US Out of Iraq – No War with Iran!
This speech given by Wyatt Miller, member of the Anti-War Committee, at the January 4, 2020 MPAC protest. The protest was a part of the ANSWER coalition’s call for national protests to say to US war threats on Iran.
I’m 30 years old. I was 13 when Bush invaded Iraq. But even at that age, I remember the anti-war protests. They even happened in central Iowa where I grew up, because they were happening everywhere. People said, “this is the start of a US policy of endless war!” That felt sort of abstract back then. But now we’re seeing just how right the anti-war movement was.
It’s an endless war! 17 years ago, the US declared “mission accomplished.” Its colonial administrator Paul Bremer disbanded the entire Iraqi Army and tried to remake it in the US’s own image. 17 years later, after the new Iraq didn’t turn out quite how the US wanted it to, the US is bombing it again.
Last week the US bombed and killed dozens of official Iraqi soldiers. Then on Thursday, Trump assassinated the Iranian general Qassem Soleimani, who is known across the Middle East for helping lead the only real resistance against right-wing terrorist groups like ISIS.
These are acts of war, not only against Iran but also Iraq. But sadly, the US is no stranger to attacking other countries if it means pushing ever closer to its dream war against Iran. The US has continued its even longer war in Afghanistan seemingly for no other reason than to have an excuse to surround Iran with US military occupations. Even as Obama touted the nuclear deal with Iran, the US helped fuel the destruction of Iran’s ally Syria. And now Trump continues to support the genocidal war on Yemen because of Iran’s alleged support for that country.
Unfortunately the anti-war movement has learned that we can’t rely on Democrats to stop the violence. Already we have presidential candidates like Biden and Amy Klobuchar telling us that, oh, war is bad “BUT” Iran is “destabilizing” Iraq, and dontchaknow that this Iranian here still needed to be assassinated, and these Iraqi soldiers over here still needed to be killed? And already the mainstream media is right there with them.
It’s bullshit! Iran didn’t destabilize Iraq, the US did! And when Iraqi people try to protect their homes and fight back against US occupation forces, ultimately that’s not Iran’s fault, that’s not Qassem Soleimani’s fault, that the fault of there being an illegal, unjust U.S. occupation in the first place! The blood of millions of Iraqis is on the hands of Bush, Cheney, Obama, Clinton, Biden andTrump.
Entire generations of Iraqis have now seen their country destroyed multiple times. We have a moral duty to stop this from happening, not to Iraq (again), not to Afghanistan (again), and not to Iran, not to Venezuela, not to Somalia, not to Nicaragua, not to anywhere. The US military and the imperialist system it enforces is the greatest obstacle to the progress of humanity. And that includes for people fighting for freedom inside US borders, too.
So, it’s an election year and we have to make this an issue. We can’t let US war crimes and militarism be a footnote. We, the anti-war movement, need to be a force that can’t be ignored. Even if that means pissing off Democrats, like maybe at their convention this summer in Milwaukee. Even if that means shutting shit down.
No justice, no peace! US out of the Middle East!
*Photo featured with this post was taken by Brad Sigal. We thank him for the great photo.