Letter
Is a BBC/ABC documentary on Iran war propaganda?
B_eyond_ Vietnam, Martin Luther King’s strident anti-war address, is as relevant today as it was in 1967 because most of us are as disinclined to protest against government policy and conventional thinking as Americans were then.
As King said: “Even when pressed by the demands of inner truth, men do not easily assume the task of opposing their government’s policy, especially in a time of war. Nor does the human spirit move without great difficulty against all the apathy of conformist thought within one’s own bosom and in the surrounding world.”
Beyond Vietnam revealed the history of America’s nefarious involvement in Vietnam so it was not welcomed by the establishment.
It also gave considerable attention to the impact of America’s war on the lives of Vietnamese people - the ‘enemy’.
King’s speech challenges us.
Can we approach US foreign policy - which is Australia’s foreign policy, the UK’s, France’s, Germany’s, and of course Israel’s - in a similar way?
Can we critique ourselves; see through the insidious propaganda; and show empathy for the ‘enemy’, for all humankind?
Can we watch the BBC/ABC documentary Rage against the regime with critical eyes and not be lured towards a catastrophic war with Iran?
— Susan Dirgham from Melbourne