An analysis of American sentiment and radical posters from Social Nerve.

The Media, the Democratic Party, the Troops

Charles Nightley, Social Nerve:

http://socialnerve.org/web/iraq/2004/04/28/001.html

Howard Zinn recently wrote that it is hard for some people to grasp the simple truth: that the United States does not belong in Iraq.  The cause of our not belonging there, according to Zinn, is because it is not our country and we are inflicting heavy casualties on the Iraqi population as well as causing mass destruction.   And he is right, it isn't our country and we are causing mass destruction.  In fact the WMD's that we were searching for in Iraq were there since we got there, it was us. We are the weapons of mass destruction.

So why do so many Americans support the war effort? Firstly, some people will argue with me on this statement, "so many".  Yes there were millions of people in America protesting the war, and I was among them, but we cannot hide from  the embarrassing fact that the majority of Americans feel that this is a right war.   The latest Gallop poll, April 20, 2004, said that 52% of Americans still believe that going to war was worth it.  We must remember, in April alone over 100 American troops died because of the Iraqi intifada.

Now coming back to my earlier question, why do so many American's support the war effort?  I think there are several obvious reasons, and I will discuss each in detail later:

1. The Media has supported this war effort from the very start.  It has never, or hardly, criticized the Bush administration, and it continues to promote war-hungry patriotism and support of the "troops."
2. The opposition party to Bush, the Democrats, are just as enthusiastic about the war as the Republicans, only differing in the tactics used.  Either way, they both greatly support the war effort.
3. In the American mentality being against the war often translates into being against the troops, and this seems almost like treason in the cultural mentality of America.

The Media

The Media of the United States has lost all credibility in the civilized world.  Well, at least in the Arab world, the Asian world, and Latin American world, and the European world.  Al Jazeera, the English version, has recently published an article entitled "Failure of U.S. Journalism" and "Quagmire of U.S. Media."   Dr. Jensen, in the "Failure of U.S. Journalism" writes: "Before, during and after the war, mainstream commercial journalists have failed to provide the critical analysis, independent reporting, and the diverse range of opinions necessary for the American public to evaluate the Bush administration’s claims about the war."  In my eyes this is absolutely true.   In the eyes of almost every educated and well-informed American this has been the case for years.   Mainstream news has become a joke, and that is why during the war and the build-up towards the war we saw such an avid interest in the form of alternative media.

The Democratic Party

The Democratic Party has also become a joke.  Sadly, a party that could have actually opposed the war has turned into a capitalist stuffed bunny and repeated slogan after slogan of the pro-war propaganda.  If we check our history books we will see the Democrats have always been this way, and though at times they appear "left" they often fall under the pressure of capitalist hawks, which are always reactionary and conservative.   Presidential candidate John Kerry supported the war, because he says he believed the president!  Today he is bashing the president, and a year ago he believed him so much that he was prepared to send thousands of American kids to get their heads blown off.  Today he isn't talking about withdrawing troops, he's not even talking about lowering the cost of the war.  In fact all he's saying is that we need to bring the U.N. in, almost the same thing that Bush is saying right now.  The closer we look at the two candidates the more we see that they have very similar agendas.

The Troops

Today it's considered almost heretical to denounce the troops.  How dare you, they say, they are dying so that we can be free!  Well, no. We'd be even more free if we weren't killing and dying in Iraq, and we'd be even more free if we weren't in Afghanistan, and imagine how free we would be if we weren't pumping Israel with billions of dollars.   In fact 9/11 was largely the result of American support for Israel, and the recent terror attacks around the world are because of the American invasion of Iraq.  The world is not a safer place, instead it's a complicated mess.  And in the middle of all this there are the troops, who are tired, who want to go home, and who are hated by the rest of the world as well as a large portion of the activist community here at home.

I think we must take a clear look at our troops.  First of all, we cannot hate them.  We cannot hate them because they signed up to be soldiers, and we need an army.  I'm not against a country having a military.  If the Soviet Union didn't have a military during WWII then we would be living under Fascism right now.  Secondly, I think that many of the soldiers signed up for the military for financial reasons, and this is understandable.  Others signed up because they wanted to protect this country, and I think more and more are realizing that this mission in Iraq isn't one of those protective missions.

The troops are not at fault.  Yes many of them are committing acts of murder, yes many there believe they are doing the right thing.  But troops are troops, they take orders and fight, kill, and die.  That is their job. There is no purpose to alienate the troops.  It also isn't heretical to say that you oppose this war but support the troops.  That you support the fathers and mothers in Iraq, the sons and daughters.  That you want them to return and never have to destroy a nation.  This is the best way out.

Bring our troops home.  End the Occupation!

Featured Artwork From Social Nerve:

Miami Anti-FTAA

What Has The Young Generation Seen?

Intifada

Check more art out at: Zakat