I’ve always enjoyed Woody Harrelson‘s acting, but I never knew that he was much of a writer. He’s in London right now performing in a play, and wrote an excellent editorial piece for The Guardian.
I remember playing basketball with an Iraqi in the late 80s while Iran and Iraq were at war. I didn’t know at the time that the US and Britain were supplying weapons to both sides. I asked why they were always at war with each other and he said something that stayed with me: “If it were up to the people, there would be peace. It’s the governments that create war.” And now my government is creating its second war in less than a year. No; war requires two combatants, so I should say “its second bombing campaign”.
The history taught in our schools is scandalous. We grew up believing that Columbus actually discovered America. We still celebrate Columbus Day. Columbus was after one thing only — gold. As the natives were showering him with gifts and kindness, he wrote in his diary, “They do not bear arms…They have no iron…With 50 men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want.” Columbus is the perfect symbol of US foreign policy to this day.
…in wartime people lose their senses. There are flags and yellow ribbons and posters and every media outlet is beating the war drum and even sensible people can hear nothing else. In the US, God forbid you should suggest the war is unjust or that dropping cluster bombs from 30,000ft on a city is a cowardly act. When TV satirist Bill Maher made some dissenting remarks about the bombing of Afghanistan, Disney pulled the plug on him. In a country that lauds its freedom of speech, a word of dissent can cost you your job.
Via MeFi