I turn on the television. Somehow, I must have slept longer than I thought. It’s already the middle of 2008 and the presidential debates are going on.
The Democrat is Mike Gravel, and he’s attacking the war. He is saying he wants to pull out of Iraq immediately. He promises never to preemptively nuke Iran. How did he get the nomination?
The Republican on stage is Ron Paul. He agrees with Gravel. He wants to go further and end the US foreign policy of imperialism and constant world policing altogether.
I’m surprised to see the Libertarian, Green and Constitution Party represented in the debate, too. Amazingly, all three of them are against the war and want America’s troops to come home. Fortunately, the Libertarians actually nominated a libertarian and not a warmonger, as is always my fear.
I wake up, disappointed. What a wonderful dream, though: The national political scene mostly staging a debate over domestic policy, where everyone agrees for once that the US should stop trying to rule the whole world.
Well, the United States used to have more of a non-interventionist consensus. There was a time both major parties eschewed international imperialism, as opposed to both supporting it. A dedication to peace with all nations once united Americans from across the spectrum.
The government does what it does with the tacit consent of the people. Unfortunately, public ideology has become imperialist. The right has become plagued at various times by Cold War belligerence and then later by neocon fantasies of democratic internationalism. The left has long been inconsistent, favoring many wars, especially Democratic ones, in the name of democratization and human rights.
But ideology is changing, and eventually the politics will reflect it. As Alexander Cockburn notes, only Gravel and Paul get it: Americans are getting sick of the war. Sooner or later, the major parties will have to bend to this trend if it continues.
Antiwar ideology relies on information and communication. Thank goodness for Antiwar.com, which has done so much to show people everywhere the truth about US foreign policy. It is impossible to measure exactly the influence of any one antiwar writer or activist, but without Antiwar.com, constantly speaking truth to the war power, constantly keeping the hawks in check, I am confident we’d be much worse off.
Ideas will eventually be what kicks the war party out of power, and gives voters a choice of at least one major peace candidate. One day, the American consensus might once again be pro-peace and it will be harder to drag the nation on a crazed war based on lies and utopian fantasies.
Help Antiwar.com move the country in that direction. We are coming at a crossroads for America, where the public can reassess our disastrous foreign policy, or be duped by a whole new slate of propaganda for a war with Iran. It really is up to getting the information out there. Help AWC do its great work for peace at this crucial time.