The Arrogance of an Empire's Anti-Warriors
Press Action
Sunday, March 27, 2005
http://www.pressaction.com/news/weblog/full_article/resta03272005/
The Institute for Policy Studies’ “teach-in” last week on the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq was generally a good thing. Each of the six speakers, including Naomi Klein and Phyllis Bennis, said they firmly believe the U.S. occupation of Iraq must end immediately.
What bothered me about the event, which took place on the campus of George Washington University and was televised by C-Span, occurred near the end of the program when Patrick Resta, a member of the Army National Guard who agreed to be shipped off to Iraq in 2004 as part of the U.S. aggression, described as morally repugnant anybody who might think the Iraqis have the right to defend their nation against an army of occupation. Apparently in accord with this sentiment, no one on the panel challenged Resta on this point.
Resta, who is now an outspoken member of Iraq Veterans Against the War, noted that 1,500 U.S. soldiers would not have been killed and thousands would not have been injured since the invasion began in spring 2003 if it weren’t for the “insurgents.” The people in Iraq resisting the U.S. occupation, Resta said, should not be compared to the organized army of Vietnam that fought the U.S. invasion forces. The resistance in Vietnam was a legitimate army, while the insurgents in Iraq, who have no central command, are simply setting off roadside bombs and firing mortars that are needlessly killing U.S. soldiers, he said.
Resta should be commended for speaking out against the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq. And yet, as someone who played a role in the U.S. occupation of Iraq for several months in 2004, on what moral grounds can Resta condemn resistance forces in Iraq or people outside of Iraq who might sympathize with efforts to defend a nation from an invading army?
In addition to the atrocities committed by the U.S. military and its allies in Iraq, there indeed are many ghastly acts, including kidnappings and beheadings, perpetrated by people who claim to be fighting in the name of the resistance. These acts obviously should be condemned.
But it’s unfortunate that Americans, especially U.S. soldiers who now see the error of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, also denounce people who are fighting to end the takeover of a nation by a dangerously out-of-control superpower. Those U.S. soldiers who refuse orders to go to Iraq should be praised. But Resta and others who reject the people of Iraq’s legitimate right to defend the nation against an army of occupation should be condemned on this count. -Mark Hand