Let?s Stop Calling the Left Anti-War
by Aaron Goldstein
30 August 2005
Michael Moore, Jodie Evans and Cindy Sheehan have taken sides in the war against Islamic terrorism.
Individuals and organizations that tend toward the political Left in America are often described as being ?anti-war.? To be certain, it is in reference to their collective opposition to American military presence in Iraq and to a lesser degree in Afghanistan.
But can Michael Moore, Jodie Evans of Code Pink and mère d?année Cindy Sheehan be truthfully described as anti-war?
I submit that the aforementioned persons are not anti-war by virtue of statements that all three have made in support of the terrorists, Iraqi and otherwise, who are killing U.S. soldiers in Iraq. Now, Michael Moore, Jodie Evans and Cindy Sheehan might not represent all thinking on the Left, but they are at the very current of it and as such are very well regarded in those circles. With that in mind, I refer you to the following statements.
On April 14, 2004, only ten days after Casey Sheehan was killed in action in Iraq, Michael Moore wrote the following on his website www.michaelmoore.com:
The Iraqis who have risen up against the occupation are not ?insurgents? or ?terrorists? or ?The Enemy.? They are the REVOLUTION, the Minutemen, and their numbers will grow -- and they will win. Get it, Mr. Bush?
On June 26, 2005, Jodie Evans of Code Pink wrote the following in her blog while attending the World Tribunal on Iraq in Istanbul. This was a show trial against the United States and Britain and those sitting in judgment included Eve Ensler (of Vagina Monologues fame) and author Arundhati Roy, both of whom opposed the effort to topple the Taliban in Afghanistan. Here is one of her revealing observations:
We had sat yet again through nearly 12 hours of testimony. There was no question that the UK and US were guilty of an illegal, immoral and unjust war -- the case had been proven over and over. Nor was there the need to question the Iraqis? right to resist. Of course, they had the right if the invasion was illegal. Instead, the question had already become: now what do we do about it?
Let us consider also Cindy Sheehan?s comments to CBS reporter Mark Knoller earlier this month during her "vigil" in Crawford, Texas:
You know Iraq was no threat to the United States of America until we invaded. I mean they?re not even a threat to the United States of America. Iraq was not involved in 9-11, Iraq was not a terrorist state. But now that we have decimated the country, the borders are open, freedom fighters from other countries are going in, and they (American troops) have created more terrorism by going to an Islamic country, devastating the country and killing innocent people in that country. The terrorism is growing and people who never thought of being car bombers or suicide bombers are now doing it because they want the United States of America out of their country.
Let?s be clear about it. The ?anti-war? Michael Moore denies that the people who are killing our soldiers with road side bombs at the behest of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi are terrorists, never mind insurgents. He even likens them to the Minutemen. Funny, but I don?t recall the regimens from Concord beheading United Empire Loyalists.
Jodie Evans, whose organization Code Pink describes itself as ?women for peace,? sees no need to question the Iraqis ?right to resist? since, in her opinion, the invasion was illegal. Was Jodie Evans in a coma when the UN Security Council passed 17 resolutions citing Saddam Hussein for violations of the Gulf War Ceasefire over a 12 year period?
One thing is for certain, she did not share notes with Cindy Sheehan. After all, Sheehan told Knoller that the ?freedom fighters? were from ?other countries.? So is it the Iraqis who are ?resisting? or are foreign terrorists doing it for them? Jodie Evans and Cindy Sheehan might want to get their story straight.
Of course, I might be giving Sheehan too much credit by half. After all, she did not object to the Syrian occupation of Lebanon. But why would she object to Syrian Baathists? This is a woman who on public record as stated, ?I was raised in a country by a public school system that taught us that America was good, that America was just. America has been killing people, like my sister over here says, since we first stepped on this continent, we have been responsible for death and destruction. I passed on that bullsht to my son and my son enlisted.? This from the so-called ?Peace Mom??
So given America?s inherent original sin, people who might not otherwise blow themselves to smithereens are killing themselves with only the promise of 72 virgins and taking as many people with them as possible, because ?they want America out of their country?? Wait a minute, Cindy. I thought the ?freedom fighters? were coming into Iraq from other countries. So is Iraq their country as well, even though they might be from Iran or Syria? But then again, Cindy Sheehan has no quarrel with the Syrians so why would such niceties bother her?
Based on their own words, Michael Moore, Jodie Evans and Cindy Sheehan can accurately be described as anti-Bush. Based on their own words, Michael Moore, Jodie Evans and Cindy Sheehan can accurately be described as anti-American. But also based on their own words, Michael Moore, Jodie Evans and Cindy Sheehan cannot accurately be described as anti-war. Michael Moore, Jodie Evans and Cindy Sheehan are not neutral persons who abhor war in all forms and declare a pox on all your houses. Michael Moore, Jodie Evans and Cindy Sheehan have taken sides in our war against Islamic terrorism. Michael Moore, Jodie Evans and Cindy Sheehan are not on our side.
Although President Bush has been vilified for stating that ?you are either with us or you are with the terrorists? there is no doubt that Michael Moore, Jodie Evans and Cindy Sheehan are with the terrorists. Michael Moore, Jodie Evans and Cindy Sheehan are enemies of America.
Pretty harsh. I know. But ask yourself these questions. If Michael Moore is not with the terrorists then why liken them to the Minutemen? If Jodie Evans is not with the terrorists then why doesn?t she condemn their acts, let alone question the right of Iraqis to kill our soldiers outside the rules of engagement? If Cindy Sheehan is not with the terrorists then why refer to them as ?freedom fighters??
My question to each of them is what is there to gain in supporting these terrorists and hoping for their triumph? Are they nostalgic to revisit their misbegotten youth and return to America in the 1970s? Do they want our soldiers to once again be spit upon and called ?baby killers?? Do they want our armed forces to withdraw from Iraq, only to see millions of innocent civilians slaughtered in a manner reminiscent of the killing fields of Cambodia? Do they want terrorist attacks to escalate? After all, if the terrorists know that America will not stop them then who will? Or do they simply want to jump and down and chant, ?We Beat Bush!!! We Beat Bush!!!?
Whatever their motivations, let us stop pretending that Moore, Evans, Sheehan and others who follow their tune are, in any way, anti-war.
Aaron Goldstein, a former member of the socialist New Democratic Party, writes poetry and has a chapbook titled Oysters and the Newborn Child: Melancholy and Dead Musicians. His poetry can be viewed on www.poetsforthewar.org.
by Aaron Goldstein
30 August 2005
Michael Moore, Jodie Evans and Cindy Sheehan have taken sides in the war against Islamic terrorism.
Individuals and organizations that tend toward the political Left in America are often described as being ?anti-war.? To be certain, it is in reference to their collective opposition to American military presence in Iraq and to a lesser degree in Afghanistan.
But can Michael Moore, Jodie Evans of Code Pink and mère d?année Cindy Sheehan be truthfully described as anti-war?
I submit that the aforementioned persons are not anti-war by virtue of statements that all three have made in support of the terrorists, Iraqi and otherwise, who are killing U.S. soldiers in Iraq. Now, Michael Moore, Jodie Evans and Cindy Sheehan might not represent all thinking on the Left, but they are at the very current of it and as such are very well regarded in those circles. With that in mind, I refer you to the following statements.
On April 14, 2004, only ten days after Casey Sheehan was killed in action in Iraq, Michael Moore wrote the following on his website www.michaelmoore.com:
The Iraqis who have risen up against the occupation are not ?insurgents? or ?terrorists? or ?The Enemy.? They are the REVOLUTION, the Minutemen, and their numbers will grow -- and they will win. Get it, Mr. Bush?
On June 26, 2005, Jodie Evans of Code Pink wrote the following in her blog while attending the World Tribunal on Iraq in Istanbul. This was a show trial against the United States and Britain and those sitting in judgment included Eve Ensler (of Vagina Monologues fame) and author Arundhati Roy, both of whom opposed the effort to topple the Taliban in Afghanistan. Here is one of her revealing observations:
We had sat yet again through nearly 12 hours of testimony. There was no question that the UK and US were guilty of an illegal, immoral and unjust war -- the case had been proven over and over. Nor was there the need to question the Iraqis? right to resist. Of course, they had the right if the invasion was illegal. Instead, the question had already become: now what do we do about it?
Let us consider also Cindy Sheehan?s comments to CBS reporter Mark Knoller earlier this month during her "vigil" in Crawford, Texas:
You know Iraq was no threat to the United States of America until we invaded. I mean they?re not even a threat to the United States of America. Iraq was not involved in 9-11, Iraq was not a terrorist state. But now that we have decimated the country, the borders are open, freedom fighters from other countries are going in, and they (American troops) have created more terrorism by going to an Islamic country, devastating the country and killing innocent people in that country. The terrorism is growing and people who never thought of being car bombers or suicide bombers are now doing it because they want the United States of America out of their country.
Let?s be clear about it. The ?anti-war? Michael Moore denies that the people who are killing our soldiers with road side bombs at the behest of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi are terrorists, never mind insurgents. He even likens them to the Minutemen. Funny, but I don?t recall the regimens from Concord beheading United Empire Loyalists.
Jodie Evans, whose organization Code Pink describes itself as ?women for peace,? sees no need to question the Iraqis ?right to resist? since, in her opinion, the invasion was illegal. Was Jodie Evans in a coma when the UN Security Council passed 17 resolutions citing Saddam Hussein for violations of the Gulf War Ceasefire over a 12 year period?
One thing is for certain, she did not share notes with Cindy Sheehan. After all, Sheehan told Knoller that the ?freedom fighters? were from ?other countries.? So is it the Iraqis who are ?resisting? or are foreign terrorists doing it for them? Jodie Evans and Cindy Sheehan might want to get their story straight.
Of course, I might be giving Sheehan too much credit by half. After all, she did not object to the Syrian occupation of Lebanon. But why would she object to Syrian Baathists? This is a woman who on public record as stated, ?I was raised in a country by a public school system that taught us that America was good, that America was just. America has been killing people, like my sister over here says, since we first stepped on this continent, we have been responsible for death and destruction. I passed on that bullsht to my son and my son enlisted.? This from the so-called ?Peace Mom??
So given America?s inherent original sin, people who might not otherwise blow themselves to smithereens are killing themselves with only the promise of 72 virgins and taking as many people with them as possible, because ?they want America out of their country?? Wait a minute, Cindy. I thought the ?freedom fighters? were coming into Iraq from other countries. So is Iraq their country as well, even though they might be from Iran or Syria? But then again, Cindy Sheehan has no quarrel with the Syrians so why would such niceties bother her?
Based on their own words, Michael Moore, Jodie Evans and Cindy Sheehan can accurately be described as anti-Bush. Based on their own words, Michael Moore, Jodie Evans and Cindy Sheehan can accurately be described as anti-American. But also based on their own words, Michael Moore, Jodie Evans and Cindy Sheehan cannot accurately be described as anti-war. Michael Moore, Jodie Evans and Cindy Sheehan are not neutral persons who abhor war in all forms and declare a pox on all your houses. Michael Moore, Jodie Evans and Cindy Sheehan have taken sides in our war against Islamic terrorism. Michael Moore, Jodie Evans and Cindy Sheehan are not on our side.
Although President Bush has been vilified for stating that ?you are either with us or you are with the terrorists? there is no doubt that Michael Moore, Jodie Evans and Cindy Sheehan are with the terrorists. Michael Moore, Jodie Evans and Cindy Sheehan are enemies of America.
Pretty harsh. I know. But ask yourself these questions. If Michael Moore is not with the terrorists then why liken them to the Minutemen? If Jodie Evans is not with the terrorists then why doesn?t she condemn their acts, let alone question the right of Iraqis to kill our soldiers outside the rules of engagement? If Cindy Sheehan is not with the terrorists then why refer to them as ?freedom fighters??
My question to each of them is what is there to gain in supporting these terrorists and hoping for their triumph? Are they nostalgic to revisit their misbegotten youth and return to America in the 1970s? Do they want our soldiers to once again be spit upon and called ?baby killers?? Do they want our armed forces to withdraw from Iraq, only to see millions of innocent civilians slaughtered in a manner reminiscent of the killing fields of Cambodia? Do they want terrorist attacks to escalate? After all, if the terrorists know that America will not stop them then who will? Or do they simply want to jump and down and chant, ?We Beat Bush!!! We Beat Bush!!!?
Whatever their motivations, let us stop pretending that Moore, Evans, Sheehan and others who follow their tune are, in any way, anti-war.
Aaron Goldstein, a former member of the socialist New Democratic Party, writes poetry and has a chapbook titled Oysters and the Newborn Child: Melancholy and Dead Musicians. His poetry can be viewed on www.poetsforthewar.org.
