298,144,215 Decide to Not Protest Iraq War This Weekend in D.C.
Antiwar Protesters Target Congress - Christian Science Monitor.
Quote:
Organizers expect more than 300,000 people to converge in Washington this weekend seeking more than resolutions.
When thousands of Iraq war protesters gather in Washington Saturday, their chants and amplified speeches are likely to be heard inside the secure grounds of the White House where the commander in chief has made his case for sending more troops into combat.
But the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue -- the Capitol and the Democratic-led Congress -- is where they most aim their message.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is the main political target. War protesters want something tougher than nonbinding resolutions opposing the "surge" in additional US forces. Some want hearings on the controversial basis for the war itself, perhaps leading to the impeachment of President Bush...
Here I Thought It Was Coming From
Lack of attachment to reality
Speaking as someone who was heavily involved with questioning the original invasion of Iraq in 2003 -- I spoke at the big antiwar protest in October 02 -- I can say what you're seeing with the people still protesting is a complete disconnect from reality. On both sides of the political battle people circle the wagons, reading news only from people who already agree with them, so they tend to get further and further from the truth because their only sources are extremists. Too many people are still quoting to me the idea that if we just leave, the Iraqis will make up and establish a nice peaceful country in our absense.
It's the same folks who use the term "resistence fighters" instead of "terrorists." For my part, once you start blowing up civilians in markets and executing barbers, you've gone way beyond the level of a "resistance fighter."
America already protested
The only real protest that counts is our elections, and America did express discontent for the way the war was being managed. However, when you dive into the large number of folks who don't like the war, you'll probably find a large percentage, while not pro-war (that has an ugly ring to it), are not against fighting for our national interests, and for humanitarian reasons, and Iraq fall under both categories now. Many so called anti-war protesters just want to see an intelligent strategy, they are not for the most part misguided Jane Fondas want a bes, although there is a percentage and of course you find them on certain websites, and make posts here that convey a picture that the sky is falling, but that is far from the truth.
I think we do our fellow country men and women a disservice when we simply divide America into two camps, pro-war and anti-war. It kills any potential intellectual discussion about it.
Tomorrow we celebrate the ideas that make our country great, and one of them is the freedom of speech, so everyone have a Happy 4th of July, especially those of you out there fighting for our freedom. God bless!
Them Ol' Boys Ain't Just Whistling Dixie
There may be some credence given to the notion that the lack of protestors signifies at least some larger tacit endorsement of our involvment in Iaq if you look at it from the perspective of music. There are a number of Country/Western singers who have patriotic and supportive songs out that have sold well and been widely heard in contrast to the significant lack of such music coming from the Left and anti-war camp. For the crew that likes to keep drawing Viet Nam analogies, this is the antithesis of that time in our history when the anti-war verse and tunes by far loudly out thundered the pro-war songs. They ain't singing the counter message today although we have artists with high school degrees who are speaking out as foreign policy and military experts against the Iraq war. This says much in contrast to the likes of Toby Keith, Alan Jackson and others who ain't just whistling Dixie when they go to the bank with their large earnings. We sometimes want to exempt ourselves from our own heritage and history and to me that is a symptom of nihilism we are all guilty of. Dissent and disagreement over Iraq is extraordinarily mild compared to our past wars and issues. I learned from a tv special on our Revolutionary War that in S. Carolina alone, there were 103 firefights between Tory Loyalists and Colonial Patriots. We 're talking men down bleeding and dead here, homes burned, cattle run off, crops burned, women raped, homes looted - not just a few muskets fired in anger. Granted, extraneous issues of land disputes and revenge figured in prominently back then but so too today do all kinds of extraneous things get attached to the anti-war movement. There is an ill defined sense of evil in Iraq that our people are reacting to by not voicing strong opposition to the war. That to me is the tacit endorsement with considerable disagreement on how best to deal with it. I think the average American who sees and hears about mosque and market bombings with large numbers of dead and reads about beheadings and holes drilled in people's heads doesn't want our men and women walking away from that as if nothing can be done about it or somehow such an enemy can't be beaten or at least harshly punished. Such sentiments are in fact reflected in music and in the lack of music.
