By Missy Comley Beattie, 3/25/07
A recent article on Iraq Body Count’s
web site detailed the struggles of a soldier who came home from
the war with devastating injuries. Blind, brain damaged, and
missing both hands from an explosion, he is one of the many casualties
of the Bush/Cheney debacle. This soldier is 25-years-old.
I walk the streets of New York
City amid a rush of people who span the age spectrum. Many are
young adults near the age of this maimed soldier-near the age
of so many of our troops who have been killed or disfigured in
the neocon nightmare of multiple tours of duty, improvised explosive
devices, depleted uranium exposure, the obliteration of a culture,
and a humanitarian crisis. And, most likely, they are near the
age of many of the Iraqi suicide bombers who are fighting against
American occupation.
Sometimes, during my walks,
I overhear conversations. Often, the topic is American Idol, Apprentice, or something equally banal. I rarely hear mentioned
the crimes and outrages of a president whose policies have resulted
in wretchedness at home and in the Middle East.
I remember in the run up to
the Iraq war, there was discussion of whether or not Bush would
invade the country. My neighbor across the hall was sure Bush
was bluffing. I was certain he wasn’t. I recall sitting in
a restaurant, having lunch, when three young men (probably not
much older than many of our soldiers) in business suits, were
seated at the table next to mine. One of them began to praise
the toughness of George Bush and gushed about our high-tech arsenal.
“Smart bombs,” he repeated. “We have these smart
bombs.”
My head began to pound. Finally,
finally, I said, “These weapons of war that you believe
are so precise aren’t. Bombs aren’t smart and neither is
George Bush. Tough and stupid are a terrible combination.”
This guy let me know that he
wasn’t interested in my opinion. My friends tried to distract
me. His seemed a little embarrassed. One of friend of mine said
she knew I was going to say something. She just knew. I
left, thinking that war to him must be a video game.
Now that this atrocity has
moved into its fifth year, I don’t overhear any street-corner,
café, or waiting-room debate about what is being done
in my name and yours. Of course, the war and endless war are
the main topics when I’m with my friends and fellow members of
the different peace organizations.
Which leads me to ask: Are
many of our young so captivated by entertainment that there is
no interest in reality? Or is the drama of television competition
their reality?
Surely, if conscription is
reinstated for the Project for the New American Century’s endless
war, eventually, those in their mid-twenties would be called
to serve. If these young Americans aren’t roused from their
stupor by the horrors of war, the horrors of Abu Ghraib and legalized
torture, the horrors of Walter Reed, the horrors of inadequate
body armor, the horrors of the contemptible and delusional George
Bush and the contemptible and delusional Dick Cheney, then, only
a draft will penetrate their consciousness. Unless it’s even
worse than I think and they would march off, lemming like, as
directed by the “Decider” or his successor, while discussing
who they voted for as soon as the Idol phone lines opened.
I wrote the above words a week
before my sister Laura and I spoke as members of Gold Star Families
for Peace at Washington Square Park for the March 20 Student
Day of Action Against the War. The New York University chapter
of the Campus Antiwar Network planned the event at the park to
coincide with actions all over the country. About 150 students
attended the rally near NYU’s campus. One commented that her
generation seems to be apathetic.
At the Harvard University rally,
a shouting match erupted between members of the Harvard Initiative
for Peace and Justice (HIPJ) and students from the Harvard Republican
Club (HRC). According to an article in The Harvard Crimson, the
president of the HRC, Jeffrey Kwong, said, “We wanted to
make sure that students and Harvard community know that the Republican
Club is right behind the troops.” Kwong went on to say
that the antiwar protestors are not supportive of fighting terrorism.
“We support our troops, and we support the fight against
terrorism. We want victory,” he said. Someone needs to
remind Kwong that our invasion of Iraq has inspired terrorism,
that Iraq had no connection to the terrorist attack on 9/11,
and that if the HRC is really “right behind the troops,”
he and all those members of his club need to get their ivied
asses to the nearest recruitment station and enlist in one of
the branches of the armed forces. I’m sure they,
like Dick Cheney during the Viet Nam War, have “other priorities”
though.
Three days before these rallies,
Laura and I were at the big one-the march on the Pentagon with
more than 20,000 people opposed to war. There were plenty of
young adults and teens participating in Washington DC. Passionate
and vocal, they called for an end to war and the impeachment
of George Bush and Dick Cheney. The counter protestors
were loud too and separated from us by barriers and police officers.
Some carried signs that said, “Support Our President.”
Others called us traitors. One displayed a sign that said, “PEACE
SUCKS.”
Perhaps, soon, more and more of
our young will awaken, throw off that blanket of apathy,
examine the crimes committed by this administration against the
people of Iraq and the people of the United States, and emerge
as defenders of justice who will not allow the peace baton to
ever be dropped again.