Life, Love, and Liberty

The prolific leftist-libertarian-anarchist blogger, Arthur Silber, is experiencing a major financial crisis. I have a number of his powerful writings listed on my sidebar under insightful reads. I especially enjoy his heated and passionate denunciations of the psychology driving actions undertaken in the occupation of Iraq.

It is time for some very harsh truth-telling, and it is time to strip away the comforting and false self-delusions in which many hawks wrap themselves. There is nothing loving or kind about a parent who beats his child, while claiming that he does it out of love and concern for the child’s well-being. And there is nothing kind or benevolent about forcing Iraqis to adopt a form of government or a way of life which they may not want — and which they certainly do not want if it comes at the ends of the guns wielded by an occupation force.

We have invaded a country which posed no serious threat to us, and we still maintain we are intent on bringing the blessings of liberty to the Iraqis — but we will do it using force, fear and violence. This is a fatal contradiction that was doomed to fail. But in the process of attempting to make a contradiction true — which can never be done, and which must end in the destruction of the one who attempts it — we are turning ourselves as a nation into monsters. And we are also planting innumerable seeds of hatred against the United States, which may well grow into future terrorist attacks on the U.S., just as they are now causing the deaths of American soldiers on a daily basis.

The Bush administration, by means of this insanely destructive foreign policy, is now achieving one objective for which I truly cannot forgive them: they are making me ashamed to be an American.

Now, that’s what I call quality writing!. I encourage people to consider donating to him on the basis of this kind of passionate commentary.