It was three years ago on February 15th that 30 million people took to the streets to say that a pre-emptive invasion of an aggressor suspected of having weapons of mass destruction was a really bad idea. And it was three years ago today that the powers that be thumbed their noses at world opinion, and invaded Iraq.
I remember thinking what a great leap forward that rally felt like — I remember the incredible outpouring of webactivism, of people united by a single passionately felt objective.
Well, we may need all that energy again if things continue the way they are going in Iran. The “We told you so” T-shirts we’re wearing today just might might serve second-hand if we don’t head this one off at the pass. Because Rummy and Bush and the Cheney Boys all appeared to have learned a lesson about protest avoidance from the last round. They’re not going this one alone — they’re working to build a UN mandate to go after Iran, and instead of basing it on the principel that The US knows whats good for the world, it’ll be The US knows whats good for the world disguised as the Security Council knows whats good for the world. I.e. The guys with the grip on the nuclear weapons that ain’t about to let go.
The military machine has been once-burned. And while it may only have been a tiny scorch, the fact is they have to reckon with the second superpower of public opinion.
The picture at left is my son Doon out showing the flag three years ago. Last night as I put my 18 month old son, Dylan, to bed, my goodnight wish to him was that he’d live in a wiser world.