Imagine All The People
Living Life In Peace …

I am a fan of the Beatles. But, I can only sing one of its songs very well. It is called Imagine. The song was released in the United States on September 9, 1971 and in the United Kingdom on October 8, 1971.

I don’t really know why I enjoy singing Imagine by John Lenon, the great pop star, composer, songwriter, and recording artist. But I know, it is not because I want to “imagine there’s no heaven” or there is “no religion too.” As a Muslim, I believe in the existence of heaven and hell.

At the time John Lenon released Imagine, I was 24 years old. I was then an idealistic student leader. I hated war - the Vietnam War. I was very angry and sad to know that thousands and thousands of Vietnamese were killed by the U.S. soldiers.[i] More sorrowful and disgusting was when the U.S. soldiers used agent orange killing women and children too.[ii]

So, it was actually the Vietnam War and the deaths and sufferings of the Vietnamese during that war which make me love singing Imagine. I love the song because it has an anti-war message. And this message is still very relevant until today.

Therefore, let us read and digest the anti-war message contained in the lyrics below:

Imagine

John Lennon

Imagine there's no heaven

It's easy if you try

No hell below us

Above us only sky

Imagine all the people

Living for today...

Imagine there's no countries

It isn't hard to do

Nothing to kill or die for

And no religion too

Imagine all the people

Living life in peace...

You may say I'm a dreamer

But I'm not the only one

I hope someday you'll join us

And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions

I wonder if you can

No need for greed or hunger

A brotherhood of man

Imagine all the people

Sharing all the world...

You may say I'm a dreamer

But I'm not the only one

I hope someday you'll join us

And the world will live as one

Now, after we have just refreshed our memories of the above anti-war message, let us tell the U.S. President, George W Bush, to read and digest this anti-war message over and over again. Also ask him, is the war in Iraq today really about WMD?[iii] Is it really about the late President Saddam Hussein? Or is it really about Osama Bin Laden and the so-called Muslim terrorists? And, is the Iraq War going to be another Vietnam to the U.S.?

We know the very real motives behind the Iraq War. We also know the very real reasons for the Afghanistan War. We know how many tons of bombs containing depleted uranium (DU) [iv] were blatantly dropped from the air in both countries. We know what are the impact and effects of DU on human beings.

But, can we, the net-citizens of the world, stop the Iraq War? Can we stop the destructions, killings and sufferings in that country? Who can stop the US and its allies from escalating the war? Who is to be blamed for the further escalation of the war? The so-called Muslim terrorists or the sectarian leaders in Iraq?

I believe, we can contribute something to the restoration and maintenance of global peace if we are united. We must be able to firmly say no to war through diversified, but legal ways and means. We should consistently use the cyber media to campaign against war.

Let us unite. We are the world, we are the people… We must be able to decide on our own destiny and also the destiny of our future generations. Say no to war. And, please tell President Bush, no more Iraq, no more Afghanistan and no more war in the 21st century. We want no more killings and murders. We want all the people of the world “living life in peace!” – Ruhanie Ahmad.

Endnotes:

[i]... The Hanoi government revealed on April 4 that the true civilian casualties of the Vietnam War were 2,000,000 in the north, and 2,000,000 in the south. Military casualties were 1.1 million killed and 600,000 wounded in 21 years of war. These figures were deliberately falsified during the war by the North Vietnamese Communists to avoid demoralizing the population. - http://www.rjsmith.com/kia_tbl.html#press.

[ii]… Agent Orange was the nickname given to a powerful herbicide and defoliant used by the U.S. military in its Herbicidal Warfare program during the Vietnam War. Agent Orange was used from 1961 to 1971, and was by far the most used of the so-called "rainbow herbicides" used during the program. Degradation of Agent Orange (as well as Agents Purple, Pink, and Green) released dioxins, which are alleged to have caused harm to the health of those exposed during the Vietnam War… Since the 1980s, several lawsuits have been filed against the companies who produced Agent Orange, among them being Dow Chemical and Monsanto. U.S. veterans obtained $180 million in compensation in 1984, while Australian, Canadian and New Zealand veterans also obtained compensation in an out-of-court settlement the same year. In 1999, 20,000 South Koreans filed a lawsuit in Korea; in January 2006, the Korean Appeal Court ordered Monsanto and Dow to pay $62 million in compensation to about 6,800 people. However, no Vietnamese have obtained compensation, and on March 10, 2005 Judge Jack Weinstein of Brooklyn Federal Court dismissed the lawsuit filed by the Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange against the chemical companies that produced the defoliants/herbicides. – Wikipedia.

[iii] … In early October 2003, David Kay, the Bush administration’s chief investigator, formally told Congress that after searching for nearly six months, and spending more than $300 million, US forces and CIA experts had found no chemical or biological weapons in Iraq, and had discovered that the nation’s nuclear program was only “the very most rudimentary” state. – Eric Alterman & Mark Green: The Book On Bush: Viking 2004: Page 257.

[iv] … Two British journalists report the U. S. use of napalm, infamous from the Vietnam War, as well as depleted uranium-tipped weapons, which cause high rates of birth deformities, blood infctions, and cancer. According to a study by John Hopkin University researchers, an estimated 100000 Iraqi civilians have died as a result of the U.S. bombing and invasion. …Prof. Dough Rokke, ex-director of the Pentagon’s depleted uranium project and onetime U.S. army colonel who was tasked by the U.S. department of defense with the post-first Gulf War depleted uranium desert clean-up, said use of DU was a “war crime.” - Jeremy Brecher, Jill Cutler & Brendan Smith: In the Name Of Democracy American War Crimes In Iraq And Beyond: Metropolitan Book 2005: Page 37 & 43.