Where are the Antiwar Voices?

 In our class, we learned that the United States engages in war in order to minimize the rights of US citizens. In times of war, civil liberties are limited. We find examples of liberties being limited all throughout US history. The one that stands out to me the most is during World War II when US Officials placed anybody of Japanese decent into Internment Camps. This created a lot of backlash for the US Government because a majority of the Japanese in the camps were US Citizens. The Bill of Rights is supposed to protect US citizens from harassment by the government, but in this case, it created a stigma against Japanese-Americans and other Asian-American groups. 

On ANTIWAR.com articles against acts of war are plentiful. There are articles that highlight the Biden Administration's plan to 'End' the war in Iraq. The author of the article, Bonnie Kristian, says that the end of the war is welcomed but long overdue. Kristian is mocking the United States efforts to end the war. There was another effort to remove all troops from Iraq in 2011, but the Obama Administration failed to do so. Kristian hopes that Biden will stick to his agenda which is "refusing to let the end of the war in Afghanistan in 2021 replicate the 'end' of the war in Iraq in 2011." 

On The American Conservative there are themes of realism and articles that support the removal of troops from Afghanistan even though Biden is leading the charge. In an article by Doug Bandow called Stop Treating Friends Like Foes, Bandow stresses that the US needs to cooperate with it's allies in the fight against China. Growing up in an American public school, we learned that the United States was key in both of the World Wars. Their relations with other super-power nations like Great Britain and Russia allowed the United States to make a significant impact in both wars. The United States' military powers trump every other nation by far, which is a benefit for allied countries such as India, the Philippines, and South Korea who are in range of China. We should be focusing on making peace rather than further the gap between our nations. 

When asked about why we don't see more of sites and news articles like this, I have to wonder is the US government interferes. Obviously, if a nation is going to war it has to have the support of its people. Citizens of that nation going to war will be majorly affected. If the citizens do not see the benefit to the war, why would they undergo major societal changes? Do we not see sites like these in mainstream media because the Government is trying to prevent more people from being educated on what is actually happening in our foreign affairs? If it is so, is that Constitutional? The Bill of Rights allows press freedom. We are allowed to speak our beliefs and opinions about what the government choses to do. By pushing Antiwar voices aside so that major news station can cover affairs briefly, most Americans wont see antiwar media. If a news stations agenda is to support war efforts, the US government wouldn't do anything to silence those voices, because they are in favor of what the nation is doing. I beleive that it is more common for antiwar voices to be silenced because it prevents the administration in office from achieving what they have set out to do. 

But again, the Bill of Rights protects our First Amendment rights of freedom of the press. Antiwar media IS allowed to be published, we just don't see it in mainstream media. This class is the first time that I have actually heard of Antiwar.com and The American Conservative. They are not as popular as CNN, Fox News, and the New York Times, so their voices aren't heard as clearly. By allowing antiwar media to be published, the government isn't interfering with the journalists' First Amendment right. Though, it is still suspicious that anti war voices aren't heard as frequently. Authors like Doug Bandow who have served under former US Presidents aren't writing for major news stations like Fox News. With so much experience and expertise, I would expect that Bandow to have more of a platform. To close, all throughout my reading on both sites and my writing of this blog post, my suspicion of the US limiting free speech has grown. Are there more media sources that cover controversial topics that don't share the same platform as major news stations, and are they too silenced?