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Sadness
and Anger About Iraq
It didn't have to be this way. After 9-11, the country was
powerfully unified, ready to take on a vicious enemy together. International
support for the US was strong, even in places like France and China.
We were together, with much of the world strongly behind us. We
had the moral high ground, the military and political advantage, the will
to fight even if it meant great sacrifice. George W. Bush destroyed that unity and threw away that support.
His needless war in Iraq has splintered us politically, and his constant
lies have bred deep distrust. He and his conservative friends have poisoned
the nation with vicious partisanship. His bellicose arrogance, his regime
of secret prisons and mass torture, and his indifference to the deaths
of more than 30,000 Iraqi civilians have turned the world against us to
a degree that we haven't seen in 30 years. By cutting taxes on his rich
friends in a time of war he has piled up debts for our children and added
class conflict to our other woes. I feel sick at what is happening to my country. Even more,
I am angry, because I know who is to blame. Al Qaeda and its allies
can never defeat America as long as we stand together. Thanks to
George W. Bush, we are at not together. We are each other's throats.
I do not fear the terrorists; I think that we are still strong enough
to withstand whatever they can throw at us, and that our devotion to our
republic will endure long after they are gone. But I am afraid that
the damage done by Bush, his war, his astonishing grab for power, and his
nihilistic savagery toward all he sees as his enemies will haunt our nation
for decades. |
From the
Commonplace Book
Of course the people don't want war. But after all, it's the leaders
of the country who determine the policy, and it's always a simple matter
to drag the people along whether it's a democracy, a fascist dictatorship,
or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people
can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy.
All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the
pacifists for lack of patriotism, and exposing the country to greater danger.
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