We need a war with Iraq.

By Derrick Jensen, pulled from this page, but I don't know where it was first published. He's an investigative reporter and has a couple books out, but I haven't read them. Yet.

We need a war with Iraq. It would help distract Americans from the scandals surrounding the president (and more broadly from the fact that our failing economy is killing the planet) than the start of football season: Nothing compares to the patriotic thrill of watching grainy footage of Iraqi radar facilities-- or maybe houses or hospitals; the resolution's never quite good enough to tell --explode into fragments, or better, simply vaporize from the pressure of the blasts.

     We need a war with Iraq. It allows those who run the U.S. government-- both the politicians, who run the nominal government, and the CEOs, who run the de facto government-- to talk about new jobs while increasing their fortunes. It allows the top 1% of America's power elite to speak of patriotism while sacrificing lives less valuable than their own. It brings about an urgency-- a frenzy, even --that allows the rationalization of massive public expenditures without even the illusion of a greater good or benefiting the public. It allows them to further centralize political and economic power under the guise of efficiency and national security. It allows them to imprison or execute those who oppose this centralization, with no fear of repercussion. It allows them to praise themselves and others like them for giving voice to an urge to destroy. It allows them to invent, deploy, and use no end of nightmarish devices. It allows them to kill, or rather give orders so others must kill, with no fear of public censure. It allows them to pull off the mask of public nicety and more fully concentrate and exercise their power, or more precisely, their power to destroy.

     We need a war with Iraq. But let's break down that sentence. First, who is the we in this statement? I cannot speak for you, but I do not need a war with Iraq. Nor do any of my friends. (I've asked them.) The trees outside my door do not need a war with Iraq any more than the salmon living in the stream nearby. They're busy trying to survive our culture's war against the natural world. I'm pretty sure that the people of Iraq do not need a war with Iraq. They're suffering enough already at the hands of the U.S. government. Or rather they've suffered because of its policies. The United States has perfected the science of killing at a distance. No barbaric strangling or stabbing here, it's much more civilized to kill with policies, or if necessary at the push of a button, the flick of a joystick. In July, 1989, before the United States imposed sanctions on Iraq, 387 children per month under the age of five died in that country. As of July 1998, 6,495 children per month under the age of five died. That number will go up dramatically if the United States invades Iraq.( .... more )

We need a war with Iraq.

By Derrick Jensen, pulled from this page, but I don't know where it was first published. He's an investigative reporter and has a couple books out, but I haven't read them. Yet.

We need a war with Iraq. It would help distract Americans from the scandals surrounding the president (and more broadly from the fact that our failing economy is killing the planet) than the start of football season: Nothing compares to the patriotic thrill of watching grainy footage of Iraqi radar facilities-- or maybe houses or hospitals; the resolution's never quite good enough to tell --explode into fragments, or better, simply vaporize from the pressure of the blasts.

     We need a war with Iraq. It allows those who run the U.S. government-- both the politicians, who run the nominal government, and the CEOs, who run the de facto government-- to talk about new jobs while increasing their fortunes. It allows the top 1% of America's power elite to speak of patriotism while sacrificing lives less valuable than their own. It brings about an urgency-- a frenzy, even --that allows the rationalization of massive public expenditures without even the illusion of a greater good or benefiting the public. It allows them to further centralize political and economic power under the guise of efficiency and national security. It allows them to imprison or execute those who oppose this centralization, with no fear of repercussion. It allows them to praise themselves and others like them for giving voice to an urge to destroy. It allows them to invent, deploy, and use no end of nightmarish devices. It allows them to kill, or rather give orders so others must kill, with no fear of public censure. It allows them to pull off the mask of public nicety and more fully concentrate and exercise their power, or more precisely, their power to destroy.

     We need a war with Iraq. But let's break down that sentence. First, who is the we in this statement? I cannot speak for you, but I do not need a war with Iraq. Nor do any of my friends. (I've asked them.) The trees outside my door do not need a war with Iraq any more than the salmon living in the stream nearby. They're busy trying to survive our culture's war against the natural world. I'm pretty sure that the people of Iraq do not need a war with Iraq. They're suffering enough already at the hands of the U.S. government. Or rather they've suffered because of its policies. The United States has perfected the science of killing at a distance. No barbaric strangling or stabbing here, it's much more civilized to kill with policies, or if necessary at the push of a button, the flick of a joystick. In July, 1989, before the United States imposed sanctions on Iraq, 387 children per month under the age of five died in that country. As of July 1998, 6,495 children per month under the age of five died. That number will go up dramatically if the United States invades Iraq.( .... more )