Is it too soon for an Afghani to craft a celluloid re-telling of U.S. planes carpet bombing from 15,000 feet of the depleted uranium shells littering the landscape? Afghani directors might first wish to document life under Soviet and then Taliban repression. Unlike Hollywood execs, they do not have the luxury of dwelling on a singular attack. Neither do filmmakers in Kashmir or Chechnya or Haiti or dozens of other nations. We in America, on the other hand, are so lacking in such cataclysmic subject matter, we're still re-hashing Pearl Harbor every few years. Our victims do not share this deficiency.
Speaking of U.S. military interventions, Saturday, April 29 gave us yet another large anti-war protest. I know there's a genuine anti-war movement in America (and has been for over a century)...but far too many of those speaking out against the U.S. invasion of Iraq are not strictly "anti-war." From what I can tell, more than a few protestors have no problem with:
a) wars started by their (sic) party
and/or
b) wars the U.S. easily wins (sic)
Case in point: Operation Iraqi Freedom (sic) has provoked far more protest/outrage than 78 days of U.S./NATO bombing over Yugoslavia in 1999 ever did. Until an anti-war movement is guided almost exclusively by genuine anti-war sentiment, it'll play the two-party (sic) game...a game with no long term winners.
I say if that's how the corporate media and crooked politicians want it, let's go all the way. If George W. Bush defies international law to invade, bomb, and occupy a sovereign nation, he should be called an "illegal president." Corporations that rape the environment are run by illegal CEOs. If a policeman wants to beat a confession out of someone; he's now an illegal cop. Pundits, politicians, lawyers, doctors, investment bankers, real estate magnates...the possibilities are endless.
I'm just not sure if it's "too soon" for such an idea. What do you think?
Mickey Z. is the author of several books, most recently "50 American Revolutions You're Not Supposed to Know" (Disinformation Books). He can be found on the Web at http://www.mickeyz.net.