<div class="gmail_quote"><div class="gmail_quote"><div class="im"><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-naiman/why-peaceniks-should-care_b_712333.html" target="_blank">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-naiman/why-peaceniks-should-care_b_712333.html</a><br>
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<div class="gmail_quote"><div><div class="im"><p>There is a tradition among some peace activists of striking a pose of
annoyed indifference to the question of how to get out of an unpopular
war. "There are three ways to get out," goes one waggish response. "Air,
land, and sea."</p>
<p>This is funny and emotionally satisfying, and also represents a truth
for peace activists: ending the war is a first principle, not something
contingent on whether a particular means of doing so satisfies someone
else's notion of what is practical.</p>
<p>On the other hand, peace activists can't be satisfied with being
right; they also are morally compelled to try to be effective. And part
of being effective is giving consideration to, and seeking to publicize,
arguments are likely to end the war sooner rather than later. It's not
likely, for example, that discussing ways in which the war might be
useful for the long-term maintenance of the "capitalist world system"
will turn the Washington debate against war in the short run. If, on the
other hand, central to the official story is a claim that the war is a
war against Al Qaeda, but senior U.S. officials publicly concede that
there is no significant Al Qaeda presence today in Afghanistan, that is
certainly a fact worth knowing and spreading. </p>
<p>This is why it is important for as many people as possible to read and digest the short and accessible <a href="http://www.afghanistanstudygroup.org/" target="_blank">report</a> of the "<a href="http://www.afghanistanstudygroup.org/" target="_blank">Afghanistan Study Group</a>"
which has been publicly unveiled this week. The assumptions and
conclusions of the ASG report should be the subject of a thousand
debates. But there are a few things about it that one can say without
fear of reasonable contradiction. The authors of the report oppose the
war and want to end it. The principal authors of the report are
Washington insiders with a strong claim to expertise about what sort of
arguments are likely to move Washington debate. The authors of the
report have a strategy for trying to move Washington debate so that at
the next fork in the road, the choice made is to de-escalate the war and
move towards its conclusion, rather than to escalate it further.
Therefore, the arguments made deserve careful consideration. They may
not be particularly useful for making posters for a demonstration. But
for lobbying Congressional staff, writing a letter to the editor, or
making any other presentation to people who are not already on our side,
the arguments of the Afghanistan Study Group are likely to be useful. </p>
</div><p>[...]</p></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div><div></div><div class="h5">-- <br>Robert Naiman<br>Policy Director<br>Just Foreign Policy<br><a href="http://www.justforeignpolicy.org" target="_blank">www.justforeignpolicy.org</a><br>
<a href="mailto:naiman@justforeignpolicy.org" target="_blank">naiman@justforeignpolicy.org</a><br><br>Urge Congress to Support a Timetable for Military Withdrawal from Afghanistan<br><a href="http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/act/feingold-mcgovern" target="_blank">http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/act/feingold-mcgovern</a><br>
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