[lbo-talk] Iraq war "clearer" to Americans than WW 2

[Dennis Perrin]

> The neoconservative
> warhawks had been doing their intellectual outreach for years, publishing
> books, holding policy conferences, organizing at their grassroots, to
> solidify a, yes, moral basis for their position (even if its a
disingenuous
> position), while the left was largely throwing its critique together on
the
> fly.
>
> The Left was flatly outorganized on this issue and not because they had
> fewer resources but because they just didn't even do the organizing
> necessary or engage in serious intellectual engagement. Which is why it
was
> claimed that the only "unity" position possible was the simplistic "no
war"
> message and thus anyone, including pro-Hussein propagandists like the WWP,
> could speak in the name of that antiwar message.  It was too thin a
message
> and failed.
>
> -- Nathan Newman

I see what Nathan's after here, and more or less agree. There were many
petitions, for instance, calling for the end of sanctions. But apart from
that, where were the conferences articulating a progressive alternative to
bombing Saddam out of power? Was there outreach to Kurdish groups? Iraqi
exiles, leftwing or otherwise? During the 12 years of sanctions and
protracted war, where was the bulk of the activist left on this issue? How
did it spend its time? I ask seriously.

And can we stop this "drifting rightward" crap? Nathan's pretty
straightforward. If he's turning rightward, I'm sure he'd cop to it.

DP