Where have all the protestors gone?
by Michael Tivana ... 11-04-01

The war in Viet Nam lasted over 8 years. This was long enough for the policies of the WAR Department to reach several key milestones of escalation. Each milestone triggered growing protests throughout the US and around the world. Some key milestones of the Viet Nam war were: sending in advisors - sending in large amounts of ground troops - deploying the air force - war atrocities such as Mi Lai, the body bags - new technology like the cluster & napalm bombs - the B-52s and carpet bombing. Each milestone raised the level of protests. All of this took 8 years to build up to. In Afghanistan it has taken the US 8 weeks to escalate to the level of carpet bombing with B-52s. It is difficult to grasp how fast this war is escalating and more dificult to imagine how far it will go. Where are the protestors? Will it take 8 years to bring them to the 250,000 level of the Viet Nam War? Is this any less urgent than Viet Nam?

The escalation of this war in 8 weeks represents years of escalation in the past and warrants the equivalent of years of protests. If you are a true person of peace ask yourself, "Is this war any more moral than Viet Nam?" Will the liberals protest against The Bush War or is it that the insecurity of WAR makes cowards of us all?

Granted the arguments arise that this is a different war than Viet Nam. That the 911 tragedy has swayed public opinion in large support becuase it was such a direct afront on our way of life. But this is not a new war. This is an escalation of a war that has been going on for decades. The US / British intervention in the middle east goes back a century and the 911 tragedy is a battle in this colonial war. All I can say is that the US broke away from Britain, India gained independence from Britain and Iran broke away from the US.

In these times action and inaction are of the same value. Not protesting the war is the same as supporting the war. Consent and dissidence are the determiners of our future and the true heros speak out in their way against a war that is immensely popular and yet morally evil. The 911 Tragedy is just that, they are tragic. The 911 Tragedy is tragic and it is evil. The propagandists state that there is good violence and bad violence. This is wrong because all violence is wrong. Until the human mind is free of propaganda and can think for it self will there be a vessel to contain the truth.

911 and future tragedies can be avoided. But not until the current administration is without arrogance toward the world in which we live by doing the following.