Yoshie Furuhashi wrote:
>
> [CLIP]
> A small part of Christian Parenti's "reluctance" is probably rooted
> in his apparent belief that Washington could and should have
> reconstructed Iraq: "the U.S. Army faces a problem in Iraq that it
> cannot solve because reconstruction has broken down, and
> reconstruction has broken down because Bush-connected firms,
> Halliburton and Bechtel, have taken huge sums of money and done
> essentially nothing with it. And Iraqis are not getting jobs" [CLIP]
> But why would Washington have done it otherwise?
We really do have a continuation of the humanitarian bombers of the Kosovan and Afghan Wars -- "This time it is different" is/was their theme song. And this from people who _know_ the history that one can find in _Killing Hope_ and similar works. If you know and understand that history, then _all_ the information you need to form political policy is, "U.S. Attacks ______." It is not necessary for an intelligent and informed person to fill the blank to know that the _only_ intelligent slogan is "Out Now!"
We still need the information that reporters like Hersh and Fisk and others can give us -- but we _don't_ need their reporting to form out fundamental response to u.s. wars. There has never been a time, and there will never be a time, when the presence of a u.s. army will not make conditions steadily worse.
Now to be clear. I don't apply this standard to the people who make up the local anti-war group here in B/N -- and certainly not to the mass of u.s. citizens, whether they voted for Kerry or Bush or no one. I apply it to those who pretend to offer leadership and/or advice to the anti-imperialist (anti-war/ anti-capitalist whatever) movement. They ought not to need to know the details of the latest u.s. criminal adventure to know that it must be opposed. It is their responsibility to work on bringing others to that position, not to flutter endlessly about what the exact details of the latest outrage are.
We will have to start all over again with the general populace with each new war. We ought not to have to start from the beginning with the likes of a Christian Parenti!!!!!
Carrol
P.S. The slogans the UFPJ is now offering pretty much settle this debate (a debate which should have been unnecessary). The Anti-War Movement demands Out NOw! and rejects all puttering. I still don't trust the UFPJ leadership; they will try to create as much clutter as possible, but I don't think they will be able to back off from the thrust of these slogans.
Carrol