Lessons from the U.S. war on Iraq‪.‬

Something unsettling happened as bombs began to rain down on Baghdad during the U.S. war on Iraq. Where before there had been healthy and quintessentially democratic debate on the morality of bombing a nation because it might harbor terrorists and have weapons of mass destruction, suddenly there was an uneasy silence as many Americans were told to behave and support President George W. Bush. For a nation that boasted the right to liberate Iraq and bring American values to the repressive nation, this bit of polite censorship was ironic and contradictory. Patriotic Americans have failed to defend celebrities' right to speak out against the war, and a New York lawyer was even harassed, asked to leave a mall, and then arrested for donning an anti-war T-shirt. All across the nation, people warily removed antiwar stickers from their cars in fear of vandalism. Therefore, without ever being officially censored, Americans began to feel pressure to support U.S. troops and cease their skepticism about the war. Radio disk jockeys announced with incredible constancy that it was time to stand behind U.S. fighting soldiers and be "good Americans." For many, it was no longer patriotic to question the bombing and bloodshed of an international conflict. Fealty had replaced undiluted American expression as the nation began to censor its people. Through it all, as "smart" bombs continued to explode in the streets around innocent Iraqi citizens, revelations began to stir unrest and suspicion among Americans. Was this really a war to end terrorism or was it about imperialism and transnational profits? While the president ignored the intrepid few who continued to march in protest, a collection of alternative news magazines uncovered disconcerting contradictions about this so-called war for democracy. Many wondered why Iraq was suddenly so dangerous and such an imminent threat to the United States when there was virtually no talk of "liberating" it during the 2000 presidential election. Was Iraq not the same nation that was bombed into submission just ten years earlier, and was this not the nation that had been dealing with sanctions and constant inspections by a United Nations team? Was this a war to end terror or was it more about the fount of oil that flowed under the Iraqi sand? Finally, was it about a president and vice-president who wanted peace or a piece of the action?