George,

I find Bob Gibson's article on the need to eliminate wartime dissent disgusting, and fundamentally 'Un-American'- although it appears that concept is changing.

That to criticize an administration somehow implies a lack of support for troops is stupid. It is tantamount to saying that to criticize the CEO of Enron is the same as criticizing the working-class people who got screwed by the company.

There seems to be this mythology about war and dissent in America- I believe it comes from a mythology about Vietnam- that protesters were largely hostile and unsupportive of the troops- ie- the spitting/Jane Fonda- incidents.

What should be remembered is that these things happened directly after the my lai massacre- and that radical protest organizers around the country disavowed them immediately.

More than that though- is the actual legacy involving supporting the troops. It should be noted that at the Charlottesville City Council's Living Wage meeting the veterans who spoke against the peace resolution were former Air Force- not Infantry. Air Force members usually come from backgrounds of some privilige- Infantry almost always, do not.

During the Vietnam War groups of army soldiers were often very much in conflict with the politics of the administration themselves. In fact- a _very_ large group of soldiers even went on strike in the middle of the conflict- you can look it up.

The people 'who didn't support them' weren't the left. They were the 'patriotic' business owners of the right- who denied them a return to employment at their former jobs.

The government denied that Vietnam was a "war" until well after it was over. This meant that veterans returning home were denied their legal right to return to work as written in U.S. law- according to the government they had just been in a 'police action'. The soldiers- who had just been through hell and back- many of whom were addicted to pain-reducing drugs- got fucked over by a business class political structure that was unsympathetic to their problems, and prosecuted, rather than treated their addictions.

Homelessness, Crime, Severe Drug Addiction, and poverty resulted.

But even if this was not true - Gibson's basic assertion - that democracy ends where war begins - sickens me.

That is the language of a totalitarian state. It was used by Hitler, Stalin, and Fugimori all. That this administration uses it- as exampled by the administration's criticism of Tom Daschle- should provide some clear understanding of it's real place in history.

Iraq, as one example, is the kind of place where you hear that in the media. Other examples include Russia, Columbia, Italy, and China - all friends of the Bush administration.

I recently shared a jail cell with a decorated veteran of the Vietnam (WAR). He had brown skin, was poor and had always been poor, had a drug addiction, and had been one of the first black students to attend a white school in Virginia. For Mr. Gibson to suggest he mute his criticism of the administration speaks directly to the writer's ignorance.

Andrew J. Holden

CAGE (Citizens Against Global Exploitation)

Editor's Note: In his March 23rd column in The Daily Progress, Bob Gibson said, in part:

"... No matter what people think of American policy in Iraq, the debate is over on whether to invade or how and when to disarm Saddam Hussein.We are in, whether we like it or not. Bush is commanding troops in a war. Bashing any president during a war is perhaps the fastest and surest way to lower one's own IQ. Many disagree with the policy that took us to this war, but respect and support for the troops in a conflict outweighs all political considerations at the moment. Americans rarely choose to speak with one voice, which is part of our strength, but we can pray together. Expressing disagreement with government policy is every American's right and the American right's duty - except during war time. During war, civic and civil duty changes. Supporting the troops we all want to come home alive implies no bashing of their commander-in-chief. Protests and differences expressed respectfully, creatively, even humorously, speak louder than shouts ..." (Bob Gibson, The Daily Progress, March 23, 2003)

For more of Bob Gibson's column, see Two Voices.