I am what they call a "baby-boomer", that means I was born during the period ten - fifteen years after the end of WWII. This was a scary, exciting, tumultuous time to be growing up. It was a time of abundance; it was a time of happiness. But we as a country were going through tremendous growing pains. Things were changing, and they were changing fast.
To begin with, America was just settling in to it's new role as leader of the "free world". Before WWII America had always been an isolationist country, not caring, or getting involved with the affairs of the rest of the world. But now, the rest of the world was looking to this young, upstart of a nation to lead the rest of the world towards democracy.
However, America was not a total democracy, especially in it's southern states. The black population, was still considered inferior, and as second class citizens by most of white America. This way of thinking went about a drastic change with the new rulings of the Supreme Court, and the nonviolent challenge of Martin Luther King. The black populace, sensing a change, went into overdrive; rioting, and looting ensued for the summer of 1964. In reality, the tea pot was just beginning to boil. After the elections of 1964, President Johnson, decided to escalate the "peace keeping" of America in Viet Nam.
For the next nine years, the Viet Nam War dominated the news, And news papers reminded us of President Eisenhower's words as he left office in 1960; "Beware the military industrial complex".....
BLOOD MONEY
The Viet Nam War was in actuality, never a war. Congress never declared war on North Viet Nam, and throughout its duration, it was officially classified a "police action". America, was there to protect South Viet Nam from the evils of communism. We were told that it was important to keep S. Viet Nam out of the hands of the commies, because if they fell, all the other countries in Southeast Asia would be at risk of falling to the communists. This was known as the "Domino Theory". To the young men being asked to go over there to fight, it was called the "who gives a damn theory".
The Viet Nam War, divided this country in a way never before seen. The Civil War, was between the States, but the division caused by the Viet Nam War was between the generations. Older Americans who had lived through the depression, and the Second World War, thought that they were raising cowards. Bumper stickers stating "America, love it or leave it", and "My Country, right or wrong"; decorated every station wagon. The teenagers (mostly shown as hippies) rebelled against Imperial America, by burning their draft cards, shouting slogans ("I don't trust anyone over 30"), and moving to Canada. Campus riots hit virtually every university in the USA, where students went up against police, and the National Guard, with rocks and sticks.
While all of this was going on, There were many BIG companies, making a lot of money. There were also a lot of politicians, making a lot of money, from lobbyists working for these companies, who didn't want the war to end. So despite the fact that Americans were being killed by the thousands, and that the war was extremely unpopular, the war machine ground on for NINE years, until the outcry was so loud, that the politicians had to concede and move out of S. Viet Nam.
Move the clock ahead forty years. Do you see any similarities? America, attacks another country, on trumped up charges, (remember WMD's?), Americans are getting killed so that a lot of BIG companies, can make a lot of money. One of the biggest Haliburton, is owned by VP Chaney. A lot of politicians are making tons of cash, but not from lobbyists, they are the lobbyists! These companies, have gotten so big, that they have cut out the middle man! Now they just pay to have their own people elected.
The only real difference, between Viet Nam, and Iraq, is that the people getting killed, are enlistees, not draftees, as was the case in Viet Nam, so there are fewer protests. The Monster, got smarter over the last forty years.
WHERE HAS ALL THE OIL GONE?
Operation Iraqi Freedom, began in March of 2003. That means our sons and daughters, have been getting killed, crippled, and maimed, for over six years. There is no foreseeable end to this war. Actually, the "war", has been over for more than five years, we have been in "occupation" mode since then. Who is going to give the Iraqis freedom from us?
Let's be blunt, the only thing America liberated the Iraqis from, was their oil. All of the major oil fields in Iraq were taken within weeks of the start of the war. Nobody talks about the oil, or more importantly, where this oil is going. NOBODY! When was the last time you heard about the Iraqi oil, and what was being done with it? In a nation with as many investigative reporters as we have, how come nobody is looking into this? There must be a very serious reason involved.
Iraq sits atop some of the largest oil reserves in the world. How do you pump, and ship all of that oil, over a space of six years, with no one knowing, or apparently asking, where is it going?
There is one thing I do know, Americans are being killed to secure this oil, not to liberate Iraq! Imperial America rears its ugly head! Want to know why the rest of the world hates us? It is because we are NOT the good guys, the liberators, we have been brain washed to believe. We need to wake up! Our Government needs to be held accountable for its imperialistic actions, actions that line the pockets of rich men. Men, that don't care if your child lives, or dies, as long as they make more money. These men, are the monster.
This article was inspired by the anti-war, anti-imperialism, song, "Monster" by Steppenwolf in 1970. Check it out on youtube, it is as relevant now, as it was almost forty years ago.
