they never have to worry about what my personal opinion is because my job is only to help them learn to learn.  But, to make students think about Iraq, the Middle East, and Islam meant that I had to read up a lot more before I could offer any class on those issues.  I took some time, and then offered a class.

The Iraq War dragged on. An even longer engagement in Afghanistan. The Presidency is a lot more powerful, and secretive about its powers, than it seems to have been.  Guantanamo's prisoners are in one tragic suspended state. Drones shower bombs on terrorists, innocents, and even American citizens from Afghanistan to Yemen.

I will continue to write and teach, fully aware that it won't amount to any hill of beans.