The drawing came out of an experience I had at a night club. A singer-songwriter trio of Nashville musicians was performing and one of them had a support our troops sticker on his guitar and stated how proud he was of his nephew for serving in Iraq and urged us to Support the troops – I wanted to shout, “Bring’em home!” but I allowed myself to be intimidated. That failure haunted me enough to compensate with the drawing.
The text below was printed on the flip-side of the drawing, a pocket-sized flyer I would hand out to folks at demonstrations and in parking lots. When I saw Bush or Support our Troops bumper stickers I’d leave one under the windshield wiper. The situation has changed somewhat with Obama’s ascendancy to the throne but the pressure to continue the violence option is pretty hard to resist, whether that pressure comes from the defense industry, ideologues or from within one’s own psyche.
The Bush Administration lied about the reasons for invading Iraq, claiming:
• that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction and intended to develop nuclear weapons.
• that Saddam Hussein had ties to Al Qaeda and was involved in 9/11
• Both of these rationales were discredited by the 911 Commission. Despite this the White House continues to portray the war on Iraq as a war against terrorism.
Administration officials advocated for invading Iraq long before 9/11 as part of their fantasies of empire. The real motives seem to lie here and in the oil riches of the region. War profiteering is a predictable bonus for the administration’s friends & allies in the Military and “Security” Industrial Complex.
The Administration talks of “Freedom on the March” but this is transparent propaganda. Aside from the illegal invasion, measures contained in the Patriot Act and other Administration actions, such as ignoring a Supreme Court ruling on prisoner rights to legal representation, the torture scandal, dismissal of dissent at home and the alienation created by its arrogant relations to the world community put the lie to its pretense of promoting Democracy.
The Administration exploits fear of terrorism among the population to distract from its deeply undemocratic agenda. This agenda includes dangerous and expensive militarization, continued transfer of power and wealth to the already powerful and wealthy, and denial of environmental pollution that threatens the viability, even the survival, of our civilization. Administration policies harm our standing in the world of nations and undermine our security by creating resentment and animosity toward our country.
Join us in reclaiming Democracy: www.georgiapeace.org
troops indeed... i recall them posting pro-war propagand in the post offices during the first gulf war... if they were doing that now i'd challenge it.
ReplyDelete