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Point One:
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<div class="">No, I’m sorry to say, the mass anti-war movement in the US against the war with Iraq was not covered worldwide. I was working in Manila at the time, with the Asian Development Bank. Working with people of many nationalities and we were all concerned.
Online that is about 2,000 people. There was no coverage that we knew of related to the anti-war movement in the US against the Bush Administrations plans to attack Iraq, or after. </div>
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<div class="">This was a daily conversation by many, which included Muslims of various nations. We not only had CNN at home and in airports, we also received news from Al Jazeera. Maybe there was coverage in other parts of the world, but not in Asia at the
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<div class="">I made the point during a meeting of about fifteen people discussing “where we go from here” "that we should focus on development of Afghanistan, given what my nation was about to do to it.” People were shocked at my statement, because though
Afghanistan was a member of ADB, they had been inactive for years, and I was asked from whom I received my information, my answer was “no one, it was just obvious”. Soon after, not due to anything I said, we sent advisors to Afghanistan, finance and accounting
people, and yes undercover as engineers, US military personnel, who were fluent in Pashtun as well as Urdu. I hope I don’t lose my pension over revealing this information. </div>
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<div class="">Most of the people working with me traveled on a regular basis, we weren’t living in a microcosym. Only after returning to the US some years later, did I learn of the world’s largest mass demonstration against war in the US after 9/11. </div>
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<div class="">Your point: </div>
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<div class="">“the suggestions are good,” thats why I suggested it, to you and others for both panel discussions. I hope someone takes up the lead on “events” focused on the “costs of war.” However, those who attended the one we did a couple months ago, or
so I have been informed, now wish to focus on environmental concerns, not war. </div>
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<div class="">Bennis suggests that “anti-war groups deliver this message, but she does it in a critical fashion implying failure on the part of the Anti-war groups, or blaming the messenger for not arousing the people.” </div>
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<div class="">Does she bring this info. into her articles? Well, I guess now she will have to do so. Tom Dispatch, David Swanson, Prof. Francis Boyle, Max Blumenthal, all the others who speak out against war, utilizing their professional expertise, in what
little alternative media coverage they receive, are now supposed to add in pie charts, domestic issues and costs of war in their articles as well? This is nonsense. </div>
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<div class="">Again, we need others to take up that mantle and spread the word, you David have done a good job on this topic, please keep up the good work.</div>
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<div class="">On Oct 12, 2017, at 06:48, David Johnson <<a href="mailto:davidjohnson1451@comcast.net" class="">davidjohnson1451@comcast.net</a>> wrote:</div>
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<b class=""><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class="">Point one</span></b><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""> <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><span style="color: rgb(31, 73, 125);" class="">-
“</span></span><b class=""><span style="font-size: 14.5pt;" class="">though it was unknown in the rest of the world,” Of course it was known to the rest of the world ???<o:p class=""></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b class=""><span style="font-size: 14.5pt;" class="">But I will partly concede your point about the distinction of ; successful organization of a mass movement vs. Victory.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b class=""><span style="font-size: 14.5pt;" class="">Point two – agreed.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b class=""><span style="font-size: 14.5pt;" class="">Point three – agreed, UFPJ has devolved considerably over the last few years.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b class=""><span style="font-size: 14.5pt;" class="">HOWEVER, let’s not throw the baby out with the dirty bath water. Despite these points of yours the general analysis and suggestions are good ( in my opinion ).<o:p class=""></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b class=""><span style="font-size: 14.5pt;" class="">David J.</span></b><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);" class=""><o:p class=""></o:p></span></div>
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<b class=""><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;" class="">From:</span></b><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;" class=""><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Peace-discuss [<a href="mailto:peace-discuss-bounces@lists.chambana.net" class="">mailto:peace-discuss-bounces@lists.chambana.net</a>]<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><b class="">On
Behalf Of<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></b>Karen Aram via Peace-discuss<br class="">
<b class="">Sent:</b><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Tuesday, October 10, 2017 6:45 PM<br class="">
<b class="">To:</b><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Brussel, Morton K<br class="">
<b class="">Cc:</b><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="mailto:peace-discuss@lists.chambana.net" class="">peace-discuss@lists.chambana.net</a><br class="">
<b class="">Subject:</b><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Re: [Peace-discuss] A counter balance of hope to the previous article I posted<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div>
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I had a problem with many things Bennis said, especially that to which you refer. This is my list I wrote this morning, but didn’t send. I put in bold the statements that irritated. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><o:p class=""></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.5pt;" class="">"During the George W. Bush years, the movement achieved <b class="">significant victories,</b> most notably the Feb. 15, 2003, global mobilization against the Iraq War. This may not have prevented the U.S. invasion,
but it created a model for what a truly international protest could look like, helped keep Bush from attacking Iran and later helped inspire the 2011 overthrow of Hosni Mubarak in Egypt” </span><o:p class=""></o:p></div>
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<b class=""><span style="font-size: 14.5pt;" class="">Victories? A successful organization of a mass movement maybe, though it was unknown in the rest of the world, but victorious? </span></b><o:p class=""></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.5pt;" class="">Similarly, we have to recognize that Washington’s continued violation of the Non-Proliferation Treaty, requiring it to move toward full nuclear disarmament, is a major reason North Korea is so determined to produce
nuclear weapons of its own. At the same time,<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><b class="">we must insist that Kim Jong-Un’s threats are unacceptable. This is the most egregious statement given what we did to N. Korea.</b></span><o:p class=""></o:p></div>
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<b class=""><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="">Promotion of UFPJ</span></b><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;" class="">, where most of what I see is <b class=""> “criticism of Assad,</b>" not US intervention and support for ISIS</span><o:p class=""></o:p></div>
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On Oct 10, 2017, at 14:03, Brussel, Morton K <<a href="mailto:brussel@illinois.edu" style="color: purple; text-decoration: underline;" class="">brussel@illinois.edu</a>> wrote:<o:p class=""></o:p></div>
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I was surprised by Bennis following statement:<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><o:p class=""></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt;" class="">"Similarly, we have to recognize that Washington’s continued violation of the Non-Proliferation Treaty, requiring it to move toward full nuclear disarmament, is a major reason North Korea is so determined to produce nuclear
weapons of its own. At the same time, we must insist that Kim Jong-Un’s threats are unacceptable.”</span><o:p class=""></o:p></div>
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There is much wrong with this statement:<o:p class=""></o:p></div>
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• N. Korea, it seems evident, cares less about "Washington’s continued violation of the NPT" than about being attacked by the U.S. if it has no effective deterrent. <o:p class=""></o:p></div>
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• "Kim Jong-Un’s unacceptable threats”: They are threats to retaliate, not to start a war by attacking the U.S.. He’s not stupid. He may be undiplomatic, but that is somewhat understandable given the rantings and threats of Trump.<o:p class=""></o:p></div>
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Is Phyllis Bennis losing it—her analytic abilities?<o:p class=""></o:p></div>
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—mkb<o:p class=""></o:p></div>
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On Oct 9, 2017, at 10:58 PM, C G Estabrook via Peace-discuss <<a href="mailto:peace-discuss@lists.chambana.net" style="color: purple; text-decoration: underline;" class="">peace-discuss@lists.chambana.net</a>> wrote:<o:p class=""></o:p></div>
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I expect better from Phyllis Bennis than this collection of - at best - obvious truths and bromides.<br class="">
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It shows the malign effect of a generation of identity politics.<br class="">
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US presidents have killed 30 million people in 40 countries since WWII, but not because of racism. <br class="">
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But "Today’s wars are vastly more complex than U.S. interventions during the Cold War”! What nonsense (repeated by Prashad). US foreign policy - and war policy - is remarkably consistent over more than a century. (So long as we don’t think it’s primarily a
willingness to "pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty”! That’s true only if liberty means the liberty of the 1% to kill people and plunder the planet.)<o:p class=""></o:p></div>
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And this is not just a matter today for a soi-disant, omphalos-obsessed 'Left.’ (The most anti-war senior politician in the US is Ron Paul; consistent anti-war positions have been enunciated by paleoconservatives.)<br class="">
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Against the rather pusillanimous suggestions of the following articles, AWARE like many other anti-war groups across the country has called for the US to <br class="">
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~ (1) establish a foreign policy based on diplomacy, international law, human rights, and respect for the sovereignty of other nations (notably Russia, China, Iran and Syria);<br class="">
~ (2) end the wars (in the Mideast and elsewhere); stop the drone attacks, “the most extreme terrorist campaign of modern times”; and end the war provocations against Russia and China; <br class="">
~ (3) cut military spending by at least 50% and close the more than 800 US military bases ringing Eurasia (Russia has 15 bases outside its territory; China has one); bring all US troops (and weapons) home; and withdraw US ‘special forces’ who’ve been sent into
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~ (5) lead on global nuclear disarmament; revoke the last administration’s trillion dollar plan to ‘update’ US nuclear weapons.<o:p class=""></o:p></div>
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When the ‘Left’ works seriously and effectively for these goals, they might be taken seriously again. (And BTW, the problem is US war making - not Trump.)<o:p class=""></o:p></p>
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On Oct 9, 2017, at 9:22 PM, Karen Aram via Peace-discuss <<a href="mailto:peace-discuss@lists.chambana.net" style="color: purple; text-decoration: underline;" class="">peace-discuss@lists.chambana.net</a>> wrote:<o:p class=""></o:p></div>
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I don’t see this as “hope.” I see it as “blame the anti-war movement” for not arousing more public concern over war. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><o:p class=""></o:p></div>
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One statement “The Anti-War Movement needs to care more for racial and economic injustice” is rather telling. Placing the focus on domestic issues, which are tied to our wars, and won’t be solved unless we end our wars.<o:p class=""></o:p></div>
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Most, like the authors of these articles, make no attempt to address the “root” of the problem which encompasses all of the injustice referred to, that is “our system of capitalism." “Reform” is not a solution. <o:p class=""></o:p></div>
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At least focus on war, if one really researches the subject, prevents any illusions that “elections” or “candidates” with our two party system, will bring about change. It educates one as to “why” we have wars, and it becomes inescapable, that “imperialism”
is the reason, and cannot be eradicated within a capitalistic system. <o:p class=""></o:p></div>
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On Oct 9, 2017, at 09:11, David Johnson via Peace-discuss <<a href="mailto:peace-discuss@lists.chambana.net" style="color: purple; text-decoration: underline;" class="">peace-discuss@lists.chambana.net</a>> wrote:<o:p class=""></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="">The U.S. Is Bombing at Least Six Countries. How Can the Anti-War Movement Step Up?</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><o:p class=""></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="">A discussion of the future of the peace movement.</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><o:p class=""></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="">October 5, 2017 | October Issue</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><o:p class=""></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;" class=""><a href="http://inthesetimes.com/community/profile/322171" style="color: purple; text-decoration: underline;" class="">Phyllis Bennis</a></span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><o:p class=""></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="">Time for the Anti-War Movement to Throw Down for Racial and Economic Justice</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><o:p class=""></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="">Why peace activists must look beyond our own movement.</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><o:p class=""></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="">When the United States threatened to bomb Syria in 2013, an outpouring of public opposition helped stop the Obama administration from launching a new air war.</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><o:p class=""></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="">But this success also transformed existing disagreement over the conflict among anti-war organizers into bitter debates. Activists disputed the nature of the Assad regime and Syria’s domestic opposition forces; they diverged
on what to do about ISIS, the neighboring countries and their militia proxies, and intervention by global powers. The intense intra-movement battle involved only a small cohort of people, largely on social media. But, while both sides agreed on many things,
the feud derailed the rise of a unified and internationalist anti-war movement—a movement that would focus on<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i class="">ending</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>the Syrian wars, rather than urging victory
for a preferred side.</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><o:p class=""></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="">Of course, the movement’s mission extends beyond Syria. Anyone monitoring U.S. wars today is whipsawed as military crises—along with U.S. drones, bombers, troops, weapons and more—bounce from continent to continent, target
to target. Iraq to Syria, North Korea to Yemen, Iran to Afghanistan, the Philippines to Somalia. Ending those lethal wars demands our urgent attention even as Charlottesville, Flint and Standing Rock continue to claim our time, commitment and passion.</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><o:p class=""></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="">An independent anti-war movement, especially a divided one, cannot take this on alone. Challenging the wars abroad, while at the same time addressing domestic crises, requires that we focus on building a larger, broader
people’s movement in which the struggle against war and militarism is inextricably linked to the fight against racism, for equality, for the Earth and for justice.</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><o:p class=""></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="">During the George W. Bush years, the movement achieved significant victories, most notably the Feb. 15, 2003, global mobilization against the Iraq War. This may not have prevented the U.S. invasion, but it created a model
for what a truly international protest could look like, helped keep Bush from attacking Iran and later helped inspire the 2011 overthrow of Hosni Mubarak in Egypt.</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><o:p class=""></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="">When Barack Obama was elected, some activists believed that with a supposedly anti-war president, they could move on. In addition, the economic crisis meant that many more people faced newly desperate circumstances, necessitating
a greater focus on urgent domestic issues, including housing, jobs and healthcare.</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><o:p class=""></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="">The movement strategized on how to respond. Should we focus on rebuilding an independent movement? Or prioritize building an anti-war component into other progressive movements? Supporters of the first idea won the debate,
and produced some powerful short-term mobilizations. But subsequent movement-building efforts failed to sufficiently respond to the new political conditions. People of color and (excepting veterans) younger people were still underrepresented, and the movement
still failed to sufficiently link militarism to the economic and racial justice campaigns on which younger activists had cut their political teeth.</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><o:p class=""></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="">This is why we must build on the vision of Martin Luther King Jr., who, in his 1967 “Beyond Vietnam” speech, called for a unified movement against “the giant triplets of racism, extreme materialism and militarism”—adding,
as Dr. King surely would have, protection of the planet.</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><o:p class=""></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="">Yet, we still must figure out the dynamics of particular conflicts to determine how—and convince others why—to end specific wars. Today’s wars are vastly more complex than U.S. interventions during the Cold War. In those
years, many activists supported “the other side”—the National Liberation Front in Vietnam, the African National Congress in South Africa, the Sandinistas and the FMLN in Central America. It’s more difficult to ground our movements in international solidarity
when “the other side” is composed of fighters we don’t support, who hold anti-democratic, extremist religious, misogynist or other reactionary views. We still have progressive counterparts—the Iraqi oil workers union, some Syrian opposition activists and more—but
they’re not the ones engaged on the battlefield.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><o:p class=""></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="">Here, we can learn from the strong anti-war movement following the 9/11 attacks. The two big coalitions—United for Peace and Justice (UFPJ) and ANSWER—divided over organizing strategy and whether to criticize the Saddam
Hussein government. The broader of the two, UFPJ—powerfully anti-war but willing to criticize Hussein—grew far more influential, partly because its more nuanced position encouraged engaging a wider range of domestic and international organizations.</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><o:p class=""></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="">Today, we must ensure that opposing U.S. intervention in Syria does not blind us to Bashar al-Assad’s legacy of torture and collaboration with other U.S. wars, just as we have to acknowledge that however progressive and
indeed heroic the original protest movement of Syria’s Arab Spring, the majority of those now engaged in armed anti-regime fighting are not those progressive heroes. While activists facing brutal repression in Syria or Libya or elsewhere may call for U.S.
intervention, we must not uncritically accept that call.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><o:p class=""></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="">Similarly, we have to recognize that Washington’s continued violation of the Non-Proliferation Treaty, requiring it to move toward full nuclear disarmament, is a major reason North Korea is so determined to produce nuclear
weapons of its own. At the same time, we must insist that Kim Jong-Un’s threats are unacceptable.</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><o:p class=""></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="">To strengthen all our movements, we must also understand that militarism is a key cause of domestic crises: Military spending strips funds from the social safety net; excess Pentagon equipment sent to local police departments
militarizes our communities; Islamophobia rises in response to wars abroad; militarism’s outsized carbon footprint threatens us all. The Movement for Black Lives, the new Poor People’s Campaign, various environmental and economic justice organizations, and
many others already recognize this.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><o:p class=""></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="">We in the anti-war movement must do better in getting accessible information and analysis—on the human, environmental and economic costs of war and militarism, and the integral links between war and racism—into the hands
of today’s resistance. </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><o:p class=""></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;" class=""><a href="http://inthesetimes.com/community/profile/322171" style="color: purple; text-decoration: underline;" class="">Vijay Prashad</a></span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><o:p class=""></o:p></span></p>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="">We Must Find Common Ground Without Giving In to Liberal Interventionists</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><o:p class=""></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="">An effective anti-war movement's first priority must be stopping U.S. imperialism.</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><o:p class=""></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="">Phyllis writes with characteristic sense and sensitivity about the dilemmas of the U.S. anti-war movement. She is right that the current conjuncture is quite different than that of the Cold War. Then, there was a clearer
sense of international solidarity—in the U.S. wars and coups of that period, the U.S. Left could find progressive allies. No such easy solidarity is possible today. Comparing the two eras, there is a wide gulf between Algeria’s FLN and al-Qaeda, between El
Salvador’s FMLN and Mexican drug gangs. A great deal of confusion reigns.</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><o:p class=""></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="">As Phyllis notes, the Western Left tore itself apart over Syria. One section sees the Assad government as the enemy, while another sees that government as the victim of imperialist attack. But the vast bulk of Western
leftists fall between these two poles, in part because they do not know how to understand the Syrian war. The imperialist media has confounded judgment, offering a theory of humanitarian intervention that clouds over previous certainty about the wrongness
of imperialist wars of aggression. It is this bewilderment and insecurity that has led to fratricidal debates.</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><o:p class=""></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="">We saw evidence of the American anti-war movement’s weakness at the Women’s March, where few anti-war positions took center stage. There have been marches against the Muslim Ban and for science, but no comparable march
against U.S. bombings in Syria and Iraq, U.S. arms delivery to Saudi Arabia for its brutal war on Yemen, and U.S. escalation in Afghanistan. The liberal wing of the resistance to Trump is simply disoriented when it comes to war, having been associated with
the Democratic Party’s wars during the Obama years. It has surrendered to liberal interventionism and the war machine.</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><o:p class=""></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="">If a serious anti-war movement is to be part of the new resistance to Trump, it would have to come from the Left. But this is not possible given that this Left is not only weak but fractured. The divides are old—the American
Left has been arguing about Cuba, for instance, since 1959, and some continue to believe the country’s government is a state capitalist system that should be removed. Infighting has prevented the American Left from uniting around a clear anti-imperialist platform—one
that centers the violence wrought by the U.S. government.</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><o:p class=""></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="">But there ought to be agreement on some core issues that could unite the Left and rejuvenate the anti-war movement:</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><o:p class=""></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="">• Reduction of the military budget.</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><o:p class=""></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="">• Freeze on U.S. arms sales to Saudi Arabia and Israel.</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><o:p class=""></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="">• Reduction of the U.S. military footprint through bases and naval expansion.</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><o:p class=""></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="">• Call for an investigation of civilian casualties by U.S. bombings and U.S.-backed militias from Afghanistan to Syria.</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><o:p class=""></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="">• End to the CIA secret arming of reactionary forces across the Third World.</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><o:p class=""></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="">• Call for the conversion of military industrialism into a peace economy not rooted in arms sales.</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><o:p class=""></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="">Such a concrete platform would find broad agreement across the American Left. Unity in action should be possible if we are able to set aside—for now—the debates around Syria and Venezuela. The American Left, weak beyond
measure, can be strengthened by taking a strong class position against the warfare state—one that not only itches to sell arms and bomb countries abroad, but then turns these same weapons on its own people.</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><o:p class=""></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;" class=""><a href="http://inthesetimes.com/community/profile/322171" style="color: purple; text-decoration: underline;" class="">Ali Issa</a></span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><o:p class=""></o:p></span></p>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="">The U.S. Anti-War Movement Must Reject a U.S.-Centric View of the World</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><o:p class=""></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="">We don't have to choose between U.S. empire and regional dictatorships—activists on the ground are fighting for a better alternative.</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><o:p class=""></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="">Phyllis and Vijay’s reflections on how to rebuild the U.S. anti-war movement couldn’t come at a better time. In the wake of Trump’s recent announcement that he plans to send more troops to Afghanistan, and his escalation
of U.S. bombings in several other countries, one wonders: Is there an anti-war movement at all?</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><o:p class=""></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="">Phyllis and Vijay rightly perceive a lack of large-scale political work against U.S. militarism. Both point to debates around Syria and other conflicts, and suggest areas of common ground. Engaging these debates is essential.</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><o:p class=""></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="">But I would like to offer another reason for the movement’s absence: Many in the anti-war Left fall prey to an inverted form of U.S. exceptionalism, in which U.S.-caused harm is so central to our messaging, analysis and
strategy that little room remains for the agency of people in other parts of the world, or the solutions they could offer.</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><o:p class=""></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="">Growing up in an Iraqi-American household in the 1990s—a period when military attacks and crippling sanctions on Iraq provided frequent reminders of U.S. cruelty—I’ve long been aware of the harmful role the United States
plays in the world. It wasn’t until 2014, however, that I discovered the work that Iraqi organizations on the ground were doing to respond to the skyrocketing number of birth defects linked to radiation from U.S. munitions in the northern town of Hawija. I
spoke to local leaders over Skype, and learned how, through fundraising, lobbying the Iraqi government and building global awareness, they were able to open a needed treatment clinic. They were also organizing against both right-wing movements linked to ISIS
and anti-woman laws backed by the neighboring government of Iran. This helped me understand that, while the liberation Iraqis were working toward depended on what we did here in the United States, we were also completing a much broader picture together—one
that involves building alternatives that could someday replace U.S. (and regional) hegemonies. This understanding honestly changed my life.</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><o:p class=""></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="">Going forward, deepening our internationalist engagements is necessary in opposing U.S.—indeed all—militarism. Though it takes effort, grounding strategic campaigns in the lived experience of those on the front lines
provides the accountability and inspiration we need. The Grassroots Global Justice Alliance (GGJ), in its opposition to U.S. support of repression abroad, highlights the legacy of Berta Cáceres, a remarkable indigenous leader assassinated in the fallout from
the U.S.-backed coup in Honduras eight years ago. GGJ has educated people in the United States on the Honduran indigenous land-protector movement of which Cáceres was part, pushed for Congress to suspend U.S. security assistance to the Honduran military and
police, and helped build in-person relationships between U.S. grassroots organizers and Honduran activists. Bringing this lesson to Syria, how very different would our relationship to that war be if our analysis began with the popular 2011 movement for freedom
and justice that was crushed by the Assad regime?</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><o:p class=""></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="">These are not easy questions, but as Vijay acknowledges, these debates aren’t new. Anti-war organizers have been navigating this terrain for decades. In 1982, for example, the U.S.-based Campaign for Peace and Democracy
was founded to support dissidents working for human rights in the Soviet Bloc.</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><o:p class=""></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="">Just as we need not choose between “domestic” and “global” concerns, but rather must see them as intertwined, we need not choose between a focus on U.S. empire and regional dictatorships, as ultimately each relies on
the other. The deeper question is: Can we step back from our insistence on a U.S. focus, allow others the spotlight and see an internationalist vision through?</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><o:p class=""></o:p></span></div>
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