Response to Howard Zinn's “On July 4, Put Away the Flags”

Dear Mr. Zinn,

Your distrust for nationalism is a feeling which should be shared by not only the American population, but universally. Sadly, this is not the case. For too long “love” for a country has been the justification for hatred and bloodshed. Lies have been the basis for preventable wars. The spread of democracy has led to terrorism, torture, the senseless slaughter of multitudes of innocent, and the destruction of functional governmental systems and entire countries. The United States justifies its actions by the use of nationalistic ideas, false threats, lies, exaggerations, and the “needed” spread of our way of life. The real motivation, however, lies just beneath this false cover.
In 2002 President Bush claimed that Iraq, under the control of Saddam Hussein, was storing and producing both nuclear and biological weapons which were to be used on this country. In response to this “threat” to America and the citizens of Iraq he ordered the invasion of Iraq, defying the United Nations Security Council and ignoring the opinions of most of the rest of the world. George Bush also stated the Saddam had collaborated with Osama bin Laden and Al-Qaeda in the planning and execution of the September 11th attacks on America. Ret. Gen. Wesley Clark has been quoted to say that in the days and weeks following September 11 he received requests from the White House to use his position as a pundit for CNN to connect Saddam to the attacks. He refused, saying there was no proof to back the claim. The Bush administration ignored this slight discomfort and continued to repeat the accusation in vague manners, slowly convincing America of its validity. By the time we invaded Iraq over 70% of the American public believed this story.
To Bush’s disappointment and feigned amazement there were no weapons to be found in Iraq. The nuclear warheads had never existed and the biological weapons, sold to Saddam by the United States during the Iran-Iraq war, were also unable to be located. As for the accusation that Saddam and bin Laden were partners in crime? Well, it was false as well. For years Saddam and bin Laden had been rivals and enemies. The two terrorists worked against, not with, the other. According to one BBC report, bin Laden’s “aims are in ideological conflict with present-day Iraq.”
So, if all of this wasn’t the justification for Bush spending billions of dollars and sacrificing thousands of lives for an unneeded war, what was? Enter Unocal, Halliburton, and Enron aka oil. Money and power have always been floating near the surface of Bush’s political movements. Should he successfully gain control of Iraq, he would also gain control of some of the worlds richest oil reserves. Was our president successful in securing the land which would allow him access billions of dollars or profit? Of course! With the almighty United States military forces backing his gamble, how could he loose?
The senseless fighting now occurring in Iraq is one more example of government manipulation and corruption. Were humanity’s allegiance to lie with one another rather than with a specific group, problems such as these would be much more easily prevented. We must support the world as a whole and not split ourselves into fragments. Peace can only be found in cooperation, love, truth, and loyalty. Until we learn to see past the color of skin, religion, region and national barriers, wars will continue and chaos reign.

“The earth is but one country, and mankind it’s citizens.”
- Baha’u’llah