Something happening here … – Los Angeles Times By Mark Rudd
Given that President Bush is now talking
about Iraq as only one skirmish in an unlimited struggle against a global Islamic enemy, a struggle comparable to
the titanic, 40-year Cold War against communism, shouldn’t a massive critique of the global war on terrorism already be underway?
Yet the [anti-war] movement has remained small and politically isolated since the original outpouring of opposition in the spring
of 2003, during the run-up to the war. In part, it was the victim of its own early success, the spontaneous demonstrations
involving millions of people in the streets here and around the world trying to stop the war before it began. When this initial outburst
failed, many became demoralized and hopeless. …
Let us remember that here, in our own
town, our fellow citizens gathered to protest the rush to war and were gassed and shot at. Bernalillo County Sherrif Darren White —
Bush’s local campaign manager — said, in effect, let me at them, I’ll show them justice, when he felt APD had been too lenient. Not to
mention the exhortations to (shut up and) “support the troops” and the slander of unpatriotism. The Radical Right did just what they
wanted: they shut us down harshly and quickly. Now Bush smears for not standing up to his strong-arm tactics, for going along at the
time. Like a bully who smacks you in the face with your own hand.
But building a movement can be done. To increase
our ranks, we’ll need to break through the too-common belief that change is impossible.
We’ll also need to take on the larger
war. As the next battle heats up, perhaps against Iran or Syria, the movement will have to ask the American people to look honestly at
who we are in the world. The antiwar movement will have to engage in the most difficult dialogue of our lives with our neighbors. …
[In the case of Vietnam,] we helped stop a war of aggression by our own country. This was American democracy at its best. I lived
through it, I saw it with my own eyes.
If all of us “gray-hairs” were to tell our stories, we might be able to make a
contribution. At least we could help people find hope in this dark time.
From “never trust anyone over
30” to ‘let the gray-hairs speak’ in just 40 years. That’s progress.
As for “American democracy at its best,” well, I saw it,
too. It seemed horribly inefficient and chaotic and unclear. I hope it wasn’t our best, though I do celebrate people demanding the
government follow us now and then.
I don’t begrudge Rudd the wisdom of his years, and I appreciate him speaking out and
encouraging others to do the same. Bush AND al Qaeda need to learn what Rudd knows: even when violence seems to get you what you want,
it’s never worth the price. mjh
PS: isn’t it interesting that the old radicals are middle class
grandparents preaching restraint while the new radicals are the evangelical Christians versus extreme Islamists.
Aside: we
graybeards do have our stories to tell. Years ago, I got a call from Columbia University. The caller asked if I would like to
participate in an oral history of radicals from the Sixties. “Sure,” I said, “I’d be honored.” I don’t know how long we went on before
we realized the miscommunication. They wanted a different Sixties radical. I get that a lot, as the husband of Merri Rudd (who jokes she
is Mark Rudd’s little sister). As if the wife of a Sixties radical would take his name.
