Ronn Cantu asks a very interesting question in the blog Iraq Veterans Against the War; he wants to know, "What, Exactly, Are We Dying For?" I am going to try to answer that question.
First, let me dispense with the obvious, you should not have been there to begin with. It would be nice to say that you are there fighting terror, avenging the deaths of 3000+ people - not all of whom were Americans as the favored rhetoric goes since 911. It would be nice to blame Osama Bin Laden and some nebulous, loosely affiliated group of parasitic beasts called, "Al Qaeda," but their acts nor words had anything to do with civilians and soldiers being killed in Iraq.
Before continuing, a word about "Al Qaeda." "Al Qaeda" is a marginalized movement in the Arab/Muslim world given greater significance by American politicians elevating them to the level of an evil Arab/Muslim force. They have been given undue credibility by linking them to the Arab/Muslim mainstream. Arabs/Muslims have never had any love for "Al Qaeda," considering that Arabs/Muslims more often than not, have always been the favorite target of "Al Qaeda." When things go boom and "Al Qaeda" claims responsibility, you can usually be sure that it is in an Arab/Muslim nation; though admittedly, not always the case. What's interesting is that "Al Qaeda" is to Arabs/Muslims what groups that worship The Turner Diaries is to America's world, extremely fringe.
Part of the "misunderstanding" between the American public and the Arab/Muslim public is that we do not involve ourselves in each other's media to any great extent. I put quotations around misunderstanding since that is effectively what it is. We do not hear those in the Arab/Muslim world who speak out against Al Qaeda because we do not read their newspapers, we do not watch their TVs, we do not listen to their radio, we do not read their blogs or ezine publications. When we do read about Arabs/Muslims that do condemn groups such as "Al Qaeda" and their actions, it is invariably in English and in our media. The thought never really occurs to us that there are just not that many Arab/Muslim voices in our media to reach the crescendo of condemnation that we figure we are owed, thus, we form the impression that there are more Muslims who must agree with Bin Laden, than who disagree.
We count on other people to tell us what the Arab/Muslim world is saying and if all they ever tell us is what Bin Laden wants us to say, then we are only really hearing what they want us to know. The truth is, America has more friends in the Arab/Muslim world than enemies, yet the perception is that "they all" want to destroy us. This may be a useful tool to some but obviously detrimental to all.
Blame is a two way street in this issue, the Arab/Muslim world feels that the entire western world is against them for the same reasons, they do not read our newspapers, they do not watch our TV, they do not listen to our radios nor read our blogs and ezine publications. They rarely hear the rational because or journalists, publishers, etc do not cater to their audience...nor should they have to. They hear the same thing we hear, the loud, the obscene, the fringe. They hear when noted American public figures say things such as, "We should invade their countries, kill their leaders, and convert their people." They hear when Americans that speak loud enough talk of clashes of civilizations, denounce their religion, way of life, and ridicules all that they hold to be holy. They rarely hear when those same people are ostracized as being out of touch or fringe or marginal; just as we never hear the same. So fundamentally, misunderstandings are at the root of all evil on every side.
The twisted truth though, is that a misunderstanding is not the answer to "What, Exactly, Are We Dying For?" The answer to that is, when evil confluences, major evil happens, and the invasion of Iraq was a major evil. There is just no other way to describe how the US administration manipulated the misunderstandings of the public through propaganda (a willing media shares a large part of the responsibility) to create the circumstances which allowed congress to sandbag its constitutional duties, and for a large portion of the American public to become a bloodthirsty, war-mongering, throng.
I suppose it is instructive to think back and remember the mood after 911, the whole world cried out for justice, the whole world cried out for blood, and the whole world went after it; first, by demanding that the Afghan government produce Bin Laden, and second, by invading Afghanistan when they did not comply. Allow me to segue for another moment with regards to Afghanistan. We went there, not to build a nation, not to free a people, but to topple a government in order to find one man. The overriding concern there though was that one man who everyone acknowledges is no longer there. The fighting part of that mission should have ended a long while ago and we (the Western World) should be there as nothing more than peacekeepers at this point.
After 911, after Afghanistan, the US administration turned its attention to Iraq. They made allegations, assured a skeptical world that they were right, and demonized anyone and everyone that stood in the way of "their truth." Remember freedom fries, freedom wine, Natalie Maines, Democrats, Max Cleland...this list could go on and on, but you get the point. The tactic was despicably evil and un-American, but it worked, so it continued. It was interesting to watch a Fox News show on a Sunday morning, hear the latest catch phrase or attack and then watch it spread to every conservative newspaper, radio show, blog, forum, newsgroup, and affiliated television station within days.
Whether it was an attack or a defense, it was and is a well-oiled machine that disseminated information to the rank and file at a blistering pace. The rank and file was just not any rank and file, theirs were hungry, eager participants in any deception that was asked of them, ready and willing to regurgitate anything that was fed to them happily- why? Because they were team players and they were on the winning team. They were doing the beating and not being the beaten and in this new world of "for us or against us," there could be no inkling of being for anyone that was not on "MY" team, not on God's team. When you mix all that with that heady dash of religion, that God is on our side and nobody else's, you now have the ingredients for a free people, willingly making idiotic blunders in the name of truth, freedom and the American way, using lies, oppression, and decidedly un-American tactics to get their way.
The thing I find odd is that goodness, justice, right, and God is on everyone's side. I remember reading recently, with stunned incredulity, a statement made by Kim Jong-Il that justice was on his side and that because of that, the DPRK would and could withstand any challenge. Bin Laden claims God his on his side. Hussein claimed that God was on his side. George Bush claims that God is on his side. Everyone claims that God and/or justice is on their side- and they know it without a shred of doubt- and that they are, in fact, acting justly and honorably. Gentlemen, God is on her own side!
The beautiful part about what they did and how they did it is some of the creative rhetoric and blatant manipulation that they employed. Nowadays, should I dare ever bring up the present circumstance in Iraq to try to square it with what was being argued at the time, the answers I get- usually in the form of questions- would lead me to believe that we all just jumped into it holding hands. They would have you believe that there was no debate at the time, that we all agreed that invading Iraq was the right and only thing to do. They cannot remember answering concerns with obfuscations, they cannot remember answering evidence with lies (nor producing lies as evidence), they cannot remember answering doubt with fear mongering, they cannot remember their own complicity. Though I must admit, the last part of that statement applies less and less since there are many who willingly admit, that today they realize that they had been lied to and manipulated.
I am moving off topic way too often, so let me conclude this with my actual answer to Ronn Cantu:
At this point you are there in Iraq because somebody…not going to name names here…somebody came up with reason after reason of why Iraq was dangerous. Somebody, said, “You are either with us, or against us.” Somebody said, “…Axis of evil,” “mushroom clouds,” “Terrorism,” “9 1 1,” “Terrorism,” “3000 dead,” “Saddam Hussein,” “He gassed his own people,” and so on. I like the last one best considering that they never mention where he got the gas from and they never mention how they reacted when he allegedly did so. They also never mention the disputes with regard to this, disputes that they were complicit in concocting.
Anyways, you are there because at this point not being there may be far worse than making a political about why you should not have been there in the first place. Americans put on the blinders and allowed their leadership to manipulate them into a situation that cannot be manipulated out of. Now Iraqis and Americans are paying a high price in blood that cannot be stopped any time soon.
The interesting thing is that some estimates have Americans killing as many Iraqis in 5 years as they had for Saddam killing people over a 35 year span; it kind of begs the question, are the Iraqis better off? Some Americans would argue that it’s a high price but a worthy price to pay for freedom and democracy. Yet if you were to ask the question, would you be willing to see 300000 Americans die to bring freedom and democracy to Iraq or Iran or North Korea, how many would say it’s a terrible price to pay but one that is worth it?
posted by Garfield Jones @ 8:47 AM
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