An open letter to the Military Families Speak Out Organization
The US invasion and occupation of Iraq violates the most fundamental international laws. It is a war of conquest for the control of Iraq’s oil, the privatization of its public assets for foreign investors, the destruction of its infrastructure so foreign investors can cash-in on its reconstruction, the reduction of the Iraqi workers wages, the expansion of US hegemony in the Middle East, etc.
It is an illegal war and all US military orders pertaining to it are illegal. The US is a signatory of the Geneva Convention, which says no soldier is bound to obey illegal orders. Your sons and daughters were not bound to obey the illegal orders that sent them to Iraq nor were they bound to obey any subsequent military orders while they were there.
The vast majority of people around the world are against this war. The worldwide anti-war movement refuses to support US imperialist troops because they, like Bush & Co, are war criminals who must be tried and sentenced for their war crimes accordingly.
You claim they are victims who were forced to join the US military because of poverty and racism. But this is easily refuted by the fact that millions of poor young men and women of all colors refuse to join the US military. Young people are so much against the military that a recent pole conducted by CBS showed that, if a military draft were enacted today 35% of draft-age young people would resist it.
You also claim that they didn’t know what they were getting into when they joined the military. They didn’t know that the US military has a long bloody history of killing people of color? They never heard of Vietnam? Suppose hypothetically that they were as ignorant as you claim they were. Why didn’t you teach them the truth?
The truth is, most of you encouraged your sons and daughters to enlist. You were proud of them when they were killing Iraqis. You bragged about how brave and honorable they were and you’d still be bragging about them if they were alive today. Wouldn’t you? Be honest.
Your attitude toward the third world’s people is probably the same as that of the typical US patriot. You believe that “God Blessed America”, which means the world was created to serve the US, i.e., people living in the third world simply don’t matter.
The theory that supporting the US troops will bring an end to the war - a theory that you and your fellow “peace activists” embrace - is unethical, illogical and smacks of the vilest hypocrisy. You argue that, since the US military is made up of a disproportionate people of color, those who do not do not support the US troops are racists. By your twisted logic the vast majority of human beings are racists because the vast majority of human beings do not support the US troops.
The real racists are those who support US imperialism and those who do its dirty work in its wars against the world’s workers. Your sons and daughters, who murdered, raped, tortured and maimed Iraqis, were cold-blooded, murderous racists. You too are racists for raising such monsters and for continuing to support of the US troops in Iraq (and everywhere else) and US imperialism in general.
In volunteering for military service your sons and daughters swore allegiance to the US Empire. They lived by the sword of US
Imperialism - obeying illegal orders to murder, rape, torture and maim Iraqis. They chose to do this on their own free will, nobody forced them. They lived by the sword of US imperialism and they died by the sword of the growing resistance to it. Another way to put it: what goes around comes around.
Is it not better for humanity that they are dead least they murder, rape, torture and maim more Iraqis? How many Iraqis have to die before you’ll finally admit this?
Yes, Bush and Co are war criminals and they should be tried as such. But contrary to how you would have it, they are not the lone war criminals in this genocide. Your sons and daughters became war criminals the moment they set foot in Iraq. They were accomplices in what the Nuremberg Trials prosecutors called the “supreme crime” - the invasion and occupation of a sovereign country without just cause, without provocation.
Poverty, ignorance and racism are no excuse for cold-blooded murder. Let’s be clear about this; your sons and daughters willingly went half-way around the world to take part in the genocide of working people of color who never hurt anyone in the US. What motivated them to do it was self-interest, i.e., a career, training, college, benefits, puffed up pride, racism, loyalty to imperialism, etc.
Your crocodile tears will not excuse them of their war crimes. They died with Iraqi blood on their hands and you are much to blame for it because you encouraged them to join the US military.
Your flag waving, imperialist slogans and lack of concern for the Iraqis are not the characteristics of those who are truly for peace. Your organization and others, like the Democratic Party, who tow the same phony lines, are creating confusion within the anti-war movement in the US, which in turn creates divisions. You are promoting the notion that it’s possible to be pro-imperialist but against war - a very dangerous notion that allows the US to continue its plunder of the world’s resources for profits at the expense of the lives of billions of low wage workers, mostly of color.
You goose stepped your way into the anti-war movement waving the “Support Our Troops” banner - the same banner that you waived when you attended the pro-war rallies. The only reason you are against this war is because your sons and daughters died in it.
You are impeding the development of the anti-war movement with this banner - creating confusion and divisions within, shaping its character into one that is pro-imperialist, one that is adapting the Democratic Party’s pro Kerry, pro war agenda.
Waving the imperialist banner “Support Our Troops” is a slap in the face of the victims of the US military - the Iraqis, the Afghanis and the countless millions of people of color, who were murdered, raped, enslaved, tortured, maimed and robbed by US troops throughout history.
You display pictures of all the US troops who died in Iraq at anti-war rallies adding more insult to injury for the Iraqis.
What about the Iraqis who were murdered by your sons and daughters - how many pictures of them do you flash?
You are fake peace activists who use the anti-war movement for personal reasons; namely you want to vent your anger at someone (Bush) because you lost your sons and daughters. Unwilling to renounce your loyalty to US imperialism, unwilling to admit that your sons and daughters were war criminals, you seek refuge in the anti-war movement because the pro-war fascists won’t redress your grievances.
You claim that you’ve changed your position on the war but in reality you’ve only put on a masque. Behind that mask is the same puffed-up ugly American who still believes the US should dominate the world, capitalism works and imperialist wars are OK (as long as your loved ones aren’t harmed).
You can’t truly be for peace while you support imperialism. If you want to help stop imperialist wars you have to respect the right of self-determination for the working people of all countries. This means that whenever imperialists illegally invade and occupy foreign countries you must support the resistance and not the US troops. You can support the Iraqi resistance by not supporting the US troops. It’s as simple as that.
Support the Iraqi Resistance! Prosecute Bush & Co for war crimes! Prosecute the US Government for war crimes! Prosecute the US troops for war crimes!
Original: Military Families Speak Crap