As I compose this Viewpoint, U.S. Army recruiters are staking out Tufts; they want you - your students and friends - for Bush's "war against terrorism and Islamo-fascism." Better that you enlist in the anti-war movement instead. To date, nearly 2300 U.S. soldiers have been killed in Iraq, and 260 more in Afghanistan, bringing the number of Americans killed in Bush's "war on terror" to nearly the total lost on Sept. 11, 2001. Over 16,000 more have been physically wounded, with at least 7,000 "injured too badly to return to duty," and tens of thousands reportedly suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. For what? As we all ought to know by now, the war in Iraq was not about finding WMDs, or preventing terrorism, which it has only encouraged and provoked. No, now the war is being waged in the name of "combating Islamo-fascism." It is thus in the name of "spreading freedom and democracy" that tens of thousands of Iraqis have been pulled out of their homes in the dead of night and illegally detained by their 'liberators.' As you read this, 3,200 of them remain locked in tombs of infamous Abu Ghraib prison, which continues to operate at "surge capacity." Do you, reader, feel safer knowing that every day U.S. and U.K. personnel in Iraq are detaining, abusing, and torturing Iraqis in your name? But to be fair, detaining and torturing is merely one integral part of the U.S. drive to "persuade" the population of Iraq to "peacefully" accept its military presence, its ermanent military bases, its puppet-leaders and its policy platforms. Aerial bombardment, of course, is also an integral part of this "mission of peace." Consider the most serious study of Iraqi war deaths to date, which comes from a widely-respected epidemiologist from the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health who spent months in Iraq scientifically sampling civilian deaths across the country. Published last year in the prestigious British medical journal the Lancet, the study concludes that even based on "conservative assumptions," the total excess deaths in Iraq caused by the war through Dec. 2004 was "around 100,000." Even more significant than the sheer numbers, however, the Johns Hopkins study found the vast majority of Iraqi deaths to have been caused by the U.S., principally by U.S. aerial bombardment. Wretchedly, such bombing has been on the dramatic rise over the past year since the Lancet study ended. Meanwhile, a New York Times article from Feb. 9 declares that after three years of costly U.S.-led "reconstruction," "Iraq utilities are [still] falling short of prewar performance." That is to say, today, in "liberated Iraq," more people lack regular access to clean drinking water, working sewage systems and adequate oil to heat their homes - as well as adequate education and medical care - than at any time in a generation. In many areas, unemployment hovers over 40 percent, while a quarter of Baghdad children under age five suffer from malnutrition. Not surprisingly in this context of mass murder and mismanagement, resistance continues to grow. U.S. military officials reported at the end of 2005 that they encounter typically around 100 attacks a day in Iraq. Notably, they also admit that around 80 percent of all insurgent attacks directly target them, not Iraqi collaborators or civilians; this is to say that the vast majority of attacks are aimed squarely at repelling the occupation. Only a small fraction of attacks are of the viciously sectarian sort focused upon by the American establishment media. Furthermore, it must be emphasized that even this most extreme violence - sensational and horrifying as it often is - does not constitute a justification for continued U.S. military presence in the Iraq any more than say, the widespread tarring and feathering of Tories by American patriots in the 1770s justified the continued presence of British red coats in Massachusetts. After all, it is foreign occupation that provokes and provides a cover for much of this terrorist extremism, which otherwise has no credible place in civil society, Iraqi or American. Thus, while most Iraqis decry mosque-bombings, kidnappings and beheadings, the mainstream of the armed Iraqi resistance enjoys wide popular support. According to recent intelligence gathering by "coalition-partner" Great Britain, 82 percent of Iraqis "strongly oppose" the presence of foreign military troops in their country, while only one percent feel "more secure" because of the presence of the "coalition." Moreover, 45 percent of all Iraqis, including large majorities in many areas, openly endorse insurgent attacks on the U.S. and U.K. (When we consider the risks of Iraqis admitting pro-insurgency sympathies to interviewers, it seems likely the actual figure here is even higher.) Clearly, "staying the course" such as it is is bloody insanity. We in TCOWI say, end the military occupation, now. An immediate withdrawal of U.S. forces - today - from all Iraqi cities, along with an immediate cessation of U.S. bombing, and a pledge -today - by the U.S. government to withdraw all troops forthwith - within a few weeks - would be the best way to: minimize violence in Iraq, improve security, isolate al-Qaeda extremists from the Iraqi masses, stop the killing of U.S. soldiers, save hundreds of billions of dollars and prove to the world that Americans still retain some sense of reason and humanity. But the political reality is that without the reemergence of a significant and committed anti-war opposition here in the U.S., Bush and company will not be forced to withdraw the troops or to stop the bombing any time soon, no matter what the polls say, and no matter that the war costs American tax-payers about $100,000 per minute, at the expense of all kinds of other domestic needs. Unless we actively agitate, educate, and organize pressure on the government to end the occupation and bring the troops home, the slaughter in Iraq will continue. To boot, the Bush administration will continue to feel "liberated" to pursue further military aggression against Iran and elsewhere in the service of its imperial agenda. Mar. 18-19 will mark the third anniversary of the illegal, unjust and devastating U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. As that date approaches, let us go beyond both academic discussions that treat the Middle East like our personal chessboard and cynical gestures that admit and dismiss the U.S. crimes without seriously seeking to end them. It is time to debate the "war on terror" seriously on this campus - both inside and outside of the classroom. TCOWI welcomes all pro-war and "stay-the-course" takers, Democrat, Republican, or neo-con fascist. Moreover, we urge you to get informed and get active against the imperial madness. What is an educational institution for if not to allow us confront uncomfortable truths and to challenge unjust crusades? Where, I ask you, do you stand on the blood being shed - and the terror being spread - in your name and with your U.S. tax-dollars?
Joseph Ramsey is a PhD. candidate in the English Department and a member of TCOWI (Tufts Coalition to Oppose the War in Iraq).
