By
Letters to the Editor
November 8, 2007
The Arlington Northwest display allowed students to contemplate a very small fraction of the lives lost in an illegitimate war of aggression. While it is non-political and contained nothing advocating any position, it was sponsored by the student group WHAMO, who had tables set up near the display with literature advocating an end to the occupation of Iraq.
There is an argument put forth by a very small minority that one should commemorate the fallen soldier without taking a stand for or against the war in which they died. Regarding the Iraq war, this ignores two facts:(1)maintaining the status quo in Iraq guarantees that more soldiers will die (along with Iraqis killed by US soldiers), and (2) the parents I work with, whose sons were killed serving in Iraq, believe that their sons are best honored by not having more sons die for a war that cannot be won, for a war without an attainable mission, for a war that is unjust.
The greatest disrespect was shown by The Daily, for not giving full coverage to Arlington Northwest. It is one more example of how 99 percent of this country turns away from the suffering and sacrifice made by the other 1 percent.Arlington Northwest is one small attempt to bring that suffering into the open.
Howard Jeffrey Gale, Ph.D.
UW alumus, 1983
1 Comments
#1 Aditya G
on November 8, 2007 at 9:58 a.m.(Kirkland, WA | Unverified Name)
Point well made Dr. Gale. But as Dr. Chalmers Johnson noted, the theorists of republican government like Montesquieu understood there are two things that cause a citizenry to take interest in their government's affairs: conscription and taxes. As I'm sure you are aware, since the draft was abolished, there is little incentive for the 99% to worry about the military adventureism of the government. Cynically, low taxes also pacify the peoples voices. This is what I believe is at the heart of the problem.
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