Letter to a War-Drum Banging Mom, mailed away

[AnarchoFreeThinker]

Here's my test for terrorism: the taking of innocent lives in the name of a Cause. One life, or ten thousand lives, or, in the case of the US invasion of Iraq, well over one hundred thousand innocent lives. The reason our White House indulges in metaphors and terms like "evil-doers" and an array of jargon, while simultaneously peppering news networks with cool video images, is because it is doing everything in its power to keep people from remembering that Iraq is peopled almost exclusively by innocent men, women, and children. Many, predictably, were in our way.
Dead children don't appreciate liberation or democracy. Ultimately, in a few years, will the survivors be better off—-assuming we care for all of the wounded, the displaced, the mourning, the alienated, the hungry, the sick, and the poor? Almost certainly not. Maybe there is a chance, even if only a slim one, that we haven't created a whole new generation of throngs of orphans now ready to invest their lives in terrorism against our government for taking their parents, friends, relatives, neighbors, and homes from them. But is it even remotely possible they might ever embrace our country? Let's be realistic. The insurgency is in full swing, resulting in our overtaxed forces firing on crowds of people, killing more innocents, and renewed attacks on our troops-—also political tools of this administration. When does the liberation begin?
And it's obviously naive to pretend that Bush hasn't used this war for political gain. It's naive to pretend that Bush's motive is actually to protect America, simply because of the incredible illogic of that idea. Why did the terror alert rise when we announced we were about to invade? How can you simultaneously protect our country when the very actions you undertake to protect it also-—by your own admission—-place it in more danger? It's naive to pretend Bush ever wanted to negotiate and use diplomacy in good faith. Is there anyone left who really thinks he didn't plan all along to attack Iraq? And who really thinks there was no personal element to Bush wanting Saddam Hussein out?
It's cool to watch war video games on the nightly news, but it's not cool to dissent. Got to hand that bit of marketing to the Bush White House. Dissent takes moxie and a free mind and the ability to detect the bull being spoon-fed to you. True democracy demands dissent in order to operate—-especially in times of its most important policy-making. And perhaps the single biggest indicator that a philosophy can't stand up to any test of reason or truth is when its proponents try to limit any arguments against it.
Why don't I support this war? Because Bush has used the most ignoble means available—-rhetoric and fear-—to stifle the debate that makes America a democracy. Because his administration has worked with utmost resolve to curtail the legal rights of individuals in a manner that mocks democracy. Because he has used noble military men and women and this country's vast resources for his personal public relations campaign and own political elevation at the expense of our country’s moral capital, world standing, and the health and peace of mind of millions worldwide. I don't support the war because we continue to kill so many innocent children and parents-—just like terrorists do. I don't support the war because if there's any hope for free speech and for the consensus that democracy requires to operate through free and open debate, then this country needs anyone who disagrees with the illogic and immorality of this war to say so. I don't support this war because America IS its ideals and principles, most of which Bush has compromised severely. I don't support this war because even educated and sometimes otherwise freethinking people swallow everything the White House says and that the news media simply parrots. If I don’t object-—who will?
The government restricts debate about war and structures its rhetoric in terms that consign war to private conversations and to the realm of “experts.” I realize that it's easier simply to accept what's popular and pretend to be American, to find comfort in only what your close circle of friends thinks, or to leave it all to the generals, but that's not democracy. In the end, I really don't care whether people who passively accept this war ever engage themselves fully in this issue or search their consciences or come up with reasons, even if to support the war, that actually are different from what the White House wants the country to believe and repeat. Even strident anti-war dissenters can no longer care about convincing the apathetic or the willingly disengaged that there is no justification for terrorizing thousands of innocents. This is a lost cause now. The dead are dead.
I have an amazing little girl, though, and an astonishing baby boy, and I won’t just be quiet about it when cowards who don't give a damn about baby girls and baby boys are running the world, and others think they're doing just fine. I will never sacrifice my children in the name of a “Cause,” and so won’t acquiesce to the sheer viciousness of sacrificing thousands of other parents’ children in the name of a "Cause." So you’ll have to excuse the obscenity of the way I will sum up my point of view, because a simple "I respectfully dissent" will not suffice anymore, and because even the most offensive sentence I could ever construct would in no way ever approach the vulgarity of this war, the death of tens of thousands of innocents, the suffering and agony and anguish caused to many thousand more, and the daily tragedy in Iraq we don't have to imagine from our comfortable homes—-and which we couldn't imagine even if we had the moral wherewithal to try.
Fuck this war.