by: Marilyn Farhat
25 May 2004

Since the beginning of this administration's call for an all out war on terrorism in 2001 with its ensuing mindless military escalation and defense spending, the draft has loomed as a probability.

The different proposals and bills that are in favor of a military draft have included an across the board conscription of males and females between the ages of 18 and 26, targeted drafts of people with special computer, linguistic, and "other" skills, and induction of health care professionals (doctors and nurses) up to age 44.

The draft has become a very strong possibility. The attempts to refill the draft boards and the insistence of this administration on "staying the course" until Iraq is "stable and democratic" are but a couple of indicators of things to come. There are at least 135,000 troops in Iraq right now and over 12,000 in Afghanistan. President Bush has promised the military brass that if they needed more troops he would not hesitate to give them more.

One only has to look at the background behind the 2003 invasion and subsequent occupation of Iraq. The reasons for the invasion were drilled into our conscious and subconscious mind. Saddam was a war monger who posed an "imminent" threat to world security. Saddam had links to Al-Qa'ida. Saddam had weapons of mass destruction. Saddam posed a horrific threat to our "ally" in the Middle East, Israel. Saddam was a butcher who tortured and killed tens of thousand of his own people.

Americans, unlike the rest of the world, were very much taken by such a simplistic portrayal of this epic of biblical proportion. We believed the myth of good versus evil. Therefore, we are democratic and freedom loving (good), while Saddam, the butcher, the torturer, and war monger is oppressive (evil). Thus began the Crusade of the millenium with the moral consent of a democracy asleep at the wheel.

What is interesting in the Iraq fiasco is that everyone who was in favor of the war and the occupation was very certain about the need to be there and the need to "shock and awe" the living daylights out of every living thing in that country. They were certain about what they wanted to do then. What they neglected to address was the "how." Could it be that the agenda was really a permanent presence of the US military in the region, which included robbing that nation of its resources and heritage?

Rallying the troops and the nation is easy with shallow cheap talk because all one would have to do is create an imaginary situation of threat and the rest is propaganda and strong-arm tactics, legally and physically.

One year after the invasion, we have come full circle in Iraq. The "liberators" have become the occupiers. The "freedom" lovers have become the jailers of innocent civilians. The "human rights" crusaders have turned into sadists and rapists. Let us not forget the kidnapping of children and women to put pressure on the men of the household to elicit information from them. Let us remember clearly the pictures of 4 year-old children with hands tied during raids conducted in the middle of the night by our bravest and finest. The stealing and destruction of property condoned by a leadership that tells us, "if you are not with us, you must be with the terrorists" has become normal practice. Darn those Iraqi children! They must be budding terrorists and they need to be dealt with "preemptively." Anything is game in the pursuit of terrorists (but only we and Israel can do that).

What is disturbing in this war is the denial and self-absorption that continues to this day even after the revelations of mistreatment, abuse, and torture. Comments such as "these things happen in war" are becoming a clich�. Well, maybe those things do happen in war, but does that make them excusable? Should they be ignored? If they were unacceptable when Saddam did them, why should they be tolerated now?

"This is not America." Well, I don't know about that one. I guess our soldiers switch nationalities when they molest women and children in prisons in Iraq and when they force the men to dress in drag. I think people should educate themselves on the number of sadists, rapists, and child molesters who inhabit our prisons and state hospitals across the country at a cost equivalent to that of the Iraq War. Let's not forget. Many of them have served in the military.

War is a booming industry and a playground of mercenaries (excuse me, I mean contractors). Many a psychopath and adventurer have an ideal environment to exercise their love of depravity and money. American companies such as Halliburton and Blackwater are in business heaven right now, charging the military and others exorbitant fees while controlling a large part of the investment market in Iraq, and supplying mercenaries at the going rate of $350 - $1,500 a day (isn't war great)! Halliburton's questionable and illegal tactics with our military and their overpricing are met by some of the "middle" brass of the military with ridiculous comments such as "but they kept us well-fed." Wow! So companies can steal if they keep a handful of our soldiers "well fed." That is one glimpse of the dysfunction of a certain type of our bravest and finest. To many, it is an adventure and an opportunity to "score big."

"So, how was it for you in Iraq?"
"I loved it. I made so much money�.."

And the Crusade continues. God bless our democracy and freedom so we can ram them down other people's throats and make them thankful for it. Let's never forget to support our troops by sending them into an environment filled with moral depravity, dishonesty, disregard for human rights, and the shattering tragedies of death and destruction.

We are a culture enamoured with useless concepts such as the "uniform," "the American way of life," "family values." What does all that mean anyway? Can someone describe our American family values and what an American way of life really is?

Our men (and women) should be valued for who they are and not for what their uniform bestows upon them. They deserve to live long and fulfilling lives, lives that reflect their morals and values. War compromises such morals. It is a world of its own, a surrealist place where time stands still and where there is no return. All those who participate in active war are changed by it in unbearable ways. We cannot claim to teach our children about peace and justice while we instill in them the opposite. War never accomplishes peace. War may lead to victories based on unjust principles. Such victories and the illusionary peace that follows are only temporary.

If we are to take our place in the world as the strongest nation, we have to think in terms of moral strength and a well-practiced code of conduct based on human rights laws and personal moral conviction. We have to practice what we preach and not try to force others to practice what we preach.

If we send our men and women to war with the full knowledge that they are expected and sometimes encouraged to commit acts of depravity, we have failed them and failed the people they are supposed to win over. The warning signs are there at present. The corrupt political leadership is dictating the depraved indifference to decency and human life. This is reflecting directly on the wellbeing and morale of the soldiers. They are burdened with conflicting values that the barrel of a gun can never erase. But maybe a sound moral character and good leadership can. And maybe, just maybe, mindful respect for the ways of peace and the rights of other human beings can start paving the way.