An Open Letter to the People of Iran and Other Nations of the Middle East and Asia

Brothers and Sisters:

As but a single citizen of the United States of America, I raise my voice in sadness and shame at the actions of our government, past, present, and future. I strongly believe that my words and views are shared by a growing majority of American citizens.

Many of us opposed our government's war against Iraq before the first missile was launched and many have joined us since, constituting now a majority of our citizens. At the moment of the attacks in September, 2001, I knew that our President and his administration would opportunistically use the event as justification for all manner of aggressive military action. Although we cannot condone the actions of bin Laden and al Qaeda, we also do not condone our own government's actions. Many of us advocate reconciliation.

Many of us saw the attacks as an opportunity for a national soul-searching and a recognition of decades of imperialistic adventurism, both politically and militarily, which contributed to the conditions provoking these attacks and previous attacks. Many of us have protested the policies and actions of our government consistently, with the understanding that much of our wealth and power has been built by exploiting you and your countries. Unfortunately, many of our citizens remain ignorant, racist, and intolerant. There is still a great division in our society, but more and more of us want peace, cooperation, and friendship. We know that we have been horribly deceived by our government and the forces of capitalism and want no part of it. In short, although we certainly oppose further attacks on our soil and "interests", we understand that we must also change ourselves and our country. We oppose the goals of religious extremists in our society as much as we oppose them in your societies.

We are aware that we have unjustifiably and illegally all but destroyed Iraq and your people. We are aware that our government is fast preparing for an unprovoked and illegal war against Iran and perhaps Syria. We are aware that we are at war in Somalia. We are aware that our CIA is involved in many other "secret" actions in many other sovereign nations, as it has been since World War II. We are aware that by "exporting democracy", our government really means "exporting capitalism", while our own government descends toward totalitarian fascism. Just yesterday, RINF, an English news service, reported that Russian intelligence analysts say our president has given authority to the military to arrest and detain any citizen who opposes his wars. This is unprecedented. It is widely known that the government is building massive detention camps. Many members of the Bush-Cheney administration have resigned or been fired, military commanders who oppose his policies have been marginalized. Bush has said unequivocally that he will ignore growing opposition from Congress and continue to implement has disastrous agenda - disastrous for us and for you. We know that we will all pay dearly for our sins for many years and in many ways.

Paralyzed by fear of our government, political inertia, ignorance, and the distractions of consumerism and narcissism, we seem powerless to stop our government in its relentless quest to control and exploit the world. Although our Democratic Party, compliant and complicit for the past six years, has recently gained a majority in our Congress, they will actually be ineffective. The congressional leadership has already said that they will not attempt to impeach Bush and others, in spite of the wishes of a growing number of Americans.

In closing, brothers and sisters, please accept my sincere apology for these tragedies and any such future atrocities our government may commit. We respect you, your cultures, your religions, and your sovereignty. Somehow, we must try to regain your respect and trust. Please pray for us as well as yourselves.

Categories: reconciliation, peace, war, imperialism, militarism

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