4 yrs ago

[jedifunk]

i can't believe its been 4 yrs!  but saturday marked the 4 yr anniversary of the US led invasion of Iraq...

i was just over 4 yrs ago, that my pregnant wife & i marched in a peach protest in downtown minneapolis... and yet, nothing has changed as far as iraq goes...

i'm feeling very weird about it

[mattstick]

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/55862?utm_source=onion_rss_daily

[jephrey]

peach protest

what's wrong with peaches?

:wink:

J

March FOR peace, not AGAINST war.  I think Mother Theresa said something along those lines.  It's all about positive thoughts, not negative ones.

[sophist]

if you have an idle half hour, read this:
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/03/26/070326fa_fact_packer?printable=true

[susep]

Its a huge mess in Iraq, on so many levels.  Its similar to Vietnam in that we didn't fully conceptualize Iraqi culture or their flexibility in terms of resistance.  I heard Bush wasn't aware of the Shia/Sunni reality of Iraq and asked, "I thought they were Muslims?"
The dark realities of suicide bombers, IED's and sheer destruction and fragmentation of the Iraqi culture will haunt the United States for a good long while. 
Because we've overstepped our boundaries and loss respect in the global community, I fear the karmic reverberations of our Iraq policy will plunge us deeper into economic and social uncertainties. 
Lets not forget, Russia/Putin has thousands of warheads and we increasingly have lost respect from them. 
Lets hope captain rogue(whoever that me be) doesn't slip one in on us.

[sophist]

well put. 

[sls.stormyrider]

I was watching the US vs John Lennon this weekend and couldn't help but notice the parallels between Iraq and Viet Nam. The only reason that the streets and campuses aren't on fire now is that there is no draft. LBJ and Nixon kept sending in more guys, and  Bush is sending in more guys - they are already asking for more.

[phil]

Lets not forget, Russia/Putin has thousands of warheads and we increasingly have lost respect from them.

not to divert the thread, but russia disrespects us just as much as we disrespect them. the world doesn't really have reason to respect us right now but we don't really have a reason to respect russia, either.

[susep]

not to divert the thread, but russia disrespects us just as much as we disrespect them. the world doesn't really have reason to respect us right now but we don't really have a reason to respect russia, either.

did you know that after the fall of Communism and subsequent bankruptcy of Russia and other Soviet states, it was the U.S. et al. that literally looted most if not all of Russia's capital?

If we don't want to deal w/ a nuclear incident, we have to respect Russia et al.

[OctopusRider]

I was watching the US vs John Lennon this weekend and couldn't help but notice the parallels between Iraq and Viet Nam. The only reason that the streets and campuses aren't on fire now is that there is no draft. LBJ and Nixon kept sending in more guys, and  Bush is sending in more guys - they are already asking for more.

I realized the parallels when watching this also. I don't think it was a coincidence this film was put together last year. There are not any musicians/artists who speak out the way Lennon/Ono did in the early 70s. Eddie Vedder and lots of others gets involved a great deal but not to that extent. For good reason too after what happened to John.

[susep]

Speaking of movie/political parallels I saw King Kong, the Jessica Lange version over the weekend :-o  It was interesting in that Kong is taken from his native habitat by an Oil Company to be used as a marketing ploy ala Exxon's Tiger.  They bring him to NYC where he escapes, finds Lange and retreats atop the WTC.  Helicopters shoot and ultimately bring Kong down.
It was kinda weird seeing big oil, the WTC and the media juxtaposed.

[sls.stormyrider]

On a related but different note, there's a group of people in my town (Andover, MA) that protest rain, sleet, snow, or shine every Thursday and Sunday (at least) since the war started. They have these big Peace flags and just stand there. I always wave or honk as I drive by. I certainly admire their dedication.

[Casey Lenahan]

I was watching the US vs John Lennon this weekend and couldn't help but notice the parallels between Iraq and Viet Nam. The only reason that the streets and campuses aren't on fire now is that there is no draft. LBJ and Nixon kept sending in more guys, and  Bush is sending in more guys - they are already asking for more.

Another thing to compare Iraq vs Viet Nam is comparing the youth culture during the two wars hippies in the nam and more hippies again during the iraq war

[sophist]

Another thing to compare Iraq vs Viet Nam is comparing the youth culture during the two wars hippies in the nam and more hippies again during the iraq war

yes, massive amounts of unclean people attending music festivals(and doing nothing but getting high) have and will always affect the political landscape.  Bravo on that excellent example.   :wink:
The activists changed the political landscape, the hippies did nothing.  I think Hunter S. Thompson sums it up perfectly in "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas," Leary created a generation of people who contributed nothing to society and sucked it dry of resources, the result was detrimental to the anti war movement, the same can't be said now.  Hippies are irrelevant to politics and economics.