[Peace-discuss] First Black President Defeats U.S. Antiwar Movement

[Randall Cotton]

This caught my eye, as Glen Ford's commentaries often do, mainly because I
generally agree with him 100%, as in this case.

First Black President Defeats U.S. Antiwar Movement
A Black Agenda Radio commentary by Glen Ford

"Obama pretends he wants peace, and anti-war members of Congress pretend
to believe him."

In the streets, on the campuses and on Capitol Hill, the anti-war movement
is no longer moving anywhere. It has been crippled by the Obama Effect,
the deep and wide delusion that imperialism with a Black face is somehow -
something else. When a movement disbands itself without coming even close
to achieving its objective, that is a defeat. We can now definitively
state that, for the time being, the U.S. anti-war movement has been
defeated - not by Republicans, but by Barack Obama's Democratic Party.

A recent article in The Hill, a newspaper that covers Congress, relates a
meeting among staffers for Out of Iraq caucus leaders Barbara Lee, Maxine
Waters and Lynn Woolsey. They were supposed to come up with a response to
President Obama's announcement that he would immediately send 4,000
additional troops to Afghanistan, with lots more to come. Obama is
determined to leave at least 50,000 troops in Iraq for an open-ended
period of time under the guise of "training" the Iraqis, and is rapidly
merging Afghanistan and Pakistan into one theater of war, called Af-Pak.
Clearly, the Obama administration is expanding its war in Af-Pak, and has
no intention of ending the U.S. military presence in Iraq - ever. The
staffers for the Out of Iraq caucus leaders spent two hours trying to come
up with a position. They failed.

For all intents and purposes, the Out of Iraq caucus has ceased to
function. Black Congresswomen Barbara Lee and Maxine Waters have at times
shown great courage in the face of stupendous odds. But they will not
confront Barack Obama, even when he expands the arenas of war, claims that
combat soldiers are merely trainers and advisers, and pushes through a war
budget that is bigger than any of George Bush's war budgets. Obama
pretends he wants peace, and anti-war members of Congress pretend to
believe him.

"The anti-war movement has hit rock-bottom because of its failure to
challenge this particular president."

Another Capitol Hill publication, the Congressional Quarterly, recently
ran an article on the low demonstration turn-out and money woes of the
anti-war movement. A March 21st rally at the Pentagon drew pitiful numbers
of demonstrators, only 3,000 according to police. Organizers claim they
can't raise money these days, and have been forced to cut staff. A
spokesperson for ANSWER, the Act Now to Stop War and End Racism Coalition,
said the peace movement is seeing the impact of the "promises the Obama
campaign made." Outgoing United for Peace and Justice leader Leslie Cagan
says her money people aren't giving because "It's enough for many of them
that Obama has a plan to end the war and that things are moving in the
right direction."

But Obama has no plans or intention to end his wars except on imperialism'
s own terms - which means never-ending war, just like under Bush - a basic
truth that United for Peace and Justice refuses to recognize or admit.
ANSWER organizers also fail to confront the Obama White House head-on. The
Congressional Quarterly article concludes that the anti-war movement is
suffering from the results of "its own successes." That's absolute
nonsense. The anti-war movement has hit rock-bottom because of its failure
to challenge this particular president, an imperialist with charm, a
warmonger with a winning smile. Obama has whipped them, but good. And they
will stay whipped, until they stand up like men, like women, like leaders.

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