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Time for Rebirth: The US Antiwar Movement is Grieving, Dreaming, Growing
Think back seven years ago to this day. Where were you on March 19th, 2003, when the invasion began? Did you see “Shock and Awe” footage of the orange explosions in the clear Baghdad sky, piped in grainy TV shows, lit at night with the green glow of CNN cameras? Did you read the tickertapes under these images of neighborhoods lit on fire? Over those next days, did you, like many of us, collapse in overwhelmed grief and rage, frantic at not knowing how we could stop our government's onslaught?
It's important to remember how we channeled this into organizing that built dynamic alliances, influenced public opinion, and communicated to the rest of the world that people inside the United States were not all united behind the war. At the same time, we failed to prevent the invasion and have not yet ended the occupation of Iraq, or Afghanistan. We say this, recognizing how many of us tried to put our bodies in the way as best we could, in a million different ways. Many people suffered burnout and heartbreak. The sheer numbers of antiwar demonstrators, which just a month before the invasion of Iraq coordinated the biggest street protests in the history of the world, have dropped precipitously each year as we hit this awful anniversary.
But the antiwar movement is not dead. Over the past seven years, while the number of people in the streets visibly protesting this anniversary has shrunk, what the news cameras have not shown is the building movement that has been happening, off the streets, under the radar, in communities. We are now seeing this organizing pick up steam as people have become disillusioned by the Obama administration's continuation of Bush's wars.
Many antiwar organizers shifted focus from prioritizing street protests to strategically directing their work towards pressure points where a mobilized grassroots can directly impact these wars. Strategies of supporting resistance inside the military have focused on withdrawing labor from a war that depends on soldiers' participation, thereby directly undermining the war effort. Iraq Veterans Against the War, one of the leading organizations of veterans of post September 11th wars, has effectively transformed from a speakers' bureau into an actively organizing body, with active-duty chapters and recruitment on bases, and a platform of open support for GI resistance and opposition to the war in Afghanistan. Counter-recruitment movements have been building their bases in schools and communities, organizing against the military's practice of disproportionately targeting and recruiting low income and poor youth and youth of color. Oakland's youth-led group BAY-Peace leads workshops providing information to young people about the truth of military recruiting and to help build alternatives to militarism. U.S. Labor Against War continues building U.S. labor solidarity with Iraqi trade unions.
Another promising development is the slow resurgence of the G.I. Coffeehouse movement that played a major role in fomenting resistance to the Vietnam War. Over the past few years, a handful of coffeehouses in military base towns are supporting resistance within the military. One example is Virginia's Norfolk OffBase, where coffeehouse staffers have also built solidarity relationships with local racial justice organizing, connecting related struggles in their heavily militarized community.
The Iraq war has already outlasted World War II, World War I, and the U.S. Civil War. The most recent Iraqi elections on March 7th were hailed by the Obama administration as a sign of the war's success in “bringing democracy,” because of 62% voter turnout and less election violence than expected. The U.S. mainstream media is applauding Iraqis for voting despite 136 election day attacks, including bombings, rocket fire, and shootings. This message reflects the extent to which this violence has become normalized and expected; no one should have to face the threat of violence in order to vote. Additionally, we question the extent to which “democracy” has been achieved when one million Iraqis have been killed and 10 million displaced, a whole region destabilized, and ethnic tensions flared by the occupying presence. President Obama has pledged to remove all “combat troops” from Iraq by next September. But even if this timetable is followed, 50,000 occupation troops will remain, in addition to mercenary troops and corporate profiteering personnel. We dispute the reality of a “non-combat” distinction in conditions where the U.S. has clearly established intent to use its infrastructure and influence in Iraq as a strategic base in the Middle East.
The Iraq War was never about bringing democracy, nor about weapons of mass destruction. This is one of several key battlefields in the U.S.'s project of establishing military and political dominance in this critical region. As drones bomb Pakistan at an undisclosed and accelerating rate, and the Afghanistan war continues to erode the means of survival and dignity for Afghanis, we must be looking at the big picture. U.S. military and political support for the outrageous policies of Israeli colonization and apartheid is one of the clearest indicators that establishing dominance in the region, both directly and through allies and puppets, is the major goal of the U.S.
This is the moment for the antiwar movement in the U.S. to develop analysis and tools that can build effective, transformative movements. During Bush's regime, many of our arguments focused narrowly on Bush's brazenness and the “legality” of these brutal occupations. Mass numbers of the U.S. public have recognized over this past year that Bush didn't create the plan behind these wars, and it is continuing beyond him. Now the antiwar movement is being pushed to grow beyond challenging one war at a time. We need a deeper analysis of the structures that underlie militarism and war, to ground our work in values of affirming life and of building cooperative, just structures. We must offer visions of a different way to organize our own society and interact with other countries.
In this time, it is critical to more deeply root our work in an understanding of the root causes of these wars, and to strengthen alliances between movements that are tackling different impacts of a common problem. We see small-scale successes in making these links and we must cultivate and broaden them. As we demand that money be reclaimed from the war budget, and put back into social necessities like schools and healthcare, we must speak clearly to this shift as one that is based in values and vision about what our society prioritizes. Linking wars at home and abroad is not just rhetoric, but is a strategy to strengthen our organizing. Economic and racial oppression inside the U.S. must be transformed not as a means to incapacitate the U.S. military, but because this is our vision for healthy society. And ending U.S. aggressions and occupations abroad is not just necessary to redivert funds into our schools or healthcare, but also because we reject a world based on violence and theft. Our survival depends on it. Violence and destruction will never stay contained, and the impacts of destroying communities and ecosystems in one area like the Middle East will only continue to intensify around the world, especially as resource wars accelerate with climate change. As the world seeks to find just and sustainable solutions to climate change, the importance grows for peoples' grassroots movements to work transnationally in finding alternatives to war.
Every one of us in the U.S. is affected in different ways by these wars and we're all needed to be part of setting a new course. We suffer from the success of U.S. culture in characterizing activists as “others,” versus “ordinary people.” Hundreds of thousands of people march in the streets at key moments, but do not see themselves as “activists” under this categorization, and trade in the opportunity to be agents of change for a heavy coat of despair. However, the potential for deeper connections is already present within current organizing in schools, community centers, families and neighborhoods, religious communities, military base towns, and all the networks that make up our community lives. There are so many ways we can come together to build collective power, and there are roles for everyone in transforming the policies and priorities of this country. Ordinary people, putting our feet down to say that we won't tolerate the continuation of violence in our names, will be the deciding factor in creating a different future than the one we're being force-fed.
A very real part of finding a human and holistic approach to stopping war is also, simply, to make space to grieve together. The sadness of this anniversary is not just about this one day, or this one war. It is about global relationships based on violence and dominance, about the ways in which these relationships play out around the world, about the lives that have been lost, and the lives that will be lost. And all of those who survive, traumatized, occupied, brave and resourceful.
We are mourning and invite you to join us in whatever ways feel right to you. This intensely painful anniversary offers a milestone to create collective space for our grief. Mainstream U.S. society doesn't do this, and we suffer consequences including the perversion of 9/11's collective trauma into an excuse for waging war. War becomes normalized while grief is sidelined or silenced, individualized, and manipulated. Grieving helps us to heal and to break patterns of violence that otherwise are often perpetuated, and to not choke on our sadness and stay passive.
Mourning is vital to honor the dead, and in this case, we are speaking about people who were murdered in our name. Grieving their loss is critical to our own humanity as well as affirming that all these humans who we've lost matter. Mourning is a direct challenge to the implicit devaluing of Iraqi (and Afghani and Palestinian, as well as those of U.S. soldiers) lives which contributes to maintaining and justifying these wars and occupations.
And the survivors? There is so much to honor and learn from the resilience and dignity of those who are surviving wars and state violence from Oakland to Afghanistan. Let's make our support worthy of their bravery. Let yourself feel these wars, and let it carry you into action.
Our sadness and anger on this day reminds us of how interdependent we are. So what is your vision for March 19th, 2017? What do you hope the world will look like, and what is your role in making that come true?
“Mourn the dead. And fight like hell for the living.”
- Mother Jones
72 Comments so far
Show AllProtests are planned for this weekend in major cities.
http://www.pephost.org/site/PageServer?pagename=M20_homepage
Indeed be there.
Admirable article, but wishful thinking.
deleted by author
I'm sixtyish and did quite a bit of anit-war demonstrating way back, and certainly thought it was a good thing.
Now I'm thinking the best things we can do, and the truer honoring of those who've died, is to work for a positive vision of the future. Being anti-war makes it so easily to spew our disappointment and rage all over, makes us superior to the bad guys, and doesn't see our part in it.
Maybe a better place to start is right where we are, in the community we live in, on the little bit of land we're sitting on. It's growing something and seeing that we're the ones with the power. Washington's not got it and being anti-them doesn't bring what's needed. I think building local community and growing something in the ground, or connecting to collectives of such movements (such as 350.org is doing around climate change) is a better use of energy, and more inspiring too. The system's going down anyway, sooner or later. So do your part to build the infrastructure for the new.
radicalrelocalization.com
Right on.
It is my sincerest hope that in 7 years the anti-war movement will be dead and gone; that war and warriors and conflict between and among humans will be recognized in a new dignified fashion. And that a critical mass with tipping point verve will have cultivated the experience of peace in their community so as to be able to stand with courage and in a most dignified manner as they proclaim and express peace: for "peace IS the way".
"Peace IS the way". -- Martin Luther King Jr.
Lets hope there is no war to be anti to in two years.
You're upping the ante...ok...Let's hope in two years that the only war in the Middle East in two years is the war among and over how the Palestinians will distribute the profits from the oil pipeline exiting at one of it's ports -- fought by Slam Poets, Film Makers, Street Hustlers playing Industrialists at Chess...Chefs...Simon Cowell, and two Economists.
I'm all for radical relocalization and building a new economy (as anyone who has read my comments for awhile knows), but I think you'd better save some rage for when you show signs of success and when decentralization becomes threatening to centralization. It won't be a matter of just doing your thing.
Already, in the world economy, it is obvious that local control and decentralization is seen as the enemy of the corporate state and is dealt with severely. You should be able to see signs in the U.S., too, for example, the efforts of Monsanto and others to nullify local "no GE crops" initiatives and big power companies to legislate their monopoly. In a more oblique way, the "health care" legislation we have been discussing clearly shows that the corporate state is willing to coerce citizens into being pawns of its greedy agenda.
I've been involved with and had discussions with localization advocates in my area, and I'm amazed at the naivety of many of them in their determination not to be "political". What is this, Romper Room? In life, you have to be political. There is no hope for vital decentralization and local sustainability without a strong political core and consciousness.
In regard to the anti-war movement, when I consider the massacres and war crimes being committed in my name (as a citizen of the U.S.), I think being involved in anti-war activity is a moral imperative. Fading off into a "non-political" netherworld is not just a weakness but a moral failure. But, that being said, the "anti-war movement" itself tends to solidify into one dimension when the reality is that when we speak of "creating a new economy" or "empowering citizens and communities" we are necessarily dealing with same the structure of power that the anti-war movement is confronting. I've never understood why that point is so hard for some people to perceive, particularly among those who should be used to thinking "organically".
You're right. It's all about confronting structures of power: ones own personal power, and the power of the community, both locally and globally. I'm listening to Picasso's War right now and a sentiment stated by Cee Miracle in another post came up, "If we can kill the few Fascists the problem will be solved". The only problem with that logic is that the Fascists in America's current make up are at least 20% of the population and evenly disbursed through the population; you might wake up to one at the family coffee table...for sure if you go out to the local restaurant for breakfast. Are you going to shoot these people? It's not an easy question. Sure, they should be confronted...but how? I think making them aware somehow of the costs of spreading oxidized uranium, phosphorous, cluster bombing, drone bombing, kicking in front doors at 2 in the morning...with not just bringing these atrocities to light but the opportunities that could be had if Our human and financial resources where directed in other directions...well, I just have to believe in humanity. Yes, I believe in the cases like that of Richard Cheney, that he should be incarcerated in some way to prevent the continuance of fear-mongering; but I can't go along with a prevalent mind set in the Anti-war movement that for a "Just Peace" to transpire only the violent punishment of Cheney will do justice..."let all the wars rage: if Cheney doesn't suffer extreme pain for each torturous death he invited then there can be no peace" -- how are you going to convert the local introvert to confront the local sadistic Fascist with that argument? Especially when some of the local introverts have a masochistic love affair or infatuation going on with their sadistic enabler? Both of these people have to be touched some way to bring them to some sort of humane realization...then there can be a tipping point for confronting Congress...then the Senate, then the White House...then the Pentagon. Will this be easy? No. It will take courage and dignity...passion...calm...and persistence...and what will pull US through, whether in song or in a glimpse across the jail cell, will be the human aesthetic...if you can direct me to a richer source of it...let me know.
"It will take courage and dignity...passion...calm...and persistence..."
Certainly. I will also add unshakable commitment, creative imagination, an understanding that compromise with hypocrisy is impossible, and an ability to make good decisions as the process evolves (rather than simply a priori.)
I agree that we don't want sadists in the movement, but I don't think it's a big problem. That's mostly on the other side. I don't think there is any reason to make a big deal about a few remarks. It is absurd to say that the desire to inflict pain on or kill Cheney and other neocons characterizes the antiwar movement. That's ridiculous.
You bring up the human aesthetic. We could go into this in detail because it is inextricably involved in my own political and philosophical outlook, but I can't do it justice in a short post.
I am in no way opposed to relocalization and building sustainable communities. I think those activities are vital. I am trying to point out that a political consciousness is as necessary in decentralization as it is in antiwar activity and one doesn't preclude the other. In fact, they are not separable.
Puck;very well said and a blueprint for the future.If we become like them what is the point and what is gained? Tony
Good idea. You need to stay down on the farm, picking through the dirt while sending your good vibes to the universe.
Great piece, thanks.
Why is all progressive argument based on what people say?
- The Iraq War was never about bringing democracy, nor about weapons of mass destruction. -
Well, let's read the declaration of war again! (I will read it again - will you read it for the first time?)
Public Law 107-243, which Bush deemed necessary because he couldn't build enough support for invasion based on Public Law 107-40 alone.
The President is authorized to use the Armed Forces...
(1) defend the national security of the United States against
the continuing threat posed by Iraq
I disagree with the authors. The supposed 'continuing threat' was ALWAYS about WMDs, and it's written down, not spoken, and we should be talking about the law and not ignoring it and going off on all sorts of tangents.
Aren't you afraid that anti- war protest might "undermine the presidency?"
There’s a fascinating interview with Dennis Kucinich (and Ralph Nader) up over at Democracynow.org. Please read the entire transcript of it (or watch a video replay) because it shows the key reason why Kucinich flipped his vote to support the White House’s "insurance reform" bill. Obama and Rahm put intense pressure on Kucinich saying that his presidency was under threat: a defeat on the White House measure would completely undermine the presidency.
I suggest that anti-war protest be aimed at Congress. They are up for election this year, not the President.
It is Congress's fault and their responsibility for this insanity that we find ourselves trapped in.
Stop aiming at the President.
But why not!
I can see it now "OBAMA LIES, AMERICANS DIE! Big signs what else e-mail 600 some individules. Unless you statement is written on the back of a fat check noe of them will ever see it! It'll just be tallied in the Capital Computer Center as an up or down vote.
As we've all seen no amount of disperse public outrage will move any of elite con-artists. and I woulfn't be surprised if %95 of Americans sat out the next election in disscust but if Pelosi gets 3 votes and her competition gets one she won't shed a tear, just cash the check and business as usuall.
- - The Iraq war has already outlasted World War II, World War I, and the U.S. Civil War. -
This is wrong.
This kind of statement is why, 8 years after P.L. 107-40 and 7 years after P.L. 107-243, the Progressive movements have accomplished zilch.
I suggest again, after all these years of ineffective protesting, that we choose a new strategy with a new target, a single target (and not this war and this war and this war, and all the progressive movements go off in a hundred different directions, a hundred different protests...)
I know, let's look at the declaration of war against Iraq again! (instead of arguing about what people say, let's look at written words enshrined into our Book of Law).
Public Law 107-243:
(1) defend the national security of the United States against
the continuing threat posed by Iraq; and
(2) enforce all relevant United Nations Security Council
resolutions regarding Iraq.
As I've mentioned sooooo many times before, victory condition #1 is moot, because Iraq was never a threat, let alone a continuing one.
#2. America took it upon itself to judge Iraq's non-compliance (it does not judge Israel's non-compliance with int'l law, but then, that's a different hypocrisy).
The Iraq 'war' ended the moment the Saddam government fell, by America's own words.
That war lasted for mere months. Everything since then has been 'occupation', except for the one war that does exist, and which will keep troops everywhere they are now, and put them everywhere else as well.
Gen. Odierno - "Al-Qaeda in Iraq may launch attacks".
There is no 'Iraq war' anymore. It is against our interest to keep arguing that it still exists.
There is only the DAFT war against future terrorism (formerly known by MIC terms - GWOT, WOT and The Long War).
I suggest once again that we unite against this war and stop trying to 'end' wars that ended 7 years ago by America's own written words and goals.
- But the antiwar movement is not dead. -
It has been ineffective for 8 years.
I suggest a new strategy, one that unites all progressive and anti-war movements, instead of sending them down a hundred rabbit holes chasing visions of progress that dissipate in front of our eyes.
I suggest ONE target to protest against, one small flaw of a law. Change that law and we change everything.
Instead of arguing based upon what people say (which changes and means nothing, really), we need to argue based upon a Return of the Law.
Isn't that what we want anyway, a Return of the Law?
The Coalition to End the DAFT War was born on August 6, 2009 (the anniversary of Hiroshima).
I support the Coalition's efforts to end the DAFT war, to repeal Public Law 107-40.
locust, literally one computer user stubbornly typing
I admire your tenacity, having read many of your previous posts. Do you really think that repeal of the AUMF would make any difference? It would surely make the ongoing imperialist wars and occupations completely obvious to the population at large but do you think it would really make a difference? There is no hostility in my comment, I'm as frustrated as everyone else. Angry. Frustrated. Depressed.
The anti-war movement is and will remain fringe in our time, despite how aware many young Americans are of the gross stupidity of Iraq and Afghanistan.
We brush it off and say "war sucks, man" and go back to watching Family Guy or joining some ridiculous Facebook group. The wars aren't reality unless you're a soldier, or your brother is. Avatar is reality. The article mentions GI coffeehouses (I've never heard of this before), and it supports my view that only those in the war care enough about the war to get off the couch.
Part of me, being young and naive, thinks a draft would be the only real way to get hate for the war into the mainstream. Make it personal to this generation and it won't look like we're just copying the springtime of the baby boomers.
While my heart is with the anti-war protesters my head is not. Progressives need to realize that they are up against not a government, but especially; in terms of foreign policy a crime syndicate and it is like protesting against the Mafia which is commendable but never accomplishes anything. For example: when millions of us protested in the streets several years ago, on this day, when GB attacked Iraq for non-existent WMD's the crook in chief called us a " focus group ". We are completely irrelevant to the crime syndicate that control America's foreign policy, no different than the 58,000 brave and patriotic soldiers that died in Vietnam and the thousands that have died in deceitful wars since; or the 3000 American citizens that died on 911 and the egregious excuse to attack a country that had nothing to do with 911. Since, if you believe the governments conspiracy theory, you would have thought Saudi Arabia would have been attacked since most of the so called hijackers came from their country. From my perspective, we need a non-violent revolution in America, but that will not happen until millions of American citizens wake up and realize that we are all being screwed! I say, lets unite as Americans and forget the labels i.e. Republican, Democrat, independent, right, left, progressive, conservative, liberal, ect. and until that happens I do not see much hope. Case in point: Military recruitment is the highest it has been in years.
Great Insights Paul,
Your post lifted my spirits, for we indeed are facing very sophisticated organized crime at Wall Street, The MIC, Big Oil, Big Ag, Big Pharma and worst of all: Israeli-American Bankers, who have armed israel into the fifth biggest army in the world.
Is that even possible?
It boggles my mind. It makes me suspect that World War is the object here. Iran War drums beat on through the night and Wall Street keeps repeating the chant that the only way out of a depression is a world war.
I agree with you. We must all throw-in together: Tea Baggers and Liberals, Rich and poor, retired and wage-slave. We must cut this monster's budget down by 90 percent and just start over. Most of our taxes (over a trillion a year) are going to defense and war costs anyway. Let's bring this beast under control and once he's cut off from his tax and FedReserve money, then we can argue about what form the new government should take.
TJ
"A standing military force, with an overgrown Executive will not long be safe companions to liberty. The means of defense against foreign danger, have been always the instruments of tyranny at home. Among the Romans it was a standing maxim to excite a war, whenever a revolt was apprehended. Throughout all Europe, the armies kept up under the pretense of defending, have enslaved the people." - James Madison, speech at the Constitutional Convention, June 29, 1787
"Of all the enemies to public liberty war is, perhaps, the most to be dreaded, because it comprises and develops the germ of every other. War is the parent of armies; from these proceed debts and taxes; and armies, and debts, and taxes are the known instruments for bringing the many under the domination of the few. In war, too, the discretionary power of the Executive is extended; its influence in dealing out offices, honors, and emoluments is multiplied; and all the means of seducing the minds, are added to those of subduing the force, of the people. The same malignant aspect in republicanism may be traced in the inequality of fortunes, and the opportunities of fraud, growing out of a state of war, and in the degeneracy of manners and of morals, engendered by both. No nation could preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare."
- JAMES MADISON
"Political Observations"
April 20, 1795
Military recruitment is the highest it has been in years because poverty in this country is the highest its been in years. Our military is NOT made up of "our best and brightest"; it is made up of the poorest and most hopeless, and when their military career is done they are discarded to return to poverty and hopelessness.
Noted.
I understand the frustration, but marches have failed and will continue to fail. Its simply, realistically, silly at this point to expect different results. I fail to see your logic. Do you really, really expect to get these fascists to stop what they're doing by ...marching?
Until people stand up to Them, they will continue to kill and destroy peoples lives and lands, including our own nation here at home-while you and others march around in circles.
This so-called "anti-war movement" has had damn near a decade to get results. Your methods have totally failed.
Today's anti-war movement: Excuses-R-Us.
You'd have just as good results by staying home and baking cookies.
But at least you give a sh*t.
RE: Your methods have totally failed.
Really? The popularity (in the US) of the US' military adventures has dropped precipitously, all the while receiving constant cheer-leading by the mainstream media. How'd that happen if not for the peace movement? And, I don't think anyone attending a march thinks that marches alone will stop a war. It is only one of a myriad of tactics used.
A big problem for the left is defining "success". The peace movement didn't have the power to stop the war in 2003. But a lot of people dropped out in '03 because the peace movement "failed". My own group lost about half of its membership then.
For the peace movement to be successful, now and in the future, it needs to raise the social cost to the ruling class. So far we have not done that. Too many have succumbed to the forked-tongue rhetoric of the Democratic Party. Hopefully, that's changing.
So, Moonpie, what have you been doing for the last 7 years? What are your methods for success? Hmm?
Here is one thing that bothers is the over emotionalism and mushy vague New Age sentimentality that seems to have infected the left exemplified by lines like:
"We are mourning and invite you to join us in whatever ways feel right to you."
It's this sort of fuzzy thinking that derailed the anti war movement for two years waiting on vague fuzzy "hope" offered by Obummer. Over emotionalism blunts analytical ability and can lead to real damage that can actually hurt people like not protesting Obummer as he ramped up the wars.
Do you think people like Joe Hill and Ema Goldman spouted this sort of platitudinal mush? No they had a very concrete hard headed analysis of how economic concentration controlled political power and they acted to oppose it with very real no nonsense concrete radical direct action and thus helped win things like the vote for women and the 40 hour work week.
Recently the modern left hasn't won much of anything and IMO a large part of that is sappy New Age over emotionalism that dithers and is ineffective and a big turn off to actual working class people.
That's not to say I won't turn out on March 20th I will. It does mean though that I think the left ought to do some reflecting on how hollowed we've become by overemphasizing drama ironically much like the mainstream culture that over personalizes everything and leads to endless navel gazing. Cut it out already and get out on the streets with signs and take action.
Good comment. I particularly like the last paragraph which I think hits on something we rarely put into words. Drama happens when we are in the thick of it. It is not an a priori condition to be compulsively mulled over; which is, as you note, very mainstream, stultifying, and selfish...really kind of a claustrophobia-inducing performance unrelated to our objectives.
RE: Do you think people like Joe Hill and Ema Goldman spouted this sort of platitudinal (sic) mush? No they had a very concrete hard headed analysis of how economic concentration controlled political power...
Excellent point! Joe Hill was a Wobbly and a socialist, Emma Goldman was an anarchist. Both would have brought a structural analysis to their efforts. If you study the labor and social movements of the past you'll find that those who were able to force the ruling class to make real reforms, reforms that really benefited real working people, were the revolutionaries. The reformers, who worked within the system, aka "liberals" achieved nothing but reformist rhetoric. Just like now with groups like UFPJ and Move-On with Obama. The origin for the various problems of the "Left" can be summed up simply, it is not a revolutionary movement. It needs to be.
The Big ‘To Be‘ empirePie March 19th, 2010
Yo!...half breed cracker don.
Half black don’t undo your wrong.
‘The wages of sin’ won’t heal your frames.
The dogs of war are just the same.
The never ending game of pomp and power are getting lame;
bomb rebuild and mask the plunder,
do it like the baby bomber boomers,
consume.. consumed.. consumer
We’re all little Eichmans now,
to feed the sacred cow...say: ‘DOW’
no bottom line... for here or now
Ah!.. rapture for the empty tomb ers
I’m sure we all agree
what’s in it for me
is the big ‘to be’
no bottom line... for here or now
Does the flat line know
what’s white or black?
Grieving, dreaming, growing? Possibly, but to no obvious purpose and effect!
Just in case you don't realise it, you're all wasting your time here grieving and dreaming. The reality is that there is no left of any effective significance whatever in today's America and the randomized spouting that is carried on here and elsewhere provides absolutely no practical possibilities for changing that reality one iota. It's nothing but a "safety valve" for frustrated blather about various (mostly secondary) issues of the day and lacking any real concentrated focus even for that ineffectual activity -- neither anti-war nor any other.
In fact, the representatives of a single foreign power have much more real influence on U.S. governance and policies than the disunited and fractional U.S. population of self-proclaimed "progressives". Think about that for just a moment. AIPAC lobbyists representing the foreign interests of Israel's Zionists exert far greater and far more effective power and control over the entire geopolitical agenda of the United States of America than the country's own citizen advocates for any progressive movement of any kind.
The reason is very simple. They're cohesively and coherently organized. You're not and never will be -- at least not through pure venting mechanisms like this one that are totally lacking in any real organizational capabilities. If anyone in any position of authority is listening at all, it's only for the purpose of anticipating and subverting any emerging efforts directed against their own defence of the status quo and its game rules. Either get yourselves at least as well organized as the AIPAC lobby or quit wasting energy in a "get-it-off-your-chest" echo chamber. Otherwise, you'll need all that energy merely for (doubtful) survival.
The anti-war movement has to make it clear to all that these wars are all about control of fossil energies (oil and gas). This was obvious in the case of Iraq and is also the case for Afghanistan, and for the coming war on Iran.
The anti-war movement must show that a "surge" programme for the development of renewable energies (solar, wind, tidal, geothermal, etc.) within the US would make these wars and unending occupations unnecessary. This programme would also be much cheaper and cleaner (in every sense of the word), and would have a real impact on accelerated global warming.
It's all one big issue.
I would like to think that we are in a much better place and have found a way to stop this sucide path we seem to be on and our self destructing behavior as a nation. I would like to think that reason will win over emotion. I would like to think peace will overcome war.
We will either have destroyed ourselves as a nation to the point of no return by then or we will have found a way to save ourselves from self destructing. I believe with my whole heart that this nation is at a crossroads. We as a generation are faced with a moral imperative to fight the evil corruption that has overtaken our government. We can no longer deceive ourselves into thinking that either the Democratic Party or the Republican Party is going to save this country from this horrid path we have been taking. Americans from all political views think that their has to be new parties in order to save this country from destroying itself.
The problems go even deeper than just George W. Bush. Many times I think Liberals forget that and only focus on what Bush did. The truth is that Democrats voted and gave Bush what he wanted and funded the war. Democrats are just as guilty for keeping the war going because of funding. If we are really honest with ourselves we must blame both the Democrats and Republicans for the place this nation is at today.
We have a problem when we have a government who refuses to hear what the American people are saying, who refuses to see how the American people are feeling, and who refuses to embrace and hold truth and justice over party loyality and voting as told. Both parties are guilty of this behavior.
I am not a fortune teller so I don’t know if we will succeed in saving this nation? I hope we save it. I pray we save it, but I feel it is going to be a miracle if we do succeed. I think things will either get a whole lot better in 7 years or they will have gotten a whole lot worst.
What is my role?
I will continue to speak, write, and fight for what I believe is morally right. I will not be silent or blindly excuse behavior that I believe is destroying my country.
I will continue to seek wisdom and courage to fight the battles that the Lord would have me fight. I can do no less. I owe it to my ancestors who walked before me and who by their blood, sweat, and tears built this nation to be a great nation at one time. We were great because we were a moral nation. We are not longer that great nation because we are no longer a moral nation. Torture is not something that a moral nation does, yet we do it. Torture still continues under Obama so that has not changed either. Lying to the American people is not what a honorable person or leader does. When we have men and women who run for political office year after year lie to get elected, don’t be surprised the the American people have little trust left for Congress or the President. Both parties have lied.
Another problem we need to overcome before we can totally turn this nation around and get us being strong and prosperous again is to get rid of the corporate media that we have today and go back to a real free press who is not afraid to tell the truth, stand up to our leaders and make them do the right thing, and educate the people on the issues so that we can be well educated, well informed, and able to do our duty as American citizens.
We can’t do what needs to be done to fix the problem until we have real election campaign reform. We will never get that because the people who are there do not want it. The people want it, but those in Congress will not go against the corporations who do not want to take the corporate money out of the political process.
I can only speak for me, but I plan to continue fighting for America that I love. I would rather die fighting to save her than to just give in and allow this nation to be destroyed without a fight. I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t fight. I would rather do the right thing and fail than to do nothing and pretend to the children I did all I could to make sure that evil did not overcome good.
I don’t know if the American people have the courage and will to fight? I would like to think so, but sometimes I really wonder. Men who I think will not give up fighting for what is right cave in all the time. Instead of finding a hero, one finds a whimp who doesn’t really care about the future of this country and where it is heading. Instead of a hero, we find selfish men and women who only think of themselves over the future generations that are going to be effected by our actions today.
locust, Kent Shaw, Stilba, Paul Revere et. al. -
Along with repeal of the 2001 AUMF, I think the US antiwar movement should focus upon passing a simple, straight up federal statute that builds upon the fact that we don't have a draft, but we do have a giant, all-volunteer active duty military establishment that is sucking up trillions of dollars into the Pentagon war machine and fomenting great, senseless violence across the globe.
As a former draftee of the Vietnam era, I am still completely, adamantly opposed to military conscription in any form, absent a formal declaration of war by the Congress as the Constitution plainly requires. I've never bought into this strange theory that the best way to get mainstream America out into the streets in mass protests for peace (young people in particular) was to start conscripting the rich, the middle class, and the poor alike. Be careful what you wish for.
My concrete suggestion for how to end the existing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and shape a much more peaceful world for March, 2017, is this: Pass a federal statute that declares -
"No active duty member of the armed forces of the United States of America shall be subject to arrest, court martial, criminal prosecution, or any manner of other disciplinary action whatsoever for refusing to obey an order to deploy from the United States into any combat zone outside the United States, absent a formal declaration of war duly enacted by Congress pursuant to Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution. No member of the armed forces exercising this right shall be called upon to state any reason, whether religious, personal, or otherwise, for refusing an order to deploy which lacks such express Congressional authorization."
Let the soldiers and sailors and all others subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice then vote with their feet. The whole stop loss problem vanishes. No need to qualify for conscientious objector status. To hell with lies told by the recruiters that can unexpectedly boomerang back to cost you, or a loved one, life, sanity or limb. Just recognize the right to politely say hell no, I won't go.
Those who want to go are still free to obey their deployment orders and sally forth for Uncle Sam, God, country, greed or glory. Yet those who signed up and answered the call, for reasons economic or otherwise, retain an enforceable right as citizen soldiers to compel the federal government to obey its own laws, and formally declare war, if the spilling of blood anywhere abroad is to be lawfully undertaken.
Let them vote with their feet and stay home, on American soil, if the cause is not just. No questions asked. Just trust the troops. At least as a key practical component of a long term strategy for the peace movement, what could be fairer than that?
Bill from Saginaw
Former member, American Servicemens Union
Current member, Veterans for Peace
RE: the liberal Democrat demobilizes folk!
This should not come as a surprise. They did it in 2004 and 2008. More importantly, the Democrats have been doing precisely this demobilization of the Left for their entire history. See "The Democrats: A Critical History" by Lance Selfa. The Democratic Party is a big reason why there is no coherent Left in the US.
I could not agree more. Well said Bill!
How enthusiastic! I think I'll go join one of these little clubs so I can feel better!
Z-zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
Non-violent street protests are a nice day out and an opportunity to meet and greet fellow protestors but they are ignored by the very people they are meant to influence. If destruction of property and or shutdowns of transportation are involved, the powers pay attention and immediately crack down on the participants, but the protestors aims are not realized. People like to think that street protests ended the Vietnam War, but that is a misreading of history. The Vietnam War ended when the North Vietnamese Army and Vietcong guerilla fighters occupied Saigon and
American protestors had nothing to do with it.
There are at least two other GI coffeehouses located near military bases. One is in Lakewood, Washington, and is located across the freeway from Fort Lewis, the largest Army base on the West Coast. Visit: http://www.coffeestrong.org.
The other is near the Fort Hood base in Texas. To find out more about their work, visit: http://underthehoodcafe.org.
Eagle -
From one Bill to another, I disagree.
The Vietnam era street demonstrations had a great deal to do with forcing an end to the American military involvement in southeast Asia, particularly by the early '70's when the moratorium movement was targeting major US urban areas on a regular monthly basis. People were pissed off, polarized, and mobilized. Most of those people were of voting age. At a grassroots level (in both major parties, but particularly in heavily Democratic Congressional districts) stopping the bombing, stopping the funding, and bringing the troops home became a litmus test line in the sand that had real world political consequences for incumbent politicians.
By the time the North Vietnamese and VC staged their final offensive and took Saigon, about the only US combat forces left in south Vietnam were the Marines stuck with the responsibility of helping load the last refugees onto the helicopters taking off from the US embassy roof. The ARVN did fight, but the handwriting was on the wall. President Ford refused to honor Nixon's under the table handshake deal with the Saigon regime promising that US air power at least would come back in to save the day.
Of course you are right that it was the Vietnamese people who ultimately prevailed in the Vietnam War. But it was the huge, cross-cultural street protests (particularly when returning vets were parading alongside the nuns, long haired students, and civil rights activists) that ultimately forced the politicians to pick which side - hawk or dove - they were going to bet their electoral futures upon.
That was the dynamic what stopped the bombing, jump started withdrawal, and brought the US troops home. Saigon fell months later.
Bill from Saginaw
In my opinion the "paralysis" In Government due to the anti-war protests was far less important then the TRUTHS those War Protests threatened to expose.
In protesting the War masses of people were motivated into peeling away the layers of lie and myths and propaganda that hid the truth of what The US MIlitary had become and this truth exactly as articulated by General Smedley Butler years before.
The Government and by extension the MIC did not cave on Vietnam due so much to a paralysis caused by protests as out of fear the whole rotten MIC/Cia/FBI complex would all come crashing down.
They decided they had to give the protesters their bone so that they could retrench and ensure that in the future policies, laws and technologies were in place to ensure such an event could never happen again.
Corporate power in more entrenched in the USA today then it was 30 years ago. The Unions are gone. The leaders like MLK assassinated. Capital and those with Capital have a far greater share of the wealth and power. They feel far "safer" in their positions of power as they work their machinations then ever before. Protests that just end the war in Iraq or Afghanistan will not be enough this time. The whole rotten system has to be brought down.
Remember that within a few short years of the end of the Vietnam war, the United States of America was sponsroing coups in other nations. Within a decade Reagan was starting another massive Military buildup and US forces invading countries or sponosring atrocities the world over. The end of the Vietnam was really did not change anything because the Corrupt apparatus remained. The war in Vietnam was merely a sympton of that corruption and not the cause.
This is what I don't get, all those people out of work and no protests, (worth mentioning) all those young people and no anti war protests (woth mentioning) what are they doing all day??
I still have a job today.. but if I was out no work no jobs availible I'd like to think I'd use my time a bit more productively. The earlier poster are right the street protests did help end the war in Vietnam alot. But it's like everyones had their hearts and brains scooped out, and they just do as their told. Like that movie They or Them, somebody needs to pass out the sunglasses to let people see what is going on! Everyone seems in a trance, occasionally someone pops and you hear of a shooting or a plane crashed into a strip mall but the qiuet in between is what really scares me.
Bring America Back !!!!.............!!!!...You are so Right, Eagle Bill, it was the first war the USA ever lost. Ever since, the Pentagon Puzzle pushers have only picked on nearly defenseless third worlders like Saddam, Panama, etc etc !!
Those military minded assholes don't dare stand up to China, North Korea,
NOrth Vietnam, Russia, Mexican Drug Cartels, or Afghan Drug Cartels.
*****40,000 Missiles shot into a defenseless sovereign nation at Iraq--the big
shock & awe into a country which couldn't fly aircraft over its own airspace for
over 10 years !!! King George had his way and Saddam was hanged by his neck !
****The Pentagon lied to LBJ for sending 500,000 US troops to 'Nam, and
the Generals on the ground falsified Gook body counts to make the US Press
report we were winning the conflict. When LBJ realized he had been duped by
his own Military--he could not even bear to undergo a campaign for re-election.
****Then came NIxon the Neocon Idol.
I agree with Bill form Saginaw. The protests were crucial. But we have to delineate what we mean by "protests" and also should look at some of indirect effects they had.
For example, it would have been much more difficult for Mike Gravel to enter the Pentagon Papers into his subcommittee records had there not been massive protests. He might have done it anyway, but I doubt it.
The moratoriums and shutting down universities shook people up and, regardless of whether it brought out anger or the beginning of understanding, it was vital to stir the pot because the way the "establishment" (as we called it in those days) kept things in line was by assuring, in a million different ways, that the pot stayed unstirred. As much as I regret saying it and despite the tragedy involved, I will even venture to say that the murders at Kent State helped end the war as did political assassinations and urban violence.
Political protest is a messy and unpredictable business. What we *don't* need is a sanitized version where we simply play the parts of "political protesters" in a socially-approved "G"-rated entertainment. All that would be good for is to provide those in power with a convenient prop to point out as proof of "democracy" in our blessed nation. Protest chic.
Ast the WW I turned into civil war it also lost any pretense to civility. This was carried on to the WW II and as most histtorical information is kept secret our concepts of war as such have lost any reality That is also why we truly do not know how to stop our government's sloughter
The anti-war movement will not be truly rejuvenated until the draft is reinstated.
Theres no need for a draft, its easier to just keep people in such a dire socio-economic situation the military sounds like a good idea.
I puked a little when i heard about rising enlistment among immigrants( as a path to citizenship).
How about doing some good things with our military and make enlistment something to be proud of
What impact did economic boycotts have on South Africa's apartheid policies? There were pension funds that were South Africa free, meaning their holdings did not include investment in corporations doing business in South Africa.
Regardless of professional expertise, those who speak freely and let their opinions be known about Bush/Obama policies aren't likely to obtain employment or retain it for long in a corporate environment. There must be a way for consumers and those hit hardest by cuts in social services, whether recipients or providers (AFSCME), to pay back in kind through targeted boycotts.
"What impact did economic boycotts have on South Africa's apartheid policies?"
Near total financial crisis. SA faced on its own what the world financial sector faced in September 2008. Check out the book _Loosing the Bonds_ by Doug Massie for details. Of course this followed three decades of escalating divestment activism...
By the way, this might be difficult to carry out against the US, unless and until its debts are in the hands of a power that opposes its policies and is willing to challenge them.