How is it that the argument “We have to finish what we’ve started, therefore we cannot completely pull out” has so much momentum in the population today? Do people not understand that our presence in Iraq and Afghanistan is perpetuating the violence? There is only one area George and Dick have been successful regarding this occupation: the creation of a generous supply of Anti-American sentiment throughout the global community. These criminals (Bush and Cheney) have successfully provided generations of Americans more than just a five trillion dollar bill because of this war(costofwar.com), but ensured that generations of our children will have millions of people who they will never meet, hate them regardless. We are not fighting terrorism, Osama Bin Laden, al Queda, the Taliban or an insurgency; we are fighting our own children and their future.
So why is it that the majority of Americans refuse to accept that immediate withdrawal is the only cure to the Bush/Cheney Iraq pandemic? Could it be that this majority western culture suffers from the illusionary belief that we can rescue the rest of the world from its demise? If that were the case then where were the “rescuers” during the Mesopotamian times? The people living in the current state of Iraq have been there since the dawn of civilization. It is not our job to tell them how to create a government. They probably know a bit more than we do about how to form a civilization. After all, they have a few more thousand years experience than we here in America do.
But that is not the case. We do to suffer from the one of most deadly contagious diseases in this country that the modern world has to offer: social narcissism. We believe that we are the best country in the history of civilization. We own things that other people do not have and judge people by the rigorous standard of how much shit they own or do not own. Our cars, houses, and I-Pods become ingrained in how we define ourselves. This I call deadly because all these things…Things we own are what cause the plight of humanity and is one of the reasons we are still in Iraq (aside from the oil companies' wet dream of deploying Iraq's oil fields). We are trying to rescue them from their culture which does not value items, so that they can adopt our culture which values material(plus we need their oil). The status symbols that we attribute importance to are what is killing this country that we claim to be so elite. The SUV driven kills soldiers. The clothing worn exploits children. The cool little gadgets and gizmos cost much more than a dollar. These are produced, worn and driven with the price tag of human anguish and exploitation. I believe an overhaul of the mainstream thought pattern is a necessary pill to pop for our culture in order for us to rid this illness. Maybe a draft will spark this overhaul?
We have a false belief in this country that we are elite because we have worked hard to be the best. If everyone else in the world worked as hard as Americans then they could be like us too! Reality steps in after a closer examination and illuminates the dark realization that we are recipients of circumstances created by the founders of this country. We continue their tradition of exploitation of people for the gain of the power elite in this country. This country created circumstances to better the condition of its people by capitalizing on slavery of the Negro man and woman. We still wage war on people of color by moving big business to Mexico, China, and India (to name a few) and paying the workers there annually what Americans make in a week and sometimes an hour, among other racist business tactics. We now commandeer oil fields in other countries for our own use. Circumstances allowed for the inheritance of property to children so that the legacy of oil families continued on in this country. We still have one of those families running this country (ironically into the ground, perhaps in search of more oil?).
We do have a responsibility to the people of Iraq and Afghanistan. That is to provide them with the necessary tools to rebuild their countries on their own terms. I heard a Marine (Casler) use the analogy ‘when all you have is a hammer, everything becomes a nail.’ in his testimony. This is exactly the case in Theatre. When I hear stories of schools, hospitals and neighborhoods being rebuilt by the Coalition, I cant help but to wonder how big the bomb was that we used to level that building(s) in the first place. Next I wonder what would happen if we replaced the bombs with guitars and books?
Recently a report by Dahr Jamal had a report on food shortages in Iraq. People were already starving and now families face the problem of having less food. Maybe we can truly lead by example and follow through with our said intentions of rebuilding Iraq and Afghanistan by providing them with clean water and edible food. What a novel idea.