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What Is to Be Done? Assessing the Antiwar Movement
Remember February 15, 2003?
That day saw the largest coordinated global demonstrations in the history of the world. Ten million people from more than 60 countries sent a clear message to Washington that the world was saying no to a U.S. war against Iraq. The newest manifestation of the antiwar movement seemed finally ahead of the game. But when the Bush Administration ignored us, what were we to do next? This was no easy question, and organizers understandably struggled with direction, tactics and strategy.
Five years on, we have some assessing to do. Despite the dedication of many, our successes have been quite limited. We have been unable to translate popular antiwar sentiment into popular antiwar action. We have been unable to build the kind of grassroots political power strong enough to apply pressure to end the occupation.
Over the past several months, as part of an organizational assessment project initiated by the War Resisters League, I've had the opportunity to speak to 90 grassroots organizers and activists from across the country. Many of them work explicitly on issues of war and peace, while others focus on other issues, including labor, economic justice, gender justice, racial justice and the environment. We asked them about the biggest constraints they face in building a stronger and more effective peace movement and how it can become a more diverse, cross-class and multiracial peace movement.
What we found was that a cross-section of organizers from diverse groups across the country -- local efforts like the Port Militarization Resistance in the northwest; constituency-based organizations like U.S. Labor Against the War, Veterans for Peace and the Women of Color Resource Center; and national coalitions like United for Peace & Justice -- are grappling with similar issues related to demographics, cultural constraints, strategy and capacity.
The movement has a demographic problem and an image problem (and they're related).
"Military members represent a diversity in society that movement people often don't. And I've always had that struggle as a former military person myself, that I've been in rooms where I look at everyone and I think, 'You guys freak me out. I can't relate to where you're coming from.'"
-- Aimee Allison, veteran and coauthor of Army of None.
Widespread opinion against the war does not equal a large-scale identification with a peace or antiwar movement. Some organizers even disputed the use of the term antiwar "movement," questioning whether we have a solid enough base of people taking collective action to even constitute a movement.
Many of the people I spoke to sensed that a majority of Americans -- and particularly working-class people and communities of color -- felt alienated from the white, counterculture image of the peace/antiwar movement.
Some of the problem lies with how the media broadcasts the narrative of "hippies" and "the sixties" and makes "activists" and "protesters" an alien identity -- as opposed to portraying activism and protest as actions reasonable people take when they're fed up. At most antiwar demonstrations, however, there's no short supply of folks providing images and sound bites that enable the media to run with this angle.
Some organizers suggested that we are so used to holding a minority position, that we have become emotionally attached to a marginalized identity. We have to breathe in the new political climate, realize that some of our positions are now popular, start connecting with more people, and re-imagine ourselves as winners.
We need to focus less on big demonstrations, and more on organizing a base and building leadership.
"I think that a big obstacle to the antiwar movement building stronger, longer-term institutions is the politics of the philanthropy community. So much of movement infrastructure has been professionalized and is anchored by nonprofits in this country -- some quite effectively, some quite destructively. The antiwar movement lacks access to the millions of dollars of philanthropy money going into different social change ventures. That limits the antiwar movement's ability to create the kind of basic infrastructure and organizing that would help turn popular antiwar sentiment into action."
-- Patrick Reinsborough, smartMeme Strategy & Training Project
As a trend, organizers felt weary of mass rallies and marches in this political moment. No one in power seems to be listening, and national demonstrations seem to get less and less media coverage. A number of people pointed out that local demonstrations and other forms of local action often get more bang for the buck with media.
In addition, large rallies are resource-intensive, and the antiwar movement has a shortage of money, staff, infrastructure and leadership. Some organizers noted how the peace movement, in comparison to the labor movement, the environmental movement, and community organizing efforts, has fewer jobs and resources.
As social movements have institutionalized largely as nonprofits over the past decades, this lack of "peace jobs" is no small factor for the peace movement. One organizer described how he got involved in activism through issues of war and peace, but as he acquired the skills to stick with organizing for the long haul, he went to work with an environmental organization because that's where the organizing jobs were.
As a result of this and other related resource factors, some classic models of organizing widely used in the labor movement -- like identifying a target constituency, organizing some of them into a membership base, and developing the leadership of some members to continue to build an organization and base -- are known or practiced by few in the peace movement. Many interviewees encouraged national organizations to focus more on supporting the leadership and skills development of local organizers and groups.
The growing GI movement is likely to play a critical role in ending the war.
"The majority of the military is working class, and there are connections there that we have not capitalized on. I think that even the construction worker with the American flag sticking on his helmet probably has a pretty negative opinion of the war and probably knows somebody who got fucked up over there. If the Longshoremen received a phone call from Iraq Veterans Against the War saying, 'We'd like to talk to you guys about possible action,' we would probably get a response, out of respect for the veteran part of it. I think the opportunity is almost ripe for the picking, and that's probably the next step."
-- Jose Vasquez, Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW), NYC Chapter President
We interviewed members of IVAW, Veterans for Peace, Service Women's Action Network and other organizers who are military veterans. We also asked all of our interviewees about the role of soldiers, veterans and their families in ending the war, and also how others can best support their efforts. Most everyone we talked with felt that soldiers, vets and their families are uniquely positioned to organize in ways that others sometimes cannot, particularly in organizing active-duty GIs.
For a number of reasons, some problematic, they are also seen as some of the most credible critics of the war, and our interviewees unanimously saw them as effective spokespeople. Some folks viewed them primarily as spokespeople, while the veterans we interviewed were more excited about organizing other soldiers and vets. Because they are seen by many in the peace/antiwar movement primarily as spokespeople rather than organizers, people often viewed support as having them speak at an event or be at the front of a march.
Veterans' groups tended to describe support more practically; lending a hand with logistics, raising money, and the like. Some veterans saw themselves as particularly well positioned to connect with working class constituencies, and help build a broad-based movement.
For example, IVAW is crossing a critical threshold, moving from what has for a long time functioned essentially as a speakers' bureau of antiwar vets into a chapter-building organization with skilled organizers who are increasingly focused on active duty soldiers.
• • •
While it's easy to be critical of the current peace/antiwar movement, it is important to point out that a lot of its leadership shares these critiques but often lacks the capacity to correct the problems. It's also important to recognize that some of the most critical organizing work is not made for television, but is the unglamorous jobs of developing leadership and building relationships and a base. We need more organizing -- enough of it to leverage political power -- but let's start by amplifying what's already happening, rather than starting from scratch.
To read the full WRL Listening Process report, visit http://warresisters.org/listeningprocess
Matthew Smucker is the national field organizer for War Resisters League and coordinates WRL's GI resistance support work.
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107 Comments so far
Show AllThe article answered its own question and then ignored the answer.
The anti-war movement is getting no traction because the completely co-opted mainstream media maintains a pro-war attitude in service of this administration. Anti-war activity will receive negative coverage if it receives any at all.
For the Republicans, this war is and has been a hugely successful business venture. The anti-war folks need to figure out how to make waging wars less profitable for them.
jj
'As a trend, organizers felt weary of mass rallies and marches in this political moment.'
What kind of 'organizers' are these then? Here are 'leaders' who fear and disdain to organize large numbers of people in large public displays of protest! The writer of this commentary himself seems to be one of these do-nothing 'organizers' that have deliberately braked the antiwar movement.
I would say that the real problem in leadership is the death clutch that liberal religious pacifists and the Democratic Party crowd currently have on Movement policy and strategy. They are anti turning out the people.
Well, this article has a couple interesting points; as stated above, the main problem in this country is the anti-war sentiment/movement all became Obama believers, they opted for a messiah, rather than an anti-war movement.
And now that he's secured the nomination, Obama, of course, has quickly abandoned his pretense to progressivism or populism.
You Obama believers should be ashamed.
Look, the powers that be have an enormous stake in maintaining the status quo, and they have figured out that they can safely ignore large and small peace demonstrations. We are essentially harmless as far as they are concerned. We represent no threat whatever. Zero. The public at large does regard us as marginal, as Smucker rightly notes, and we have collaborated in and even embraced that identity. This helps these same powers enormously--they can simply write us and our arguments off as "extreme." And because we have never learned to communicate effectively with the unpoliticized general public, the label sticks. End of conversation. Nothing changes. I'm glad WRL and others are finally, finally starting to engage with this problem. As I have said elsewhere, I ain't marching anymore. But do let me know when you start planning something that is likely to have a real impact, something they can't ignore and that large numbers of ordinary folk can get behind and participate in.
This call for more on-the-ground nuts-and-bolts organizing goes in exactly the right direction. It needs to be followed up with a detailed organizing how-to and honest discussion about getting resources that don't come from foundations, etc. that then co-opt the "movement" within the organizing effort.
Thanks to Matthew Smucker for his honesty. It is in pretty short supply among the usual suspects who dominate (a dying) movement.
It doesn't matter how many people march as long as the corporations that profit from war own most US Senators and Congressional representatives, and the US electorate continues to vote for these people.
As long as most of the US electorate continues to respond favorably to marketers' fear and greed tactics, the corporations will continue to win.
They were huge demonstrations, but paraphrasing Yogi Berra, If the news cameras won't come, how are we going to stop them?
The Bush administrations wasn't the only organization that paid no attention to the anti-war movement. The Democratic party also ignored us and the MSM as well. I think the most effective demonstrations should be at the headquarters of the major networks such as CBS, NBC, MSNBC, and of course FOX. Large demonstrations here would get more attention and also serve as possible picket lines where any employed there with a conscience might not want to cross. In this way, when major stories such as the no-bid contracts for the oil companies, complicency on torture, complicency on illegal spying, waste of billions of our tax dollars on inside contracts in Iraq with billions missing or squandered, we can demand that they cover these issues. Most business abhor the thought of hundreds of shouting people standing on their doorsteps causing a disturbance. They have their own "pr" to worry about and this is their weakness.
I have to disagree.
There is no anti-war movement. There are isolated protests.
Anti-war America is completely impotent. The biggest bite they have is painting their hands red, spray painting recruiters windows, and writing letters. OOOH I'm sure that they're shaking in their boots over that!
An anti-war movement is when a hundred thousand people mass in front of the White House angrily protesting. An anti-war movement burns like a wildfire through high schools and colleges nationwide. (The students are a VITAL part of it) An anti-war movement is a nationwide organized protest. An anti-war movement GETS the attention of congress and FORCES change.
Our great anti-war movement consists of small groups of people bitching on the internet about the "war" and our congress. Those in our government can just say "So?" at that. Kind of hard to say "So?" if 500,000 people are screaming outside your gates.
That isn't happening. So all this crap goes on until we make it stop. But let's not lie to ourselves about our non-existant "anti-war movement". We have to be honest with ourselves first.
Thank you Matthew, for your comments regarding the so-called antiwar movement.
Alas, 'tis not just the antiwar movement orgs and people who are suffering from a "what can we do that will motivate and more importantly, ACTIVATE people?" syndrome.
Most nonprofits and orgs are hurting these days, not just the "antiwar movement" orgs.
I'd like to say: "say it ain't so," but the day has come when "trashy" protests and in-your-face actions may likely become a thing of the past. And no I'm not caving in to the corporate media or the gu'mint or the corporations who rule us and 'Merica!
Perhaps we need a revolutionary change in our strategies and tactics, and yes, if I knew what it was, I'd offer it up instantly.
As an individual person, not an org, working on an issue--dark skies and light pollution (I know, I know, "who cares?"), I'm always amazed by how many people say they are 100% in agreement with my cause and my fight, but never step up to do anything, to take even the tiniest baby steps toward bringing about change, even turning off one single nighttime light--permanently.
My latest attempt to motivate and educate people via my website (Reflection and Refraction 14) is soon to be put online; but deep down inside, I know it has been a waste of time to bother writing it, or worse, thinking that anything I or any other person does will work to bring about substantial and lasting change.
Will I stop working on my dark sky issue or the many other issues I'm involved with, including bringing my former students home safe and happy? NO! Only death will stop me, and maybe not even death, as I have lots of former students who are aware of the issues I spend my retirement fully engaged with.
I've been against the Iraq war and how the Afghanistan war has been handled since the beginning, mainly because I have many former students who've been placed in "harm's way," and some of them have already lost so much.
I long for every person involved with an issue to press forward with all possible dispatch to think of new ways to bring success over the Powers That Be and bring a desperately needed change to the country we all love!
http://www.darkskyinitiative.org
There is only one true anti war protest:
DO NOT PARTICIPATE IN A WAR OF AGGRESSION IN ANY MANNER................ALL WARS OF AGGRESSION ARE ILLEGAL...........
With perhaps the exception of WW11 (perhaps) all the other wars this nation has engaged in were illegal wars of aggression.
Until everyone who is opposed to these acts of "universal violence"--- acts to not only protest them, but oppose them with their actions---- they will continue.
One method (untried) would be to hold ALL participants responsible. If for example, the current administration had been expected to lead the way---not in words but by being there, in the combat zone, out in front etc---there would never have been a single shot fired. In the same sense----the Generals, without Colonels, Lt. Cols, Majs and so forth, would not give an order that no one would follow............
The people who fight these wars are just as responsible as those who sign the orders.
The air force pilots who drop the munitions on the innocent (collateral damages) should be held responsible; when they return and retire they should not be allowed to have a decent retirement---------except after serving their sentences.
The people who perform the torture, as well as those who order it should be held responsible---------jail time.
"I was just following orders" is a laughable defense in a criminal proceeding, in even the lowest court in this country. It should apply to those who participate on any level in such a war. Jail time, no expectations of any kind of decent life---no peace after participating in a war of aggression.
This may seem harsh, but if practiced, it would put an end to such behavior in the future---------and peaceful methods of settling differences would be the ONLY alternative.............since no one would want to participate in an illegal war of aggression----because it would not be worth it.
Hold General "Jones" responsible for following the orders to go to war by giving orders to subordinates to go to war, and everyone else down to Pvt "Smith" responsible for following them------------
Any war of aggression is by nature, as well as international treaty---an ILLEGAL WAR.....
The US Military Code of conduct recognizes the obligation of every member of the military to disobey an illegal order.........
In criminal justice proceedings---world wide----the driver of the getaway car at the bank robery, is just as guilty as the robbers.....
This is not impracticle, it is not insane----if one country attacks another, the country under attack has every right to defend itself----no country has the right to attack another.
How big is the anti-war movement? How would we even know? I remember being in a march in Washington, DC during the Vietnam war. I estimated the crowd at 10 times the "official" estimate. I just came and marched. I didn't belong to a group. I was not counted as being there by anyone. In fact, 9 out of 10 of the people who were there weren't counted.
If the M$M (mean scheme media) isn't going to report the facts, how do we know what's going on.
Smucker writes:
"Many of the people I spoke to sensed that a majority of Americans — and particularly working-class people and communities of color — felt alienated from the white, counterculture image of the peace/antiwar movement.
Some of the problem lies with how the media broadcasts the narrative of "hippies" and "the sixties" and makes "activists" and "protesters" an alien identity — as opposed to portraying activism and protest as actions reasonable people take when they're fed up. At most antiwar demonstrations, however, there's no short supply of folks providing images and sound bites that enable the media to run with this angle."
I am sssooo sick of hearing this lame excuse. Do ya think maybe it is time a lot of blue-collar people grow up and shed their stupid anti-intellectualism, and start educating themselves about what is really going on, and learn to see the Big Picture?
Back around 1905, during the days of the Wobblies, members of the Labor class used to self-organize study groups and actually read books and actually learn to engage in a radical investigation and critique of the capitalist system that was exploiting them to death.
If someone lets the medias negative spin on "the 60"s and "hippies" control their mind, they have no one to blame for being stupidly uninformed but themselves! I mean look at the implications - Smucker is basically saying that present day "activists" and "protesters" look or seem "unreasonable", to which I say, stop making excuses for the sheeple who dont have the guts to see just how brainwashed they have become. Sheesh - enough already!
The last antiwar demonstration I went to at our state capital was a depressing affair, I'm afraid. I think it was last year's anniversay. I didn't go this year.
The turn out was low. I'd heard all the speeches before. It had a tired going-through-the-motions feeling. Most of the signs were mass-produced by the organizers, giving it a mass-produced feel.
There were noticeably fewer college students and other young people.
The speeches focused on "your tax dollars wasted," "american wounded", poor care for veterans, and the imperative of impeachment ...
The rap artist performed about the legacy of Huey Newton as a great leader ... I was a bit confused by this. (I now think she had seen the FSTV special, which by chance I saw a couple months later, at the time I was just rather baffled.) Her CD was for sale.
Maybe we all need a refresher course in those "idealistic things" like brotherhood, equality, helpfulness ... even the "golden rule" ... then maybe we could hold a children's celebration and paint faces and remember how to smile ... maybe progress to laughter... and pass it on.
Something has been lost. I don't know if we need to "get it back" or find some new way forward.
All ideas presented here are valid; role of MSM, etc. But you can only change what you do, not what others do. The anti-war movement has, for better or worse, been associated with the 60's counterculture. I don't even want to argue about why. The first thing to do is start talking about peace, liberty, anti-torture as if they were American values. The Left itself feeds the stereotype by calling these "leftist" values. They are NOT. They are American values and they are universal human values. And if goofy puppets turn people off, stop using them. And stop using the anti-war movement to promote all sorts of other agendas. We need consensus to move forward. Matt Taibbi has said protestors should all wear black.
Can't get coverage on the news? Buy strategic billboard space and show a picture of the protest. Just some places to start. Everyone needs to start thinking strategically in a whole new way.
Finally, What is the goal? Is it to get us out of Iraq, (and put us where?), change foreign policy in general, or demilitarize before we are devoured completely? Clarifying the goal might increase the movement.
Resources:
I strongly support the work of IVAW, VFP, et. al.
However it should be remembered that military and former military members receive direct financial support from the government (salary, pension).
The same can be said of paid many union and political organizers.
Few peace and antiwar activists are similarly paid, and resource constraints remain an issue to the type of organizing that is needed.
As the peace movement grows, albeit however slowly, so will its resources, abilities and impacts.
P.S. Americans are projected to contribute more than $1B to the current presidential election cycle.
Charlie Jackson, founder
Texans for Peace
The Sixties : The Sequel, didn't do well at the box office? No it is NOT the sixties. What went on then was an era of discovery whether civil rights or anti war, the sixties were propelled by repeated assassinations and assaults on our sense of who we were as free Americans like Kent State.
Walter Cronkite was shocked at finding tiger cages in Vietnam. Now we torture openly and claim it is legal too. There were no mistakes like Kent State. No terrible blows to the body politic like when Martin L. King was assassinated. Not this time. Plus...No draft, no sacrifice, no visibility except for embeds, ergo...no war.
Why can't we recreate the sixties...? We didn't really create the sixties, they created the sixties and this time they didn't make the same mistakes.
Perhaps what is needed is something other than the 'classic' model of the sixties. Back then we didn't try to create something according to some previous model, we just winged it and used what we could and looked to see what worked. Imagine us with the internet back then...wow!
We have astounding tools not available then yet we focus on a time when without them people did so much.
I think we do need to start from scratch. The sixties model doesn't fit. In one sense the assassination of MLK eventually ended the war because everyone knew something was seriously wrong in 68 and never forgot it.
Marches have their place but are not the end game like they were in the sixties. Now marches aren't even marches. Protests kept blocks away and herded behind railings... um... no that wasn't the sixties by any means.
Do people organize to recreate the sixties? Maybe that's the problem. We didn't try to create the sixties back in the sixties. We were winging it.
Cooler heads (nonviolent organizers) kept us focused back then. There was fire (excitement) and anger too not just peace and love. Now it seems the cooler heads are the ones trying to generate some fire and are looking for the anger which was so much a part of the sixties but it is NOT...the sixties. No assassinations, no Kent States...no anger.
Start from scratch and wing it. See what works, not try to make old models work again. Heck look at how many progressive sites fail to even publicize protests and actions.
It ain't the sixties. Let's try something newer.
Organize the net?
>>>>>> Back around 1905, during the days of the Wobblies, members of the Labor class used to self-organize study groups and actually read books and actually learn to engage in a radical investigation and critique of the capitalist system that was exploiting them to death.
.... back in the '60s SDS and the PLP did the same ...
Pre-2000, as I recall, Catholic Worker was in a resurgence ... and the Fellowship for Reconciliation, the Budhist Peace Fellowship were very active pre-2000 ... and still are ...
If any members are here, I'd love to know "how's it going" in the "faith-based" community and what your insights are.
Jsc - seriously, what planet are you living on? American values? The America that slaughtered the Indians and built itself on slavery and has opposed every real democratic-socialist revolution and movement on the planet (and at home), intervening with either sabotage, political manipulation, economic warfare, low -intensity or high- intensity warfare or some combinations thereof?
Universal values? Seems to me the whold definition of rightwing - I'd prefer to use the term regressive - is the macho tough-guy propensity to be willing to shoot first and ask questions later. Of championing the right of the State - ya know, The State, which is owned by the Ruling Class - to engage in violence against one and all.
Hate to tell you but, the 60's counterculture was the FIRST mass, global uprising of democratic values in our known history. True, this was due to a combination of mass media, mass affluence and mass education, but prior to that there was never any broad protest against the full range of injustices and dead-end policies: racism, sexism, ecological destruction and pollution, deep critique of capitalism and technocracy and etc.
So my advice to all those who have problem with the 60's is: grow the hell up, and give credit where credit is due: us hippies were right about just about everything. Some of us even kept our minds free - whilst others sold-out - and warned that Reagan represented the right-wing...ur, regressive ruling classes attempt to roll-back the progressive-democratic gains of the 60's because they thought that this country was suffering too much democracy.
And last but not least, I do not think I have ever heard a rightwinger seriously denounce that mind control opiate of the people - christianity (or any conventional religion for that matter) - for its role in keeping people stupid, docile and easily ruled.
If not for the "left" we would presently be living under a theocratic system characterized by The Divine Right Of Capital, or in other words, total control by a Ruling Class, which is exactly where we may end up because too many people in this country are too brainwashed to see what is happening right in front of their noses, and too busy worrying about whether opposing the corporate satae is too *hippy* or whatever. Regards, Kitaj
The Iraq war, which we started in 1991, has been a magnificent success for corporations and Capitalism. Just follow the money. War, death, destruction and weapons are the life-blood of the U$A. Making war is a lot more profitable than making widgets.
Don't misunderstand my point of view. I am one who was arrested and put on Trial for protesting the war. BUT, until people start opposing ALL parts of the war machine, including those who work for corporations involved in weaponry and the troops, wars will continue.
I have thought that rather than a self-serving "anti-war movement" ... an Iraqi humanitarian aid movement might generate more enthusiasm and better (more tangible) results... as was "Voices in the Wilderness"... y'know before federal charges and all...
Back in the sixties EVERY local antiwar group would publish their newspaper. A few articles, some cut and paste clips (back when you actually had to physically cut and then paste), some letters and comments etc. They were our internet and only means of mass communication with a few exceptions like Pacifica etc.
One thing all the local groups newspapers had was a BULLETIN BOARD which would list upcoming protests and actions around the country. You could plan ahead to attend a march.
Why in this age of the internet when there are tens of thousands of progressive sites, don't they share a bulletin board? Organize the progressive sites on the net and you'd see a united movement grow.
Many sites publicize protest actions only after they have occurred. See the problem organizers?
Organize the net. The net has organized us and we are all linked up... just not together. We need to be organized, I'd say.
As long as progressive sites do not actively organize their readers then ... what kind of movement is this? The trouble is not our being unable to communicate easily like back in the sixties but that even though we have instant (mass media) communication at our fingertips...it is not the organizing tool it could be.
Organizers back then would have organized the net and readers would have demanded it from their favorite progressive sites.
It's what is really missing in this modern peace movement. Unity. This generation is on the NET. The peace movement organizers have left it alone. Peace groups put up a site and that is that.
How about a universal bulletin board giving advanced notice of actions around the country.
That would help a lot.
Jsc: "But you can only change what you do, not what others do."
&
BugsBBunny III: "The Sixties : The Sequel, didn't do well at the box office? No it is NOT the sixties."
Very interesting posts, thank you.
jsc June 26th, 2008 4:19 pm
This in particuluar,
"The first thing to do is start talking about peace, liberty, anti-torture as if they were American values. The Left itself feeds the stereotype by calling these "leftist" values. They are NOT. They are American values and they are universal human values."
But this post in general makes the most sense.
The only thing I would disagree with is "All ideas presented here are valid" There are some I wouldn't say that about.
Wearing all black isn't that good an idea, there are still a great number of folks that take offense at someone wearing all black.
BugsBBunny III June 26th, 2008 5:00 pm
I wasn't here for those things, but I'm sure you are right. Once again very sensible.
United for Peach and Justice is a pretty good central clearing house ...
http://www.unitedforpeace.org/
I know a poster who put their name and number on this thread TWICE and said they would march on DC and wanted others to join. Said they would picket the White House and DEMAND IMPEACHMENT but sought numbers:
ZERO CALLS COMMON DREAMERS! NOT ONE OF YOU DIALED THAT NUMBER TO ACTUALLY DO SOMETHING.
Have fun blogging.
But don't march on DC or even check it out-NONE OF YOU COMMON DREAMERS, not one, responded to two attempts to organize. YOU ARE THE PROBLEM. HELLO, SELF-REFLECT.
Pathetic Gutless Hypocrisy.
I think it was Naomi Klein (if not it was some other female author with similar demographic) who reported that when she was on her book tour (Shock Doctrine) she kept being approached by people with tears in their eyes, who simply broke down ... so great was the dispair ...
As I recall, she was rather shocked and appalled that this KEPT happening across the country ... wishing rather that people would "take action" ...
There can be no real anti-war movement as long as the slo-motion genocide in Palestine continues to be ignored by so many so-called leaders of this nascent movement.
Zionism and peace do not mix. Thus, our anti-war movement has been rendered a transparent, hypocritical circle jerk.
STILL COMMITTING WAR CRIMES, KILLING CIVILIANS
(and getting away with it)
U.S. Attacks Kill 8 Iraqis, Including Family
At least eight Iraqi civilians have been killed in separate attacks from U.S. forces. On Wednesday, a family of five died when a U.S. helicopter struck their home in Tikrit. Both parents were killed along with their three children all under ten years old. Another five people were injured in a neighboring home. Also Wednesday three Iraqi bank workers were killed when U.S. forces shot their car near Baghdad's airport. Meanwhile at least seven civilians were injured when a car bomb exploded in central Baghdad.
Can you imagine if these were Israelis that were being bombed and shot? They'd lob nukes all over the place with the help of the U.S., but because they're Arabs it's OK with the imperialists.
Which Pentagon official was it that said "We don't do body counts" when asked how many Iraqis were killed by the U.S.?
Israel is at the Nexus for discord in the world.
When Oil, Trillions of Dollars, hundreds of nuclear weapons and a stolen country and displaced people are well mixed, you have our Middle East.
With a homeland for the Palestinians, this horrible chapter in human history that effects SO much, as opeluboy notes, could pass.
The ME could achieve harmony and by this I mean Israel as well.
Israel has been the winner materially these last 50-60 years, but it is gutted spiritually.
A country feared and loathed.
And zionists, this by Israel's actions, not anti-semitism.
New actions, new attitudes from others.
I swear.
Well, my small community in Illinois took a busload of people to the demos in Washington, DC in Jan. 2003, and Sept 2005. There were hundreds of thousands of people at each one. The media ignored or downplayed the numbers.
We have a chapter of IVAW here. One thing they did in the 60s was to organize support groups for dissident GIs. They had coffee houses near many military bases where GIs could go and be exposed to antiwar thought.
Give GIs that you know 9-11 truth videos. Many of them are so brainwashed that they think they are fighting "terrorists".
I personally confront every military person I know when they start spouting "we fight for your freedom" bullshit. I point out that Iraqis did not vote for the Patriot Act, or for the suspension of habeus corpus. This propaganda should not go unchallenged! You never know whose eyes you will open.
Everyone in the US is exposed constantly to the propaganda that the US invades other countries "for our freedom". This is clearly wrong, and many people just need it pointed out to them. It is easier now that our freedom is so obviously been curtailed.
Not just the Patriot Act, but many people like to go to Cancun. Point out that now they need a passport! They can't go on Carribean cruises now without a passport. What happened to their so-called freedom?
Many people have to pee in a cup to get a job. How is that free? Many people now have to be fingerprinted and background checked. How is that free?
Checkpoints. Cops tasering and killing at will. 2,000,000 people in prison, more than any other country in the world?
It's easy to deconstruct the bullshit with people's day to day knowledge. It just has to be pointed out to them.
Oh, and Stargeezer, when I moved into my house it had an obnoxious "security" light at night. For a while I left it, because my friend told me that hers attracted bats to the insects. But, no bats, so now, no light.
A single cause movement such as one tied to the war in Iraq will never go anywhere on a national scale. The Republican party, in its earliest manifestations in the 1850's, was more than just the party of anti-slavery. It had the free soil issue and small farmers, at the local leverage point -who were tremendous in number-as its base. The party grew tremendously early on because it latched onto the overwhelming emotional attachment for people's feelings about slavery.
The war in Iraq has the same emotional investment as slavery perhaps for those of us who are in opposition but we have no party base; barriers to forming a new one cannot be blamed entirely on the locked down media. Money is the issue but finding a way free of campaign money that rules the system has yet to be discovered. All political campaigns, even Naders' run on huge piles of the greenback. We who are progressives need to look to our own lack of involvement in local politics as the real culprit; we passively allow city, county and state government bodies to set policy and then try to mount a podium on the national platform. Won't work!
Back to the local barricades and trenches!
lisa3210peace June 26th, 2008 5:57 pm
"Pathetic Gutless Hypocrisy."
Hunger Strikes?
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/06/25/9878/
I've been 'working' in the peace movement since 2002. I started out with optimism, enthusiasm. First march, Los Angeles, over 75,000 strong. I was amazed, inspired, hopeful...THERE WOULD BE NO WAR!
Then the end of the march came. You all know. There were speakers and music.
And I was looking forward to hearing about how to attain PEACE! But instead, I was hit over the head with an abundance of causes...Free Mumia, Free Palestine, Impeach the President, .....I was, to say the least, confused, put off. There were hawkers pushing their merchandise...pins, flags, t-shirts, bumper stickers. Buckets were passed around seeking monetary donations...for what cause?
PEOPLE WERE VYING FOR THE SPOTLIGHT!
I looked around. My enthusiasm waned. I was put off. I felt betrayed.
Where were those who came to the march seeking peace? I felt out of touch.
I felt insignificant. But most of all, I felt like getting the hell out of there!
But I didn't give up on the peace movement. And the war began. And we held our local vigils. And we held our yearly Out of Iraq marches. And the numbers diminished. And Mumia still needed to be freed. And the hawkers were still out and about. And the screams by speakers about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, about police injustices, about women's rights, about targeting select politicians...and the NEED FOR THOSE TO BE IN THE SPOTLIGHT, TO BE THE STARS...were all still there! It had become even more
confusing to me, an organizer, an activist, a photographer/videographer.
Effective Peace Movement?
Scott Ritter has the answer. Organize under talking points we all can agree.
Have a leader. Have a plan. Study the 'enemy'. BE at WAR with the WAR movement.
Anticipate our opponents' actions and have mutiple actions for responses.
THE PEACE MOVEMENT NEEDS SOLIDARITY. Who will arise as the ultimate leader?
Ok, that's it.
Sign me,
a retired PEACE mom (awaiting a PLAN!)
Actually, I think a lot of people do NOT want to be involved in the Israel-Palestinian issue, feeling it is simply too divisive and without solution.
It became an issue locally a few years ago. People were NOT willing to be forced to listen to diatribes on extraneous conflicts. They didn't like being told what they MUST believe. They felt it was opportunistic on the part of pro-palestinian organizers and stopped participating.
I admit I was uncomfortable with some of the diatribes ... and felt uncomfortable by the appearance that by standing in the assembled crowd (post-demostration) I was somehow in agreement with those particular speakers.
You may believe world peace revolves around Israel-Palestine ... others do not ... Are their feelings to be ignored? Are they to be shunned or simply browbeaten?
susanparker - Without resolving the Israel/Palestine issue, there will be no peace in the Middle East or elsewhere.
This fact makes many Jewish liberals uncomfortable, but it's a fact. This is not solely my opinion, but is shared by diplomats, heads of state, historians and even many of our leading military brass — as well as most people who live in the region.
While it's nice to have safe tragedies like Darfur that Jews can rally around, or the occupation of Iraq, a decades-long occupation that is winked at by the same people renders all their outrage pathetic and hypocritical.
Jewish liberals must someday realize that liberality does not end at Israel's yet undefined borders and that the rest of us are unwilling to finance and suffer for their arrogance and amorality any longer.
Adopting the "We support the troops, too" mantra strangled the "anti-war" movement in its crib.
Brian B - Agreed. I have no doubt that the good Germans in the 30's supported theirs as well.
I'm not quarreling with that. Good luck with YOUR peace movement.
On my local peace organizations daily briefings (many universities in the area), often virtually ALL of the events are pro-palestinian ... that conflict appears to be THE MISSION the peace movement locally ... ALL other issues have withered on the vine ...
As far as I can tell the center is a shell of what it was 5-7 years ago when there was more balance with almost daily meetings of this or that subgroups on things like prisoners rights, economic justice, environmental justice, dispute resolution, community organizing, civil disobedience, nonviolence training, etc.
There may be other reasons for this but the pro-palestinian lobby is going strong ...
Waiting for someone else to say this, but don't see it yet.
You want a real anti-war movement? Wait until we have a draft.
Guaranteed to work.
citizenblog; Hell No. I say eat well.
I also say I want one hundred people to march on DC and the White House with me. Picket the White House and DEMAND IMPEACHMENT. I think a good trick would be for The Hundred to march to DC and "pick up' people along the way.
Yeah, Call ourselves The Hundred. I'm one. 99 more????
ANY GODDAMN THOUGHTS WHERE ARE YOU AMERICA?????
I mean, I will be one.
Stanwix wrote:
"We represent no threat whatever. Zero. The public at large does regard us as marginal, as Smucker rightly notes, and we have collaborated in and even embraced that identity. This helps these same powers enormously–they can simply write us and our arguments off as "extreme." And because we have never learned to communicate effectively with the unpoliticized general public, the label sticks. End of conversation. Nothing changes. I'm glad WRL and others are finally, finally starting to engage with this problem. As I have said elsewhere, I ain't marching anymore. But do let me know when you start planning something that is likely to have a real impact, something they can't ignore and that large numbers of ordinary folk can get behind and participate in."
Here are things that would actually slow down the war machine:
-Organize a strike if you're unionized/Stay home from work if you're not. ESPECIALLY CRUCIAL is to organize people like dockworkers/longshoreman and Teamsters who, in addition to being traditionally radical, hold actual power over the economy and (I would assume) the shipment of arms to other countries.
-Counter-recruitment, even in times of peace (perhaps especially then), on campuses and outside of military recruitment centers; use facts to (1) expose the lies that recruiters tell and (2) challenge the dominant militaristic ideology which says that war is often a necessary evil.
-Support dissenting soldiers and encourage dissenting soldiers to talk other soldiers into dissenting (as the article mentions)
Here are things that would make the antiwar voice heard and help create a mass movement out of a mass of alienated individuals who FEEL surrounded by a pro-war culture (whether or not they really are):
-Graffiti/guerrilla bumper stickering/hang flags or banners from your property or public property - i.e., ADVERTISE your views so people get a feel for the extent of anti-war sentiment. The more you exceed the tradition bounds of acceptability for placement of these advertisements, the more you break war resistance out of the manageable, marginalizable little corner it's been backed into.
-Street protests (students, residents, laborers) - they're not totally useless as long as they're done cheaply
On the last point, check out Mission Rejected by Peter Laufer.
We need to build a peace movement that lasts, and remains strong, between wars. Do workers in a trade organize a new union every time they are thinking about striking? Obviously not, they maintain an organizational apparatus capable of quick action when necessary (and quick action *is* necessary when you're talking about preventing a war from getting stared).
I am shocked and appalled that there aren't rampant protests against the Iran War. The writing is on the wall, it's going to happen, unless we do something (and maybe even then). The Vietnam resisters might have been justified in thinking that the end of the war was the end of the need for a movement, but if the organized resisters of this war allow themselves to be dispersed when we finally withdraw from Iraq, it will be without excuse for lack of knowledge.
No draft.
When there is a draft war will shut off over night.
yes, I've been supporting Rangel's proposal from the beginning... The use, abuse, and misuse of our national guard and "voluntary" army is another atrocity.
A volunteer ( read "full-time career military class" ) army was always a very very dangerous idea.
Thomas Spellman
I know I will be in the minority BUT NO MENTION OF AIPAC. UNTIL we first acknowledge the power of AIPAC and the politics of AIPAC we will just spin our tires in the sand. Pure and simple, AIPAC controls the WAR and our Congress. If you do not know about AIPAC that is part of the problem.
Second the lie of the "9-11 Official Story" must be exposed to the light of day. The progressive press and media ill serves the "anti-war movement. The lie festers and causes great harm to the body politic. People trust that their leaders will be TRUTHFUL and the Progressive Media has chosen for who knows what reason to abandon the simple science that proves explosives had to be used to destroy 3 buildings in NYC on 9-11-01. Bush lies but the progressive media says that on 9-11-01 issues Bush tell the TRUTH THE WHOLE TRUTH and nonthign but the TRUTH. Peace Tom Spellman
"What Is to Be Done?"
It's the election, stupid.
What's to be done?
It's the election, stupid.
All I want is one simple thing...A check box on my federal income tax that says "By selecting this box, none of your funds will be available for war, either declared or undeclared." Despite my opposition to ALL war, in the end they can use my money just the same as the most fervant war supporter. The jokes on me.
Thinking "outside the box" and winging it is for courageous, outrageous, people.... who are not comfortably sitting at their computers fearing what they may loose if jailed or pinpointed as an aggitator
Wild, creative, things are showing up...but because the press/government learned from the 60's not to televize the revolution...we who keep peering at the TV or looking to the "news" papers in hopes of seeing the mass
protests will be sorely disappointed and depressed...gotcha...just take another pill and make it all go away...just like "they" want you to....how many people do you know on anti-depressants are creative, outrageous, courageous?....How many on la-la medication? The numbers are staggering...
Getting organized on the net...
SusanParker getting a support group together for compassion for the Iraqi's...great idea i'm in
The check box on the income tax form is excellent too...start a petition...i'll sign