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CounterPunch
February
14, 2003
Somehow This Madness Must Cease
Prove
the US is Good Nation: Stop the War
By RON JACOBS
(A speech given at University of Vermont's
AntiWar Protest sponsored by Students Against War, February 11,
2003)
I want to talk for a few minutes about this war
those folks in Washington are cooking up. Let me start with a
personal anecdote. Some of you might have heard me talk about
this before-if so please bear with me. When I was a kid, I lived
in Pakistan on a US military base with my family. While we were
there, India and Pakistan went to war over the land of Kashmir.
The base where the US military operated was near the Pakistani
city of Peshawar. The US and Pakistani air forces shared some
of the airport that was five or so miles from our house. On my
tenth birthday, the Indian Air Force began a week of bombing
raids on Peshawar. Every night for a week the air raid siren
would sound and every night our family-along with every other
family on base-left our home to spend the rest of the night in
a long six-foot deep trench covered by plywood and dirt. This
was our air raid shelter. All night until dawn we listened to
the bombs falling and exploding, the anti-aircraft guns firing,
and the bombers leaving. Meanwhile, we prayed and us older kids
comforted our younger siblings. To this day, the sound of an
air raid siren causes my heart to leap into my throat in fear.
We were non-combatants who, being American, were under virtually
no threat of attack or injury. Nonetheless, the nightly air raids
terrorized us along with the Pakistanis who lived outside the
base's walls.
I only tell this little story to help
bring it home to us in the US that war affects us all. It affects
us if we live where the bombs are being dropped or if we live
where they are made. It affects us if we spend our nights in
air raid shelters or in B-52s and aircraft carriers. It affects
us if we are watching the attack from our rooftop or on our television
screen. It affects us if we are in uniform or not. It takes our
brothers and sisters, our futures, and our souls. Every missile
fired, every bomb that is dropped, every bullet shot, is another
attack on the people of Iraq and the US. Every smart bomb dropped
is money subtracted from your education and that of our children.
Every 2,000 pound fuel-air explosive device dropped not only
creates a firestorm and vacuum where it is dropped, it also burns
up our potential and creates a vacuum in our nation's soul. After
all, if we can allow US soldiers to kill people they can't even
see with no more thought than that which we use when we use our
tv remote, are we any better than the everyday people of Nazi
Germany who paid no mind to the Dachau concentration camp next
door? Is ignoring the smell of the bodies from that camp any
different from ignoring the destruction and death that is being
wrought in our name?
Recently, a US military strategist named
Harlan Ullman told Dan Rather: "There will not be a safe
place in Baghdad. The sheer size of this has never been seen
before, never been contemplated before."
Mr. Ullman was talking about a military
strategy that is being called shock and awe, a phrase that was
taken from the military strategist Clausewitz. Ullman continued
his explanation to Mr. Rather by saying (quite proudly I might
add) "You have this simultaneous effect, rather like the
nuclear weapons at Hiroshima, not taking days or weeks but minutes."
Hiroshima in minutes!! This is what they want to do to Baghdad
and who knows where else. If these people who run our country
and are talking about mass murder as calmly as you or I order
dinner were gangbangers or high school kids in Columbine or another
town where teenage killers have gone mad, most Americans would
be calling for their heads. Because what they are planning on
committing is nothing less than a capital crime! It's mass murder,
people!
If the veils of cynicism and apathy have
so blinded us to the criminality of this war drive and the sanctions
that precede it, the sheer inhumanity of this impending slaughter
must rip those veils from our souls and our compassion must shine
through. If we are deaf to the cries this war will bring, we
must turn down the volume on our tvs, stereos, and video games,
and acknowledge-no embrace-our common humanity with those of
all nations who will be the victims of this war. If we don't
speak out against this crime, we might as well be blind. Our
ears should be made deaf and all traces of compassion removed
from our being. This war is not only foolish and ill-advised,
it is a crime against humanity. We can't and won't let the masters
of war define who we are and who we will be!
In each of our lives, there are a few
moments that truly matter. Some are very personal, while others
are very public. This is one of those moments. One that fits
into both categories. What we do today and every day as long
as this exercise in mass murder continues will define not only
our emotional and spiritual futures, it could very well define
our physical futures on this planet. In addition, and most importantly,
it will define the legacy we leave for those who will inherit
this earth from us.
When the powers of war, greed, and lust
for power dominate the earth as they do today, those of us who
oppose them must do whatever we can to halt their motion. We
must re-prioritize what our jobs and our studies mean, and put
our energies into stopping the motion of those powers-a motion
that is nothing but death and loss for most of the world. If
we haven't already, then beginning today we must live in opposition
to the rulers' designs for empire. Rallies, marches, civil disobedience
and direct action-everything we can do, we must do.
In our classrooms, workplaces, churches,
and hangouts...with our families, friends, lovers and colleagues...we
must make clear our opposition to the imperial designs of the
men and women in Washington, DC.. Sometimes, this will mean vigorous
persuasion and action, other times it will mean soft and kind
words. We must be ready for anger and tears, and, when we come
up against them, we must be ready with a response that will further
the cause of peace and justice.
If we know men and women in the military,
we must approach them and explain why we don't want them to kill
and die for the profits of a few who care nothing for their lives
or the lives of those they will meet on the battlefield or drop
bombs on from the sky. Let these service men and women know that
they don't have to go to war-there are people and structures
designed to help them should they decide that killing for empire
is not how they want to remember themselves. Or want to be remembered.
In case it's not obvious to everyone
by now, let me say it once more: This war is about empire. Empire
and the oil that greases it. It's not about weapons of mass destruction.
Even if you believe that the most well-armed nation in the world
has the right to bully a nation into disarming, the best way
to do that is by destroying the weapons, not the nation itself.
This war is about empire. It's not about freedom for the Iraqi
people. The only freedom Bush and company are interested in is
the freedom to exploit the rest of the world. This war is about
empire. It's not about restoring democracy. The men and women
running this thing don't know the meaning of that word.
For those of you who believe that the
US is basically a good nation, stopping this war is your chance
to begin to return its government back to that goodness. For
those of you who think otherwise, this is your chance to begin
and make it into such a nation.
Stopping this war is a step in this direction.
I'm gonna' be honest here. It's not gonna' be a walk in the park.
The people in power didn't get there by being nice. They got
there by being ruthless, deceitful and just plain murderous.
But, we can win. In deed, we must. One step at a time.
I just saw the Will Smith movie, Ali.
Now, I'm not saying we all gotta' be the heavyweight champion
of the world, of course. But, we could take some inspiration
from a page of Ali's life and just plain refuse to go along with
this war. When they ask us to step up and agree to their plans
for world domination, we can look them in the eye and refuse.
That's all, just refuse. It's an incredibly liberatory feeling
when you finally take that step. Believe me. That first step
is underway as I speak. Let's take it. Get to one of the big
demonstrations the weekend of January 15th. Let's do what we
feel we have to do. Then, go home and talk about things with
your friends. Get together an affinity group to carry out future
actions. Come to meetings and forums around this issue and add
your time and words. Let's stop their war machine in its tracks
now and forever. Let's take that first step on the road towards
a world of justice and peace.
Ron Jacobs
lives in Burlington, VT. He can be reached at: rjacobs@zoo.uvm.edu
Yesterday's
Features
Jennifer Berkshire
Columbia
and the Signs from Above
Jason Leopold
It's
the Oil, Stupid
The Markets of Mass Destruction
Neve Gordon
Arabs
and Jews Unite for Peace
Charlie Clements, MD
A
Report from Iraq
Bombing the Starving, the Sick, the Homeless
Linda Heard
Oh What a Web They Weave!
Will Hans Get Blixed?
Jeremy Brecher
Alternative
to War
Democratic Protest Can Avert Calamity
Senator Robert Byrd
Bush Administration is Reckless
Ray McGovern
CIA Man on the Agency's Days of Shame
Kurt Nimmo
The Propaganda of Anxiety
Website of the Day
Rock
Out Against War
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February 8
/ 9, 2003
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The
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Read
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Whiteout:
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by Alexander
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and Jeffrey St. Clair
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