councilor.org
| Source | Louis Proyect |
| Date | 05/08/21/03:51 |
| THERE IS A tendency for some to fret over moveon.org et al's attempts to
co-opt the antiwar movement. I myself don't worry about this that much since I saw it all before in the early 1970s. This is simply a reaction to changes taking place at the grass roots level with approval ratings on the war in Iraq reaching LBJ type proportions. It is also a reaction to the brute fact of insurgency power. Last night I watched Bill Maher who was interviewing Paul Hackett, the veteran of the war in Iraq who ran an unsuccessful campaign for congress in Ohio. Although he only got 48 percent of the vote, his district had gone 65 percent for Bush. This is not much consolation to the Republicans. Hackett got attacked on Counterpunch for using his veteran status in a demagogic fashion. Like Kerry, he was trying to have it both ways. To be critical of Bush but supportive of the war, which only required "better leadership" to prevail. His website states: "No matter what your position on the war, if we pull out now the entire region will spiral into chaos and present our nation and military with a far more difficult challenge than we currently face. I don't relish the prospect of my two sons going over there in twenty years. We need to get it right, and we need to do it now. "The Iraqi people and government are grateful that we eliminated their brutal dictator. They are capable of running their own government and building a democracy. It won't look like ours; nor should it. But in order for them to succeed, we must not withdraw our troops before the Iraqis are ready to stand on their own." Well, last night he told Maher that it is time to pull out. Now. Another indication. Elizabeth Edwards, wife of John Edwards who was Kerry's running mate, has come out strongly in support of Cindy Sheehan's right to say whatever she wants. You can read it here: http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/24172/. You might quite rightly judge this as an opportunist bid to appear against the war without actually calling for immediate withdrawal, but it legitimizes our efforts nonetheless. I believe that the unity between ANSWER and UfPJ is excellent news. Despite articles by Frank Rich of the NY Times that the "war is over", we don't know what will happen next. Although I don't think that the Bush administration is "fascist", there is an element of the irrational at work of the kind that led Hitler to invade the USSR. If the USA attacks Iran, we are going to need a powerful movement and we are also going to have to withstand a new McCarthyite attack on the right to protest the war. Last night on the Maher show, they were discussing charges that Sheehan is "treasonous", something that David Horowitz and Republican politicians are alleging. In the face of a growing crisis around US foreign policy, militancy and unity are required more than ever. |
Copyright (c) 1998, Joongpil Cho