The sight of
American ex-service men and woman loudly denouncing NATO aggression
in Iraq and Afghanistan, by hurling their war medals towards the
location of the recent NATO summit, made an extremely powerful
statement. The emotion was clear to see too, these brave veterans
felt betrayed by their country and some seemed to be carrying a sense
of shame and guilt for whatever role they played in the invasions.
This anti-war protest, as moving as it was, must have made it very
hard for NATO leaders to ignore. This show of unity between the
protesters and veterans might well inspire other men and woman who have served in the forces or who are currently serving, to speak out about
the immorality of both the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
There have
always been very loud and strong movements speaking out against the
illegal invasion of Iraq. In 2003 at least 750,000 people marched in
protest in London alone. Since then, the number of citizens against
the invasion and following occupation as increased exponentially. In the
beginning, opposition against the war in Afghanistan was less
obvious, possibly due to confusion regarding the ambiguity of
mission objectives cited by politicians and war planners. There has
been a distinct change in public opinion over the past few years
leading to a huge drop in support for the war, with many calling for
the withdrawal of troops. Whether troop withdrawal is the best way
forward or not (many people have concerns over likely human rights
abuses once foreign forces leave), the anti-war feeling seems to be
here to stay, for the time being at least. With the increasing
likelihood of an attack on Iran growing all the time, I just hope
that the anti-war movement will become so large it simply cannot be
ignored.
