It is about this: War!
In recent years, the US launched on March 19th not one war but two.
In 2003, the draft-dodging bush/cheney combination engaged in a massive propaganda campaign to fool us Americans into going to war against Iraq. We destroyed the country, from which recovery does not seem likely for a while.
No one knows for certain how many Iraqis have died as a result of the invasion 15 years ago. Some credible estimates put the number at more than one million. You can read that sentence again. The invasion of Iraq is often spoken of in the United States as a “blunder,” or even a “colossal mistake.” It was a crime. Those who perpetrated it are still at large. Some of them have even been rehabilitated thanks to the horrors of Trumpism and a mostly amnesiac citizenry. (A year ago, I watched Mr. Bush on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” dancing and talking about his paintings.) The pundits and “experts” who sold us the war still go on doing what they do.And then in 2011, the Nobel Peace Prize recipient Obama led the US from behind when he lobbed missiles at Libya.
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.
When 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. Harry Belafonte was correct!
As the war drums got louder, my colleagues at my new place of work here in Oregon decided that they would collect money to publish a peace petition in the student newspaper.
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.
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 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.
Meanwhile, the maniac in the Oval Office, who was the choice of 63 million voters and who dodged the draft citing his bone spurs, is itching to go to war and show that he is the manliest of men.
The madness continues!
