I read somewhere not too long ago that Professor Howard Zinn is the greatest living American.  Personally, I find that statement hard to argue with.  He has spoken eloquently and acted decisively against war, against the abuses and excesses of the powerful and on behalf of the powerless and dispossessed for his entire adult life.  I have the greatest admiration and affection for him. 

His is a voice of wisdom, compassion, understanding, humanity and above all great strength and conviction.  Following is a small excerpt from a talk he gave in Boston last November on the subject of "Holy Wars".  In it, he discusses the three "holy" American wars.  Wars that "cannot be criticized".  They are the Revolutionary War, The Civil War and World War II.  His purpose is to examine not just the usual outcome that everyone agrees is good, e.g. "we stopped Hitler", but to examine the real and very human cost of war, all wars and to realize that even the "good" wars come at too high a human cost and that the rest are just plain evil and their aims can be attained by other means. 

It is a lengthy talk of nearly an hour and can be found in it's entirety at Democracy Now's website at the URL below if you have the time and inclination.  It is certainly worth it in my opinion.

 http://www.democracynow.org/blog/2010/1/8/howard_zinn_three_holy_wars 

I have transcribed here the conclusion of his talk (please forgive any typos or other unintentional errors of transcription). I found it moving and compelling and wanted to share it with others in the hopes it might inspire and motivate and get people to think about the appalling atrocities being carried out right now in the name of the people of the United States: you and me, against the people of Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan.  Perhaps this will help open at least some eyes to the corruption our society has suffered by tolerating 60 years of militarism and pro-war propaganda.  Howard Zinn's personal experience as a bombardier in World War II, and the knowledge and perspective he has gained during a long lifetime of scholarship and activism speak very powerfully, IMHO, to the reality of our wars today. 

This talk was given November 11, 2009 at Boston University where Howard Zinn taught countless students for many years whose lives, like mine, were changed for the better by the experience.

When I was discharged from the army, from the air force, I got a letter from General Marshall.  He was the General of Generals.  He was sending a letter (not a personal letter to me) "Dear Howie..."   No, a letter was sent to 16 million men who had served in the armed forces, some women too, and the letter was something like this.  "We've won the war.  Congratulations for your service!  It will be a new world."   

It wasn't a new world. 

And we know it hasn't been a new world since World War II.

War after war after war after war and 50 million people were dead in that war to end all wars, to end fascism and dictatorship and militarism.  No.  So, yes, I came to the conclusion that war cannot be tolerated no matter what we're told.  And if we think there are good wars and that therefore maybe this is a good war I wanted to examine the so called "good wars", the holy wars yeah, and take a good look at that and think again about the phenomenon of war and come to the conclusion: yes, war cannot be tolerated.

No matter what we're told, what tyrant exists, what border has been crossed, what aggression has taken place.  It's not that we're going to be passive in the face of tyranny or aggression.  No!  But we'll find ways other than... war, to deal with whatever problems we have because war is inevitably, inevitably the indiscriminate massive killing of huge numbers of people and children are a good part of those people.

Every war is a war against children.

So it's not just getting rid of Saddam Hussein if you think about it.  Oh we got rid of Saddam Hussein.  In the course of it we killed huge numbers of people who had been victims of Saddam Hussein.  When you fight a war against a tyrant, who do you kill?  You kill the victims of the tyrant.

Anyway, all this... all this has been simply to make us think again about war and to think.  We're at war now!  Right?  In Iraq.  In Afghanistan.  And sort of in Pakistan since we're sending rockets over there and killing innocent people in Pakistan.  And, uh, so we should not accept that.

We should look for a peace movement to join.  Really!  Look for some peace organization to join.  It will look small at first and pitiful and helpless, but that's how movements start.  That's how the movement against the Vietnam War started.  It started with handfuls of people who thought they were helpless, thought they were powerless.

But remember, the power of the people on top depends on the obedience of the people below.  When people stop obeying: they have no power.  When workers go on strike, huge corporations lose their power.  When consumers boycott, huge business establishments have to give in.  When soldiers refuse to fight, as so many soldiers did in Vietnam, so many deserters, so many fraggings, acts of violence by enlisted men against officers in Vietnam.  B-52 pilots refusing to fly bombing missions anymore.  War can't go on when enough soldiers refuse, the government has to decide we can't continue.

So yes, people have the power if they begin to organize, if they protest, if they create a strong enough movement they can change things.  That's all I want to say.  Thank you.