A pieceful march to war

The Michigan Partisan

By Page W. H. Brousseau IV
TIMES STAFF WRITER

It seems abundantly clear to anyone with a spec of common sense that a US led war against Iraq is weeks if not days away. However, in the grand tradition of America, protesters are taking to the streets. That in itself is not bad, but those marches are a menagerie of groups, that when combined, form the most bizarre alliance since the Carebears came to the aid of the Rebels in Return of the Jedi.

Celebrity Skin

The first group one must examine when dealing with this peace movement is the celebrity. Take Sean Penn, please, the man is overflowing with acting ability, yet he somehow missed he was taking part in Saddam's PR campaign when he traveled to the country last year. When he returned he issued a statement the read in part: "My trip here is to personally record the human face of the Iraqi people so that their blood -- along with that of American soldiers -- would not be invisible on my own hands (in the advent of war)." The blood of Americans is not on Penn's hands but Saddam's because of the First Persian Gulf War and the continued Iraqi attacks on US warplanes, Saddam has Israeli blood on his hands because of his sponsorship and funding of suicidal attackers. Saddam has blood on his hands because of the countless Kurds he has massacred; he has blood on his hands because of the millions of Iranian troops and civilians deaths he caused in the Iran-Iraq War of the 1980s. Most importantly, Saddam has the blood of tens of millions of Iraqis he has led to death in two major wars; he has killed even more because of a need to acquirer weapons of mass destruction technology instead of feeding his own people. But oh no, Mr. Penn, it will be the US that will have blood on its hands. Is that right?

George Clooney knows what the truth is in Iraq; after all, he was in a movie about the First Persian Gulf War, Three Kings. After he compared the Bush Administration to the Soprano's, he told a German interviewer that America cannot "beat anybody anymore." Clooney went further in saying an attack would cause suicidal wannabes that dream of a fiery death and virgin paradise. Apparently Clooney fears about suicidal attackers that may, in theory, leave 3,000 dead in midtown Manhattan. We certainly would not like to see that would we, Mr. Clooney? We already have seen it, and it did not take a war on Iraq.

I imagine most celebrities support our troops, but some like Janeane Garofalo make it appear they only support them when they are not doing that which they are trained. On Fox News Sunday she said she supported our troops but called the US Special Forces troops guarding Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai "mercenaries." I do not think that could be considered a compliment.

I do not mind celebrities standing up for what they believe in, even when it may hurt their careers, if they do at least they could sound informed, or at least intelligent. The organization MoveOn.org makes a detailed argument against war that, however wrong, is well stated. Charlton Heston put his career in jeopardy in the 1960s by marching for civil rights by making an intelligent argument for racial equality. Conversely, Rosie O'Donnell launched a crusade against guns by saying gun owners should be jailed, and shortly thereafter it was reveled she and her children have armed body guards. The same is going on with Iraq and celebrities, many express no love for Saddam, but they say sanctions and war kill many Iraqis, so the main consensus is that Saddam should remain in power, sanctions, and inspections that are a farce to begin with should be allowed to continue and a war resulting in Saddam's overthrow should not take place. If Saddam were overthrown sanctions would end that day, the rape squads would end, the torture would end, the brain washing of his people would end, and millions of Iraqis would be able to rejoin the international community along with family members that have fled in the past 20 years. Medical and food supplies would not be giving to members of the Saddam's Baath Party or the military instead of the sick and hungry of Iraq. So many celebrities give their name and voice to the continuation of Saddam's regime, and they would continue regardless how many may die in the next 20 years.

A Cause to Die For

By far the most disturbing thing about the anti-war movement is the self proclaimed Human Shields, or as I affectionately refer to them as Human Missile Catchers. These people have gathered in Iraq from all over the world to stand in vital targets to prohibit US strikes on those targets. Like the celebrity, these guys and girls seem ill-informed on to what war will bring, or maybe they just like old Uncle Saddam. Chief Human Missile Catcher is a Ken O'Keefe, who is a former US Marine and thus joining the likes of Lee Harvey Oswald and Charles Whitman in leaving the better part of his brain somewhere on Parris Island. O'Keefe said that if any Human Missile Catchers or Iraqi civilians dies it will be murder, I am not sure what he feels when Saddam is responsible for killing someone, but at the rate war is advancing O'Keefe may soon find out personally. Civilians die in wars, war is inhumane and violent, and the more it is the quicker it is over.

Many Human Missile Catchers took up residence in a water treatment facility, which, by the way, was not bombed in the First Persian Gulf War. Some said they were there for the long haul; others were far braver, like Ignacio Cano from Spain. Cano was brave enough to spend hours in said water treatment facility before heading home, "I will be leaving Iraq in two days. So I personally think I will be all right." I am touched by his devotion and courage.

If "Jihad Johnny" Lynn Walker could get 20 years in the slammer for his association with al-Qaeda, then I hope the Americans in Iraq move to real targets and wait for "infinite justice" to rain upon them.

With Enemies Like These, Who Needs Friends?

One of the principal sponsors of recent peace protest is A.N.S.W.E.R. (Act Now to Stop War and Racism) which is an off shoot of the Worker's World Party. A.N.S.W.E.R claims among other things, US forces intentionally targeted civilians in Afghanistan in order to have dominion of the oil resources north of Afghanistan in Caspian Region.

These two groups call nearly every black man in jail "political prisoners" particularly H. Rap Brown, former member of the Black Panther terrorist organization. Brown, who now calls himself Jamil Al-Amin, is sitting on death row for murder of a sheriff's deputy in 2000. It did not matter what rally it was, many anti-war speakers had more to say about Al-Amin then the Iraq situation, many expressed their deep seeded hatred for capitalism. That may have explained the numerous USSR and Che Guevara flags and posters present in every march. In case you are not aware, Guevara was a Communist Terrorist that tormented many republics of Central and South America in the 1960s, that is until the CIA tipped the Bolivian government of his whereabouts and they sent him to that big Red Burial Ground in the sky. The peace loving Soviets killed 40-60 million of their own people.

Having Soviet flags flying at a peace rally is like the KKK sponsoring the annual NAACP convention. The whole peace movement is a hodgepodge of groups brought together predominately by their hatred of President Bush. Despite thousands of signs and speeches given recently, I saw none that read, "Saddam must disarm for peace," "Show of force has led to inspections," or "France is against war for oil (France has tens of billions in contracts for Iraqi oil)." Instead it was the typical hate-Bush tripe that the Left loves to embark in. One group I have not seen expressing their opposition in war is the thousands of Iraqis who have fled Iraq in the past two decades, it is because they know waiting will lead to more deaths then any war could bring.