Stand Up for Peace in the Middle East on October 11 at the Boston Common

Some ideas become such no-brainers that there really isn't a point in further discussion. This kind of folk wisdom certainly explains why the majority of Americans support ending the U.S. war on Iraq. And that's why Open Media Boston encourages all our viewers to turn out on the Boston Common on Saturday, October 11 for a Rally and March to "Stand Up for Peace in the Middle East." Being anti-war has become a matter of simple common sense.

It is now generally accepted that the primary reason for prosecuting the illegal invasion and occupation of the sovereign nation of Iraq - flawed though its government may have been - was undertaken on behalf of U.S.-based energy corporations wishing to continue their control Middle Eastern oil and natural gas supplies.

It is now generally understood that the cost of the Bush administration-inspired, Congress-backed military adventure has been over half a trillion dollars - which will rise to over 3 trillion dollars in overall expenditures even if conflict were to end today, according to Nobel economics laureate Joseph Stiglitz. This cost has accelerated the economic collapse that is now gripping our nation and our planet.

It is an unarguable fact that over 4,000 U.S. military service people have given their lives for this War for Oil, and that over 100,000 Iraqis have been forced to do the same. This unconscionable waste of human life, coupled with the destruction of Iraqi infrastructure and the plunging of much of that benighted country into pre-industrial conditions has made the U.S. a pariah to much of the world's population.

For these and many other reasons, the latest polls continue the public opinion drumbeat of the last couple of years - over 60 percent of Americans consistently state that the Iraq War has been a mistake, and a solid number support immediate withdrawal of all U.S. forces from the region.

Despite these facts, both major American political parties support continued occupation of Iraq - although the Democrats are continuing to offer vague time table for withdrawal and trying to refocus military efforts on Afghanistan - where the even longer term U.S. occupation for similar reasons of regional control over energy resources have led most of the peace movement to call for an immediate end to that conflict as well.

So it is critical that everyone turn out to the Common to show your opposition to these illegal and immoral wars. Don't wait until the election is over. Don't assume that either political party is going to stand up to the energy cartel - wedded as it is to continuing to make obscene profits from fossil fuels until every last drop is burned into our already polluted skies.

Stand up for peace in the Middle East! Stand up for justice. We'll see you there.

For more info on the rally, check out http://www.oct11boston.org.