There are more reasons to oppose the war the United States began yesterday in Iraq than I can take time to list, but I want to start by mentioning the one I consider the most important. By attacking a country which cannot be considered by any reasonable standard to have threatened us directly, the Bush Administration has thrown away international law. They have demonstrated that the U.S. considers itself entitled to decide for the world what is good for the world. They have given aid and comfort to the enemies of our country, who can now point to our actions as proof of what they already thought – that the U.S. is a bully, a rogue nation. The U.S. government has thrown away its moral legitimacy.
In the Declaration of Independence, the founders of our democracy declared that a “decent respect for the opinions of others” required that they explain their decision to declare independence. It is clear that the Bush Administration has a level of contempt for the respect of other nations, even our long-standing and stalwart allies, unprecedented in U.S. history. What is more, this contempt has been expressed in language worthy of the elementary school playground, as much as saying “if you don’t agree with whatever I say, I’ll knock your crayons on the floor.”
I don’t want to understate the probable impact of American violence on Iraqi civilians, but I’d like to focus on the underlying issues, especially the domestic U.S. political context in which this war has been begun. We are in great danger as a democracy, and it’s essential that we be clear about the stakes.
Right after September 11, President Bush declared to the world that the terrorists hate the U.S. because they hate our freedoms. Yet the Bush administration has been working energetically since that time to take those freedoms away. They are using both intimidation and legal strategies that damage basic Constitutional rights – the right to a speedy trial, the right to legal counsel, the right to confront your accuser and even to know what you are accused of. The administration claims it can take those rights away anytime it decides someone is an enemy combatant, a “terrorist,” even when that person is a U.S. citizen. Already there is talk of this label being applied to gang members in inner cities, adding the threat of total deprivation of civil rights to the problems of racism, economic disinvestments, hopelessness and poverty in our cities. Under the proposed legal regime, a “terrorist” would have little more legal protection than slaves did before the Civil War. As free men and women, we must speak out against these abuses, and the mindset that proposes them. Speaking out is frightening, especially now that the nation is officially at war, but we must refuse to be intimidated.
Freedom of speech means whether or not the government likes what we say. Freedom of assembly and the press means whether or not the government likes what we say. Upholding those rights is the very nature of freedom. Even though the nation is officially at war, we must refuse to be intimidated.
Ever since September 11, the Bush administration has been trying frantically to find someone to punish. The U.S. attacked Afghanistan. Has it made us safer? Has anyone figured out where Osama Bin Laden is? Is Afghanistan now a stable country that does not breed or shelter terrorists? Is there serious journalism coming out of Afghanistan to tell us? Where are the headlines? Suddenly it’s Iraq. Next, maybe North Korea. Or Iran. Our government, although we did not elect its leaders, is claiming the right to impose its ideas of democracy wherever it chooses. A major effort is being made to distract us. And people who object to the Administration’s adventures are accused of being unpatriotic. Expressing dissent is not unpatriotic, it is the essence of patriotism. We refuse to be intimidated.
President Bush, Vice-President Cheney, Attorney General Ashcroft, Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld and their cronies want to keep the attention of the American people distracted from the real issues. The real issues all over the world are peace, freedom, social justice, reversing the damage we are doing to the planet. If freedom means anything, it means the freedom of people to choose the government and the social system that will serve them best. Let me hear you say it with me: We refuse to be intimidated.
The multinational corporations that put George Bush and his friends into power are riddled with mismanagement, corruption and criminal behavior. The U.S. refuses to cooperate in international efforts to stop environmental damage. The Administration wants to lower taxes on the rich and the corporations even further. Meanwhile the Bush Administration panders to corporate greed and tries to roll back 50 years of painful progress toward social justice. And they call that freedom. We know better. Please say it with me: we refuse to be intimidated.
A war against a bogeyman is always a great way to distract people. Saddam Hussein is a bloodthirsty tyrant – no doubt about it. But the U.S. government has protected or installed many bloodthirsty tyrants over many years, all over the world. In fact, the U.S. was partly responsible for Hussein’s being in power. Now George W. Bush needs an enemy that he knows he can find and defeat. Saddam Hussein is an easy target. He’s also left-over business from George Bush the First. A cheap victory, except for the Iraqi civilians who have been suffering for years. And when we raise doubts about the wisdom of this adventure we are accused of being unpatriotic. Let me hear it: We refuse to be intimidated.
Passover is coming soon. Then Jews all over the world will celebrate the Exodus from Egypt, the emergence from slavery into freedom. That story has inspired people all over the world with a vision of freedom. But freedom cannot be won by bombing Iraq. It cannot be won by manipulating the governments of other nations. It cannot be won by refusing to negotiate or increasing the misery of civilians. It cannot be won by unilateral military action against the advice of America’s allies. As the Prophet wrote: Not by might, not by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of Hosts. Let me hear it: We refuse to be intimidated.
People all over the world are protesting against this war. They do not hate
the United States. They resist the Bush Doctrine, the idea that the U.S.
government is free to impose its will by force anywhere and anytime. That may be
what George Bush means by freedom, but it’s not what we mean by it. Let’s all
shout it together: We refuse to be intimidated.