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Mar 28, 2003 The numbers are supposed to be impressive: Thousands of anti-war protesters regularly taking to the streets in San Francisco, Seattle, New York, and elsewhere throughout the country to voice their opposition to the war in Iraq. Although losing steam since their heyday in January, the dissent-is-patriotic crowd is still going strong. Id like to believe the peaceniks. I really would. Im sure that somewhere amid those throngs, there are people who truly believe that war is never the answer. This list would probably be limited to Quakers, Buddhists, and unemployed folk singers, but Im sure theyre out there nonetheless. Unfortunately for them, they are in the minority. The pro-peace movement is, at its heart, nothing of the sort. It has been commandeered by the same anti-globalization mishmash of left-wing party favors that thinks exercising ones right to free speech equates to turning over police cars at a meeting of the International Monetary Fund. Take the pro-Palestinians, anarchists, Marxist-Leninists, stoned college students, transgender eco-terrorists, and Ed Asner out of your average war protest and youd be left with one 75-year old grandmother from Duluth - and shed probably think shed stumbled onto a parade. Indeed, if you polled a sample of the protesters to ask them why they were there, five will get you ten that youd get a wide variety of responses. Some likely answers: To bring attention to American global imperialism, Because Bush stole the White House, We march for Mumia, Dudeto meet chicks! and Beats going to class. All good reasons to march, I guess (especially with the weather getting nice), but they have nothing to do with being truly pro-peace. Check out some of the placards for further proof: Among the trite No Blood for Oil signs, you will find, Regime Change at Home: Bomb Texas, Bush is Hitler, and, my personal favorite, Books not Bombs. I have no idea what the last one means. Are books and bombs mutually exclusive? Last time I checked, these items werent sold in the same stores - unless Barnes & Noble has recently diversified. Are we to load our bombers with books and shower the enemy countryside with literature? (I reckon a hefty Gore Vidal tome might pack a wallop.) Its a nice, short slogan, but utterly meaningless. May the Force be with you would be more relevant than Books not Bombs. That winner aside, its clear from many of the slogans and placards that the protests are more about being anti-Bush than pro-peace. This becomes more apparent when you throw the Hollywood glitterati into the mix. No longer content with being mere entertainers, Michael Moore, Susan Sarandon, et al now fancy themselves foreign policy experts. Moore just couldnt help himself at the recent Oscar ceremony, commenting that we live in fictitious times. (Gee, Michael, I guess those are fictitious bullets whizzing by our soldiers over in Iraq.) The anti-war crowd, from those staging the die- ins in Times Square to the Hollywood elite, constantly defends its actions by saying that dissent is patriotic. Indeed, dissent and protest have their time and place. However, with a quarter of a million plus American men and women in harms way, that time is over. Until our troops come home, Moore should shut his cake hole. With the conflict well under way, the mass protests are doing much more harm than good. The monetary cost of dealing with the demonstrations is bad enough (the estimated bill for San Francisco is $900,000 per day in lost business, police overtime, etc), but the consumption of law enforcement resources is downright dangerous. With scores of cops devoted to handcuffing kids whose geo-political philosophies are based largely on Rage Against the Machine albums, Al- Qaeda could have a field day in our major cities. Their endangerment of the rest of us aside, the peace protesters would have at least a smidgen of credibility if their ranks werent so dominated by the aforementioned smorgasbord of anti- establishment, anti-American, anti-capitalist causes. Their presence pollutes what would otherwise be a legitimate, differing opinion. Any slacker with a placard and a day to kill can go to a rally. It takes much more than that to be truly pro-peace. About Matthew Bastian: Recovering socialst, part-time drummer, long-suffering Brewers fan, and all-around beach hound, Mr. Bastian lives in central New Jersey. Email Matthew Bastian: mbastian19@hotmail.com ------------ Comment on this column in the forum. ------------ |
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