|
Random Musings on the Eve of War
by Matt Giwer, © 2002 [September] |
|---|
|
It should be obvious to even the casual observer. It should not have to be said. There should be no need to counter, "There's a war on." There is not a war on. This war on terrorism is no different from the war on drugs. It is a war in name only. It is not a war in any legal sense applicable in the US. Only the US congress has the power to declare war for the US. Congress has not done so. Yet we see the independent free press in the US falling in behind the White House better and faster than did Russia's press under communism. We see the White House attacking the patriotism of anyone who questions anything it says. If the press is anything the press is patriotic. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the peacemakers for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country. Our country is premised on challenging the government in power as we, the people, are the government. As we must examine ourselves to assure correct behavior we must examine the government as it is an expression of ourselves. We cannot behave correctly and permit our government to behave incorrectly. There was no public debate on going to war against Iraq despite assertions there was a debate. A debate is an exchange of substance not mere assertion and repetition. Mere assertion and repetition is propaganda. What might occur in the future is not a cause for war in the present. The future is unknowable and unpredictable. War in the present is a fact. The people elected to office are not our moral or intellectual superiors. They are politicians. They have their own personal agendas which are different from their campaign promises. Politicians are not we, the people. War on Iraq was not a campaign issue. Iraq was not involved in 9/11. The only way to prevent war is to stop it before it starts. After a war starts human nature keeps it going towards a military conclusion. The minority of people who oppose war are those who try to stop it before it starts. The majority of people who oppose war only after seeing its consequences in human life. All the I told you sos in the world will not stop a war after it has started. Support for war is maintained by concealing the consequences of war in terms of human life. The government and our free and independent press keep those consequences from the people as they know it will cause of loss of support for the war. One close up of a mutilated corpse is more negative than a sterile report of the loss of a major battle. An ounce of blood in the field is more effective against war than a legless veteran in uniform being welcomed home. One civilian death is more negative than a hundred enemy soldiers is positive. The majority have no concept of war. A dead soldier is only one man removed from the battlefield. A wounded soldier removes three men from the battlefield. Therefore it is preferable to maim rather than kill. In black and white, blood and mud are the same color. In color, people notice the battlefield isn't muddy. The best way to support our troops in time of war is to end the war and bring them home. It really does not take courage to drop a bomb from 20,000 feet. The only battle-hardened troops the US has are Vietnam veterans. Enthusiasm for war in inversely proportional to experience with war.
|
|
Page reads: 3775 |