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Recent
Stories
April
29, 2003
Gary
Leupp
Disorder and Opportunity: the Results
of the Iraq War
Uri
Avnery
Don't Envy Abu-Mazen
Anthony
Gancarski
Brush with the Law
Mickey
Z.
POWs: Then and Now
CounterPunch
Wire
How to Spin Israel on the Hill: Internal Lobbying Documents
Robert
Fisk
Did the US Murder Journalists?
Chris
Floyd
Bush Telegraphs His Punches on Syria
Wayne Madsen
About Those Iraqi Intelligence Documents
Wallace
Gagne
Pilgrimage or Demolition Derby?
Eliot Katz
Playing Catch with Cracked Globes
Steve
Perry
Bush's War Web Log 4/29
April
28, 2003
Ann
Harrison
Fighting Back: Medical Marijuana
Patients Sue Ashcroft
Robert
Jensen
Lack of WMD Kills the Case for War
Peter Phillips
Total Information Control
Ron
Jacobs
Get the US Out of Iraq and Its Military Out of Our Minds
Mark Hand
Peace Park: The Pentagon Solution
to a Baseball Stadium Dilemma
Linda
S. Heard
Repeat After Me: Iraq is Weapons Free
Kurt Nimmo
US Military Bases: the Spoils and
Deceptions of War
Steve
Perry
Bush's War Web Log 4/28
April
26 / 27, 2003
Elaine
Cassel
The Other War: Bush, Ashcroft and
the End of Civil Liberties
Saul
Landau
Iraq War: a Policy of Christian and Jewish Fundamentalism
William
A. Cook
Sharon Recruits US as Mercenaries Against Syria
William
S. Lind
Now the Real War Starts
John Chuckman
In Jesus's Name:
Franklin Graham's Christian Empire
David
MacMichael and Ray McGovern
Ex-CIA Analysts on WMD: Where? Find?
Plant?
Gary Leupp
Why the War on Iraq was (and Remains) Wrong
Robert
Sandels
Cuba Crackdown: a Revolt Against Bush's National Security Strategy?
CounterPunch
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An Open Letter to Jerry Brown on Oakland Police Violence Against
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Mickey
Z.
Our Ba'athists
Anthony
Gancarski
Nader Plays Pullman
Scott
Handleman
The Mumia Abu-Jamal Case in Its True Colors
Claud Cockburn
Evelyn Waugh's Ear Trumpet
Poets'
Basement
Matt Simon, Sam Hamod, Hammond Guthrie and Stew Albert
Steve
Perry
Bush's War Web Log 4/26
April
25, 2003
David
Vest
It's Not the Oil; It's the Art!
Steven
Higgs
All About Tucker Carlson
Walt
Brasch
The Shock and Awe of American Ignorance
Alexander
Cockburn
The Decline of American Journalism:
the Case of Judy Miller
Zeynep
Toufe
A Letter to the People of Iraq from an Anti-War Activist
CounterPunch
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Season of the Witch: Jeane Kirkpatrick Unbound
Hammond
Guthrie
Springtime in Iraq
Steve
Perry
Bush's War Web Log 4/25
Website
of the Day
Having
a Great Time, Wish You Were Here: Postcards from a War
April
24, 2003
Lois
Whitman
An Open Letter to Rumsfeld on the
Child Detainees at Guantanamo
Uri
Avnery
Abu vs. Abu: It's Not About Egos
David
Lindorff
Day Care in the Name of National Security? About Those Kids in
Camp X-Ray
John Grebe
Rev. Pat Robertson's Message in the Temple
Dokhi
Fassihian
Monster.Com: Ethnic Cleansing on the Web?
CounterPunch
Wire
Israeli Army Chief Threatens Peace Activists
Sam
Hamod
Our Man in Baghdad
Annie
C. Higgins
Do You Regret Being an American?
Harold
A. Gould
Will They Hate Us Forever?
Stew Albert
Big Brother in Bed
Steve
Perry
Bush's War Web Log 4/24
Website
of the Day
Muscles
Abroad
April
23, 2003
Anthony
Gancarski
When Young Mothers Die in Combat
Chris
Floyd
Desolation Row: Bush's Barbarians Teach
by Example
Marjorie
Cohn
Tax the War Profiteers
William
Lind
The Fourth Generation of Modern War
Dave Marsh
Nina Simone: Freedom Singer
Binoy
Kampmark
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David Vest
Who's Looting Whom?
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Andrew
Rodman
Lawn Poem
Steve
Perry
Bush's War Web Log 4/23
Website
of the Day
Weapons of Mass Destruction in the Middle East
April
22, 2003
Edward
Said
The Appalling Consequences of the Iraq
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Sam
Hamod
What's the Deal with This War?
Kurt
Nimmo
Shi'a Will to Power
Gary
Leupp
At last! The Necessary Evidence
Carl
Estabrook
Oblivious Americans: They Distort,
We Subside
John
Stanton
Iran's Reza Pahlavi: a Puppet of the US and Israel?
Ramzy
Baroud
What Else Hasn't Israel Told America?
Steven
Sherman
About That Cuba Letter
Wayne Madsen
Bush's "Christian" Blood Cult
Stew
Albert
Creep
Steve
Perry
Bush's War Web Log 4/22
Website
of the Day
Critical Media Literacy in Times of War
April
21, 2003
Elaine
Cassel
An Administration in Contempt
Gary
Leupp
Easter Thoughts on Liberation, Jesus
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Roger
Witherspoon
Why Michigan Needs Affirmative Action
Uri Avnery
At Midnight, a Knock on the Door
Col. Dan
Smith
Early Lessons from Iraq
Jo
Freeman
After the Protest Comes Politics
Michael
Berry
The Friedman Absurdities
Gray
Brechin
Hang Black Banners: Mourning the Cultural Loss
Bob Riedel
The Taliban from Texas
Steve
Perry
Bush's War Web Log 4/21
April
19, 2003
Gary
Leupp
The Rape of History
Saul
Landau
Shop, Go to Church, Support Bush's
War, Wait for Armageddon
Michael
J. Fellows
Off With Their Heads: the Constitution According to Scalia
Pablo
Mukherjee
Roadmap to Resistance
Omar
Barghouti
Sharon's Bloody Beat
Anthony
Gancarski
Tony Blair: the Most Powerful Man in the World
Mickey
Z.
Animals: the Other Collateral Damage
Will
Potter
When Police Attack Journalists
William
MacDougall
America's In-Bedded Journalism
Neve
Gordon
Haunted by History
Adam
Engel
Wal-Mart and Peace
Dr.
Susan Block
Art Bombs: American Libertines for Peace
Poets'
Basement
Albert, Buono, Guthrie
Steve
Perry
War Web Log 4/19
Song of
the Weekend
Baghdad to Basra
April
18, 2003
Uri
Avnery
Operation "Syrian Freedom":
This One's Not About Oil
Jorge
Mariscal
"They Died Trying to Become
Students": the Future of Latinos in an Era of War and Occupation
Mickey
Z:
Coalition of the Unindicted: Only Losers Get Tried for War Crimes
Hussein
Ibish
Syria and the Road to World War IV
Reza Ladjevardian
Tarqeting Iran? Do It With TV, Not Cruise Missiles
Matania
Ben-Artzi
You Are Not Protecting My Son's Rights: a Letter to the President
of Israel's Supreme Court
Bruce Jackson
Jews Like Us
Joe
Allen
My Lai Revisited
Carl Estabrook
Support Our Euphemism
Steve
Perry
War Web Log 4/18
Website
of the Day
Meet the Victims of War
April
17, 2003
Jeffrey
St. Clair
Patriot Gore: the Fatal Flaws in
the Patriot Missile System
Joanne
Mariner
Looting Antiquity: the Legal Implications
for the Pentagon
Issam
Nashashibi
Zalmay Khalilzad: the Neocon's Bagman
to Baghdad
Wayne Madsen
Another Sign of the "End Times" for American Journalism
Robert
Fisk
The Army of Occupation
Boris
Kagarlitsky
Virtual Saddam Takes Aim
Biljana
Vankovska
A Personal View of Iraq: Where
is the Truth?
Dan Brook
Oil War: Fueling the Empire
Stanley
Heller
Bomb and Steal: This is What Privatization Looks Like
Tim Robbins
A Chill Wind is Blowing Through This Nation
Harold
A. Gould
Iraq After the War
Steve
Perry
War Web Log 4/17
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Cassel
Civil Liberties
Watch
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Embedded Photographer Says: "I
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Uzma
Aslam Khan
The Unbearably Grim Aftermath of War:
What America Says Does Not Go
Paul de Rooij
Arrogant
Propaganda
Gore Vidal
The
Erosion of the American Dream
Francis Boyle
Impeach
Bush: A Draft Resolution
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for More Stories.
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April 30,
2003
The Antiwar Movement
Must Keep Moving
Fighting
Alienation in the USA
By ROBERT JENSEN
I have lived in the United States all my life,
and for personal and political reasons I expect to live out my
life here. It is my home.
But after the U.S. attack on Iraq, I
feel more alienated from my "homeland" than ever before.
Judging from my mail and conversations I have had around the
country, many antiwar activists feel the same.
This is a serious problem, not just personally
for individuals but for the movement. For those of us trying
to oppose the U.S. empire, our primary task is organizing people
in the United States to resist these imperial policies. That
will be difficult if we feel increasingly alienated, and become
more isolated, from "ordinary" Americans.
But that is exactly how I feel -- alienated
and isolated, and I see no reason to pretend otherwise. Since
9/11, the number of people in my daily life with whom I can talk
honestly has dwindled to a handful. I have been less interested
in attending routine social gatherings outside of my political
circle. I have found myself more frequently communicating over
email with like-minded people in other cities rather than chatting
with colleagues in the hallway. Instead of looking for ways to
expand my social circle, I have let it contract.
None of this is because I'm inherently
anti-social; it's a distinct change since 9/11. I have not been
doing any of these things consciously, but instead have been
drifting away from ways I used to interact with others because
it has become more and more difficult to fit into these "normal"
situations. I have struggled much of my adult life with the realization
that my values were at odds with most of the people around me,
but after 9/11 those awkward gaps began to feel like unbridgeable
gulfs.
This is not just because of the celebratory
reaction to the recent wars by so many Americans. While it can
be difficult to be around people who crow about how the United
States "kicked butt" in Iraq, in some ways those interactions
are simple; I know how to respond. I have a set of questions
I ask to try to get people with that view to reconsider some
of their assumptions and to consider the effects of this "victory"
on people in other places. I can make an argument about the real
reasons behind the war. I can point out the lies of the Bush
administration. Unless people start screaming, it's surprisingly
easy to have that kind of discussion in many -- though certainly
not all -- cases.
My real difficulty -- and the main cause
of my increasing sense of isolation -- comes in dealing with
people who seem detached, who don't react at all. There are a
lot of people around me (I work at a large university) who seem
to be doing their best to avoid the questions of war and empire.
In a small number of cases, this may stem from some fundamental
amorality, truly not caring. But my sense is that many of the
people who are trying to avoid the question have some sort of
antiwar leanings -- they know there's something wrong with the
way the United States has gone forward in the world since 9/11,
and, if not against the wars, they are at least skeptical. But
they seem to be walking through life with eyes closed, purposefully.
Those are the people I have the most
trouble interacting with. When I raise the issue of war they
sometimes attempt to divert the conversation toward less contentious
subjects. More often people are willing to let me talk but refuse
to engage, or sometimes refuse to even acknowledge what I am
saying. There have been times I literally wanted to grab people
and shout, "You know these wars are wrong. You know these
policies are crazy. Why won't you help do something about it?
Why won't you at least admit to me that you know?"
While I don't want to generalize too
broadly from my life, I have a sense this experience is not idiosyncratic.
And it is crucial to come to terms with, especially at this point
in the movement.
Like thousands of others around the country,
for the past two years I have put more time and energy into political
work than ever before in my life. And because I have been spending
so much time organizing, writing, and speaking, I have taken
it for granted that I was doing all that I could do. Because
I have been working more than ever on a variety of political
projects, it didn't occur to me until recently to evaluate how
my alienation was affecting the prospects for that political
activity.
Sometimes this problem gets reduced to
the charge that middle-class activists simply are elitists who
don't know how to interact with "real" people. That
may be true in some cases, but it strikes me as a gross oversimplification
and a way to avoid difficult questions. The alienation I am talking
about is not so much around class or the politics of lifestyle
choices (though I think those questions are important) but about
whether one is willing to confront the American ideology in public.
Some of my most frustrating experiences have been with other
middle-class people. The alienation I have felt comes from living
in a country in which one segment of the population is drunk
on triumphalism and another is hiding from the pressing issues
-- and there are people from all classes in each of those categories.
In such an environment, antiwar activists
need to come together often, not just for political organizing
but for support. We need to engage in internal discussions to
sharpen our analysis and rethink strategy. But at the same time
I think we need to be careful not to withdraw too much from these
other spaces in our lives, even if they feel alien or alienating
to us. Whether or not we are actively organizing in those spaces
at the moment, it's important to stay rooted in the larger communities
in which we live. The struggle against the U.S. empire will be
a long one, and we need to be connected to the people we are
trying to organize.
I recommend this fully aware that my
own instinct is to want to withdraw into spaces that feel safe.
In politics it often is most effective to follow our gut, but
there also are time when it's important to overcome some instincts.
I think this is one of those times.
Robert Jensen
is an associate professor of journalism at the University of
Texas at Austin, a member of the Nowar Collective, and author
of the book Writing
Dissent: Taking Radical Ideas from the Margins to the Mainstream
and the pamphlet "Citizens of the Empire." He can be
reached at rjensen@uts.cc.utexas.edu.
Today's
Features
Gary
Leupp
Disorder and Opportunity: the Results
of the Iraq War
Uri
Avnery
Don't Envy Abu-Mazen
Anthony
Gancarski
Brush with the Law
Mickey
Z.
POWs: Then and Now
CounterPunch
Wire
How to Spin Israel on the Hill: Internal Lobbying Documents
Robert
Fisk
Did the US Murder Journalists?
Chris
Floyd
Bush Telegraphs His Punches on Syria
Wayne Madsen
About Those Iraqi Intelligence Documents
Wallace
Gagne
Pilgrimage or Demolition Derby?
Eliot Katz
Playing Catch with Cracked Globes
Steve
Perry
Bush's War Web Log 4/29
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