The Dilution Of the Anti-War Message

I read recently an interview in which the topic of “ending the war” was considered diluted when other causes were brought into the message, such as “the environment, New Orleans, Palestine, and many other examples.” I began to think about what it means to “dilute” the message and what exactly is the message.

What does America mean to you? What does the flag symbolize? We cannot be an effective organization or movement without a dialogue about what America means to a black man, to a black woman, to a native person, to a lesbian, to a gay man, to a prostitute, to a child sex slave, to a republican or to a liberal. To a republican the flag may symbolize a way of life that speaks of safety, warm food, protection from gang members by the police, traditional values, a strong border to stop their tax dollars from going to “illegals” and pre-emptive war to protect us from freedom hating Muslims. To a gay person that flag may mean being beat by the police, accepted hatred and exacerbated fear even by their parents to the point that they are not welcome in their home, broken bottles over their head, not getting that job because you look too “queer,” losing your home because your landlord doesn’t approve of your “choice” to be gay; all that if you are fortunate enough to not be beaten and left for dead tied to a fence because someone was uncomfortable with sexuality. What does the flag mean to a native, whose people were killed with smallpox infected blankets given to them by smiling soldiers who flew the US flag? When you speak of the importance of ending the war do you see it as an isolated event, or connected to the system we live under that promotes racism, sexism, homophobia and classism. Many people see it connected and see the opportunity to form community, strength and outreach; not dilution. The war is just a symptom of a larger disease just like “terrorism” is a symptom of a much larger problem. People who live in the US who wonder where their next meal is going to come from don’t exactly have the time to consider military personnel who volunteered to join the military when they didn’t volunteer to be hungry. Yes I said it, we volunteered. I am sure no one volunteered to be a part of what is actually going on in Iraq, but none the less we signed a line to kill in the name of the US government, something we all obviously no longer agree with or didn’t realize when we signed. Yet the Iraqi people did not volunteer to allow “Shock and Awe” in the middle of an otherwise peaceful night in the cradle of civilization. The residents of New Orleans did not choose to be too poor to own cars to get the hell out of town before the levees broke, levees that should have been reinforced years before except budget cuts let that money go to making war on other poor people miles away. Even though we may have signed up we did not volunteer to be sent with broken equipment, flak jackets instead of bullet proof ones or plywood instead of armor. It seems a whole lot of us are given the short straw, so why do we tear each other down?

When we continue to agree that the “Free Mumia” crowd marginalizes the anti-war crowd, as stated in a Rolling Stone article, we bend to the pressure of right-wingers and play their game. If we continue to play their game we will continue to lose. They made up the rules, and certainly not to ensure fair play. When we assert the importance of saving “American” lives we continue to marginalize the world, many of whom live in suffering worse than that of the deployed soldier. When dirty drinking water is as deadly as a bullet, hearing how the US soldier is at risk is not of any importance to a dehydrated child who will be one of the about 29,000 children under the age of five -21 each minute-who die every day, mainly from preventable causes. PER DAY. EVERY DAY. The Rolling Stone article only prepares to further divide and conquer by critiquing serious issues in a way that reminisces Ann Coulter. The conservatives have rallied themselves around greed and oppression. Its easy to rally when you all agree that people who aren’t just like you deserve less rights. They work in the realm of exclusion; we have the duty to work in inclusion. Is that a tall order? Sure it is, but it is also the right thing to do. You may be offended that a Middle American gets scared off because she has to hear that black men are beaten by police or Palestinians are refugees on their own land, but some of us are more offended that it happens at all.

In another article I read there was a statement concerning the principles that we as veterans stand for that make us uniquely able to influence public opinion, ones like “the principle that as Americans the only values we should be exporting to other countries are peace and social justice”. I whole-heartedly agree, but we can’t export what we ain’t got. Maybe the reason the “Free Mumia” crowd is out there saying free the man is based on the thought that we as a country do not have Peace or social justice to export. When we ignore and belittle that side of the public its no wonder they don’t rise up in support of the Anti-war veterans. We sound more like the republicans than people interested in peace and social justice when we trivialize the 24-year and ongoing death sentence incarceration of a man whose guilt is solidly questionable. Paul Rieckhoff, executive director of the Iraq veterans group Operation Truth was quoted as saying "When some guy gets up there and rails about Palestine, Karl Rove is kicking back in his chair, saying, ‘Please continue,’ It's not about Palestine, it's not about Mumia -- it's about one focused message: Let's find a way to end this war. If you really want to push back against the administration, you've got to get your shit together. Right now they don't."

We can continue to coddle this “average” American who either does not realize the extent of human suffering or even worse doesn’t care. Or we can stop bending down to them and try to raise them up to us. I have never felt more spiritually connected than I do now by caring about the world's people despite spending plenty of time in evangelical churches. I hate to see the suffering of the US soldier just as much as the Iraqi crying over their lost loved one. I can see myself as both. I may be too tough to cry over it, but damn if it doesn’t bring a tear to my eye (listen, just don’t tell anyone I was crying, ok?). Both lives are equally important to me. Even if we end this war tomorrow we are not going to stop it from happening again if we don’t examine our own country more closely. Now in the case that I am too female or too gay or to non-combat or too “something” for this to resonate with you then please go read Stan Goff. He’s male, white, straight, middle aged and has plenty of military experience. I don’t care where you get it; I just hope you get it. We don’t have to become the “Iraq Veterans Against the War and for the Freeing of Mumia”, but we do need to see how it is connected, that poverty, racism, sexism, homophobia and classism are what we are exporting. One of the articles quoted Dr. King as saying it best, "Our lives begin to end when we stop speaking out about the things that matter." Dr. King wasn’t killed because he was anti-war or tried to unite black people. He was killed because he was pro-peace and knew it was all connected. Thats the tragic irony, his life ended exactly because he was saying what mattered. But it doesn't mean his voice can't continue, we just gotta pick up where he left off.

Karl Rove won't need to find ways to tear us apart or silence us if we do it to ourselves. But he won't be able to stop us if we don't.