by Michael Berg
March 19th, 2005
It’s too late! It’s too late! It’s too late for my son Nick. It is too late for him to change his mind about George Bush’s war on Iraq. It was too late for him when his own government. whose policies he supported. illegally imprisoned him. It was too late for him when persons, unknown at this time, abducted him, and when, despite my pleas to my government, a deaf ear was turned to the plight of an independent contractor missing in Iraq. It was too late for Nick when I got that phone call we all dread, a voice on the other end in Baghdad telling me his mutilated body was found hanging from an overpass on a high way near Baghdad.
And, it’s too late for me! It’s too late for me to get my son back! I should have become more active against this war sooner. I should have put myself out more, put myself on the line more and put stopping this illegal and immoral war higher on my list of must do things to get done.
But it’s not too late for you! It’s not too late for you! And it’s not too late for your sons and daughters, sisters and brothers, relatives and friends , and innocents whose families mirror your own in Iraq. It’s not too late if you act now.
Act now! Demand change from your government and this corporate society we live in. Apply the pressure now! Enlist today in the non-violent army started by the late Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, and through which he led so many Americans too freedom in this country four decades ago. Become a non-violent soldier in Dr. King’s army and work for change! If you are in that other Army up the road, go to www.peace-out.com and explore legal avenues to get out now.
Whichever Army you are in, declare yourself. Wear your colors. Talk to friends, neighbors, relatives and co-workers. Bring them to the next march, rally or vigil you attend. Stop listening to the corporate media, and start seeking out the truth about the horrors of this war. Write, sign, circulate and deliver petitions, and if they won’t let you deliver those petitions, do it anyhow as an act of non-violent civil disobedience. Issue sanctions against Exxon-Mobile, Wal Mart, K-Mart, Target and all of those companies who use profits that you give them to promote this evil administration and George Bush’s evil war. By local and buy small. Shop on Main Street and not in the mall! Cash in your war bonds! Divest yourself of war stocks and war mutual funds. Clean up your portfolio if you have one.
Doing some of these things is going to be hard. But your security and that of your loved ones has been breached. The day George Bush was declared president in the year 2000, we switched to the yellow level. The day he took office, to the orange level. And the day he invaded Iraq your level of insecurity jumped to the red level, and it will stay there until we bring the troops home.
Yes, doing some of the things I have done is going to be hard, but not harder than losing someone, forever, someone you love. Fourteen months ago, I never dreamed this war would affect me personally. I never thought my son would go to Iraq. I never thought his own government would wage war against him. I never thought he would die a barbaric death on videotape for all the world to see. And the families of other victims of this war and victims of the tragedy at the Twin Towers on September 11th, they never, we never, none of us ever saw it coming.
That is why you must act now to stop this war! By the time you are convinced that you could lose that person standing next to you or the one waiting at home for you, it may be too late! It was for Nick, my son, and it was too late for me! Don’t wait until you get that phone call! Act now to stop the war! Enlist in the nonviolent revolution now!
