Goldstar Mothers

We don’t hear much about anti-war protest in the United States, but it is alive and well, and may even grow until it challenges government policy over Iraq, as it did eventually against the Vietnam war. One focus of protest that may provide such a spark is that of the ‘goldstar mothers’ whose sons have died in Iraq, who camped in tents along the road leading to Bush’s Texas ranch, where he spends so much of his time. They are getting a lot of publicity, and have promised to follow him back to Washington after his vacation.

The sympathy they have engendered is not restricted to the general public. My little bird from America reports that when the local sheriff was sent to evict them from their encampment, he instead offered them parking space for their vehicles!

The power of a moral force should not be underestimated. KPN readers, looking back to the days when they were uncommitted and unconvinced that the world needed mending, may find that the thing that finally convinced them that something was very wrong was not an intellectual argument (thought there are plenty of those) but a feeling of moral indignation on seeing some vivid picture, some unnecessary tragedy, or, on the positive side, witnessing some inspiring protest action that was clearly generated from a sense of injustice.