I had the opportunity to attend the anti-war rally that occurred recently in Washington D.C. Upon my early-morning arrival to the city, I took a taxi to the National Mall, the site of the protest, and where the majority of the recognizable Washington landmarks are located.
While the number of homeless people was disheartening, seeing the White House and the Capital buldings was a wonderful treat. But my mood quickly changed. As I was descending the Washington Monument, I overheard a conversation between the elevator operator and a tourist.
The tourist, it turns out, was a paralegal for the U.S. army, who’s most recent duties have included questioning Al-Queda prisoners in Guantanamo Bay. The self-described american patriot started out by admitting how, when no one was looking, army soldiers would “kick the terrorists around a little bit to get information from them”, then quickly followed with an obligatory laugh, making it seem like a joke, and absolving himself of any kind of responsibility. Then he continued to talk of the protesters that were coming, referring to them as traitors who were helping terrorism, and that a military draft would “set them straight.”
Clearly, there are a lot of american patriots that would not agree that bombing a country into oblivion should be a source of national pride, but this incident does show the reality: that a large number of americans are ignorant of international affairs, and not unlike a flock of sheep, will do anything they are told, so long as it is draped with the american flag.
The mainstream media is largely responsible for this, but ultimately, it is the american government that uses the media and the flag to manafacture social cohesion and quell dissent, in order to suit its own agenda. And this is very disheartening indeed.
ziad chatila
history major.
514-696-3829
