Why Should you Go to DC on 9/15?
Tue Aug 28, 2007 at 11:50:52 PM PDT
There are myriad reasons to choose from, but, ultimately, I cannot answer that question for you. I can only answer it for myself.
I agree that the War in Iraq is unjust, illegal, and a great dishonor to all Americans. I agree that the consequences of the War, in terms of sheer death and destruction, are unacceptable, and that those responsible should answer to charges of treason and war crimes. I agree that it is unconscionable to put our soldiers in harm’s way with neither a defined, attainable goal, nor an exit plan. Yet, none of these is my reason for going to DC on 9/15. All of these are facts, the existence of which cannot be changed or altered no matter how many people march in the streets.
I am going to DC to protest the War in Iraq because I am convinced that if we do not purposely, consciously and willfully end the War, we will lose, not only the War, but the grail as well. We will lose the very thing that defines us as a Nation capable of waging war in the first instance.
We the People . . . , do ordain and establish. . . . .
Rigged elections, torture and rendition, warrantless spying, the Unitary Executive, suspension of habeas corpus, signing statements, the SPP, the Iraqi Oil Law, lost arms shipments, increased heroin production, war profiteering, the national debt, the invasion and utter destruction of a sovereign nation, the deaths of over half a million civilians and 3,723 American soldiers, the shredding of the U.S. Constitution . . . . four million Iraqis have been displaced from their homes - nearly 20% of the total population of Iraq. Twenty percent. Can you even wrap your head around the idea of 50 million homeless Americans?
All of it has been sold to the American People as necessary for the Global War on Terror - our self-righteous response to the deaths of 2,948 innocent Americans at the hands of a Saudi madman protesting the American military presence in Saudi Arabia. Terror is not an enemy of the State, it is a state of mind. Those who commit acts of terrorism are not soldiers, they are criminals. How do you fight a war against a state of mind waged by criminals not supported by any Nation? You don’t. You can’t. Hence, Iraq.
The War in Iraq, whether by design or default, is the physical manifestation of the conceptual War on Terror. Despite the fact that Saddam posed no threat to us, despite the fact that the people of Iraq neither invited nor welcomed us, despite the fact that the aforementioned madman had no connection to Iraq, we are still there. Still waging war. Still chasing ghosts. Still using the ultimate threat of Terror to justify shredding the Constitution. While a few Americans profit beyond their wildest dreams, and the rest of us go shopping and complain about the cost of gas and the lack of health insurance, in Iraq, the people are dying. From IEDs, from dysentery, from bullets, and from despair. They are dying. Everyday. Both ours and theirs. The American government wants to reinstate the Draft to keep it all going.
I ask myself whether the victims of 9/11 would approve. I didn’t know any of them, not even within six degrees of separation. I can’t speak for them, but I believe that they would acknowledge our response is wildly disproportionate. I believe that they would be outraged to know that their deaths were used as a political tool to callously manipulate the American public.
From the 2006 election to the current polls, from Generals forced out to pasture to old-guard Republican statesmen, from Cindy Sheehan to the blogosphere, the evidence is overwhelming that the American People want out of Iraq. Our government, with few exceptions, wants to stay the course. Even the Democratic leadership is convinced that we can’t just pull out and we must maintain a presence. Despite all evidence to the contrary, they talk of "surges" and "progress." Congress funds the construction of permanent military bases and an embassy complex that puts Saddam’s former palace to shame.
As a high school student, I once wrote an essay for the American Legion on "What it Means to Be an American." My conclusion was that it simply means that you are entitled to a representative government constrained by the Constitution and subject to the Will of the People. Those old guys gave me a standing ovation.
For six long years, I have watched the deliberate demolition of that entitlement. A government free to ignore the Constitution is, by definition, not representative of We the People. Certainly, our government no longer feels constrained by the Constitution. Is it also no longer subject to the Will of the People?
I hope not, for without the very "quaint" Constitution, We the People have no power, and we become wholly subject to the whims of those who claim the right to govern. Inevitably, we will face our own civil war and all that that entails.
History teaches that there is true power in numbers, that there is no substitute for solidarity. Six years of individual efforts at blogging, LTEs, phone calls, faxes, emails and GOTV efforts have not been able to convey the Will of the People. I can only do my part, but for my part, I will go to DC on 9/15 to protest the War in Iraq - not because of the atrocities that have already resulted, but because of the atrocities that will result if our government continues to refuse to subject itself to the Will of We the People.
I hope that you will join us, and with this site and the help of many friends, we will try to make it easier for you to do so. Please leave a comment and share your reasons for joining the Road2DC.
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Road2DC is a group of kossacks committed to building a nationwide rideshare network to make it easier for as many as possible to attend protest events in DC. This diary was written by jlynne.
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