Operation Enduring Protest

Yoshie Furuhashi furuhashi.1 at osu.edu
Fri Oct 19 06:30:31 PDT 2001



> > Speakers were just as passionate as Curtis Mack, but unfortunately,
>> equally short on answers. All did their best to avoid the thorny
>> question of how to fight terrorism without bombs.
>
>Sigh!
>
>And Featherstone avoids the thorny question of _Is it possible to fight
>terrorism?_
>
>The question is wrong and an evasion of reality.
>
>Carrol

Naturally, everyone -- including Carrol & yours truly -- wants to live in the terror-free world. The problem is that fighting terrorism with "considerable force" in the world of capitalism & imperialism doesn't stop it, just as fighting the "war on drugs" doesn't stop drug production, distribution, & consumption, & fighting the "war on crimes" doesn't stop crimes. If more concrete lessons from history are necessary to grasp this truth, one may look at the Soviet campaign in Afghanistan, the Yugoslav operation in Kosovo, etc.

We can, however, work hard & rebuild the Left (which will take decades, at least), so we may one day be in a position to eliminate capitalism & imperialism, twin major sources of terrors by states & atomized & ruthless fragments of the Multitude. A good number of leftist intellectuals, however, want a non-existent instant solution to terrors. Their wish is understandable, but it cannot be put into practice.

-- Yoshie

* Calendar of Anti-War Events in Columbus: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/calendar.html> * Anti-War Activist Resources: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/activist.html> * Anti-War Organizing in Columbus Covered by the Media: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/media.html>



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