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CounterPunch
March 18,
2003
Something is Terribly Wrong
in America
by CYNTHIA McKINNEY
(Remarks at March 15 Anti-War Rally San
Francisco, California.)
We stand here together. Shoulder to shoulder.
Refusing to be denied the right to say no to George Bush's war!
This Iraq war is about oil and regional
interests.
If it was about ending tyranny, destroying
weapons of mass destruction, and restoring democracy to Iraq
then George Bush's father could have done that in 1991. But he
didn't. Saddam Hussein and his murderous regime were kept in
power.
And if we care about civilians suffering
under the heel of brutal regimes, and if we really want to defend
human rights worldwide, why are we starting and stopping at Iraq?
Why not do something about the suffering
in Congo, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Burma, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Tibet,
Afghanistan, just to name a few?
But as we all know nothing will be done.
In fact our military forces and intelligence
agencies may actually even worsen the suffering in those countries
because it suits our interests to do so. Just like when the American
government killed Salvadore Allende and replaced him with Augusto
Pinochet.
American style regime change is nothing
new.
But when we dare to stand up and tell
the truth about how unjust this war is and question the motivations
of its protagonists we are called unpatriotic and accused of
hating our flag.
I don't hate my country and I certainly
don't hate my flag. In fact I love them so much I refuse to be
quiet!
No more should we allow special interests
to lead yet another generation of young Americans off to war.
Our Founding Father, George Washington,
in his Farewell Address of 1796, warned us about the false patriots
who would wrap themselves in the American flag and at the same
time sell our precious American values to special interests.
George Washington didn't know it then,
but we know it now, that he was talking about people like George
W. Bush who would betray our values and our country in pursuit
of an unnecessary war.
You, gathered here today, are the true
patriots.
The day our streets are free from protestors
like you will be the day our democracy is dead.
Those of us who oppose Bush's war span
the spectrum.
We are conservative, radical â¤"
Democrats, Republicans, Independents, Reform, and we are Green.
We come from all walks of life.
We are the thinkers and the workers that
make America strong.
We are all religions and we are all races
joined together today.
That's why George W. Bush proposes to
spend $200 million on a public relations campaign to convince
you and the world that war in Iraq is justified. Telling the
truth shouldn't be so expensive.
If war in Iraq is truly justified and
is about restoring freedoms to the people of Iraq then why doesn't
the Bush Administration restore our freedoms here at home?
Why does the San Francisco Police Department
need to collect, in violation of their own department rules,
dossiers on peaceful anti-war protesters?
What does our government fear from us?
The Bush Administration has even failed
to convince our most important opinion leaders when it comes
to war and peace: the veterans.
Veterans increasingly are being counted
among the ranks of anti-war protesters. Why? Because more than
anyone else, our veterans know the horror of war.
They know it's easy to talk about war
if you've never been to war.
They know the horror of coming back to
face the Pentagon and the Department of Veterans Affairs for
help with post-traumatic stress syndrome, Gulf War syndrome,
exposure to Agent Orange and depleted uranium, cancer, birth
defects, Lou Gehrig's disease, infertility, memory loss, and
homelessness.
In fact, 25% of all our homeless are
veterans. And they sleep on the streets of America every night.
Many even living across the street from the White House.
While our military spend billions of
dollars on aircraft, ships, tanks, and laser guided missilesâ¤"$25
billion already just to get the troops in position for this war--
our government can't give a warm meal and shelter to the veterans
who have served our country and who are now in need.
Something is terribly wrong; and that's
the thanks of a grateful nation.
Now President Bush would have you believe
that he cares about our young service men and women.
But he doesn't.
Just like he doesn't care about the veterans.
And let us remember . . .
George Bush, Dick Cheney, Richard Perle,
Paul Wolfowitz, where were you when America needed you?
Part of that $200 million in public relations
money the Administration is spending is to make us think that
George Bush follows in the footsteps of the world's greatest
wartime leaders.
But while Saddam Hussein can be counted
among the world's tyrants, George W. Bush is no Franklin Delano
Roosevelt and Tony Blair is no Winston Churchill.
Because now the entire world knows that
Bush Daddy and the Carlyle Group are doing big business in weapons
systems, recently purchasing a British weapons lab.
Dick Cheney's Halliburton Company which,
by the way, just announced that it had a radioactive device stolen
in Africa, not only has an unprecedented 10-year, unlimited contract
to feed and supply US troops, but it also has a $33 million contract
to build the detention camp at Guantanamo Bay.
And now we learn that Halliburton will
also repair Iraqi oil fields in case of damage in the war.
In addition, The Guardian newspaper informs
us that Halliburton still pays the Vice President up to $1 million
each year in deferred salary payments.
Meanwhile, back on the Chickenhawk farm,
we learn from the most recent New Yorker magazine that Richard
Perle incorporated the Trireme Partners company after September
11 and now stands to gain financially from a war in Iraq.
Now, sadly, this is the same gang that
just succeeded in denying women access to emergency contraceptives,
even in the event of sexual assault.
And that soon will start drilling in
Alaska.
Sadly, with faked documents, plagiarized
material, and unconvincing evidence, George Bush wants to rush
us into a war that America's poor will be fighting.
And in the process, the poor of the world
are being asked to give up their resources, for little or nothing.
It is a stick-up of global proportions.
And we are being asked to go along with
it.
America used to be loved around the world.
Now we are feared.
And so, in the absence of an America
that stands up for justice, and dignity; we are the ones who
must stand up for peace.
In my election, 47,000 Republicans crossed
over and hijacked the Democratic Primary becuse they were afraid
of the truth. Sometimes telling the truth comes at a high personal
price.
Let us leave here today and make the
change this country needs to be loved and respected around the
world once again.
Cynthia McKinney
is a former Democratic Congresswoman from Georgia.
Yesterday's
Features
Gore Vidal
The
Erosion of the American Dream (Interview)
Jason Leopold
Rumsfeld and Bush Sr. Opposed 1989 UN Investigation of Saddam
for Human Rights Violations
Josh Ruebner
An
Open Letter to My Former Dean, Paul Wolfowitz (and Other "Court"
Jews)
Mitchel Cohen
The
Gulf War 12 Years Later: Why Class Matters
Carlos Fuentes
The Insulting Insinuations of the Bush Regime
Fareed Marjaee
The Road to Jerusalem Goes Through Baghdad
Rick Giombetti
The Savagely Soft Underbelly
of the Anti-War Movement: Misquided Faith in the UN
Rich Procter
Rove Memo: How to Launch a War
Ritt Goldstein
Oil
War: the Smoking Guns
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War a Chance: the Anti-Peace Anthem
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