Sunday, September 08, 2002

Crunch Time on the War -- What should we do? Crunch Time on the War -- What should we do? Anyone who is serious about changing the U.S. role in the world must answer the question of what to do.  I think the answer is educating as many people as possible with facts and details to make our case. During the anti Vietnam war movement, the university teach-in was a very effective organizing tool.  The three things that made teach-ins successful were a college audience receptive to  learn about the war because they faced the draft; lots of factual information about the actual life of the Vietnamese and unreported stories about the conduct of  the war;  and an alternative analysis of U.S. history that opposed the anti-communist domino theory that justified the war.  Once the American public came to see Vietnam as a war for national independence, where we did not have a vital interest at stake, the whole war enterprise slowly sank like a giant ocean liner struck below the waterline. Today the climate for developing a peace movement is much tougher.  First, there is no draft, and U.S. wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are fought to minimize U.S. casualties and actual infantry engagement with the enemy.  Polls show that Americans are much more divided about war with Iraq if it involves large numbers of ground troops and casualties.  So, one question that must be addressed is whether our government is committed to minimizing casualties and whether U.S. war aims are achievable with a limited commitment of ground troops.  This can be a powerful argument for more diplomacy and caution. Secondly, the media is much weaker and more dependent on the government.  After Vietnam, the U.S. military tried to eliminate independent war reporting by making it much more difficult, or impossible, for independent reporters to reach the battlefield.  So the Gulf war in 1991 was only covered by reporters fed information by the U.S. military, with the lone exception of CNN's Peter Arnett in Baghdad--who actually photographed the first cruise missiles on their way to targets.  Today, CNN and other networks are much more susceptible to political pressure to not undermine the official war effort. Originally, reporters were virtually banned from Afghanistan war zones.  Now some incredible stories trickle in, but they are not emphasized because they don't fit the 9-11 media storyline of American heroism.   Finally, we are at the beginning of this conflict, and really don't have enough factual data.  What is the situation with Saddam Hussein?  Is there an independent Iraqi opposition that does not owe its existence to the U.S.  Do the Kurd and Shiite Iraqi's support the war?  What are the desires of the Iraqi people? We know almost nothing about this, and yet it is a critical question in building opposition to the war. This week I wrote an opinion piece in the local paper on how after terrorism, the country must focus on peace.  Several people have circulated it by email to various friends, including people in the Army.  Reading some responses, I am struck again and again by the need for real education--not just flinging slogans at each other.  After I said "we must take back our country from the warmongers", this man said "I've spent 20 years as a soldier, making HUGE sacrifices to protect our country, our freedoms, our allies.. I can assure you that NO true soldier is a warmonger!  The last thing a soldier wants is war.  War means you ..get to sit in your living rooms and poopoo the rest of the world while WE suffer and die." So there is a common ground--neither of us want U.S. soldiers to die.  The disagreement is this man thinks it is necessary in the defense of freedom, and I think it is not necessary, but the result of poor decisions by our leaders.  This is a debate that can only happen if we avoid slinging rhetoric at each other.  So, despite our outrage, to start the process, we need to tone down our rhetoric, focus on the exact questions at hand, and try to do what we can to shape the debate in the face of overwhelmingly superior force.       10:25:08 PM   comment []

© Copyright 2002 Toby Sackton. Last update: 12/26/2002; 9:30:18 PM.