What is it going to take to get through to the vast majority of Americans that we are on a destructive path, one that no longer can be sustained? People are so concerned over their jobs, their homes and their personal safety, as they certainly should be, but do they not realize that the root of all their problems are the monstrous costs of these wars? Those strongly opposed to war must find the ways to get that message across and counteract the message of the right wing media.
America does not need to become an empire whose aim is to dominate the world for our own selfish interests. Our government can adequately protect the American people and keep our nation secure without creating an empire. We do not need military forces in over 750 bases all around the world. We can use our navy to see that rogue nations do not disrupt world commerce. We can use military might in a positive rather than a destructive manner.
I've been trying to determine the American peoples' true feelings about war and where it is taking our nation and, perhaps, my thinking has been flawed. I keep reading about these polls that indicate that 60% or more of Americans are opposed to the war in Afghanistan/Pakistan. But what exactly does "opposed" really mean? Does it mean that they think the war is legally and morally wrong, that it is doing great damage to America because of its tremendous costs?
Or do they think that it is not worth fighting any longer because we are not winning? Is that what it's all about not winning? We all know that winning is what America likes to do whether it's in politics, sports or even love. Winning may have become an obsession in this society but could it be such that, if the U.S. was beating the Taliban and Al-Qaeda, the polls would be showing that Americans are overwhelmingly in favor of it? I don't like that thought at all.
I have no answer to those questions; the only answers lie within our own hearts. But if the majority of Americans are of the mind that winning is all that matters, then they and America will be the big losers. If that has now become fact, then America is rapidly approaching one of the lowest points in its history. We will be on a course that will become almost impossible to reverse.
So what does the future hold? Will these wars become so very pervasive and costly that the mass of Americans will finally rise up, reject them and demand that they be ended? From the evidence at hand the probability is not very high. As I listen for signs that America might be starting to wake up I hear nothing but a deafening silence. No matter where I go, no matter with whom I interact day to day, I hear no concerns, no dissent or even interest relative to that one word war.
Here are the facts. The powers in control, the military, and the multitude of war hawks have no intention of ending this agenda of war and the expansion of empire. There is only one way to deal with this dire situation; it will have to be done through the relentless, intense pressure and demands of the mass of the American people. It's not happening right now but it has happened in the past (Vietnam) and it can happen again.
War is not the answer; it never was and never will be. When will the people of America come to that conclusion and realization? What is it going to take? It's time to break out of this mind entrapment and refuse to listen to the facilitators of war. We need only to listen to our own innermost feelings and we will know what we must do to get this nation back on track.
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