Virtual Round-table discussion on the state of the peace movement

from Herb Rothschild, long-time Peace Action activists and supporter, occasioned by Cindy Sheehan’s announcement a few weeks ago…

The first thing is to express gratitude to Cindy Sheehan, and to affirm the
recent decisions she has made to take care of her own needs. The Houston
Peace and Justice Center will be honoring her at our annual awards dinner in
November, and she richly deserves the honor.

Unlike Cindy, I am confident that the anti-war movement, in which she played
a major role, has succeeded, and that the struggle to end the war against
Iraq has been won. In contrast, as I will contend a bit later, the peace
movement has a life-time to go.

It is often hard, while in the midst of a struggle, to know when the
struggle has been won. We didn’t know that the Civil Rights struggle (that
is, the end of Jim Crow) was won when the Civil Rights Act of 1965, the
Voting Rights Act, was passed. After all, the struggle continued for
several years after that and required additional sacrifices. Nonetheless,
the course of history had been irreversibly changed in summer 1965. The
struggle against racism, by contrast, continues as I write.

So too with the Tet offensive of 1968. That terrible war dragged on for 6
more years, and Nixon killed more Vietnamese starting in 1969 than had been
killed by Johnson. Still, there was no question of America’s making the
major new commitments of personnel and treasure that the generals told
Johnson would be required for “victory.” We didn’t have the political will.

And so too with Iraq. There is no possibility of “going forward” with this
war. Even the Surge was so constrained by a lack of political will–and a
lack of military personnel–that its dimension was pitifully small given the
task.

So what now for our movement, which began before the invasion and before
Cindy lost her son, and achieved quite remarkable results in the run-up to
the war?

1. We mustn’t get frustrated and quit. Nor must we be fractured by angry
debates about how extreme our resistance must get (a la the Weathermen in
1970). If one of us needs some R & R or just to reduce her role for a
while, that’s OK. But understand that we do that out of personal need, not
because the struggle is hopeless. We simply must stay together and support
each other in the spirit of nonviolent struggle.

2. We must be prepared for at least three more years of U.S. occupation in
some form or another. We’ll probably see troop reductions begin this year,
and a major reduction in force in 2008. But the remaining forces will
probably operate out of the highly secure permanent bases we’ve built. From
them, and from the air, we will wreak more havoc on the Iraqis even as we
reduce U.S. casualties. The large mercenary army will stay in Iraq, focused
mostly on helping the oil companies control the fields and pipelines.

We must not expect too much from a Democratic Presidential victory in 2008.
Especially if Hilary Clinton wins, there will be an effort to maintain
permanent bases in Iraq and also allow the mercenary armies free rein. Like
Bill, Hilary is owned by the oligarchs who are financing her campaign.

3. We must use the entire Bush legacy of corporate global domination at
home and abroad to discredit imperialism. We must not let the Iraq war go
down in the public consciousness as “a mistake.” That’s what happened in
regard to the Vietnam War. We had a golden opportunity in 1976-1977 to make
real changes in this country–begin to dismantle the National Security State
and shine a spotlight on the wealthy elites whose bidding it does. That
opportunity slipped away, in part thanks to Jimmy Carter (the candidate of
the Trilateral Commission), and in part because the millions in the antiwar
movement weren’t formed into a peace movement.

To make the Bush debacle into a major turning point will require our best
thinking, smartest actions, and unwavering wills.

To conclude, the anti-war movement has won; the peace movement has not. Over
the next 2-3 years, those of us in the peace movement must give leadership
to the anti-war movement in ways that will bring participants into the peace
movement–the life-long process of political, social, economic, and personal
transformation.