Movie, teach-in spur productive debate of Iraq
By: Peter Amato
Issue date: 6/24/05 Section: Ed-Op
Originally published: 6/23/05 at 10:29 PM EST
Last update: 6/23/05 at 10:35 PM EST
Originally published: 6/23/05 at 10:29 PM EST
Last update: 6/23/05 at 10:35 PM EST
On behalf of everyone associated with the Teach-In On the War in Iraq we presented last Winter, I thank William Mulgrew for reminding his readers that the lives of the people of Iraq matter just as much as the lives of our own families and loved ones, ("Movie in response to Iraq teach-in," The Triangle, June 3, p. 40). Those of us who are opposed to the war and occupation of Iraq believe that it is the policies of three successive American presidential administrations that have shown the world the depths of cynical callousness to which a powerful nation can sink in pursuit of its own perceived interests.
Opponents of the war welcome the belated and intermittent concern of the war's supporters for the lives the war continues to take on all sides. I will be genuinely glad for William if the film he saw, (more precisely, that he showed--his article reports on an event his own organization sponsored and promoted), has had a lasting and deep effect on him. If it sharpened his principled concern for the sufferings of the Iraqi people, my hope is that this will come to guide his politics in the same way it guides the political choices of Lefties like me. If this should occur, my personal belief is that it will lead him to a more reasonable and honest accounting of what it could mean to really do everything in a nation's power to promote democratic and peaceful outcomes in the world. By contrast, I believe, the United States has committed a terrible crime against the people of Iraqi. I think William and I agree that the Iraqi people deserve a real democracy on terms they decide, but we disagree sharply about how this can come about, and about whether helping it come about has anything to do with actual U.S. policy.
Reasonable people will differ about complex issues like these, but I maintain that an honest and fair accounting of what the U.S. has brought to Iraq would show that the war and occupation has nothing to do with spreading democracy and everything to do with advancing the United States' own perceived interests and projecting its military power. I believe this has been clear from long before the invasion in 2003. Continuing arms inspections and calling the dictator's bluff could have done far more to promote Iraqi democracy than we have done by wrecking the country, killing thousands of people, and turning Iraq into the rubble and chaos it is right now.
The issues are complicated, and reasonable people of good will are going to differ about what exactly should be done next in the best interest of all parties. But I believe that a real concern for the fate of the people of Iraq is in no way served by the continued transformation of their country into a U.S. Army base nominally ruled by an illegitimate and ineffective puppet regime whose entire reason for existence is to facilitate U.S. corporate and military designs in the region.
Dr. Peter Amato is a professor with the department of english and philosophy. Dr. Amato can be reached through ed-op@thetriangle.org.
Opponents of the war welcome the belated and intermittent concern of the war's supporters for the lives the war continues to take on all sides. I will be genuinely glad for William if the film he saw, (more precisely, that he showed--his article reports on an event his own organization sponsored and promoted), has had a lasting and deep effect on him. If it sharpened his principled concern for the sufferings of the Iraqi people, my hope is that this will come to guide his politics in the same way it guides the political choices of Lefties like me. If this should occur, my personal belief is that it will lead him to a more reasonable and honest accounting of what it could mean to really do everything in a nation's power to promote democratic and peaceful outcomes in the world. By contrast, I believe, the United States has committed a terrible crime against the people of Iraqi. I think William and I agree that the Iraqi people deserve a real democracy on terms they decide, but we disagree sharply about how this can come about, and about whether helping it come about has anything to do with actual U.S. policy.
Reasonable people will differ about complex issues like these, but I maintain that an honest and fair accounting of what the U.S. has brought to Iraq would show that the war and occupation has nothing to do with spreading democracy and everything to do with advancing the United States' own perceived interests and projecting its military power. I believe this has been clear from long before the invasion in 2003. Continuing arms inspections and calling the dictator's bluff could have done far more to promote Iraqi democracy than we have done by wrecking the country, killing thousands of people, and turning Iraq into the rubble and chaos it is right now.
The issues are complicated, and reasonable people of good will are going to differ about what exactly should be done next in the best interest of all parties. But I believe that a real concern for the fate of the people of Iraq is in no way served by the continued transformation of their country into a U.S. Army base nominally ruled by an illegitimate and ineffective puppet regime whose entire reason for existence is to facilitate U.S. corporate and military designs in the region.
Dr. Peter Amato is a professor with the department of english and philosophy. Dr. Amato can be reached through ed-op@thetriangle.org.
