Pursue Diplomacy, Not War, With Iran
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s visit to the United States has prompted an outcry, including protests and tabloid headlines calling him “evil” and a “madman.” As Juan Cole says, “The real reason his visit is controversial is that the American right has decided the United States needs to go to war against Iran. Ahmadinejad is therefore being configured as an enemy head of state.” The Bush administration, which maintains that “all options” remain on the table with Iran, should vigorously pursue the diplomatic option, instead of moving inexorably toward the military option.
Ahmadinejad said in a “60 Minutes” interview, “It’s wrong to think that Iran and the U.S. are walking toward war. Who says so? Why should we go to war? There is no war in the offing.” Iran has not threatened to attack the United States, or Israel for that matter, except if it is attacked first. Iranian authorities sent a proposal to the United States in May 2003 offering negotiations on a deal for Iran to freeze its nuclear program if the United States would end its hostility against Iran. The Bush administration thumbed its nose at the Iranian proposal, then tried to cover up the story, according to Trita Parsi, in his new book, Treacherous Alliance: The Secret Dealings of Israel, Iran, and the United States.
Bush has pursued a belligerent policy toward Iran ever since he inaugurated it into his “axis of evil” in January 2002. General David Petraeus and Bush both menacingly mentioned Iran five times in their respective August speeches touting how well things are going in Iraq. Petraeus referred to “malign actions” by Iran; Bush discussed Iran and al-Qaeda in the same breath even though Iran has never attacked us.
U.S. plans for war with Iran continue to escalate. Centcom (U.S. Central Command) has engaged in detailed contingency planning for an attack on Iran for more than two years. In June, the U.S. Air Force established Project Checkmate tasked with “fighting the next war.” The Pentagon is building a military base near the Iran-Iraq border. Earlier this month, British forces, at the request of the Americans, were sent from Basra to the Iranian border. Two aircraft carrier groups (USS Nimitz and USS Truman) are reportedly en route to the Persian Gulf to join the USS Enterprise.
Philip Giraldi wrote last month in The American Conservative that Dick Cheney ordered the U.S. Strategic Command to draw up a “contingency plan” for a large-scale air assault on Iran using both conventional and tactical nuclear weapons. “As in the case of Iraq,” according to Giraldi, “the response is not conditional on Iran actually being involved in the act of terrorism directed against the United States. Several senior Air Force officers involved in the planning are reportedly appalled at the implications of what they are doing – that Iran is being set up for an unprovoked nuclear attack – but no one is prepared to damage his career by posing any objections.”
Bush will likely provoke a confrontation with Iran, then strike back in “self-defense.”
The Sunday Telegraph reported, “A strike will probably follow a gradual escalation. Over the next few weeks and months the U.S. will build tensions and evidence around Iranian activities in Iraq . . . Under the theory - which is gaining credence in Washington security circles - U.S. action would provoke a major Iranian response, perhaps in the form of moves to cut off Gulf oil supplies, providing a trigger for air strikes against Iran’s nuclear facilities and even its armed forces.”
Steve Clemons likewise wrote on Salon that David Wurmser, a member of Cheney’s national security staff, allegedly discussed convincing Israel to launch a low-yield cruise missile strike against the Natanz nuclear reactor in Iran, to “hopefully” prompt a military reaction by Iran against U.S. forces in Iraq and the Gulf.
Former CIA counter-terrorism chief Vincent Cannistrano, now a security analyst, stated, “The decision to attack was made some time ago. It will be in two stages. If a smoking gun is found in terms of Iranian interference in Iraq, the U.S. will retaliate on a tactical level, and they will strike against military targets. The second part of this is: Bush has made the decision to launch a strategic attack against Iranian nuclear facilities, although not before next year. He has been lining up some Sunni countries for tacit support for his actions.”
Patrick Cronin, director of studies at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, concurs. “Washington is seriously reviewing plans to bomb not just nuclear sites, but oil sites, military sites and even leadership targets. The talk is of multiple targets,” he said. “In Washington there is very serious discussion that this is a window that has to be looked at seriously because there is only six months to ‘do something about Iran’ before it will be looked at as a purely political issue.”
The United Nations’ chief nuclear weapons inspector, Mohamed ElBaradei, warned against an “out of control” drift to war with Iran. “I would not talk about any use of force,” he said. “There are rules on how to use force, and I would hope that everybody would have gotten the lesson after the Iraq situation, where 700,000 innocent civilians have lost their lives on the suspicion that a country has nuclear weapons.” The UN Charter only permits the use of force in self-defense or with the blessing of the Security Council. “Many of the potential targets are in populated places, endangering civilians both from errant bombs and the possible dispersal of radioactive material,” cautioned Peter Galbraith in the New York Review of Books. The failure to protect civilians violates the Geneva Conventions.
Yet Bush continues his march to war. In an end run around the UN Security Council, “Washington and its allies are developing a parallel track to the UN effort in the event that a third resolution ends up only modestly increasing pressure on Iran,” according to the Washington Post. “We’ll continue on the UN track, but we also have the track of the U.S.-E.U.,” a State Department official said.
Former General Wesley Clark is a likely presidential running mate for Hillary Clinton, who also intends to keep the military option against Iran on the table. In Sunday’s Washington Post, Clark laid out a detailed military plan to ensure that we “win” the next war. “Today, the most likely next conflict will be with Iran,” he wrote, while cautioning that war is the last resort.
Senators Joe Lieberman and Jon Kyl just introduced an amendment to the defense authorization bill that would authorize Bush to attack Iran. Here is the language from the amendment:
(3) that it should be the policy of the United States to combat,
contain, and roll back the violent activities and destabilizing
influence inside Iraq of the Government of the Islamic Republic of
Iran, its foreign facilitators such as Lebanese Hezbollah, and its
indigenous Iraqi proxies;(4) to support the prudent and calibrated use of all instruments of
United States national power in Iraq, including diplomatic, economic,
intelligence, and military instruments, in support of the policy
described in paragraph (3) with respect to the Government of the
Islamic Republic of Iran and its proxies.
If the Congress adopts this amendment, U.S. policy would be to “combat” Iran with “all . . . military instruments.” It is imperative that this amendment be defeated.
As Bush and Cheney once again go through the motions of diplomacy as they did during the run-up to war with Iraq, they move steadily toward war. They would do well to heed the sentiments of the Bipartisan Security Group, which advocates the Middle Powers Initiative. That statement says, “Resolution of differences between the United States and Iran through diplomatic means has become imperative. The catastrophe of Iraq should inform us that the use of force under present circumstances will bring even greater tragedy to the war-torn Middle East. Any threat to unilaterally use overwhelming force is irresponsibly hazardous. There is no imminent threat posed by Iran. There is a practical, legal and moral obligation to obtain security through peaceful and law abiding means.”
The initiative points to the United States’ hypocrisy of condemning Iran for seeking nuclear weapons while maintaining the right to use nukes against Iran. “The United States and other nuclear weapon states can more credibly insist on Iranian compliance with its international obligations if they meet their own. To decry the Iranian potential of developing nuclear weapons while brandishing arsenals of unimaginable destructive capacity on launch-on-warning status is inconsistent . . . Accordingly, the United States is required to renounce the use of nuclear weapons against Iran rather than to maintain that ‘all options are on the table.’”
Marjorie Cohn is a professor at Thomas Jefferson School of Law and President of the National Lawyers Guild. Her new book, Cowboy Republic: Six Ways the Bush Gang Has Defied the Law, was just published. Her articles are archived at http://www.marjoriecohn.com.
I think this says it all…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWGa9ViY7G8
What the hell is this crappy PR piece on CNN?!
http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/09/25/screening.center/index.html
Do you feel safe? What a sick joke.
Doesn’t this just make the FICTIONAL story of ‘V for Vendetta’ look more and more like a documentary of our times? One that records the collapse of the Anglo-American empire?
Willful destruction on cataclysmic levels is WHAT this administration AIMS at. This stance is antithetical to justice, reason or sanity. As before the case was “fixed” for war; what is a citizenry to do? Yesterday someone posted the idea of a BOYCOTT from the rest of the world, perhaps a cessation of those funds being BORROWED that make war possible.
Bush definitely has effected a trifecta–robbed what money the nation had to give tax breaks to the very rich (his lovely base); orchestrated a war of choice that’s further eviscerated our treasury; and thanks to the flagrantly irresponsible deregulation that led to the housing debacle (subprime mortgage) sent the fed to borrow and play magic games with interest rates to produce something quintessentially out of nothing. Our nation is not just bankrupt in terms of Mammon’s chosen collateral, it is nearing the equivalent spiritually. For all the nonsense about this being a “religious” country, it’s religion is war based on mercantalistic conquest and related confiscations. Sadly, good citizens are about to spin in the vortex created by greed and absolute disregard for other human beings and those ecosystems necessary for holding this world’s ecology together in a way that supports human life.
To the article citing Bush’s report card, what surpasses an F in anything of value to humanity?
… And this is why the Canadian dollar is hovering at parity with the Yankee dollar…not because the Canadian economy is doing so well, but becaus the American economy is about to do a lipstand.
Just what is Mr. Ahmadinejad supposed to say to get the point across about the nuclear issue? But now I’m beginning to think the “nuclear issue” is just a red herring, just like the “WMD” were a red herring. It is unfortunate that Mr. A’s delivery is often so confusing, so indirect, but from experience I know that is the way Iranians converse. Direct questions are not really part of their culture. I learned this when I lived there. The word “no” is also not part of the culture, as I found out when I lived there. It is their way. It is the way of centuries of their culture. This is the part the Americans cannot and do not want to understand.
We are direct and frank as a habit, but this is not the way of the whole world. (On the other hand, we have witnessed our own situation in which the truth has not been forthcoming — this is not the traditional American way.)
I remember reading a couple of years ago (I wish I could remember where… sorry) that the ayatollas and imams of Iran had passed a fatwa (religous edict) that condemned to death anyone involved in research to produce nuclear weapons technology.
Meanwhile, Israel continues to publicly deny the open secret of it’s nuclear weapons technology that they have imprisoned physicist Mordacai Vannunu for more that twenty years, and denied him the right to travel beyond Israel’s borders or to speak with foreign journalists.
Who would you trust?
While our country was marching off to invade to free Iraq of the WMDs and all of the hellations bad decisions in the immediate aftermath, even Pat Buchannon was asking; “Where are the Democrats?” Indeed, this is the question that we have all been asking anytime a counter voice has been needed during this slow five year slow motion train wreck. Now here we go again, and it seems we have found them, they are all standing over with the chickenhawks trying to out strut and out macho the machos. The problem seems to be that we keep electing people to office who like Bush and Cheney got their asses beat up too much on the playground when they were little and think that they can reverse their emasculation by unleashing hell on millions of people in other countries.
Bush and Cheney didn’t get their asses kicked enough as kids…
“We are direct and frank as a habit, but this is not the way of the whole world. (On the other hand, we have witnessed our own situation in which the truth has not been forthcoming — this is not the traditional American way.)”
American ‘directness’ and ‘frankness’ have always been nothing more than a bluff, putting a bold face on the concealed brutality, paranoia, and sadism endemic to the culture.
This is exactly how Reagan got elected & Bush was levered into power — “I’m just an aw-shucks kinda guy, doncha just hate the smarties?” The Good Americans have always admired bullies and brutes for their ‘frankness’. . .
Hawthorne had it right & no one’s surpassed his depiction of the national self-deception since . . .
Ahmedinijad is about to speak at the UN.
Pro-Israeli protesters are shoulder to shoulder with Anti-Ahmedinijad Iranians. And Bush just left the building…
Anyone else hear the war drums?
I think it’s safe to say that a cretin like Bush, who requires phonetic spellings for the names of various leaders and nations, will opt for war. For this insecure, morally shriveled mediocrity, violence is one of the easiest ways to tell the world he’s a tough guy, a real man. Somerset Maugham is reported to have said that only mediocrities are always at their best. That’s George Wanker Bush.
You know what is genuinely frustrating….When I raise the spectre of an attack on Iran, including a possible nuclear attack, with my less informed friends they look at me as if I’m crazy to question the rationale for such an attack.
They take it as a given that Iran is this evil entity on the verge of acquiring a nuclear weapon that they would immideately launch on US or Israel.
The Congress says it’s “too busy” with other urgent matters to initiate impeachment now.
I say it’s now or never, while we still have a few shreds of our democracy left.
Cheney first. Bush second. Then bye-bye to all the dastardly crony appointees, including Ms. Rice and all the cabinet.
Yes, the demonization of the nation of Iran has gone very deep. The media has done a piss-poor job in conveying facts in place of hype. And what a mess BushCo plans to make. How does it benefit any common people anywhere? It doesn’t. But I fear it will happen, out of yet more greed, stupidity, and testosterone.
SiouxRose -
I don’t see myself as a mystic and I don’t follow your occasionally astrological references.
But almost every political and moral point you’ve make to this article and have made to many many others I’ve read in the past, is so purely humane and beautifully succinct, tears come to my eyes every time I read your posts.
I don’t know who you are are behind your CD name, and I’m sorry to maybe embarrass you by saying this in cyberspace public, but to me you are a vital presence that always comes through, above the blinking electrons, to clarify and inspire as if you were in the room.
Stay well, dear being.
Excellent article. The real probem is the demonisation of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
This is so strong that the audience often does not hear what they are being told.
He has made it clear he wants peace and does not wish to be threatned by WMD.
See my Moral Premises of Nuclear war on lulu.com.and mobipocket- Barrie Machin. Iran has suffered enormously from US intervention and the support of Hussein and the Iraq-Iran war but the US fails to acknowledge its guilt and continues to persecute the Nation. Sure the attitudes to homosexuals is serious but there are many people in the US from the religious right who are firm supporters of this attitude-look at all the hysteria about gay marriage-yet they are probably the most hysterical about fighting Iran too.
Human beings project evil onto others and good onto God and they should wake up to this fact about themeselves.
US voters should realise they are being duped into another disaster by the wealthy who do not send their sons to war. Bush is a good example he likes dressing up as a soldier but get him to fight himself and he runs like a cur as he runs from democratic debate. He and the postmodernist neocons cynically rely on deceiving and manipulating the cannon fodder. The whole world must rise up in protest before Bush leads us to mass suicide.
www.peacesource.net
NEW YORK: I am from NY originally, so hello. I appreciate your wonderful affirmative compliment, and I realize that astrology as understood by most individuals can be off-putting. Unfortunately, its breathless vision may well be the basis for a transcendental understanding that can lift humanity out of these tiresome ism divisions: nationalism, sexism, ethnocentricism, etc. Because in earlier times these beliefs would have insured that I be burned as a witch (I do feel the intimation of having HAD that experience, as a believer in reincarnation) I make it a point to be better informed (where possible) than my critics.
Prior to Clear Channel buying 1800 radio stations, I did a lot of radio interviews to share this subject matter with hundreds, if not thousands. I also hosted a cable TV show in the Florida Keys for 8 years. It was very popular and opened a doorway to higher understanding for an appreciative public.
I love commondreams. I also read Truthout.org, Harper’s, Mother Jones, and the periodicals sent out by Public Citizen (and several environmental organizations). As the soul evolves, it leaves behind a self-centered reference and MUST embrace the whole. That is the humanitarian streak I believe you identify with. All of the great spiritual leaders have offered teachings of unity, asked their followers to turn from divisive creeds and in the direction of peace, tolerance, and wider understanding. I am not convinced that the pre-existing religious frameworks have done a particularly good job with that task; and that is why I have studied mystical and metaphysical teachers for all of my adult life. I frequently quote their works, or offer their lessons as comparisons. Again, thank you for the nod. I just got my 6th script rejected from Hollywood. In a society that mostly worships fortuitous violence, writing storylines that teach the timeless truths has not won me the audience I have sought. Film is such a powerful media, it’s a tragedy it’s used mostly to promote the most bestial impulses in mankind. Doesn’t that make you think there really IS a dark side? Yet it seems very clear to me that cosmic law is writ into our universe, and quite plausibly the planetary ambassadors, set like advanced clockworks into specific rotational designs, may well act like energetic ganglia, or computer-like disks endowed with time-coded information that penetrates the ethers and influences human behavior (and its long cycles of intended evolutionary increments). That, I do believe, and grant witness to the “As above, so below” Divine equation where appropriate to this intelligent and invigorating forum.
Siouxsierose: Is it to much to hope that the US could learn the rede “An it harm none. do as you will”?
GALEN
yes the u.s. contingent walked out of the u.n. leaving only a ‘note-taker’to listen to mr. a’s speech. how childish and pathetic is that?? to me it reeks of cowardice.
SIOUXSIEROSE
good luck with your scripts. i too have had them rejected from publishers. but don’t give up. somewhere out there there must be someone who appreciates honesty. and yes. i’ve believed in the ‘dark side’ for a long time now. just didn’t realise how ‘dark’ it is…………
Lets see, the facts point out that Cheney/Bush ARE going to order our military to attack Iran, sometime within the next four to six months, ___ perhaps sooner. Most of our ‘esteemed’ Congress has already approved.
Even though both the Bush administration and Congress have horrible approval ratngs by most of the voters, or the American public, most Americans don’t have a clue of what this is all about. The majority will listen to the White House and media spin and agree, Iran has a elected president who is a deranged and evil madman, who will use atomic weapons against us or Isreal. The fact that Iran has NO atomic weapons is not an issue. They ‘might’ have them someday and they must be stopped now! Iran is one of the Evil Empire.
Three Carrier groups are in striking distance of Iran, they are not there for a paid holiday, or because of the pleasant weather. Our air force has drawn up plans for a strike against Iran, including the use of nuclear weapons. We have several hundred older cruise missiles designed to be carried by the B-52H bombers that are scheduled to be scrapped, why waste those expensive tactical nukes? Tactical now means, smaller than big ones, but thousands of times more powerful than those we dropped on Japan. We also have Big-Blu, a monstrous DU filled bunker buster that resembles a small atomic bomb when it goes off, but spreads an even more dangerous and deadly type of atomic radiation.
When this all transpires, what good will we Americans have gained? ____ Hmmm, I honestly cannot think of anything.
There must be something good about this that I’ve missed. I take it that Iran is a rather backward country with a small air force, small navy, and a bunch of Arab ground troops carrying AK-47s and little dinky RPGs. After we’ve bombed them into submission and perhaps then sent in our ground troops to assist their government with establishing a democracy, which should be a cake walk, then what do we do?
Ahhh, I know, build an American Embassy complex and maybe a church in Tehran. Financially, we need anothr war, to help pay for the one we had with Iraq. That little war is almost over now, the British have already pulled out, ___ we’re next, the Democrats said we would. As I write here, I’m beginning to see the light, yeah, think about it, all of you worried doubters. War is the only good paying jobs left in America and of course, ___ we need to control the oil, it’s ours. If it wasn’t for us, the Arabs would never have had it in the first place. Bush is a lot smarter than you guys give him credit for. ___ At least I sure hope he is.
The reason I hope he is, is because if he starts a war with Iran, we are going to lose our country. We might anyway when the depresion hits. Get ready, one way or another, it ain’t gonna be fun.
Action page - Contact your senators and your rep:
http://www.usalone.com/no_iran_war_declaration.php
I have no doubt that those who post here are quite capable of contacting their “representatives” in DC - but isn’t it great when someone takes some of the drudgery out of it?
What Martin said was true then and it is still true today. A sick society totally infested with racism could not bring about a peaceful end in Vietnam and it will not be able to avoid a conflagration in Iran.
AS IF THE U.S. HAD ANYTHING OTHER THAN GREED TO OFFER TO THE WORLD. MUCH HAS CHANGED SINCE WE REBUILT GERMANY AND JAPAN (AFTER ‘NUKING’ THE LATTER, NO LESS). NOW, IN AMERICA, NOT ONLY IS THE GOVERNMENT CORRUPTED BY CORPORATIONS BUT MOST OF THE PEOPLE ARE TOO.
STILL, THERE IS MUCH WORTH SAVING - INCLUDING ALOT OF DUMB AMERICANS AND, OF COURSE THE AMAZING LAND THAT THEY STOLE AND ARE DESTROYING BECAUSE THEY ARE SO STUPID, GREEDY AND LAZY.
PARAPHRASING FROM BEN FRANKLIN HERE, no really.
I feel ill, reading this.
This is evil, what the US intends doing. This is what Dietrich Bonhoeffer, to give a hero’s name from an earlier situation, sacrificed his life to fight.
Is there no limit to the evil of this clown Bush and his administration?
The only limit to the evil of this administration is the limit set by those who allow it to continue.
We must listen to supporters of diplomacy-not war minded hawks in dealing with Iran. We were fooled with Iraq–let’s not do this one too.
A recent poll published in Foreign Affairs indicates that only 8% of US voters presently favor military action in Iran. http://www.publicagenda.org/foreignpolicy/foreignpolicy_diplomacy.htm
Congress is WAY behind the public on this question. In an effort to call this to the attention of our congressional delegation, my wife and I submitted this letter to the Fort Myers News-Press. They published it 9/24/07.
I will send hard copies to the congressmen mentioned to make sure they see what all News-Press readers have seen. I recommend all CD posters take similar action.
To the Editor
Same song, second verse?
Judging from the saber-rattling emanating from the bowels of the White House, our Slow Learner in Chief is apparently unhappy that a mere 1.2 million Iraqis have died, that a mere 4 million have been displaced, that oil is at a mere $80 a barrel, and that the deficit caused by the Iraq invasion will reach a mere $2 trillion — to be paid for by our grandchildren.
At the urging of Dick Cheney, reportedly, the Bush administration is now studiously preparing to repeat precisely the same mistake; but this time with a wealthier, more populous and better-armed adversary, Iran. American media have been largely silent on the prospect of an air and missile strike on Iran, but the British press has been outspoken on the topic and has alleged that tactical nuclear weapons will be used.
I urge The News-Press readers and The News-Press editorial board to insist on getting simple, straight-forward, answers to the following questions from our congressional delegation: Rep. Mack, Sen. Martinez and Sen. Nelson.
1) Does the President currently have authorization from Congress to launch a strike on Iran?
2) Would an unprovoked, pre-emptive strike, without U.N. Security Council approval, constitute a war crime?
Why don’t we insist that the Idiot currently occupying the office of President of the United States, (George Bush) and the Iranian President(Mahmoud Ahmadinejad) be required by the UN (United Nations) to engage in a face to face conversation on worldwide television to discuss the issues or differences as an alternative to the United States and Great Britian creating War.
Of course this will never happen because the true evil will be unveiled by the US President.
Siouxrose September 25th, 2007 8:32 pm
I love commondreams. I also read Truthout.org, Harper’s, Mother Jones, and the periodicals sent out by Public Citizen (and several environmental organizations).
If you like those you might also enjoy counterpunch which is also on my daily list of stops.
http://www.counterpunch.org/
WMC: Well thought-out letter.
KEM: You’re exceeding me on CD as “prophet of doom.” I can’t wrap my mind around an attack on Iran because it’s so ill-fated, unnecessary, cruel and counter-productive. I PRAY some human agency takes on the semblance of Divine intervention, perhaps military leaders determining the course advocated by the “decider” that’s thus far led to anything remotely resembling what any sane person could describe as victory is reason NOT to repeat the same thing by “just following orders.”
COCO: Thanks for the vote of confidence. I believe we each have been born with a purpose and when we try to fight that, we suffer (not that there’s any guarantee against suffering BY following our purpose!)
GALEN: I don’t think the “harm none” Buddhist axiom works on those conditioned falsely by religion to believe that THEIR particular mandate supercedes those of others. In other words, until spirituality is taught which creates a holistic umbrella that invites all tribes, all colors under its fold… the primitive wars among those identified with “might makes right” and/or “one size fits all” will continue. Mother Nature has other plans as global warming will probably make weapons systems effete. That doesn’t mean a great deal of harm will not anticipate that eventuality.
LOBO GRIS: I suffer from information overload as it is. Finding the self-discipline to do my own writing while absorbing so much from this site (and the other magazines) and responding to it, is already a Herculean challenge to my mind! If I can extend the 24-hour day, I’ll utilize your suggestion. *(LOL)
Just confirmed by Senate vote. Iran is now being blamed for ‘backing terrorists’ in Iraq. Hillary voted ‘Yes’ along with Feinstein and the rest of the Republicans. War is now assured. Bombing will no doubt begin very soon.
Just think… millions more innocent lives snuffed out by Bushco.
Don’tcha just feel proudern’shit?
In my ENC1101 class I tried mentioning that Congress doesn’t listen to the people of the U.S. and that I knew people who write to them who never receive replies or put their requests to action.
The professor said “yeah, that is a scary thing because government is there to protect you isn’t it?”
The entire class kept quiet as if they didn’t think that it could be possible for the government not to listen. It was interesting also because they had a certain kind of look on their face; it was a mix of curiosity to act, apathy, and sadness.
These are 18-20 year old kids at most, like me. I’m 18. Only 2 months into that age.
It scares me that out of 30, I’m the only one who actually said something about suggesting a change in government. I think it says alot about how apolitical generation Y is.
We read an essay titled “Why don’t we complain?” by William F. Buckley, Jr., which caught my eye. In it he mentioned something that at least partly explains american apathy.
“I think it is safe to assume that everyone was expecting someone else to take the initiative in going back to speak…”
“we are all increasingly anxious in America to be unobtrusive, we are reluctant to make our voices heard, hesitant about claiming our rights; we are afraid that our cause is unjust…or that it is too trivial to justify the horrors of a confrontation with Authority.”
An editor speaking out on correspondence from readers of a national weekly news magazine:
“So few people complain, or make their voices heard that we assume a dozen letters represent the inarticulated views of thousands of readers.”
I want to do something. Anything. It’s just hard to talk to anyone on campus about politics because they are more worried about their job or paying for tuition, or they don’t have the time to protest.
What does all this have to do with this article?
In my eyes, not one of those thirty students will complain to our Florida representatives about a war with Iran unless it involves them being drafted.