Worth Remembering (BBA I)
I didn't write a serious memorial-day memorial piece yesterday. I welcome the day set aside for remembering the deeds of those who have fought for liberty and freedom. The challenge would have been honoring our troops' bravery and loyalty in Iraq while making it clear that the war in Iraq is neither honorable nor noble.
I remember a few decades back, during earlier struggles for civil-rights equality by blacks and by women, but continuing right on through the early days of "gay liberation", when the reactionary polemic was "[I/we/my father/uncle/grandfather] didn't fight the _____ war just so a bunch of [niggers/feminists/faggots/homos] could [whatever]!" Apparently, back then, people really believe that they fought for freedom and liberty for an America that didn't rightfully include certain groups of people.
I haven't head that approach in some time; I don't think I've head anything like it even once during the current administration's elective incursion into Iraq. I don't think it's because more people have become more inclusive, either. (Remember that the president recently felt compelled to admit, somewhat grudgingly, that atheists could indeed be "good Americans".)
Perhaps the taunt is just passé, which is fine with me. But is it possible that even the hard-core, flag-on-the-sleeve reactionaries also realize that the current debacle in Iraq is not honorable, that we are not fighting for worthwhile ideals like liberty and justice and freedom? Although they support their president with all the loyalty that they can muster, do they now realize that the President's claims of undeniable reasons for war were simply manufactured by their courageous leader, that there were no WMDs, no secret chemical plants, no link to 9/11, no imminent threat? That instead, this war satisfies some neo-conservative sense of manifest destiny and gives the administration the self-important and invincible feeling of being a "wartime administration" that is above the law?
They are not above the law, nor beyond reproach, nor absolved from judgement. If we let them pretend that they are then they will become so, and all those people who did fight the noble battles for freedom and liberty and democracy sould be really pissed off.
In the months prior to our unprovoked invasion of Iraq, we were forced to watch the spectacle as the Administration inflated the influence of a puffed-up dictator and invented rationale after rationale to justify military action. The electorate, congress, even the administration itself were bedazzled just long enough that the invasion forces rushed ahead in the expectation that their "shock and awe" campaign would be quickly greeted by cheering crowds brandishing flowers and chocolates rather than car bombs and automatic weapons. Unfortunately, our "mission accomplished" suffered a "catastrophic success", with catastrophic consequences that the administration would like to blame on Newsweek's editorial content rather than on their own naive and ill-conceived policies. We collectively saw, we collectively understood, and yet we collectively chose not to stop it — for a variety of reasons, no doubt, and with myriad consequences.
The President would like to believe that the "accountability moment" for the Iraq war passed with the 2004 election; he may if he wishes, but the rest of us needn't exhibit such ready faith.
Now comes the Downing Street Memo. Not quite the smoking gun, perhaps, but neverthelss it contains undeniably real allegations about undeniably real events and undeniably real actions. It makes a tangible assertion that the US President may have commited impeachable offences by manipulating the public disclosure of intelligence:
Military action was now seen as inevitable. Bush wanted to remove Saddam, through military action, justified by the conjunction of terrorism and WMD. But the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy.
Events surrounding the memo are summarized in a memo written by attorney John C. Bonifaz to US Representative John Conyers, Jr. A key event noted in that memo:
On May 5, 2005, you and 88 other Members of Congress submitted a letter to President Bush, asking the President to answer several questions arising from the Downing Street Memo. On May 17, 2005, White House press secretary Scott McClellan told reporters that the White House saw “no need” to respond to the letter.
The matter is serious enough, the letter maintains, that a Resolution of Inquiry into the matter is called for. Rep. Conyers is gathering signatures on a letter that is the first step towards a more formal enquiry:
Along with 88 of my colleagues, I wrote to the President requesting answers about this grave matter. Thus far, our search for the truth has been stonewalled and I need your help. I believe the American people deserve answers about this matter and should demand directly that the President tell the truth about the memo. To that end, I am asking you to sign on to a letter to the President requesting he answer the questions posed to him by 89 Members of Congress.
In support of Rep. Conyers' actions, an activist coalition quickly developed called "AfterDowningStreet.org" with the stated mission of running
a campaign to urge the U.S. Congress to begin a formal investigation into whether President Bush has committed impeachable offenses in connection with the Iraq war.
This weekend, Shakespeare's Sister made her own proposal for those who support the efforts of Rep. Conyers and AfterDowningStreet.org to form a coalition of progressive (even "liberal"!) blogs to lend its weight.
Thus: The Big Brass Alliance (with additional information here).
What comes next, none of us knows, but we know what comes now: being visible and vocal. This posting is my first charge, to pass on what I know and what I think about it — my effort to presuade others to be visible and vocal.
I'd like to see Memorial Day remain a day for remembering things worth remembering.
on Tuesday, 31 May 2005 at 19.06
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After Downing Street
The Blogswarm: Big Brass Alliance members who have posted on the Memo in the last couple of days