what then of US responsibility to clean up the mess we created? it seems
to me that many (not necessarily on pen-l) who call for the return of
the troops are primarily motivated by their concern for the safety of
american soldiers. many of these same people i am sure supported the
invasion that put these soldiers in iraq! why not first the call: US
corporations out of iraq?
--ravi
I support these sentiments. The rank narcissism, parochialism,
single-issues, myopia and outright opportunism on the part of some who
call themselves part of the "left" in America is particularly odious.
For example, we see MoveOn.org contrasting the Kerry and Bush military
records not only to show Bush as a chicken hawk and hypocrite for
supporting a war he refused to fight in, but also purporting to show
that Kerry, despite some reservations about the war, "did his duty and
'served'." No, Bush has blood on his hands for supporting the war while
refusing to go, while Kerry has blood on his hands (as did all veterans
who directly or indirectly participated in the Vietnam War--including
me) for having reservations about it but going anyway--there was not one
thing noble or worthy about the Vietnam War, an outright genocidal and
imperialist war. We see some of the petit-bourgeois middle-class white
feminists supporting Kerry but having nothing to say about his very
active membership in an outright misogynistic, anti-Semitic, racist and
proto-fascist Satanic cult--Skull and Bones, of which Bush is also a
fellow member. We see some, as in previous "anti-War" movements before,
who are far more "anti-Draft"(with particular focus on their own skins)
than anti-War or anti-Imperialism or even anti-Capitalism.
Jim C.
