Looking back.

Incredibly, it's been five years since the invasion of Iraq, and there are, as yet, no signs that this war/occupation will be coming to an end any time soon. The most incredible part is this: something like two-thirds of the American people want us out of Iraq, as do a large majority of the Iraqi people (not that anyone cares what they think - shut up and be grateful, damned foreigners!). And yet we're obviously not bringing the troops home - quite the opposite. Congress is lukewarm on the idea of a change in policy, and the administration is just plain smug about their refusal to bring this disaster to a close. Confronted with the polling data, Cheney just smirked and said that it didn't matter. We've even seen Bush going around opining that there's something romantic about being dispatched to the Afghan frontier, and that he wish he were younger so he could do it himself (my ass!). Why aren't these people run out of town on a rail? Why is it "politically risky" to advocate a timeline for withdrawal when it's favored by 60% of the American public?

Are you waiting for an answer? I haven't got one I can fit in this blog entry. Let's just mark it down to the "Cokie Effect" - pop culture conventional wisdom. It was pretty much set in stone during the Reagan years that America is right, right, always right, never ever wrong. Any politician, journalist, or public intellectual who suggests otherwise is hung out to dry, accused of hating this country, despising our troops, etc. So the impetus is on pretending that we've never done anyone or anything wrong, that we walk around on tip-toe, that we make war with the best of intentions, and that we have consistently been a force for good in the world. That, of course, is a lie, but a very comforting one, and no one wants to rain on the parade. It's not a ticket to popularity, as you might have guessed. Nevertheless, some are willing to stick their necks out.

That is what makes the Winter Soldier project so remarkable. Like its predecessor organization during the Vietnam war, these are individuals who were thrown into the abyss of war and are now driven to make their stories known to the rest of us - the vast majority of Americans who remain untouched by this unspeakably brutal experience. Not surprisingly, this project has received zero - I mean zero - coverage in the corporate media. Not a single word in my local newspaper, and from what I understand, no coverage at all in the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, etc. These folks do not fit the paradigm - Cokie would not know what to do with them at all. We want to support the troops, but hell.... not if they tell the truth about the war!! So coverage has been limited to shows like Democracy Now! and the Web. On this grim fifth anniversary, I encourage you to listen to some of this testimony, to take a look back and remind yourself of what's being done in our name and on our dime, and to support these brave soldiers who are doing more for American democracy than Rumsfeld could ever have dreamed possible.

Oh, and happy Easter, earth mother goddess.

luv u,

jp