WAR, HUUH,WHAT IS IT GOOD FOR?

Rita: FRANK (Classic Ruins) ROWE’s son JAMES ROWE, who was once pictured in diapers in our 1985 pictorial publication Rock Jocks, is now a U.S. Marines combat infantry rifleman who does four combat patrols a day in al-Rubat, the triangle of death, in Iraq. We pray that James will return as healthy as he was when he left. Lolita, go ask everyone how they feel about this war. Lolita: I hope my camo fatigues won’t give anyone the wrong impression. Should I change into my Civil War uniform? No Pete, that’s not the Question of the Month, it’s “What should be done about the war in Iraq?” PETE CASSANI (The Peasants): Leave Iraq! What meathead had the idea of invading them in the first place? We are the Redcoats in this situation. Did they attack us? No. Were they threatening to invade America? No. We invaded them. We are the bully. They have every right to kill every American on their soil. The sooner we leave, the sooner it stops. Iraq is a moron’s sideshow. It’s had its play. Another idiotic chapter in America’s arrogant, power-hungry history. Congratulations meatheads! You’ve done it again. Now get the hell out! Peace! *** JOHN BEAUDETTE (Destroy Babylon): The first thing that needs to be done is a change in the White House; President Bush has shown only incompetence in dealing with the war, among many other issues, as well as a complete disregard for the American people’s desire to change the course in Iraq. There are more than enough reasons to impeach Bush AND Cheney, and it needs to happen immediately. Can we really afford to wait until January 2009? *** MINH T. LUONG (Dopamine Records): Being a refugee from Vietnam, I know first hand that the terrors of war. I would like to see U.S. troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan by the end of the year, and the prisoners, who are being denied their human rights, released from Guantanamo immediately. I would like to see provisions for Iraqi refugees who have been forced to flee their homes due to this illegal conflict. And I want a personal apology from the Bush administration for sending my friends and family members to fight for an unjust and unwinnable war. *** LIZ BORDEN (Liz Borden Band/ Bang Chicks): We should get out. We cannot fix Iraq. You can’t take thousands of years of one way of thinking and change it to how our government thinks it should be. Our government lied to get us over there, they lie to keep us there, and they continue to lie to cover up how badly they have messed up this war. I have noticed lately the news has been very minimal about the war. I think they are trying to keep a low profile or it is just old news right now and that is sad. Americans have forgotten how to protest. I think we are afraid to go out and voice our opinions and we need to do that. The 1960s and 1970s had some great peace movements. That is where we, the musicians can make a difference. Music reaches a lot of people. I end every set with the Ten Years After song, “I’d Love to Change the World.” I do change some of the words to make it more fitting to today but the last line is “stop the war.” That song worked then and it works now. *** CHUCK U. ROSINA (WMFO): What should be done about the war in Iraq is really not that difficult. Pack up our guns, tanks, and troops, and bring them home. Support our troops by allowing them to return to their families and their lives here. We were lied to getting into this mess (weapons of mass destruction), lied to when we were told “mission accomplished,” and lied to about bringing democracy to Iraq. If it’s about democracy, ask the Iraqis what they want. They want us to leave. And we want us to leave. The only obstacle is the Bush administration. Impeachment now! *** KEN FIELD (Revolutionary Snake Ensemble, Birdsongs of the Mesozoic): There are no good options for cleaning up the total mess that Bush/Cheney/Rumsfield and the neo-cons have made of Iraq; only less bad options. Bush would like to stretch out the U.S. involvement in Iraq past the end of his presidency so that he and the Republicans can blame the messy endgame on his successor, who is likely to be a Democrat (we hope!). He should not be allowed to do so. Despite the bad option of withdrawing U.S. troops, and likely resultant all-out civil war, it is less bad than continuing to lose lives and pour billions of dollars down a path that shows absolutely no evidence for future success. *** DAVID KIRKDORFFER (UNDO): We need to break the cycle of active violence and fanatical participation in the building of Iraqi society: I propose we give all children under the age of 18 free GameCubes, Xboxes and PlayStations. Also, we need to teach older Iraqis men how to play banjo and women how to grow pot. Finally, we need to give all Iraqis free ice cream! These bold initiatives would do much to bring peace to Iraq. Lolita: As silly as that sounds, it could be the most intelligent method to achieve peace that I’ve ever heard. With the money we spend on one F/A-22 Raptor we could supply enough GameCubes, Xboxes, PlayStations, banjos, and ice cream to last them for the next ten years. One jet for ten years of peace—sounds like a good use of taxpayers’ money.