The Red, White, and Blue Scare
How would the average American respond to a Soviet officer in 1979 explaining his support for the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan by saying, "I am fighting to give the people of Afghanistan some communism and some hope?" I believe we know the answer to that question. Americans invested hundreds of millions of dollars arming the Mujahadeen -- including a young Bin Laden -- in order to drive the Soviets out of Afghanistan. Why? Because U.S. war propaganda injected fear into the populace via a disease known as the "Red Scare" -- the idea that Soviet Communists were determined to spread their evil political ideology throughout the world by military force.
Jump to today. One thousand active-duty military and reservists are against the war in Iraq, and made their dissent known to Congress via petition. This Sunday, February 25, they'll make their views public in a 60 MINUTES broadcast on CBS. Of course, any opposition to the war is still viewed as unpatriotic, weak, and lending support to terrorists. Call them "terrorist-sympathizers." Yet, these particular military personnel claim they fully support the defense of their country. They simply don't believe the war in Iraq constitutes such defense:
But 1,000 dissenters represents only a small portion of the present military personnel serving overseas. At this point, we are not witnessing the type of dissent represented by soldiers returning from Vietnam. More casualties would certainly enhance the numbers, but the technological superiority of the U.S. military makes the suggestion of "quagmire" roll off the back. Without significant U.S. casualties, war opposition will remain marginalized.
Adding to the war effort is the effectiveness of the Bush war propaganda. Otherwise intelligent American soldiers and citizens have cast logic aside by swallowing the narrative put forth after 9/11. If you recall (does anyone remember?), a clear connection was made between Al Qaeda, 9/11, and Saddam Hussein. If you recall, this connection demonstrated Saddam's clear intent to attack the U.S. again, and he would do that by distributing his massive stockpile of WMDs to any terrorist group willing to use them. We had "no choice" but to invade Iraq before they indirectly attacked us.
Well, you know the rest of the story. Saddam had no connection to Bin Laden, and his collection of WMDs amounted to some empty pipes buried in the backyard of a former Iraqi scientist. "Whoops! Our bad!"
But, we had to "stay the course." We couldn't "cut and run." And, besides, Bush and Cheney claimed they never suggested there was any connection between Saddam and 9/11. As for the absence of WMDs, well, we once again were the unfortunate recipients of "bad intel." This intelligence failure coming from the same folks that didn't see the attacks of 9/11 coming. You have to wonder, doesn't this mean we have the absolute worst intelligence agency in the world? Two of the worst intelligence blunders in U.S. history... back to back! And now we're going to listen to them as they give us the "facts" on Iran's nuclear ambitions? If we do, we get the government we deserve. We are a foolish people.
This is the effectiveness of the U.S. war propaganda on a non-thinking population -- at least on those who support such a travesty. I thank God more and more conservatives are awakening to the madness known as the Bush administration, but there are still too many that allow the persistent stream of imperialistic disinformation to shape their outlook on the reasons for war. This is best represented by the comments of a U.S. Army Captain, Lawrence Nunn, who said in response to the petition,
To the rest of the world, doesn't there appear to be the genuine threat of a "Red, White, and Blue Scare?"
Jump to today. One thousand active-duty military and reservists are against the war in Iraq, and made their dissent known to Congress via petition. This Sunday, February 25, they'll make their views public in a 60 MINUTES broadcast on CBS. Of course, any opposition to the war is still viewed as unpatriotic, weak, and lending support to terrorists. Call them "terrorist-sympathizers." Yet, these particular military personnel claim they fully support the defense of their country. They simply don't believe the war in Iraq constitutes such defense:
I'm not anti-war. I'm not a pacifist. I'm not opposed to protecting our country and defending our principles, but at the same time, as citizens, it's our obligation to have a questioning attitude... about policy."So says Navy Petty Officer Jonathan Hutto, a co-initiator of the petition to make their opposition to the war in Iraq known to congressional leaders. Lending assistance to Hutto is Marine Sgt. Liam Madden who stated, "Just because we volunteered for the military doesn't mean we volunteered to put our lives in unnecessary harm and to carry out missions that are illogical and immoral."
But 1,000 dissenters represents only a small portion of the present military personnel serving overseas. At this point, we are not witnessing the type of dissent represented by soldiers returning from Vietnam. More casualties would certainly enhance the numbers, but the technological superiority of the U.S. military makes the suggestion of "quagmire" roll off the back. Without significant U.S. casualties, war opposition will remain marginalized.
Adding to the war effort is the effectiveness of the Bush war propaganda. Otherwise intelligent American soldiers and citizens have cast logic aside by swallowing the narrative put forth after 9/11. If you recall (does anyone remember?), a clear connection was made between Al Qaeda, 9/11, and Saddam Hussein. If you recall, this connection demonstrated Saddam's clear intent to attack the U.S. again, and he would do that by distributing his massive stockpile of WMDs to any terrorist group willing to use them. We had "no choice" but to invade Iraq before they indirectly attacked us.
Well, you know the rest of the story. Saddam had no connection to Bin Laden, and his collection of WMDs amounted to some empty pipes buried in the backyard of a former Iraqi scientist. "Whoops! Our bad!"
But, we had to "stay the course." We couldn't "cut and run." And, besides, Bush and Cheney claimed they never suggested there was any connection between Saddam and 9/11. As for the absence of WMDs, well, we once again were the unfortunate recipients of "bad intel." This intelligence failure coming from the same folks that didn't see the attacks of 9/11 coming. You have to wonder, doesn't this mean we have the absolute worst intelligence agency in the world? Two of the worst intelligence blunders in U.S. history... back to back! And now we're going to listen to them as they give us the "facts" on Iran's nuclear ambitions? If we do, we get the government we deserve. We are a foolish people.
This is the effectiveness of the U.S. war propaganda on a non-thinking population -- at least on those who support such a travesty. I thank God more and more conservatives are awakening to the madness known as the Bush administration, but there are still too many that allow the persistent stream of imperialistic disinformation to shape their outlook on the reasons for war. This is best represented by the comments of a U.S. Army Captain, Lawrence Nunn, who said in response to the petition,
"I know what I'm here fighting for, to give the Iraqi people some democracy and hope, so I am 100 percent behind this mission. You don't sign up to pick which war you go to."Therein lies the devil's den. We are spreading democracy and hope by the devastation of bombs and guns. After hundreds of thousands of more innocent Iraqis are slaughtered by the persistent volley between coalition forces and the Iraqi resistence, I wonder if we'll still claim we are bringing hope. This Army Captain says he knows what he's fighting for, and he's 100 percent behind the effort. He's not fighting in response to 9/11, or to find WMDs. He's fighting to spread democracy and hope. And don't you dare call that imperialism!
To the rest of the world, doesn't there appear to be the genuine threat of a "Red, White, and Blue Scare?"
