| War isn't a nostalgia trip! |
| "Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from a religious conviction." --Blaise Pascal |
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I will begin by admitting that I had long ago chosen not to get involved in politics on a personal level, because I felt that my voice would never matter in the overall scheme of things. However, I've followed politics and have been keenly (or oddly) "aware of it all" for a long time. I can tell you what I was doing the day President Kennedy was assassinated and I was there in the 70s as the Nixon administration unraveled in front of the entire world on PBS. I watched as the truth about Vietnam eventually came out. I felt pride over the election of a peanut farmer named Jimmy Carter and shame after learning about Iran/Contra. I'm still amazed that a president can claim ignorance to affairs going on inside his own administration and yet still be considered a hero to the nation's Conservative party. I read about BCCI, Neil Bush and the Savings and Loan scandals that occured during the first Bush administration. As a young adult growing up in a blue collar family I witnessed corporate America's assault on our working class as manufacturing plants were shuttered and the wonderful old neighborhoods turned into ghettos. I saw the effects on our national discourse as our journalists became stenographers, cheerfully spreading GOP talking points about a president's infidelity and holding him in contempt. And I watched as the supreme court, for the first time in our nation's history appointed another man president. I will also admit that some of my early opinions were influenced by the anti-war movements of the late 60s and early 70s and the music of the era. And observing firsthand the effects that Vietnam had on returning family members almost certainly helped to give birth to my own anti-war sentiments. That being said, I didn't ignore the actions of our military following Vietnam although obtaining accurate and unbiased information in those pre-internet days was certainly challenging, with a majority of US news stories having a markedly one-sided and pro-war slant. Such was the case with Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, also known as the "First Gulf War", and few know or have taken the time to learn the truth about what really happened there and what sparked those events. And I had grown naïve in my thinking that we had learned our lessons from Vietnam. Our involvment with the Mujahidin of Afghanistan in their fight against Russia is one of many mistakes our government made by failing to learn the lessons of history and it's something that would come back to haunt us. But following September 2001, I wholeheartedly agreed with the decision to seek justice from those responsible (that would be Usama Bin Laden and the Taliban and NOT Saddam Hussein as some still mistakenly believe) regardless of our government's role in helping to create and enable them in the first place. Of course we all know the events that followed and those responsible for the attacks of September 11, 2001 have yet to be captured or brought to justice. Bush.Iraq.Saddam.WMD.MushroomClouds.Lies.Torture.WarCrimes I have been against the US invasion of Iraq from the very beginning. I did my homework and knew Iraq would end up a bloodbath, that Iraqi civilians; women and children would pay the highest price in the end. And while a vast majority of Americans were more than willing to accept the Fox News and Rush Limbaugh version of events without question, I was researching and learning all I could about the Bush administration, soon discovering that their claims about Iraq, all the talking points used as grounds for war were baseless and false. It was in early 2004 that I finally began to speak out - voicing my concerns about Iraq and pointing out the spin, propaganda and lies being reported as fact. As fate would have it, some of my published opinions eventually reached the desk of an old friend, the one person I would have never expected any sort of outburst from. Indeed in normal situations you'd find him very likable, and he's never had a shortage of followers. However - any one of them could find themselves subjected to some very irrational behavior if they express views that are contrary to his, especially if those views concern matters of war. I learned the hard way - if you're strongly against war and what it stands for, don't let him find out. If the actions of the Bush administration disgust you, if you don't like what has become of our nation, you'd be well advised to keep your opinions to yourself. Because the reality is - this closet Rambo lost all control of his faculties when he was told of what I had done, proceeding to write a letter addressed to both myself and a local paper that attempted to Libel, intimidate and threaten me. Because I had openly voiced my opinions in a public forum I was now a traitor and an ignorant coward (to put it politely, his words were much harsher). It was expected that I would shut up and remain silent. Support war with out questioning. But after more than six months of on and off, back and forth exchanges in which I tried to point out my concerns and express my feelings, the conversations devolved into the bible and religion being used to justify war and defend a president. With a wave of his hand all of my concerns were dismissed and nothing I had to say was worthy of his time. In the end I was called the most vile of names, condemned for my compassion which was seen as stupidity, my sense of responsibility seen as cowardice and my tolerance for people different to us as decadence and moral evil. I was ridiculed for my anti-war beliefs and because I would not back down, was considered "cruel". For insisting on answers from those who attacked me. It was at that point that I decided it was time to take my struggle back out into the open. And what inspired and continues to inspire me? It is words like these, from the great Dr. Martin Luther King: --- "Somehow this madness must cease. We must stop now. I speak as a child of God and brother to the suffering poor of Vietnam. I speak for those whose land is being laid waste, whose homes are being destroyed, whose culture is being subverted. I speak for the poor of America who are paying the double price of smashed hopes at home and death and corruption in Vietnam. I speak as a citizen of the world, for the world as it stands aghast at the path we have taken. I speak as an American to the leaders of my own nation. The great initiative in this war is ours. The initiative to stop it must be ours. This is the message of the great Buddhist leaders of Vietnam. Recently one of them wrote these words: "Each day the war goes on the hatred increases in the heart of the Vietnamese and in the hearts of those of humanitarian instinct. The Americans are forcing even their friends into becoming their enemies. It is curious that the Americans, who calculate so carefully on the possibilities of military victory, do not realize that in the process they are incurring deep psychological and political defeat. The image of America will never again be the image of revolution, freedom and democracy, but the image of violence and militarism." If we continue, there will be no doubt in my mind and in the mind of the world that we have no honorable intentions in Vietnam. It will become clear that our minimal expectation is to occupy it as an American colony and men will not refrain from thinking that our maximum hope is to goad China into a war so that we may bomb her nuclear installations. If we do not stop our war against the people of Vietnam immediately the world will be left with no other alternative than to see this as some horribly clumsy and deadly game we have decided to play. The world now demands a maturity of America that we may not be able to achieve. It demands that we admit that we have been wrong from the beginning of our adventure in Vietnam, that we have been detrimental to the life of the Vietnamese people. The situation is one in which we must be ready to turn sharply from our present ways. In order to atone for our sins and errors in Vietnam, we should take the initiative in bringing a halt to this tragic war." --- There are many people like my former friend who claim to celebrate god and his message and yet choose to ignore the words and works of Christ. They are cheerleaders for war, death and destruction who anticipate and long for the end of the world. They have chosen to celebrate death. I choose to celebrate life. NOTICE: Consider this site an extension of the artist and his message. One voice among billions in the global village. One person's way of expressing how they feel - about the events in Iraq, war as a means in which to resolve conflict and the people who are far too eager to wage war. Please remember too that this web site is an evolving and ongoing effort. The images displayed here are meant to evoke emotion and encourage free thinking. Intelligent, civilized comments are welcomed and an email link has been provided for you at the bottom of next page. And I'd like to close with one final thought... shouldn't Pro-Life mean All-Life? |
| Disclamer: This domain name (nostalgiatrip.com) has been my property since 2002. The web site formerly located here (Grosser's Nostalgia Trip) had been authored and maintained by me, and had been hosted at my own expense and without compensation since 1998. It was removed in June of 2005 at the request of Mr. Grosser. The present site was established six months later. |