At a time when mainstream media and even so much of the anti-war movement focus most attention on voices of white scholars, career politicians, and U.S. soldiers, as the primary voices of "peace", it is good to see Ryme and and the DC Radio Co-op still striving as always to make space for the most important voices to whom we should all give most of our attention: Iraqis.

Iraqis are featured most often in mainstream and even alternative media outlets, and in the left itself, as abstractions -- numbers, body counts, or as the helpless beneficiaries of good-willed white progressives, which most do not realize is its own means of dehumanizing them in many ways. We make martyrs of our "own", of the blond-haired, blue-eyed, white-skinned activists putting themselves in harm's way or being dragged off for civil disobedience, and too often forget the real martyrs dying by the thousands in Iraq.

^And before someone jumps my case for the remarks about soldiers coming back from the war and being given prominent places at the head of anti-war events and movements -- yes, I know that there is a significance and importance in terms of popularizing our positions and as "good propaganda" etc, and that soldiers speaking out against the war deserve credit for it etc. I understand why it is tactically important and smart, I know all of that.

I'm just expressing personal feelings of frustration and yes, anger, that a leftist anti-war movement is in a position of embracing as some of its most prominent spokespersons former/current soldiers who can say first-hand "The occupation is screwed up" because hey, they were part of the occupation and they sure as heck don't want to go back. I'm not making light of it or asserting that their only motivation is self-preservation -- I know, I know they are getting arrested and it is brave to come forward and denounce the war, and they speak about human rights and so on. I don't dismiss that.

But I think the most important voices are those of Iraqis. I think it is too easy to look at a U.S. soldier who now opposes the war, then look at an Iraq, and think, "Hmmm... that soldier makes a much better photo-op." So yep, that's what we're running with. Hey, I get it -- Rachel Corry got a lot more sympathy and anger "for the cause" than piles upon piles of dead, mutilated Palestinian children, right? Blond haired, blue eyed white girl is just better press and probably, sadly, sickeningly, is more likely to make people in the U.S. actually pay attention for five minutes. Those dead Arab babies, not so much, eh?

It's a terrible, disgusting numbers game. We must popularize our messages, we must find a way to reach into the hearts of enough U.S. citizens to end this madness. To do that, we must make tough choices and yeah, a U.S. soldier gets more press and will change more minds than an Iraqi kid who got his arms blown off -- hell, if people here cared enough about dead and dismembered Iraqis, there wouldn't have been a war in the first place, right? Right. So we make the tough choice, play to the cameras, and shoulder the burden of helping to continue the long and proud history of maintaining that status-quo in which you need to put a white flag-waving face on something or it doesn't sell.

I get it. I know it's important. I know it has to be done. But I sure as hell don't have to like it one GODdamn bit. And I don't. It makes me sick, and it always will.

So again, thank you Ryme and others for putting these Iraqi voices out there. They are the ones we should all be listening to the most, and the ones that, in a fair and descent world, would make the most difference. I'm glad somebody cares enough to let them speak and to air it.

Drew - I agree with your fundamental point - Iraq is an occupied nation and Iraqi voices matter more than those from the occupier nation.

However here's what you're missing re the "importance" of Iraq vets who protest the war they were just in.

- They have a "right to speak" like no others in the US, in the mindset of US citizens. The military "knows" this too. They learned this same lesson from Vietnam and the Viet vets, and that's why DOD is attempting to hit hard on any soldier who steps out of line in this war.

- The vets are coming out of a very real military loss, whether any one vet chooses to accept this fact.

- We don't have to accept the "patriotic" premises of any particular Iraq vet, as he/she speaks of "love of country" while protesting the war. At some point, each will have to figure out whether they still "love" the Imperialism part of their country, especially as the rest of world teaches us, by any means necessary...

and you could point this out as well. :)

^Oh, don't misunderstand me here -- I fully understand the points about why the vets are important. I tried to mention that I get the many reasons it is relevant, but just didn't want to spend too much time getting into all the nuances since most of us probably know the role they play -- whether we like it or not -- in shifting public opinion and the opinion of fellow troops. I wanted the main point of my comments to be about Iraqis, since most coverage and analysis etc focuses enough on the vets. Since my frustration comes from the large amount of attention etc focused on the vets' voices, I didn't want a comment about focusing on other voices to still spend too much time getting into the nitty-gritty of the tactics, influence, etc of vets.

Again, I don't discount the significance and the issues that revolve around the impact of the vets coming out against the war -- I simply regret that it is the reality of our situation.