Reflection on Iraq War Teach-In and Student Apathy Towards the Anti-War Movement

“Abominations,” “false prophecy,” “genocide,” and “Armageddon” were only a few of the denunciations of the Iraq War made by panelists earlier this month at a teach-in linking the current war with the what the panelists called the ‘disastrous’ Vietnam War 40 years ago. Panelist and UC Berkeley student Roberto Hernandez said, “We knew the truths in Vietnam so we mobilized and now we know the truths in Iraq, but I do not see the same mobilization. Isn’t truth enough to cause outrage?”
The panel connected the anti-Vietnam War movement to the current war in Iraq. But they bemoaned that there is not the same anti-war mobilization and outrage from the youth towards the United State’s occupation in Iraq as was present in the 1960’s. The current youth of America “turn a blind eye on the war” and are too preoccupied with “consumerism and luxury,” said Panelist Keiko Schnelle, 20, a UC Santa Cruz student and member of Code Pink.
Civil Rights Attorney Anne Weills declared torture is a “signature behavior of the government policy of the United States,” and “The Cheney-Bush-Rumsfeld team led the descent into Hell and gave way to every abomination possible.”
Vietnam veteran Carlos Muñoz said, “We are in the most repressive era of this nation and it makes McCarthyism not look that bad,” and “Trillions of dollars and hard-earned tax-payers money is going down the tube.” Tom Hayden, founder of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS, followed by saying, “I cannot believe the shear f--king scale of this upcoming election. I haven’t seen anything like this since the 1960’s.”
Considering the opinions of the panelists is there a youth mobilization against the Iraq War and, if not, why is there no such mobilization?
The student revolts at Columbia University in 1968 demonstrated the youth were the leaders of change and the anti-war movement, according to Schnelle. Those behind the peace movement of the Vietnam War are those who are the current leaders of the Iraq War peace movement, she said.
USF International Studies junior Sophia Kleinsasser said she believes youth and students are not involved in the anti-war movement because there is no political radicalism of the youth and that the anti-war movement is “not urgent.” USF Marketing junior Patrick Mahoney agreed and said students have “more important priorities than an anti-war movement,” and that it is hard not to become desensitized to the war if one is not directly affected.
USF Nursing junior Nicole Ward said “young people are too consumed and distracted” and “tune things out.” “People think ‘me me me me’ if they are not directly affected. We live in a society of idiots. Young people are selfish and that it is ok not to know what’s going on, but there is too much sh-t going on to not know or care.”
USF Art History senior Tamara Golan said it is difficult to understand the nature of the Iraq War. “We are fighting terrorism but who exactly are the terrorists? There is no clear objective and we are setting up for World War 3 and World War 4.” Agreeing with Kleinsasser, Ward and Mahoney, Golan said there would be more youth involvement if a draft were to be in effect.
It is striking how the University of San Francisco is in a city regarded to be more liberal than most other cities in the United States, yet most USF students do not participate in any form of the anti-war movement such as attending teach-ins, going to hear speakers, or peacefully protesting. According to the list of clubs and organizations found on the USF website, there are only a few organizations concerning US politics and the occupation in the Middle East: Amnesty International, Democracy Matters, Politics Society, STAND and the College Republicans Club. The students interviewed all said they believe the youth, especially the students of USF, are passive and apathetic towards participating in a peace movement.

Are we doomed?

So, our generation is basically screwed in terms of financing our college education, obtaining a good-paying job- let alone any job- after graduation, and purchasing a home, according to not only my law professor but a panel of four USF economics and business professors at a panel discussion yesterday on the current tumultuous state of the US economy. My environmental law professor practically told our class to rethink our goals of becoming environmental lawyers because protecting the environment… I mean, who has the money to protect the environment when the federal government is in over $900 billion dollars ($700 billion bailout and an annual debt of $300 to $400 billion)?

These quotes from the panel disturbed me for the rest of the day:
*“We will be in a recession that will be bad and prolonged. If the bill does not
pass on Thursday, we will be in a very bad recession and it will be very
prolonged.”
*“Our economy depends on the extension of credit. If the credit markets freeze up,
we can be in a depression by Christmas.”
*“International lending and trading is affected because of the lack of trust lenders
have in the US… it needs to be unclogged.”
*“The unemployment rate will increase and the economy will worsen.”
*“We put more money in the housing market (in the past 6 years) than we should have
and there is no more new money available. There was a lack of regulation and
more liberalization towards the buying of houses people could not afford.”

To be honest, it is difficult to fully grasp the complexity and severity of this $700billion dollar catastrophe because it does not directly affect me. I do not have any student loans; I do not use any credit cards; I do not currently have a retirement plan; I do not have any real estate; and I do not have any securities like stocks. However, having my professor tell me he is glad he is nearing retirement and feels sympathy for our generation for the next few decades, puts things in perspective for me.

One question I have concerning this, as it being my beat, is how this current state of the economy will affect the financing of sending more troops to Afghanistan, continuing rebuilding and restructuring in Iraq, and a possible surge in Pakistan. If taken out of context, I agree with Iranian president Ahmadinejad when he denounced the United States last week saying the US is “an empire reaching the end of the road.”