Why the peace movement matters
Excerpt from ANSWER SF email
“The global movement that suddenly emerged in the past six months in opposition to Bush and the U.S. war drive is a singularly important development. People all over the world, in the Middle East, Asia, Africa, and Latin America, in the United States and in Europe marched in coordinated action. These movements have now defied borders and built an international voice of solidarity. Even the New York Times on February 17 referred to this movement as the second “superpower” in the world.
This movement represents the hopefulness of the planet that war, imperialism, oppression, racism and any form of colonialism can be overcome through the globalization of human solidarity.
It would be the most tragic and wasteful outcome if this movement – less than a year old – decided that its efforts had failed because Bush and the Pentagon proceeded with their slaughter in Iraq. The war on Iraq does not prove the failure of the anti-war movement.
If anything, the war on Iraq proves only that the economic, political and military authority in the United States is morally bankrupt. It is nurtured by a system that has become addicted to militarism and war.
The essential element in <our> struggle is to maintain and build the global movement — the force that has always and can win against military and economic might.”