:: Diary of an Aging Protester ::

:: 4.03.2003 ::

Spring and Death
I have been thinking lately how wondrous spring is here in the Deep South. It is hard to think negative despairing thoughts when my street, so close to downtown, is flush with dogwoods, fruit trees, azaleas, rhododendrons, bulbs have sprung and tulips, irises, daffodils abound. But it also makes me sad to see nature so full of itself here and so beaten in Iraq where US troops now plow through the fertile crescent. The fertile crescent, dammit--center of ancient cultures--and much we owe to it and the culture that flourished there. I wonder if soldiers even think these thoughts or if it's not part of their purview, flushed out in training, being sensitive to the natural world in the theatre of war. This a.m. I came across this just now, a poem by a former UK's poet laureate vigorously opposing war that echoes some of these sentiments.

Regime Change
by Andrew Motion

Advancing down the road from Niniveh
Death paused a while and said 'Now listen here.

You see the names of places roundabout?
They're mine now, and I've turned them inside out.

Take Eden, further south: At dawn today
I ordered up my troops to tear away

Its walls and gates so everyone can see
That gorgeous fruit which dangles from its tree.

You want it, don't you? Go and eat it then,
And lick your lips, and pick the same again.

Take Tigris and Euphrates; once they ran
Through childhood-coloured slats of sand and sun.

Not any more they don't; I've filled them up
With countless different kinds of human crap.

Take Babylon, the palace sprouting flowers
Which sweetened empires in their peaceful hours -

I've found a different way to scent the air:
Already it's a by-word for despair.

Which leaves Baghdad - the star-tipped minarets,
The marble courts and halls, the mirage-heat.

These places, and the ancient things you know,
You won't know soon. I'm working on it now.'



:: posted by Doreen on 12:31 PM [+] ::
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From a Commentary by Arundati Roy in the Guardian
Despite the pall of gloom that hangs over us today, I'd like to file a cautious plea for hope: in times of war, one wants one's weakest enemy at the helm of his forces. And President George W Bush is certainly that. Any other even averagely intelligent US president would have probably done the very same things, but would have managed to smoke-up the glass and confuse the opposition. Perhaps even carry the UN with him. Bush's tactless imprudence and his brazen belief that he can run the world with his riot squad, has done the opposite. He has achieved what writers, activists and scholars have striven to achieve for decades. He has exposed the ducts. He has placed on full public view the working parts, the nuts and bolts of the apocalyptic apparatus of the American empire.

Recommended Reading: Venik's Aviation
The internet has provided many of us who are against this war with a few nuggets of comfort and hope. For example, this war has galvanized a global community of resisters through a number of sources: circulated group emails, listservs such as Rhetors for Peace, blogs such as Salaam Pax, local and national activist websites, and international news sources such as Al-Jezeerah that provide alternate narratives to those dominating in the US. Images cobbled together on mainstream media of protests worldwide feed into the sense that there is a unifying force as the NY Times has suggested that is as powerful as the US military machine.

These sources are also unpredictable as Salaam Pax has shown us in his ability to use the form of a journal much like a real-time Diary of Anne Frank to illustrate the effects of global conflict on young people. One site a bit off the beaten path is Venik's Aviation which is dedicated to translating military intelligence analysis and information from a non-government Russian source about the war on Iraq. Venik ( his/her name--not sure) is obviously in the aviation/aerospace engineering business and seems to get his/her information from a reliable but anonymous source who is intercepting information from both Iraqi and US sources. Once again like Salaam Pax there is a sense of whether what we're reading is really 'true' but again like Salaam Pax, certain details, the structure and genre of the reports, provides its own veracity. I highly recommend reading the daily posts about military operations and also Answering Some Questions to get a sense of Venik's good character and spirit, his/her openess and gratitude.



:: posted by Doreen on 8:42 AM [+] ::
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Observations from Rageh Omaar of BBC NEWS
However they feel about a policy that seeks to overthrow the government, and no matter how careful the targeting of the bombardments, the reality is that huge weapons are being used. Property is being damaged, and there have been a couple of tragic incidences when large numbers of civilians have been killed. More than 400 cruise missiles and bombs have smashed into this city. The people of Baghdad are traumatised, and frightened of what is still to come.

:: posted by Doreen on 9:40 PM [+] ::
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From a Russian Military Intelligence Report
Certain available information points to a serious conflict between the coalition command and the US political and military leadership. The [US] Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld - the main planner and lobbyist of the military operation against Iraq - accuses the coalition command and Gen. Tommy Franks personally of being passive and indecisive, which [in Rumsfeld's opinion] led to the lengthening of the conflict and the current dead end situation. In his turn Franks in front of his subordinates calls the Secretary of Defense the "old blabbermouth" and an "adventurist" who dragged the army into the war on the most unfavorable terms possible. However, most [US military] officers believe
that both military leaders are responsible for the coalition's military failures. Rumsfeld allowed gross errors during the planning of forces and equipment required for the war, while Franks did not show enough
strength to get the right forces and the right training for the troops in this campaign and, in essence, surrendered to the whims of the politicians...

It is entirely possible that the future of this war will see the departure of one of these two commanders. Some reports suggest that Rumsfeld has already proposed to President Bush a change in the
coalition command. However, Bush declined this proposal calling it untimely and damaging to the morale of the troops and that of the American people.

Comment This Russian website has a two-pronged analysis: one is to report the inner details of what is going on in the battlefield through intercepting communications and the other is to analyze what is going on for future reference. In other words, the March 31 report provides an analysis of how Russia would fare against the US forces while also providing some interesting insights on Iraqi manuevers. Not surprisingly this website is being hacked into from US-based domains.

also Peter Arnett was fired from NBC yesterday for saying less than what was reported above on Iraqi TV. I found it interesting that Barbara Walters on The View framed his interview as telling the Iraqis that we were losing. Those were her exact words! Of course, the audience and the other viewers'--Meredith, Starr, and Joy--were completely taken aback and appalled. And then Starr said, Yeah and now he's working at The Mirror which is very very anti-war! As if this proved that he was the traitor that everyone now thinks he is. Scary. Where are we? McCarthy Era? Stalingrad? The campagin of disinformation and lies in this war/administration has really reached epic proportions....

You have articles in newspapers all over the world claiming there are problems within the US military higher ups about the course of war and then you have Rumsfield outright denying it, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff Richard Meyer telling the media "this is not the kind of information that we should be relaying right now. It doesn't do any good for our troops who are trying to fight a war."

You can run, but you cannot hide. The military eye has backfired.



:: posted by Doreen on 8:17 AM [+] ::
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Palestinian Land Day

Attended the Palestinian Land Day Rally today. Several hundred of us marched to the Israeli Consulate located in a bland office building, a carbuncle as the Prince of Wales would describe it, on Spring St. As the announcement claims, On March 30th , 2003, thousands of Palestinians and their supporters will come together to commemorate 'Land Day' to bring to world attention the plight of the Palestinians and the Israeli authorities policy of land confiscations. 'Land Day' (Yum al-Ard) has been commemorated yearly since the killing on March 30, 1976 of six Palestinians by Israeli troops during peaceful protests over the confiscation of Palestinian lands.

This year's commemoration comes in the midst of a land grab that continues unabated and the murder of Palestinians that escalates unchecked. Since Sept. 2000 – Feb. 13 2003, 1791 Palestinians were killed by Israeli security forces, of whom 328 were minors under the age of 18. Another 21,821 Palestinian civilians were injured. In the shadows of a possible war on Iraq, the events highlight the concern that a war in the region will provide a cover for increased Israeli aggression on the Palestinian people and their land.

Comment: It seems to me that there must be a way for this current anti-war/peace movement to shift its energies into demanding Palestinian statehood. Because the scope of this movement is so broad and reaches areas of the globe where public demonstrations are being allowed for the first time (such as in China, right on!) then pressuring this current administration's statements about mideast peace should not be a problem. Yet, sadly, Americans are uncomfortable supporiting Palestinian statehood--it places many folks in this position where if they are for palestinian self-determination than they will be accused of being anti-israeli and thus anti-semitic--yet the argument can be made that Palestinians living in Gaza and the West Bank are subjected to the same kinds of systematic represssion by Israelis that Hussein metes out to ethnic groups he despises. But this argument is not supported by the majority of Americans because to them the ones being subjected to pain and suffering are Israelis blown up on buses and in cafes. Thus to be for palestinians' rights and freedom is to be pro-terrorist.

It is the same argument used against anti-war protestors now where we are positioned as Saddam lovers (and thus pro-torture, pro-terrorism, pro-state sponsored represession). These false binary arguments weave themselves into the public discourse and are taken as commonplaces. thus it becomes difficult for many to take a stand against Israeli occupation, esp. post-9/11 where the ties between Israel and US have strengthened because we now can understand and feel what it is to be victims of terror.

Wake up, people! Read the news---go to Middle East Research and Information Project, the BBC online, UK Guardian, and read news about the Middle East from a different perspective. It will blow your mind. At this point I realize that most who are reading this know me, and know about these issues (probably more than I do). But the random reader may come across this and take my declamation to heart. Wake up, people.Turn off CNN.

So now I'm beginning to see that I will not finish my dissertation unless I stop blogging. But blogging will continue through the course of this war, and it is most surely more fun than dissertating though the audience (of 4) is about the same. May my committee not stumble upon this in the coming weeks or they will understand my silence....
:: posted by Doreen on 8:39 PM [+] ::
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