Opinion

Liberate America from Bush

Brandon Moeller
Opinion Columnist

The significance of last Thursday's peace rally was not the alleged spitting, spats nor Bushites staging a counter protest. The significance of the UH rally ? and many more that occurred this weekend in this country and the world ? was that it happened in an organized fashion with so many in attendance. 

The Feb. 4 issue of the British paper The Guardian quoted Noam Chomsky saying, "There's never been a time that I can think of when there's been such massive opposition to a war before it was even started."

The rally at UH was the result of an organized effort that began long before talk of this war did. In fact, the movement condemning the sanctions imposed on Iraq after the 1991 Gulf War morphed into a movement for peace when the signals from the American empire changed to reflect the Bush regime's push for war. 

The movement will only escalate until it reaches critical mass and helps to persuade a significant majority of Americans to drop their support for this heinous series of war crimes disguised as "liberation of the Iraqi people."

Speaking of liberation, I wish someone would liberate us Americans from our war-crazy leadership. But please don't destroy downtown in the process. 

For most Americans, the only times they see Baghdad is when itis getting pummeled by million-dollar bombs. 

"How much is a bomb for Iraq?" elicited much applause from the few hundred who attended Wednesdayis talk by Guatemalan Nobel Peace Prize-winner Rigoberta Menchu, who posed the rhetorical question in response to her people having to scrounge for enough resources to afford to eat.

Most Americans don't know this kind of poverty (although the rates are increasing) and they also don't realize that they have so much in common with the citizens of Iraq. Those Iraqis who can afford to listen to American rock ini roll go to universities and the majority of them are peaceful people.

Of course, these are under ideal situations. During wartime, just as if it were to happen here, many Iraqis take up arms to defend themselves ? from their occupiers and from those who want to occupy their land. For those to whom this came as a surprise, especially the mainstream, spoon-fed television media, it only goes to show the United States' arrogance and naivete.

Although Saddam Hussein has been a violent, cruel dictator, he never dropped a cluster bomb on an Iraqi marketplace. 

Unfortunately for the sake of humanity, it doesn't matter how "smart" our bombs are: They obviously can't discriminate between Saddamis henchmen and people who really do wish they were liberated.

If you went to bed one night loving a country that said it would liberate you and were awoken by your screaming 8-year-old daughter who just witnessed a bomb explode on your house and kill her mother, your opinion of this so-called "liberating" empire would quickly disintegrate into hate.

Right wingers, centrists and the vast body of undecideds should not worry about Americans they label as "self-hating" ? although historically most of the terrorists who've attacked us were Made in the U.S.A. They should fear the rising resentment for this country being felt around the world.

Osama "bogeyman" bin Laden is an extremist and a rarity, but unfortunately such disgust for America is rapidly growing.

If the purpose of this war is to prove to the world that America and its few allies willing to fight will not stand for terrorism, then this coalition needs to stop doing what it condemns. Take the advice of Eddie Vedder, who sang in Pearl Jam's "Not For You": "If you hate something, don't you do it too."

I pray for our soldiers who are "only following orders" and pray for a quick yet peaceful resolution to this shameful conflict. I dream of a nation that is not hated around the world, and instead has learned to lead by setting a powerful example of peace and justice.

Moeller, a senior communication major, can be reached at brandonmoeller@hotmail.com .