How To Stop A War

Three years ago today, I was sitting in an apartment on 108th Street, watching the beginnings of an illegal invasion of a sovereign nation by the global imperial bully. The world, apparently, was under threat from a rogue state and their stockpile of WMDs. We were told that they might have even had a nuclear bomb. Then without much fanfare, a war started right there on my TV in my living room.

Three years ago, I was full of piss and vinegar. I was constantly attending demonstrations, socialist meetings, anything to try and find a way to stop the blatant injustice, the hypocrisy and the crime that was underway. Now three years later, every one of the lies we exposed are out in the open but nothing changes. There were no weapons of mass destruction, no links to Al Queda. Nothing. Today the US war machine is building permanent bases in the deserts of Iraq and saber rattling for Iran. Here they come again with a new batch of lies. Actually, they are eerily similar to their old lies. Iran is a nuclear threat; they are dangerous to the world and so on.

Meanwhile, Iraq has been transformed into hell on earth. The headlines are so outrageous that one is dumfounded trying to make sense of them. This war could cost over a trillion dollars. 18, 34, 56, 122, 6 dead every day. Men , women, children. And for what? What has been the result?

I have grown tired during the last three years. I have heard that we cannot bring about peace in the world until we find peace in ourselves. So I guess that is what I have been doing. The tempest in my heart has subsided a bit, and I breathe much easier these days, but I am left wondering how this fragile newly found peace I have fostered will spread.

I am weary not to allow my anger to control my behavior, but I have been left with a gapping hole. Not sure what to fill it with, I simply read the news and shake my head. I don’t know what to do anymore. The frustration and anguish are too much to bear. I remember as a child, I would study footage of the Vietnam protests, and I swore that if I had the chance, I would swarm the streets. I looked at the people with such admiration. But what am I doing now? This war will not stop on it’s own accord. And what do I do? I sit alone in this room, typing away my guilt and feeling ineffectual. My anger substituted with hopelessness…If you have any suggestions on how to stop a war, please comment on this page with your ideas. I am waiting anxiously.

In the meantime here are two great articles to get you thinking.

America's Blinders by Howard Zinn
The Logic of Withdrawl by Anthony Arnove