Hope Out of Quagmire: New Peace Movement Opportunities

Article Tools

Print

E-mail

Comments

RSS

Working to bring the troops home will also give us a chance to address related questions, like the missing WMDs, America's long tradition of arming dictators, the key role of oil politics, and the lies and manipulations that fueled our rush to war -- including the notion that we'd be universally hailed as liberators and the attacks on generals who accurately warned of massive post-war troop deployments. Raising these issues will lead to larger questions about the dangers of Bush's belligerent unilateralism, and the contrast between the four billion dollars a month he's spending in Iraq and his total neglect of a sinking domestic economy. The more we succeed in this task, the more we have a chance to breach Bush's image as national protector.

If Bush does withdraw after sustained citizen pressure, his administration will have been significantly tarnished. And we'll have a major peace movement victory, which will itself empower further action. A key value of this campaign would be its ability to help recover activist momentum and morale-giving people a concrete focus for their actions. There's a huge reservoir of citizens who became active in the opposition to the war, but who've since melted back to private life. If we can get them re-engaged at this point, they have a chance to become long-term activists. They may not yet have taken up the particular issue of troop withdrawal, but that's because most were so demoralized by the war's quick initial progress and seemingly overwhelming support that they felt that what happened was totally out of their hands. Now it isn't. Citizens once again can begin to have a voice, in a far more potentially receptive environment.

During the countdown to the war, the clock was running against us. Our movement grew at an amazing pace, but ran out of time before we could become powerful enough to reverse the administration's course. Now time should work in our favor. Unless Iraq suddenly becomes miraculously pacified, the longer our troops are there, the more casualties they'll take, and the stronger the case for withdrawal. As we continue to raid houses, round up civilians, and generally stoke resentment, Iraqi resistance is unlikely to die down. Bush is already calling for increased military deployments. Although we'd want to launch a campaign for withdrawal well before the November 2004 election (to avoid diverting resources and energy), if we do our work well, it could play a major role helping unseat George Bush.

RSS | Comments | E-mail | Print