War in Iraq

Question: What can I do to end it?

Answer: Go to Iraq. Tell the guys to give up arms. Tell them the war is stupid and those fighting for it are stupid. Tell them the terrorists in the middle East who believe in the words of god are fighting against the terrorists from the West who believe in the words of son, father and the holy spirit - whatever it is. Since the war is among terrorists, the victors will be the fundamentalist terrorists.

Or entertain yourself and go into self conversations watching whatever you like watching on TV or in movies and pour out your insightful interpretations of the world events here whether they make sense or not. If people read the same stuff written by their next door neighbours, they will give damn to it. But the celebrity status helps. People do remember Jesus was the son of god, after all. Wah, wah!

You asked the question in the first place. So remember, you do deserve an answer(s). Hopefully others will oblige singing praises of undecipherable insights to give a sense of balance to all comments. There is no dearth of people in the world who love to kiss derrieres.

Dear Gotham

If you sincerely believe in the cause to do whatever is needed in your capacity to end the war in Iraq you would do whatever it takes. But, you won’t because to do it you have to relinquish some of your material comforts and monetary incomes. So, you FORGET again. What you do is post your feelings in a blog, read the comments that would follow and may be talk to you friends and family about it. That’s all! And forget it as usual.

You know what you can do but you won’t. You just want to feel good by THINKING about what you can do. If you are sincere you already have the answer for your question. I am curious to know what you are going to do about your dilemma.

You also sound over ambitious. You cannot end the problem of war all alone. Don’t fantasize yourself as Bush or the next President of USA or a Superhero, “Quantum Man”, “Gotham-The Moral Man” or something like that.

What you can do is to give up some of your worldly comforts and set an example by bringing it to the notice of the fellow Americans and making a statement to the Government and influence the people who make decisions. This in all probability you would not do. It requires sacrifice on your part and anyway it doesn’t sound interesting or logical to your worldly senses. So, Good Luck. THINK about it for a while and FORGET it till you come across another film with blood and gore in Iraq.

I am not a man of high morals backed up by actions. I don’t believe in stating my feelings when I cannot be true to them. Everyone feels like what you felt after seeing such documentaries about Iraq with reality violence. If you don’t act on your stated beliefs and expressed feelings then you are not true to yourself. That I am not. I might sound a bit sarcastic in my comment but I hope you can see where I am coming from.

My Answer:

Never vote for apolitician who voited to giveGWB the authority to wage this war in 2003 - especially Hilary and McCain. A vote for either of them is a vote to prolong this war. You know the truth of that, I shouldn't have to tell you.

Never buy anything from Exxon, ever, ever again. If 200 million people around the world did that, some major change would happen, like, immediately.

Educate yourself and your children about what a democracy is, how it functions, what a citizens' responsibility is in a democracy, and how to maintain a democratic republic.

Demand that laws which recognize corporations as individuals be abolished and institute laws that make corporations responsible for damage to people, property, and the environment.

Demand that Halliburton, the Carlyle Group, Bechtel Corp, General Electric, Westinghouse, the Raytheon corporation, Boeing, and any other huge defense contractors make public all the terms of their contracts with the government top provide weaponsin the last 50 years, and to replace, immediately all "missing funds" from those deals.

Demand that all infrastructure contracts in Vietnam (particularly the Gulf of Tonkin)and oil-exploration contracts in any way benefitting any members of the Bush family be similarly reviewed and all missing funds promptly paid in full.

Demand that President Bush tell us exactly why he attacked Iraq, and accept none of the following answers because they are proven lies:

1. to avenge 9/11 (by the way, more than 10 times the number of Iraqis have already died than the total number of Americans killed on 9/11. Feel better now?)

2. to spread Democracy

3. to "liberate" the Iraquis (say, this rings a bell: didn't the North Vietnamese "liberate" the South; didn't PolPot "liberate" Cambodia; didn't the Chinese "liberate" Tibet? Something about that word smells really bad, folks)

4.to find Osama bin Laden (does anyone actually still believe this?)

5. because Saddam had "something to do" with 9/11.

6. because the Bushies thought Saddam had WMDs (it's been beaten to the ground a million times over that the White House's attention was repeatedly drawn to specific intelligence memos that stated that it could not be concluded Saddam had any WMDs)

7. because Saddam would have blown up America in a mushroom cloud

8.to keep the price of oil stable (hello??)

9. to "stabilize" the Middle East (that sure worked, didn't it)

10. to end terrorism (oh, yeah!)

Another thing we can do:

force Bush to publicly deny any belief in Armegeddon, and to publicly statethat Biblical Law should not be the Law practiced in the USA. He must also publicly swear that he does not believe in Armegeddon, and publicly state that he owes no political allegiance to religious protestant conservatives.

Otherwise he should be impeached for violating the separation of church and state.

Publicly make all Presidents, starting with Bush, swear they subject to the rule of Federal, State, and Local laws as any US citizen would be.

Pass a constitutional amendment disallowing the president to ever pre-emptively attack another country, or mobilize forces for war unlessCongress declares war.

There's other stuff we could do also, if we keep brainstorming.

It would have been better if you Gotham have had come up with a list of things to do as Yogi-one did as would many others who would comment later. In that way we would have known that Gotham at least THOUGHT about the possible solutions if not alone act on it.

Three Stages to Good Intentions:
(Compiled by me)
1. FEEL (emotionally motivated towards a cause)
2. THINK (use intuition to make a to do list and possible solutions)
3. ACT (This is the most difficult part. Be ready to renounce certain worldly comforts. Should be driven by a strong Purpose)

Gotham is in the First Stage or so it looks from the post.

The Comments could help him in the Second Stage.
This stage naturally follows if person is motivated. Gotham doesn’t seem to have concrete solutions which he can share with us.

Odds are that he wouldn’t reach the third stage.

Odds are that he wouldn’t acknowledge the solutions presented here. If he does he would be in a catch 22 situation. He has to answer his conscience. He might have to ACT as he has now the practical solution for his dilemma in his hand.

So, couldn’t help but FEEL seeing the Docu Film, THINK a little, not about solutions may be read some comments and FORGET as usual(Don’t act to the fullest extent)

I was discussing this with someone last night and I mentioned that the Iraq war and the rest of the political crap that fills our screens every night often brings up feelings of anxiety, fear and despair in me.

His point of view was that I was projecting my own fear and despair on the situation, judging it, resisting it and MAKING IT WORSE!

I asked him how I could heal that and his answer was to heal my own fear and despair and then I could look at the situation with compassion. When I feel compassion FOR BOTH SIDES, I stop giving more energy to the problem and create a space for it to be healed.

I think we all enjoy bush bashing or terrorist bashing or whatever, but this is playing to our egos. We enjoy putting them down so that we can feel that we are better than them. The answer doesn’t lie in right or wrong, the answer lies in peace, compassion and love.

Maybe we don’t have to do anything, maybe we just have to be.

And if you do want to do something, make a programme about all the love and compassion in the world. Focus on the good things that are happening in Iraq and Palestine and Venezuela, etc. Start a series or even a TV channel which focuses on what is truly nurturing, inspiring and good in the world, there is plenty of material.

Best wishes

Mary

mhmnn..
just a 2 ct thought,
Rally enough people, and as an act of civil disobedience, not pay tax!, or: retract your side from the social contract, and so on,
now that'll scare the..;)
Enough legal angles, to..;) get away with it,
and it would sure be a precedent, right?

Watcha think?, Matt, Cherry?

Love, Passion!

ooo, mary, nice! My thoughts exactly.

And its not a matter of "ignoring" whats going on either, its a matter of focusing on the goode. Its dillusional to think that 1, 5000 people can stop this war by not buying oil or not voting for certain people. Do you think wars happen TRUELY over such little things? Not to say that it isn't a big issue, but there are much bigger things, much older, thicker energies and dramas playing out here.. and thats what they have to do.. PLAY OUT.. unless there was a quick and abrupt shift in conciousness of humanity, and the areas involved. THAT Is what it would really take. Humanity conciousness IS shifting, but not so fast that the wars and dramas are going to end tomorrow.

Most of the things here you can do, just to make yourself feel better. Make you FEEL like you are doing something to fight it. (Which makes you part of the energies in some fashion). What it takes is not feeding energies of fear, of hatred, of judgement, etc into the situation. Have compassion and love for all the people who have given their lives (whether as soldiers or civilians) because we come in to this life knowing what potentials we might end up with, and they came in anyway, to facilitate the playing out of these things, so they can eventually have resolution. Could you have compassion for that? Respect that? Even if your belief systems say that all of this is wrong? Even though these people gave their lives (albeit not conciously a lot of the time) for this situation.. would that be respectful to thoes people you are angry for? They were wrong in giving up their lives? I can understand that from atheists.. but are all of you truely atheists or do you just forget bigger picture when confronted with scary things?

But at the same time, the spread of peace is a very noble thing. But, its starts inside. Use your talents, your resources, whatever to promote peace.. of mind, of emotions, of belief systems (how can there be peace in a world of people who hate and stress and play power games (physical mental emotionsal) with eachother?). That is where peace starts, and we truely know it. But HELL.. its a sure lot easier to not vote for certain people, or to bitch about oil all the time, than to find peace, balance, and conditionless compassion within yourself.

I know i'll get a lot of crap for it, but there you have it.
:)

Peace,
Ameya

"so I can continue my self-indulgent way of life"

That's your choice how to live Gotham, no one decides that for you. You certainly aren't a victim here, sorry, I don't feel sorry for you.

Steve

I don't know how to end "the" war. But i know how to end mine:

To the guy who feigned ramming his new BMW into my 87 Mercedes on Mansell Road when I wouldn't allow him to execute a right on red, and into whose car I threatened to throw my latte if he said one...more...word..and...I...mean...it (actually, he said three in response: "ONE. TWO. THREE," but I didn't have the cold heart to carry out my threat), I'd like to say I'm sorry.

I carry the fierce anger of the ages in my DNA, and I can be such a jerk sometimes.

And also, your shirt looked okay and Chicago's a perfectly good place.

Better than Mansell Road in Atlanta at 8:35 AM.

No matter how you feel about the war, it's important to remember that the troops are in harms way. That's why so many people are fighting to bring them home now and take care of them when they get here.

With that goal in mind, in case you haven't heard about it, BringThemHomeNow.com and the folks at goodstorm.com ("Capitalism Done Right") are selling the new (and legal!) anti-war postage stamp and other merch like buttons, bumper stickers and t-shirts in order to raise money for a coalition of veterans groups.

That's right - BringThemHomeNow isn't keeping a dime and goodstorm only covers cost, the rest goes to Gold Star Families (http://gsfp.org/), Military Families Speak Out (http://mfso.org), Iraq Veterans Against the War (http://www.ivaw.net), and Veterans for Peace (http://www.veteransforpeace.org).

They've already sold thousands of stamps, money that helps these important organizations continue their work.

And what could be better than mobilizing an army of unarmed government agents to help build on the growing public sentiment against the war. Other than that, it just plain feels good to let your friends, collegues and associates know where you stand: Love the troops, Hate the war.

Please take a minute and go to www.BringTHemHomeNow.com, because it’s about time that people realized supporting our troops and fighting to bring them home now are one and the same.

Wonderful letter from the heart, Gotham!

1)Bush has failed his country, in many ways! as he's broken just about every one of the 30 constitutional human rights, alloted for every human on earth-in particular lately, #12

2)thrust his country into war, with Iraq-a country whom has never prior to this invasion-ever hurt not one American! just barely after being crowned President. Now Iran wants war too.

3)rather than feel guilt and shame for his "mistake" in invading Iraq, to "look" for weapons of mass destruction, which were "never" found-he puts the blame on his people.

4)he's never had one minute of war-experience, yet he spear-heads a war invasion-that will be just another Vietnam for Americans.

Rather than spending the billions a day it costs to fight this war; why not bring the boys home; and give the money to the poor, in America?

If war continues much longer; we can expect to see the people of the USA pay for it, more than they already have/are?

North

W didn't do this without the assent of many who are already at war within themselves and from those who gave a wink and a nod because they knew the money was there and the anger too.

It isn't about W.

It's about US.

Because there's a whole world of near-latte-throwers who wanted a perfect world.

Come to think about it, so was Ross Perot.

Hi Gotham,

First put an end to your self-interest.

Everyone is self-indulgent to a certain degree, so don't let other people beat you up over that. At least you are honest and cognizant of it =). Given the current political climate, I'm not sure there is much anyone can do to fix this problem acutely. A change in administration is perhaps the best long-term solution, so rally around the politicians you support for 2008!

I took interest in your post personally because I am an emergency medicine resident. I'm going to try to watch the film- thanks for the heads up.

Hi Gotham,

Are you still involved with Current TV?

Organize just 50 million people to work in concert using technology, executing a plan of genius, I will provide the "clever" methodology. Actually with 10,000 I can just be cleverer and we could do it with that small amount. I am not kidding; you should see how much one person can do.

The other aspect is simply end the requirement for Oil as the major energy source. I have such a device that works on paper thanks to a quantum anomaly. I would need to apply for patents around the world concurrently and showcase it in global wide event, in a so as to avoid it being locked down as a National Security threat and only available to the US Govt. for use.

This device by the way does not generate or create energy. It is a very efficient way to capture and store it in it’s purest free form.

I have one of the largest nuclear plants known to man at my disposal for the generation of energy, it will be floating over your head tomorrow, and you can’t miss it unless it is really cloudy.

Gotham with your supposed connections to the right private investors we could end the worlds dependency on Oil in 5 or 6 years, just knowing that it was ending would send the prices plunging. You have my email address, the question is “are you serious?”.

Then there is always the poster.

It would say.

SUPPORT OUR TROOPS

Demand the enactment of
The US Dept. of Peace Legislation sponsored by Dennis Kucinich

On it is depicted the two potential realities of the armed forces.

Bombs and killing

or

Saving lives in disaster, building bridges, distributing food, teaching agriculture, creating fresh water supplies, and shooting at dummy targets etc.

You all get the idea so spread it.

Gotham, if you go for days with out thinking of what is going on in Iraq, I don't even try to inform myself. I don't watch TV, read news papers. The only news I get is if some one tells me, or if I read on this blog. So I am a much worse person than you are. Believe me , there are a whole lot of people like me.

Lot of people have attacked you. I do not understand their reasons.

If we were to think about the war constantly, do you think we could sleep at night? Do you think we could concentrate on what we are supposed to be doing?? So should I stop taking care of my patients and become an activist and start making speeches about how bad the war is?? Gotham I don't know how to make speeches. What do I know about politics??? Not much I am afraid.

Each one of us has our duties we are supposed to do. My duties are to do the best for my patients, because they depend upon me. You I am sure are doing what you are supposed to do, your DHARMA. It is not like you are a politician. At least you think about it and probably have realised that you alone can not make a major impact, you are honest in your feelings and empathetic toward our troops and the innocent Iraqis. It is not like you are in a position of power. If it was that easy any number of people who strongly oppose the war would have done something about it.

It is a very complex situation. Some of the bloggers have some great ideas. We must remember that this government is ruthless, and very powerful. They have done something to the equipment that counts the votes. So even if we vote for a democrat the vote is counted as if we voted for a republican. Some one I know ran for an office(democrat). This person is a person of integrity. The last week of election the republican party ran ads to ruin this person's reputation, and this person lost. There was not one iota of truth in those ads. The republican party has ruined this person's reputation. This person would have been so good for the state.

This is a most interesting blog. God bless you Gotham. I want you to know I understand why you wrote the blog.

Dear Gotham

Between your privileged life, and the dangerous lives of the man and women at war, is a middle ground that's humanity's real home. It's there we can let our guard down, with not much to win or lose, just lots to share and care about. It's this place we remember as being good when we think back about our lives. Most of us have had moments in this place. It's where we are when we sit and talk with friends outside in a pretty twilight, until the sky's dark and starry, when we'd be invisible to each other except for the special light cast by the deep warmth of friendship. It's where we are when we help an older person up some steep steps or carry their packages, or even just smile at them and mean it. It's where we are when we pick up our kids and swing them high until their eyes are wide with joy, then kiss them and put them down so they can run away in laughter. It's where are when we love our partners. We all need more of it, and the creeps who create war situations need it the most. We can live in it only when we're open to others' needs, even the most difficult ones (as Anourardha is open to Utpal's and his mother's needs). When we're on middle ground, we walk our best when our feet are bared to feel the roots of all humanity woven into its earth.

The more people there are who know what middle ground is, and who commit to enter it as often as possible, the more visible and accessible middle ground becomes for others. Middle ground is my personal dream. When all can stand on middle ground, the stresses that cause inquality and all the ugly actions that spin out from it, will be softened and slowed. I know this won't happen for a long time. But each small action that helps someone else see the beauty of middle ground, decreases humanity's distance from this beautiful and fair way of living.

Your times of not paying attention are an unconcious, and your times of anger are a conscious, seeking out of middle ground.

Caring, and thinking about why you care, and thinking about why you sometimes run away, and being open about it, and writing about it here, and listening to what people have to say about what you think and feel, and listening to what others have to say about what they think and feel about themselves and others, is a very middle ground thing to do.

love, Heather

Dear Heather,
Your post is beautiful.
Love,
~Kate

Dear Kate

And your heart is, too. And your words on Anouradha's, just now.

love, Heather

Mallika, your Nightmare link is not working

Just ask them straight out why they are so angry with a country it is only land where PEOPLE live there lives as THEY PLEASE, why is there war why is there death, to most war is enetretainment on tv so most do not the turmoil that it causes, I work in a convenience store on night shift every weekend is war with out guns, is psycological warfare in our streets less important than arms warfare.

It's a lesson the world needs to learn that war in any form does not help our cause to being free it only hinders the progress of our evolustion.

Mary makes a good point.

It's imnportant to face how we feel inside ourselves. What does watching Iraq on the news trigger for you?

These could be important clues to help you locate issues in your own psyche that need to be recognized and handled.

Folks will be much more effective in their actions in the world if they have done the clearing inside themselves that is needed.

You can fight against war with peace in your heart. Your actions will be more focused and in alignment with the intention to bring peace if you deal with the issues in your self first.

You may not be able to end the war by sitting at home meditating and processing. But I think its a good first step. It clears the decks for insight, understanding, and effective action to follow.

Thanks for posting this, information is probably the only thing that helps; until the minds of the greedy, angry, hateful people are reached somehow; there is little hope of saving anyone or helping those with nothing.

very nicely written, Gotham...

pulls the reader right into the line of questioning...

thank you..
love, Carolyn

To clarify for the young man who passed on at the end of the show. He was not a soldier, he was a MARINE. To some they may not understand why it matters so much calling him either or. But it does. It was especially moving to see his fellow Marine there by his side letting him know he was not alone and the Corps did not forget him or just pass him on.

We must also remember than Saddam has killed over 150,000 Iraqis that we know of, tortured and raped many more, Uday claimed to have personally killed over 1000 at his own hands, and Saddam and OBL were in conversations after the Saudis kicked OBL out of there country and allowing the US presence during the first Iraqi war in the early 90s. Bush/Cheney/Rumsfield have done a terrible job of handling the war, but the world and especially the Iraqis will benefit from him being ousted from power. The post Saddam era has been terribly handled, anyone can see that, but it does not mean it was an unjust war. Anyone who has the ability to defend the helpless has an obligation to help, not play politics and let the people suffer death and torture. Go to Iraq and you will see and hear stories of how the Saddam/Baathe regime committed unthinkable acts, including torturing the Iraqi soccer players for not winning the World Cup! Todays problems lie in the fact that the Sunni's believe the Shia to be 3rd class citizens (Saddam's regime use to be number 1 and the Sunnis were number 2 in a social class system) who do not deserve equality with them. Now the Sunnis want to be number one and the Shia should be their working class, therefore they continue to target the Shia hoping the will submit to their wishes. Then you throw in the Kurds and the mess gets even more muddled. In my opinion, going there was right, but Bush's reasons may not have been, regardless if we left know, the Shia would be subjected to even worse treatment and anyone who is for civil rights should educate themselves over these realities, including education being made available to women. Also, leaving would not make America's appearance to the world better b/c things would decline very rapidily and we would be billed even more so with the responsibility.