I mentioned last year that I was in New York City on February 15, 2003, with about 100,000 of my closest friends, protesting against the upcoming war in Iraq. (There were many other protests across the country, and indeed, across the world; the photo is from the Austin, TX rally on that date.) It seemed obvious then, and no less obvious now, that there was no justification for the United States military incursion.
Some folks have asked me why rehash the war.”It’s over; let’s move on.” For one thing, we should note the many casualties of the engagement. For another, if we fail to understand the rationale for the war, the flawed notion of getting rid of Saddam Hussein’s non-existent weapons of mass destruction, then we as a nation will be hard-pressed to deal rationally with the next potential conflict. Should we go to war in Syria? Or Mali, where the French, put upon in the United States for failing to support the Iraq war have been fighting some iteration of Al-Queda? Heck, it was still an issue in a recent confirmation hearing.
Trailer for We Are Many, about those 2003 rallies.
Enough of this. What I really wanted to say is that there was a girl who turned eight years old who was at that New York City demonstration, which means she turns 18 today. I’ve known her almost all her life. I suppose this birthday will be a little more subdued than the one she had a decade ago.
I’m sorry I missed her, and her parents, at the MidWinter’s celebration earlier this month.