Arrogance and the West

At the bottom of this post is a video of what I believe has been one of the more effective anti-war demonstrations in the last few years. Veterans from the group Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) simulate combat in the middle of Times Square, bringing the war to urban America. They have performed similar demonstrations in Washington D.C. and other American cities.

Before you watch it though, I'd like to say something. It's easy to blame the United States for this and it's easy to blame the American government for the atrocities of the last few years. It's easy because it's true; this government has done things many consider unforgivable. It's even easier if you're not an American. It's easy to shake your head at the destructive arrogance of Americans.

I'd like to challenge you to remember that this isn't just Iraq, this is Afghanistan, Chechnya, and The Falklands. This isn't just Americans, this is British, Australians, Canadians, and Italians to name a few. Based on Western attitudes and given the right conditions, the conditions that reached critical mass on 9/11 (and it wouldn't take much to get those conditions in any other Western nation),every nation I've listed would react in a similar way.

We shouldn't be asking how to stop Washington DC and the Americans from doing this again. We should be asking how we can stop the officials in their Washington DC, London, Sydney, Rome, and Ottawa palaces (to name a few) from doing this again. This current war does not only reflect an American arrogance, it reflects a darker Western arrogance that was carefully nurtured by the British hegemony for hundreds of years. When you watch this video, don't see American soldiers, see the soldiers of your own nation, in your own cities, and then ask what must be done.