I Love My Country, its the Government I'm Scared Of
by Carole Whelan
My name is Carole Whelan. My son is in the military. I am the daughter,
sister, wife and mother of veterans.
On Feb. 12, 2003, Sen. Robert. Byrd stood before the US Senate and pleaded
with its members to honor their Constitutional oaths and not assign their
obligations away to the Executive Branch:
"To contemplate war is to think about the most horrible of human
experiences.
"Yet, this Chamber is, for the most part, silent—ominously, dreadfully
silent. There is no debate, no discussion, no attempt to lay out for the
nation the pros and cons of this particular war. There is nothing."
And so, I am compelled to be here today because the real discussion did not
take place when it should have, before the country and the world became so
divided.
Now we are witnessing an unfolding disaster which is all the more tragic
for its predictability. After 9/11, the nation and the world came together
as never before. In Iran, the people poured out into the streets, in
defiance of their religious leaders' orders. The women held lighted candles
as an expression of sympathy and solidarity with Americans. Shortly
thereafter they were on the axis of evil list. Every opportunity since has
been squandered. The list of reasons why we went to war evolves as events
spin out of control. Those who led us to this war rejected all wise advice
and take no responsibility. The latest explanation, given at the national
press conference was truly sobering and terrifying: that now the US is on a
mission to change the world and that God was giving the instructions! Our
children and grandchildren deserve better than this. They will inherit the
physical, spiritual and financial consequences. This is not what I want for
my child, nor for any child in the world. So, we must act to demand common
sense over ideology, to discern the truth in a sea of manipulation and fear.
Over a year ago, when my son told me that he was shipping out as part of the
Iraq invasion support, I was overwhelmed with grief. It was not just the
fear I felt about losing him, but the realization that we were to relive the
terrible lie that was the Viet Nam War. I wept for our whole nation, which
had so clearly and catastrophically lost its way once more. My husband came
back from that war, but every one of his fellow crew members died. We were
fairly conservative, still are, but we learned an important lesson.
So, in 2003, I put a bumper sticker on my car, something I had never done
before. It reads: "I love my country. It's the GOVERNMENT I'm afraid of "!
Because crimes have been committed. But the worst crime is that 9/11 has
been used against us, to destroy that unity, cooperation and love for our
fellow humans that was so abundant after that tragedy.
Rita Clement and Carole Whelan are members of Veterans for Peace,
and Maine Families Speak Out
Back to Peace Talk Index, Summer, 2004