WHO HAS YOUR PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE?

Not long ago, I read a column in our local paper asserting that the reasons for starting the Iraq war don’t matter any more; that now that the war is on everybody ought to just shut up about whatever BushCo did to get us into it. That ought to make any right wing party radical happy enough to dance on the nation’s grave.

There will never come a time when the arguments against our starting that war will be moot. When a president and his cabinet institute a program of deception to lead a democratic nation into war, that administration has betrayed its country in the most profound way possible. That nation must recognize and purge its negative leadership or its people ultimately will lose their freedom.

It is impossible to be misled to a positive path. Ergo, if we were misled, we are on a negative path. If this nation doesn’t take a hard look at the facts, we are certain to follow our current negative path to ultimate self-destruction. As an individual, if I once took a certain position because I was misled, shouldn’t I re-evaluate that position in light of later information? Should a nation do less?

The facts are: 1. Iraq had no connection to 9/11; 2. Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction; 3. Intelligence was fixed around policy to convince people to support the war, and; 4. Our presence in Iraq foments terrorism. There are many more, but they are more complex. These points have all been proven and widely reported even in the mainstream press that usually prints nothing that isn’t pre-certified by the government.

Instead of considering facts, we too often argue party lines, but party politics should play no part here. Because I oppose the war, I have been called everything from a Democrat to a Communist. I am neither. In fact, my position is classically conservative on some issues and ultra-liberal on others. Call me anything you want, but defending this administration because of party loyalty is to pledge your allegiance to the Republican Party instead of to America. No political party deserves loyalty if its leaders are willing to mislead the nation into war and turn America into a nation that attacks sovereign nations without serious provocation.

We are in a terrible situation because people with ulterior motives have led us there. Those people should be removed from office and we, the people, should make it clear to all political parties that such behavior will not be tolerated. Otherwise, we are doomed to blindly following anyone who convincingly waves a flag.


Be the change you wish to see in the world. – M.K. Gandhi