Marvin Gaye’s 1971 song spoke of the madness of the Vietnam War. His timely lyrics should prompt us to work to end today’s senseless war in Iraq.
“What’s Going On?” A Vietnam-Era Song Rings True Today
By Marjorie Cohn 

In 1971, singer Marvin Gaye raised hackles when he tried to make sense of the madness of the Vietnam War by asking, “What’s Going On?” He sang:

Mother, mother/ There’s too many of you crying/ Brother, brother, brother/ There’s far too many of you dying/ You know we’ve got to find a way/ To bring some lovin’ here today — Ya/ Father, father/ We don’t need to escalate/ You see, war is not the answer/ For only love can conquer hate/ You know we’ve got to find a way/ To bring some loving’ here today.

The song, told from the perspective of a returning Vietnam veteran, was inspired by Gaye’s brother who had recently returned from that disastrous war.

Gaye would be asking the same question if he were alive today. Nearly 3,000 U.S. soldiers and tens of thousands of Iraqis have died. A brutal civil war continues to escalate, aggravated by intense opposition to the U.S. occupation. The Joint Chiefs of Staff, Colin Powell, General John Abazaid — commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East who just resigned — and the vast majority of the American people oppose sending more U.S. troops to Iraq. Yet George W. Bush is planning to do just that.

Even staunch Republicans like MSNBC anchor Joe Scarborough, who supported the war and voted twice for Bush, is asking what’s going on. On his December 20 show, Scarborough was appalled by Bush’s statement, “I encourage you all to go shopping more.” MSNBC analyst Mike Barnacle noted that “this President is isolated, delusional, and stubborn.” Bush’s “delusion,” according to Barnacle, is going to result in the deaths and carnage of our troops and people throughout the Middle East. “I don’t think [Bush] knows what he’s saying . . . He is totally isolated from reality,” Barnacle added. “The deaths of American soldiers now verges on the criminal.”

So what is going on? Former Nixon counsel John Dean recently told a San Diego audience he doesn’t think Bush is in charge — Cheney is running the government. “One of Dick Cheney’s geniuses is that he lets Dubya wake up every morning and think he’s President,” Dean noted. Cheney has set up his own National Security Council in the Vice President’s office, according to Dean. Decisions about budgets, personnel, etc., never get to the Oval Office. Cheney decides the important matters before they ever reach Bush’s desk, Dean said.

The report of the Iraq Study Group was not prepared by a bunch of radicals. It even recommended privatizing Iraq’s oil. But the group of 10 saw that more troops and shunning Iran and Syria is not the answer. What did Bush do? He dismissed the ISG report out of hand in favor of Cheney’s agenda.

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