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We
Can Change the War
As
someone trying to build a third party in the United States,
I often complain about the lack of democracy in this country:
the way money has corrupted politics, the exclusion of third
party candidates from debates, corporate-run media that usually
ignore third-party challengers, two major parties so alike
that half the eligible voters don’t even bother to vote. Add
to that our daily exposés of corporate scoundrels with hands
in the public till, or political scoundrels with hands in
the corporate till, and it’s hard not to be cynical about
the state of our democracy.
But right now I don’t want to complain. Right now I am desperately
eager to be proven wrong about how this country works. Right
now I want to believe that the people do indeed have a voice
in the critical issues of our times, a voice that can influence
the policymakers. I want us, the people, to leave aside our
partisan differences. I want us, the people, to free our representatives
in Washington from the saber-rattling that envelops them and
endangers us. I want us, the people, to stop a war with Iraq.
So does the rest of the world. Our only ally in Europe is
Tony Blair, who is starting to backslide because the majority
of the British people say no. The Arab states have urged the
Bush administration to focus on solving the crisis in Israel
and Palestine instead of creating a war that will fuel a new
wave of anti- American sentiment. Even the Kuwaitis, who were
invaded by Saddam Hussein, shake their heads in amazement.
The New York Times quoted a Kuwaiti royal family member
saying, “Just open a map. Afghanistan is in turmoil, the Middle
East is in flames, and you want to open a third front in the
region? That would truly turn into a war of civilizations.”
Within the U.S. government, there is also plenty of dissent.
Rumor has it that Secretary of State Colin Powell, CIA Director
George Tenet and many career military officers—including some
in the Joint Chiefs of Staff—think war with Iraq a terrible
idea. And while most of Congress has been appallingly quiescent,
holding hearings that focused more on the mode of attack rather
than questioning the entire rationale, we’ve had some notable
exceptions, like Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), and most
recently, House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-Texas)—neither
of them peaceniks. So, on the one hand, we have a president
who wants to help his oil buddies get control of Iraq’s vast
supplies and quash Saddam to finish the task his daddy started.
On the other side we have the rest of the world shouting,
“Don’t do it!” And the one factor that may well determine
whether or not we embark on this reckless venture is, believe
it or not, us. Remember, there is an election coming up this
November, and then a big one in 2004. If the polls show a
high percentage of public opposition, the wheels of war may
well come to a screeching halt.
We don’t have much time, and the stakes are enormous. That’s
why we’ve got to work together—Republicans, Democrats, Greens,
nonvoters, whoever—to educate and mobilize the American public.
I think most Americans know deep down that this impending
war makes no sense. Our task is to turn their latent misgivings
into blatant opposition. We’ve got to talk to our friends,
our relatives and our coworkers and let them know that yes,
Saddam Hussein is evil, but he is not threatening us, he had
nothing to do with Sept. 11, and attacking a Muslim country
at this point in time will put us and our families in danger.
We’ve got to convince them that the United States has absolutely
no justification for a preemptive strike that could, according
to Pentagon figures, kill some 10,000 Iraqi civilians and
many of our own young men and women.
And if they’re not swayed by the potentially catastrophic
loss of life and the anti-American backlash, then try the
bread-and-butter issues. The last Gulf War, in today’s dollars,
cost $80 billion. Back then, our allies chipped in 80 percent
of the cost. This time, we taxpayers would foot the entire
bill. Ask your friends if they can think of some better uses
for $80 billion, like putting it into our schools, or Medicare
or Social Security, or using it to pay off our budget deficit.
Let them know that there is a much better way to deal with
Iraq: We can join our allies in pressuring Saddam Hussein
to resume weapons inspections. Despite Bush’s naysaying, these
inspections did work in the past to eliminate Iraq’s weapons
of mass destruction and they can work again.
Let’s assume, for the moment, that we have a real democracy
where we can mobilize the American public, get our voices
heard in the mass media, and force our policymakers to listen
to us. If that’s true, then we should be able to stop this
war before it starts. And if we do indeed accomplish such
an awesome task through the power of the people, then we can
start working together on other things like getting money
out of politics and creating a real multi-party system. But
let’s take this democracy thing one step at a time.
—Medea
Benjamin
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