ABSTRACT
The Gulf War had become a sickening media event. Fancy titles, trite roundtable discussions, and footage of flag-waving Americans filled airtime on certain stations, while the other broadcasters were relegated to situation comedy reruns. President Bush was determined to create patriotic nationalist riots against an enemy that most Americans didn't even know existed. I had never seen so many flags mounted on cars and briefcases and "Saddam, I'll kick your ass" baseball caps. I asked some middle school kids to locate Kuwait or Iraq on a globe. They responded with relatively little success, but were certain we were defending democracy. I began to question if Americans really needed a war to feel proud. Is blind killing of "different" or darker skinned people easier, more justifiable than killing people who look like the "majority?" Mter all, we tend to be horrified over the killing of a monkey or a dog, but not so much an ant or a flea.
