Building the Anti-War Movement
by Anne Winkler-Morey, WAMM
As the war continues, we need to figure out a way to up the ante. In my opinion, the best way to do that is to make the peace and justice movement bigger. There is strength and protection in numbers, and we need both today.
The task of bringing in new people -- people not yet informed about the history of U.S. foreign relations -- can seem daunting. After all, in the history of imperialist alibis, there has never been such an effective alibi as the attacks on September 11. Unlike the Alamo, the Maine, the Tonkin Gulf, and the Soviet beachheads in Nicaragua, the attack on September 11 actually happened. Good and loving people died and continue to suffer. The ability to overcome this imperial alibi seems, at first, overwhelming. Where do we begin?
I suggest we start by demonstrating that the emperor has no clothes. Despite the need to seek justice following September 11, the justifications for this war make no sense:
1. You cannot stop terrorism with terrorism. Bombing a civilian population and allying with terrorists like those in the Northern Alliance is state terrorism. This policy is analogous to Ronald Reagan's support for the Taliban and will likely have similar repercussions in the near future. Unlike the terrorism of individuals and groups, state terrorism implicates all of us if we do not protest.
2. You cannot hit military targets without hitting people! (What for god's sake do we think the Pentagon and the World Trade Center are? They are the central military and economic targets of the United States. We saw the attacks on television, and some of us know people who were made orphans, childless parents, and friends without friends. We know that many of the people killed had nothing to do with the military-industrial complex.) Even with scant news coverage of the effects of the bombing of Afghanistan, we should be able to get across to people that the bombing of so-called "military targets" kills people. The two-time hit on the Red Cross building by U.S. bombs should be evidence enough: There is no such thing as a good target for a bomb. Period.
3. A packet of food with a U.S. flag on it is not humanitarian aid. It is just good old-fashioned "psy-ops" (psychological operations). When the United States drops yellow packages of food and yellow cluster bombs, our government is taking the use of hunger as a weapon of war to a new level.
4. You cannot defend the homeland by using our youth as cannon fodder. If our young people die, chances are good they will die from a weapon made in the U.S.A.
5. You cannot defend freedom by denying people their civil liberties. Military tribunals, arrests without warrants, disappearances, talk of using torture on prisoners who refuse to talk, and secret searches without warrants are the policies of a police state, not a land of liberty.
6. You cannot defend the homeland by robbing us of our school budgets, our health care, or affordable housing. What is good, and potentially good, about our way of life is disintegrating with every bomb dropped on a foreign land.
7. You can't defend the homeland by provoking more attacks like those of September 11. This war is sowing the seeds of hatred, and when harvest time comes, the U.S. public will again be the victims. Children are feeling the effects already. According to school social workers, violence in the schools has spiked since September 11. It makes sense that when adults try to convince victimized kids to choose nonviolent solutions instead of revenge, young people see the hypocrisy.
8. On one issue Emperor Bush is telling the truth. The real issue behind the attack and the war is the economy. Bush and you and I don't have the same economic interests, however. The President wants us to spend money on things we don't need, with money we don't have, to protect our economic way of life. He awards companies who lay off workers with government handouts and tax relief, and calls workers who go on strike unpatriotic. Most important, if the United States succeeds in building and controlling an oil pipeline through Afghanistan, the profits will go to the big oilmen like Bush and Cheney, not you and me.
We can tell our neighbors these things, but just as we do, there will be more alibis -- alibis we never conceived possible. It is then that we need to lean on history. None of us knows what the future will bring. But we do know that, up to now, the United States, like other governments run by capital, has conducted foreign policy to protect capital interests: to protect the right to run sweatshops, break unions, and make obscene profits.
We need to teach our friends not just about past policies but also about past justifications. The tactics our government has used for over 160 years to manufacture consent fall into two categories: The more easily recognized racist, xenophobic, us-against-the-world justifications and the harder-to-combat social justice, pacifist, anti-imperialist justifications. It is when social movements are strong that the government emphasizes the latter. When this happens, we need to celebrate our success as people committed to social justice, even as we work to uncover these most insidious alibis. From the war of 1898 (the "first altruistic war in the history of mankind," the U.S. "War for Cuba's Freedom") to the Persian Gulf War (to protect the sovereignty of a small nation from the imperialist actions of a larger one), efforts to coopt progressive ideals have a long history. Knowing this history can help us recognize and expose new alibis as they surface.
WAMM is in a good position to help build the kind of anti-war movement we need. Over the last three months, we have worked with other organizations to provide education on the history of U.S. policy in Afghanistan and the Middle East, to make connections between the current war and U.S. interventions in different parts of the world, and to expose the politicians' lie that "the domestic agenda" and the war are separate. We have dedicated our means of communication (phone, e-mail, newsletter, staff and volunteer time) to further coordination and coalition building so that public protests in our community continue to grow in numbers.
If you are not already involved in some aspect of anti-war work, now is a time when your efforts are needed. There are tasks to fit everyone's schedule and ability. Give WAMM a call to find out how you can get involved.
WAMM Action!
Help remind holiday shoppers that the U.S. war on Afghanistan continues!
Rally and Bannering
Saturday, December 15, 2001
12:00 p.m.
Lagoon & Hennepin Avenues
Uptown, Minneapolis
Join in this creative protest which will include tactics like anti-war Christmas carols and anti-war toys for the kids. Sponsored by the Coalition Against the War, of which WAMM is a member. FFI: wamm@mtn.org or 612-827-5364.
Help Wanted!
WAMM seeks activists of all levels of skill and experience!
Are you interested in cultivating your activism skills and applying them for peace and justice? A new committee is forming at WAMM to help activists engage and build their skills while applying them in anti-war organizing. Inexperienced and experienced activists are both needed and welcome! No meetings until after the holidays. If you are interested, please call the WAMM office at 612-827-5364.
Join WAMM's Steering Committee!
WAMM's nominating committee is now accepting applications for nomination to the WAMM steering committee. All WAMM members are eligible to apply. Final steering committee membership will be determined by WAMM's membership at the 2001 Annual Meeting. If you would like to serve, please contact the WAMM office at 612-827-5364.
Anti-War Web Resources