Oil, Empire and Ego:
Why I Oppose the War
This is an essay, written by my good friend, Tara, that gives a powerful and passionate view of the entire anti-war movement. She is a US citizen who is not falling all over President Bush and blindly agreeing with everything he says and does. This is well worth reading.
"Operation Iraqui Freedom". "The War on Terrorism". "The 2nd Gulf War". There are many titles for the war going on now, and no matter wat you choose to call it, it is evident and in-your-face. You cannot escape the coverage of it on television, in newspapers, magazines, on the 'Net, etc, etc.But it doesn't matter how much press this mess gets or how much "support" Bush gets in the polls..many of which are taken among a group of Republicans to begin with. The point is that the conflict is very real, and in my humble opinion, very tragic and wrong.
The Bush Administration claims that they have sent the troops, many of which are composed of young men and women not much older than myself, into the bomb and gun-laden danger to liberate the Iraqui people. They maintain that these people have been oppressed by their leader, Saddam Hussein, for thirty-some years and that this full scale war is the only effective way to put him out of power. They claim that he's fed his people through meat-shredders, doused them in oil, and other such shock factors in the time he's been in power. But if these people are so oppressed and have endured such horrible cruelty, how on Earth would the bomb raids that the US has conducted in the past five days, raids which have left at least 200 civilians in dire physical straits, help them? How will they gain any "freedom" in drastic injury, even death?? If Saddam is such a monster and all this lies on his shoulders, how come he is not the target? Why his people? And why would his people fight back against their liberators??
It is my personal belief that there is so much more to this war than Saddam Hussein. Saddam is a convient shock factor for the administration to throw in. They figure that if the public takes that in, they will be appauled and immediately back the war. Sadly, this has reeled in an element of people..people that believe that even the Iraqui civilians must be killed in order to get rid of their dictator. I am not making a judgment one way or the other on Saddam. I am not saying that he is an innocent lamb. But I AM saying that even if he is guilty of those atrocities, it is not fair to make his people pay for them. His people ARE being made to pay for them when their city is bombed inside out relentlessly. Where's the liberation in that?? Why not let the alleged blame rest on Hussein if this is all about him? Why not try him as a war criminal? Why wasn't that done a long time ago? A lot of the war backers seem to think that all Middle Easterners are to blame. And whether the administration chooses to expose it or not, the American soldiers are brainwashed to think this. Timothy McVeigh, who fought in 1991's Persian Gulf War, stated that at the time he was in, he was influenced to think that "Not only is Saddam evil..ALL Iraquis are evil" Yet he added, but when you are over tehre with these people, in personal contact, its a whole other ball game. You realise that they are just people like you".
Now some would say, and indeed have already said, that I am disrespecting the American troops via my opposition of the war. That could not be more untrue. I do not, Not, NOT blame the boys for this mess. They are doing what the GOVERNMENT has ordered. Many of them are either young boys straight out of high school, in it for a schlorship, or men that joined in peacetime, who now are endowed to go fight this war. You cannot pick and choose your wars once you are in. Once again, the example can go back to McVeigh. McVeigh joined the army in 1988, at the age of 20. His primary reason for joining was his fascination with firearms. I imagine that like many people in recent ages, he at the time didn't really fathom the possibility of another war. Many people have had the notion that wars were "20, 40, 60 years ago" and cannot happen in modern times. So once the Gulf War went under way in 1990-1, McVeigh had no choice. He did what had to do. They do not let you leave during way time. Id o not blame the troops one ioda. If anything, the anti war movment supports them more than anyone..we want them back home, safe and secure. We never wanted them in this preempted war in the first place. The government did and made a horrible one at that...
Ever wonder why, if Saddam is such a demon of a dictator, why the Government hasn't gone to thecountries of OTHER dictators to liberate THEIR people?? Why didn't they go after Fidel Castro, who has been in power over there since the 1950's?? Who, according to some sources, still has Jewish Concentration camps intact?? Could it be because the main crops in Cuba, rice and bananas, for example, don't even have a cintilla of the net worth Iraqui's asset, oil, does? Could it be because America wants to make an empire out of nation with a damn valuable asset?
Alright, so I've covered the oil and empire aspect of my argument. Ego? What the hell does she mean by THAT??, you may ask. Well, empire and money do tie into that, but a lot of ego can be routed back to the dissention this conflict has created on American's own soil as of late. Many people have very strong opinions on the matter, one way or another. Some have opinions for it that are so strong, they feel they have to silence those of people who disagree. Many of these people have ordered, basically, that the anti-war movement shut the fuck up about their opposition, "in respect to the troops".They ignore that most of us DO NOT blame the troops..they do this for propoganda purposes. Which is what leads them to their censhorship. They ordered the anti-war teachers to not discuss their stances in their classes. They chastised Michael Moore, "Bowling for Columbine";s director, for making an anti-war statement at the Oscars. And perhaps most most notably of all, they labeled the Dixie Chicks as "UnAmerican" and "treasonus" for their opposition of Bush and his war. This chastisement went as far as to have their CDs banned in Texas and other places, as well as their songs from the radio. All this while Kid Rock, Travis Tritt, LeeAnne Rimes, and other such celebrities who support the war were allowed to run theirmouths. Hypocrisy much?? What ever happened to freedom of Speech?? I thought ALL of us were entitled to it...
Perhaps my biggest complaint against this whole thing is the hypocrisy in it. It's A okay for the US to bomb other nations, but when Timothy Mcveigh did an action that wasn't even 1/8 as bad, he was excuted for it. Now I am not trying to devalue the tragedies on American soil, but c'mon, lets not be hypocrites about it! Let's not let some have free speech, but not others. Lets not lie about the reasons behind this conflict. Let's be real for once!
Oil, empire, and ego. If you really analyze this matter, you can see that these factors lie within it. Its a damn shame that so many people on both sides have to have their blood shed for an adminstration that, as one C-span anti war caller so aptly described it, is marinated in oil...
By Tara Bardella.
2003.
