Hope Out of Quagmire: New Peace Movement Opportunities

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In the glow of the Iraq war's initial military success, most American peace activists felt profoundly demoralized. Between the war's portrayal as a glamorous spectacle and Bush's seemingly overwhelming support, many who'd recently marched by the millions felt isolated, defensive, and powerless, fearing their voices no longer mattered.

Now, as Bush's occupation faces a deepening quagmire, shifting public sentiment opens up major new opportunities for activism. Just two months ago, the national mood felt so resistant that it was hard to raise the most cautious dissenting questions. But polls now suggest the beginning of a very different national mood, where large numbers of Americans are having significant doubts. This gives us a chance to challenge the core fallacies of Bush's foreign policy, revitalize peace movement activism, and perhaps change our national direction. We can do this by launching a grassroots campaign to replace the US control over Iraq with an international transitional authority under United Nations command -- an authority that would control not only military operations, but also Iraq's political and economic affairs, including its oil-fields. We can work to transform a beachhead for American empire into an interim government that would actually have a shot at bringing democracy.

The shifts in the polls are staggering, even if most peace activists haven't yet noticed them. Driven by the steady US casualties in Iraq and continuing chaos, a July Gallup poll found 43 percent of Americans believing things are going badly in Iraq, up from just 13 percent in early May. In a mid-July Washington Post-ABC News poll, six in ten of those surveyed said the war damaged the image of the United States abroad, half said the conflict permanently damaged U.S. relations with key allies, and 52 percent considered the level of US casualties "unacceptable." A Zogby poll around the same time found a one percent majority actually saying it was time for someone new in the White House. These shifts all emerged before Congress's recent questioning of the occupation's political, economic and human costs.

Before the war, we had a clear goal in trying to stop it. Once it started, this drastically limited the peace movement's options. We could bear witness for the future, but it was hard to influence the war's immediate outcome. Now the landscape has shifted again, to one far more hospitable toward dissenting views. Americans are developing significant reservations despite what until recently has been scant critical media coverage, minimal questioning by Democratic leaders, and little presence from the peace movement since late February. If we can begin coalescing public concern around an alternative to US troops remaining indefinitely in Iraq, we have a real chance to influence national debate.

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