The drums of war are beating still–more atrocity stories (horrible without a doubt) to shock the people into supporting military action. Only a few TV pundits have dared to make the obvious point that the emergence and growth of Al Qaeda and ISIS, and the horrors they perpetuate, are the logical result of the instability and disruption and massive horrors caused in the first place by the military actions, occupations, and the toppling of governments in the Middle East (sometimes progressive and elected) by imperial Western powers like Britain and the United States. These powers never take responsibility for the carnage and monsters they create, but instead point fingers and blame anyone but themselves, leading to still more wars and human misery, ad infinitum—and lots of profits for oil companies, weapons makers, materiel suppliers, and other eager corporations.
Will the American people ever learn to, early on, reject the call to war, or at least to be skeptical to the extreme about it? History tells us no. So it’s the responsibility of perceptive, conscious people, singly and in groups and mass movements, to organize, speak up, and spread the truth, and to try to turn public opinion around as quickly as possible. Otherwise it will keep happening. It’s never easy to swim against the stream of manufactured public opinion and speak truth to power. It takes dedication and sacrifice, and such activists often find themselves isolated, ridiculed, and even attacked. But in the long run, such social heroes are vindicated and honored. It’s worth the sacrifices and the at-first thankless isolation.
— Jim Griffin – San Luis Obispo
— Jim Griffin – San Luis Obispo
— Jim Griffin – San Luis Obipso
— Jim Griffin – SLO
This article appears in Mar 5-12, 2015.
