>As I've said before, instead of simply chanting "No War," the "left" should
>have seen that al-Qaeda and the Taliban are not the Vietnamese or the
>Sandinistas, considered them a mortal enemy, not only to progressive Western
>values but to millions in the region, supported hitting them back, but in
>concert with pressuring the US to alter its relations with the Arab world
>and especially with Israel. This, I believe, would have paid huge dividends,
>and would have placed the "left" in a unique position to advance the
>arguments that need to be advanced.
Why would the US government alter its relations with the Arab world _for better_ while making war on Afghanistan, setting up new bases in Central Asia, increasing its military presence in the Middle East, sending troops to the Philippines, & upgrading Plan Colombia from the rhetoric of the "war on drugs" to an explicit defense of oil pipelines, supporting the (thankfully failed) coup against Chavez in Venezuela, preparing a war on Iraq, etc.? There is no factual basis for your fantasy, pleasant as it may be to dream on. As for Israel, the Empire continues to support its most important client state (now more isolated than ever in the sea of seething Arabs) despite the damages that Israel has done to the stability of its other client states (not to mention the ideological stock of the Empire), perhaps thinking that Israel is the one underling that it could really count on. The only silver lining is that the Empire appears to have entered the phase of imperial overreach. -- Yoshie
* Calendar of Events in Columbus: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/calendar.html> * Anti-War Activist Resources: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/activist.html> * Student International Forum: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/> * Committee for Justice in Palestine: <http://www.osu.edu/students/CJP/>