September 24, 2003

ing every state except one, granting
Nixon the biggest electoral landslide in
US history.

The above episode from the 70s has
many parallels to present-day America.
Just as was the case in 1972, the United
States is mired in a foreign war, which
though increasingly difficult, is still sup-
ported by a sizeable majority of
Americans. And just as in 1972, a radical
vanguard of American-hating leftists
have sought to undermine the war from
its very beginnings, and have sought to
portray a legitimate and just military
operation as an arrogant exercise of
“American Imperialism.” And just as in
1972 these same radicals have united
behind a Democratic presidential candi-
date who parrots their leftist agenda
while at the same time alienating main-
stream America and moderate liberals.

The Democrats need to learn to stop

 

cowering to the will of a loudmouth, far-
left vanguard of Hollywood élites and
self-proclaimed “intellectuals.” They
need to pay attention to the pulse of
mainstream America, and not simply
small cliques who claim to speak for “the
people,” but in reality remain isolated
-and detached from anything and anyone
whose actions do not fall within the nar-
row confines of radical leftist ideology.

Of course, as of now it appears the
Democrats will not learn from their own
past mistakes, and will instead field a
radical candidate completely lacking in
mainstream appeal, and guarantee
George W. Bush a second term. As long
as America’s opposition party is a dis-
jointed hodgepodge of opportunist
politicians eager to embrace and repeat
the radical rhetoric of the Anti-American
left, another term of Bush will be fine by
me.

 

e the other press ©

 

Cartoon by J.J. McCullough

 

OP Contributor

Were you pissed off
that the war hap-
pened, despite the
largest movement
for any cause in his-
tory? Well, hold on,
something even better is taking place.
The war machine is losing the ability to
make war. Oh, it’s not obvious yet. It
wont be for a while, at least not to the
generals and the oil administration.
Well, actually, it’s becoming obvious to
some of the generals. These men have
started demanding that the Secretary of
Defense (Donald Rumsfeld) send more
troops. What's the problem with this?
They don't got ’em.

Military discussions can get tedious
and boring quickly, but here are some
basic points:

 

¢ The total number of people
in the US Army is approxi-
mately 1.4 million.

¢ The total number of “active”
troops is well under half of a
million.

* 148 000 troops are currently
under siege in Iraq.

¢ The total number of countries
that the US maintains troop
presence in comes to over

¢ 100 countries (the number
tends to only increase).

With the continuing joyful adventure
in Iraq, there are three options, so it
would appear.

Radically increase the number of
troops in Iraq. This option means call-
ing up more reserves, and doing a mas-
sive recruitment at home. The US
Army is in no position to recruit peo-

What’s Your Occupation?

Macdonald Stainsby

ple. It is one thing to get a citizen to
sing “God Bless America” or put on a
yellow ribbon, quite another to ask
them to get shot at in an occupation
that is becoming more dangerous and
more unpopular every day. More than
two American soldiers are being killed
every day—with twice as many killed in
the time since Bush declared “victo-
ry’—and the army has instituted a pay
cut for troops in Iraq just last month (in
a military that spends more money than
the rest of the other 200 countries on
the planet combined).

Turn over the entire operation to the
UN. Though George Bush has asked
for “help” from the UN, the US didn’t
invade the country to simply turn it
over to the rest of the planet or worse—
the Iraqi people themselves. The United
Nations was part of the attack to elimi-
nate the supposed peace-enforcing
body. The rest of the Security Council
including permanent members France
and Russia as well as rotating members
Germany and Syria want no part in
picking up the American tab (Bush just
“asked” congress for another $87 billion
for Iraq alone) or getting attacked by
Iraqis who want to be left alone. The
political humiliation of the American
Empire in Iraq is growing thicker by the
day. The very fact that the Americans
have turned to the UN is in itself
indicative of just how desperate the
government is getting.

Continue on with what they have,
and hope that somehow, the people of
the Middle East will come to love their
new occupiers. This option is the one
that Donald Rumsfeld wants to main-
tain, and he’s in charge. Known for an
almost superhuman faith in the new hi-

tech weaponry of the US, Rummy just
now has to figure out what good an
Apache helicopter is to a roadside bomb
built out of fertilizer. The media report
the dead figures, but when these num-
bers continue to increase (and they will)
the whole “Operation Iraqi Freedom”
will begin to be questioned in ever-
greater numbers. In fact, this is already
happening.

The US occupation of Iraq, I once
feared, would lead to the occupation of
Syria, the nuclear bombing of North
Korea, and the absolute unleashing of a
world superpower unseen with ferocity
since the times of the fight against fas-
cism. And all of my fears were the
dreams of the men in the Pentagon, but
my nightmares are morphing into their
daily nightmare: The Empire is unravel-
ing in Iraq. Once an occupation reach-
es the point it is at in Iraq, the question
really becomes: Leave now or later?

This past summer I went hitchhik-
ing far up North with my partner.
When you are a hitchhiker, you are
leaving yourself open to the whims of
other people; hitchhiking doesn’t allow
you to decide your own fate. There
were many times we were left in the
middle of nowhere, hoping to get a
ride. Getting through Alaska was the
toughest part of our journey. We took
tides from several American war veter-
ans: Vietnam for the first one, a great
man who helped load us back up with
water after we were standing in brutal
heat on an abandoned gravel road. He
had nothing good to say about the war,
but he liked having his “Veteran”
licence plate to get through the border
guards that much easier (his words).
However, it was the second ride with an

http://www.otherpress.ca

American army boy that really got to
me.

This man was 22 years old, with four
years in the military. The reason he
joined the army? He couldn't afford to
go to college and he wanted to get a
trade. He'd been stationed all over the
world and he had enjoyed it—his
absolute wonder with the world, his fas-
cination with people and his caring
gentle spirit reminded me of the best
friend I had growing up. My girlfriend
and I had been stuck in this little town
for hours and were literally on our
knees begging for a ride when he
appeared and pulled over. He was badly
injured from an accident while playing
on a dirt bike near Fairbanks, Alaska.
When he spoke about international
politics, he didn’t do so with ‘let’s go’
gusto. When we got out of his truck in
Whitehorse, Yukon he made my part-
ner take some Gatorade: “I’ve seen peo-
ple die of dehydration, it isn’t pretty!
Take it.”

She took it and we parted ways.

When I see that the people of Iraq
will fight for their country to be left to
just them, I have no problem with this.
I just try to understand, try to respect.
But when I see people like Donald
Rumsfeld talk, I get furious. I just hope
that the Pentagon figures out that the
war is lost, before two more hitchhikers
never see their ride come down the road
during the beating heat. I don’t think
any of us should die of dehydration,
unnecessarily.

Macdonald Stainsby is a freelance
writer, social justice activist and can be
reached at: mstainsby@tao.ca

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