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"Every war when it comes, or before it comes, is represented not as a war but as an act of self-defense against a homicidal maniac."
-George Orwell
Pfc. Jonathan M. Cheatham, 19, of Camden, Arkansas, died on July 26, 2003 outside Baghdad, Iraq, when the convoy he was riding in was attacked with rocket-propelled grenades.
Jonathan was not your normal teenager. A high achiever in academics, music, and a great outgoing personality, he faced a future filled with opportunities for a successful and productive life. His Mother, Dr. Barbara Porchia, like any mother who loves their child, would often proudly speak of him in her conversations as his High School graduation loomed and choices of available scholarships that would assure his college education were awaiting his decision.
On the morning of September 11, 2001 the life of this family and its future was sealed by an event of horrific proportions. A few days later, Jonathan heard his President call for patriots to response to the threat. If he considered himself anything, Jonathan lived to be a true red, white, and blue blood American and felt it was his duty to protect his country, as did nearly everyone in America, including his mother at the time.
But it wasn't that simple. When President Bush launched his war on Terror, few realized at that time he was declaring an eternal war on the World, or more factually stated, on anyone, or any country, that didn't agree with him, any foreign entity or American citizen. Neither did America know the depth or meaning of his "Either you're for us or against us" statement. The general belief was that Bush meant he would take swift action against perpetrators of events like 9/11. But no one at the time envisioned an invasion of Iraq, or the subjugation of American citizens civil rights.
When the drumbeat for invading Iraq begin to gather steam, Dr. Porchia started to have doubts about the direction we as a nation were starting down and was concerned that Jonathan might be caught up in an expanding war for reasons that seemed more self serving for the Administration, the Bush Group, and Bush himself ("They tried to kill my Daddy") than for the protection of America. Future actions would cement that fear. Any thinking person should have been able to discern that Bush was going to start a war against Iraq and he was not going to let anything get in his way. And sure enough the United States invaded Iraq on March 20, 2003.
The selling point for the invasion given by Bush and Tony Blair Prime Minister of the UK, plus Congressional Republicans and Democrats who signed on, was that Iraq had Weapons of Mass Destruction and that these weapons posed an imminent threat to the United States, its Allies, and American interests. In the Presidents State of the Union Speech, Bush claimed that the United States could not wait until the WMD were proven, because to wait for the Mushroom Cloud would be too late. And also to support the war hysteria, U. S. Officials cited claims of Saddam Hussein and an Al-Quaeda connection. All later to be revealed as lies and deception.
But Jonathan believed our President and he believed in the Presidency. He believed in the goodness of our leaders and their fidelity to truth. He believed them to be moral and trusted that they would never ask him to place his life in harms way unless the cause was just. Jonathan did not know the dark heart of his leaders.
The deceit of the Bush Administration is almost beyond measure. Yes they knew the lies they were speaking and they knew their aim was not to suppress a threat to America when they planned to invade Iraq. They knew they were fanning the fires of patriotism to get the American public behind a war that would bring tremendous profit for their few and tremendous pain and loss for the many both Iraqi and American.
Marcus Aurelius, an Emperor of Rome, illuminated the essence of life - "When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive - to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love". The Bush Bunch has cheated more than 3,600 American men and women and over one million Iraqis of the opportunity to pursue this precious privilege. And they brought this war for no reasons other than Greed, greed for Profit, Power, and Influence. That it has brought them shame is not a deterrent to them.
But for Jonathan, the final bell has tolled. We can only wonder, he might have become a great leader, one who would never sacrifice the fidelity that his electors entrusted to him, or he may have become a leading intellectual, the basic foundation was there and it certainly had been nurtured. But sadly for Jonathan we can only dream of what might have been, because his future, his chance for the precious privilege, the chance to some day play with his could have been children, was betrayed by leaders that he trusted completely.
Remember Jonathan for his goodness; he was the opposite of his deceivers. Jonathan died defending what he believed to be his duty. His deceivers wouldn't even be kind to his mother's sacrifice.
by Cliff Carson [click here for more articles], who is a freelance writer and Populist Party contributor.
