"... it’s about time we got angry ..."
by pessimist
As the Bush Administration slides deeper and deeper into a war that was disingenuous to begin with, and as the number of dead American soldiers creeps toward the 1,000 mark, does anyone really believe that the handover of Iraqi sovereignty will be successful?For almost three years now, neoconservatives have used Sept. 11, 2001, as a pretext for unilateral pursuit of their own corporate interests. The attacks on the World Trade Center were so catastrophic, such a violation of our country’s dogged insularity, that Dubya became inviolable—no longer a silver-spoon ingrate, but somehow a fearless leader. Then he slighted efforts to hunt down Osama bin Laden, choosing instead to concentrate American resources on deposing a dictator who posed absolutely no threat to national security.
The issue here—the central issue in this entire debate—is that George W. Bush, who did everything he could to avoid his own involvement in Vietnam, invented an opportunistic war for personal and financial reasons, then sent hundreds of young men and women to their deaths. And in the meantime, as kids who aren’t old enough to buy beer keep dying in the desert, why aren’t college students throwing a fit in the streets?Four decades ago, college students discovered that as young, idealistic, educated individuals, they were the conscience of American society, and their outrage was the key to social change. In other words, if college students aren’t riled up right now, then there’s not much hope for liberals anywhere.
We have a President who exploited the nation’s trust and goodwill after Sept. 11, who claims that God speaks to him personally, and whose bullheaded, rape-and-pillage approach to foreign policy makes Clinton’s infidelities look downright trivial. That’s why the time for politeness and “solidarity” is over. As Bush himself said months ago, “if you’re not with us, you’re against us”—so make your choice already.
So which side ARE you on? Your draft is due soon.
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