From the editor: This page is dedicated to the Public Forum, where we publish opinions on public and social issues that affect the Malibu community and our readers at large.
War elicits, not pride, but sadness
“Take pride in American efforts overseas” was the title of a recent public forum piece about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the war on terror, written from the perspective of a pro-war Marine. I write this response as a student concerned about disturbing historical trends and the American tendency to do bad things in the Middle East. After all, our tax dollars pay for this stuff.
American efforts overseas are the same ones that cradled the Islamic fundamentalist movements of the 1980s, particularly those that rose up in arms against Soviet expansion in Afghanistan. At the time, this meant that our tax dollars, billions of them, ended up buying weapons for these people, one of whom happened to be military commander Osama bin Laden.
The Reagan Administration removed Iraq from our State Department list of nations supporting international terrorism in 1982 in order to fund that nation’s war with Iran, a conflict in which Saddam used chemical weapons to gas the Kurds. Pertinent State Department documents from the period clearly indicate knowledge of Saddam’s use of chemical weapons, yet the focus of these official memorandums is how our country can assist Iraq in its war against Iran. Saddam was our friend as long as he was at war with Iran, regardless of his use of internationally banned chemical weapons.
The mainstream media, a target of the Marine who wrote the pro war public forum story, has shown incompetence in its coverage of the connections between military and petroleum industries and the so called neo-cons. Our optimistic Marine, on the other hand, is frustrated with mainstream media’s obsession with negative coverage. As is the nature of such media, if it bleeds it leads. This is far less detrimental than the news you never got to hear.
The pro war author goes on to praise U.S. backed Afghan president Hamid Karzai, a man who rejected a proposal to eradicate opium poppy production because it would upset many of the warlords that hold immense power over Afghanistan. In fact, from 2003 to 2004, the amount of land devoted to growing opium poppies in Afghanistan tripled, and of course, the nation produces more than 80 percent of the world’s supply of opium and heroin, much of which makes its way onto American streets. Aren’t we fighting a multi-billion dollar war on drugs?
To avoid opening an extensive can of worms, I won’t even delve into the relationship between current U.S. Ambassador to Iraq, former Taliban friendly Zalmay Khalilzad, and the neo-con think tank, Project for a New American Century, a group that includes Rumsfeld, Cheney and Wolfowitz, and advocates American military and economic domination of most of the world. The author of the pro war piece refers to Khalilzad as some type of hero. Research the man and you may find information to the contrary. Pay attention to his article titled: “Losing the moment? The United States and the world after the Cold War.”
So, contrary to the claims of many, freedom is not what these conflicts are all about. American-supported coup d’etats in South and Central America are not about freedom, and neither is the war in Iraq. Torture in secret CIA prisons is not about freedom. I doubt the families of between 25,000 and 30,000 dead Iraqi civilians believe that this war had anything to do with freedom, because if it did, we would have finished the job in 1991 when it would have been far easier, or perhaps even not helped Saddam maintain his power and crookedness in the first place. The war in Iraq has already cost American taxpayers over $200 billion dollars, and it has concentrated the hatred of Islamic fundamentalists throughout the world, just as the CIA said it would.
The Marine who wrote the pro war piece that inspired my response asked his readers to talk to someone who has actually served in Iraq or Afghanistan. I, too, encourage such a conversation. However, for the sake of fairness, it would have to include one of over 15,000 American soldiers who have been wounded as they served their nation in Iraq and Afghanistan, as it would also have to include parents of one of the 2,000 plus U.S. soldiers that have died in Iraq, a majority of whom were younger than 22.
In conclusion, I have only sadness and outrage, not for the troops who risk their lives on the front lines, but for the architects of such wars and the people who get rich off of them.
Rex Resa
Felton, CA.