HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK
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April 10, 2002
LETTER FROM UNITED STATES CITIZENS TO FRIENDS IN
EUROPE
(Signatories listed below)
The central fallacy of the pro-war celebrants is the
equation between "American values" as understood at
home and the exercise of United States economic and
especially military power abroad.
Following the 11 September 2001 suicide attacks on the
World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in
Washington, U.S. President George W. Bush has declared
an open-ended "war on terrorism". This war has no
apparent limits, in place, time or the extent of
destruction that may be inflicted. There is no telling
which country may be suspected of hiding "terrorists"
or declared to be part of an "axis of evil". The
eradication of "evil" could last much longer than the
world can withstand the destructive force to be
employed. The Pentagon is already launching bombs
described as producing the effect of earthquakes and
is officially considering the use of nuclear weapons,
among other horrors in its constantly improving
arsenal.
The material destruction envisaged is immeasurable. So
is the human damage, not only in terms of lives, but
also in terms of the moral desperation and hatred that
are certain to be felt by millions of people who can
only watch helplessly as their world is devastated by
a country, the United States, which assumes that its
moral authority is as absolute and unchallengeable as
its military power.
We, as United States citizens, have a special
responsibility to oppose this mad rush to war. You, as
Europeans, also have a special responsibility. Most of
your countries are military allies of the United
States within NATO. The United States claims to act in
self-defense, but also to defend "the interests of its
allies and friends". Your countries will inevitably be
implicated in U.S. military adventures. Your future is
also in jeopardy.
Many informed people both within and outside your
governments are aware of the dangerous folly of the
war path followed by the Bush administration. But few
dare speak out honestly. They are intimidated by the
various forms of retaliation that can be taken against
"friends" and "allies" who fail to provide
unquestioning support. They are afraid of being
labeled "anti-American" -- the same label absurdly
applied to Americans themselves who speak out against
war policies and whose protests are easily drowned out
in the chorus of chauvinism dominating the U.S. media.
A sane and frank European criticism of the Bush
administration's war policy can help anti-war
Americans make their voices heard.
Celebrating power may be the world's oldest profession
among poets and men of letters. As supreme world
power, the United States naturally attracts its
celebrants who urge the nation's political leaders to
go ever farther in using their military might to
impose virtue on a recalcitrant world. The theme is
age-old and forever the same: the goodness of the
powerful should be extended to the powerless by the
use of force.
The central fallacy of the pro-war celebrants is the
equation between "American values" as understood at
home and the exercise of United States economic and
especially military power abroad.
Self-celebration is a notorious feature of United
States culture, perhaps as a useful means of
assimilation in an immigrant society. Unfortunately,
September 11 has driven this tendency to new extremes.
Its effect is to reinforce a widespread illusion among
U.S. citizens that the whole world is fixated, in
admiration or in envy, on the United States as it sees
itself: prosperous, democratic, generous, welcoming,
open to all races and religions, the epitome of
universal human values and the last best hope of
mankind.
In this ideological context, the question raised after
September 11, "Why do they hate us?" has only one
answer: "Because we are so good!" Or, as is commonly
claimed, they hate us because of "our values".
Most U.S. citizens are unaware that the effect of U.S.
power abroad has nothing to do with the "values"
celebrated at home, and indeed often serves to deprive
people in other countries of the opportunity to
attempt to enjoy them should they care to do so.
In Latin America, Africa and Asia, U.S. power has more
often than not been used to prop up the remnants of
colonial regimes and unpopular dictators, to impose
devastating commercial and financial conditions, to
support repressive armed forces, to overthrow or
cripple by sanctions relatively independent
governments, and finally to send bombers and cruise
missiles to rain down death and destruction.
The "Right of Self-Defense"
(1) Whose right?
Since September 11, the United States feels under
attack. As a result its government claims a "right to
self-defense" enabling it to wage war on its own
terms, as it chooses, against any country it
designates as an enemy, without proof of guilt or
legal procedure.
Obviously, such a "right of self-defense" never
existed for countries such as Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia,
Libya, Sudan or Yugoslavia when they were bombed by
the United States. Nor will it be recognized for
countries bombed by the United States in the future.
This is simply the right of the strongest, the law of
the jungle. Exercising such a "right", denied all
others, cannot serve "universal values" but only
undermines the very concept of a world order based on
universal values with legal recourse open to all on a
basis of equality.
A "right" enjoyed only by one entity -- the most
powerful -- is not a right but a privilege exercised
only to the detriment of the rights of others.
(2) How is the United States to "defend" itself?
Supposedly in self-defense, the United States launched
a war against Afghanistan. This was not an action
specially designed to respond to the unique events of
September 11. On the contrary, it was exactly what the
United States was already doing, and had already
planned to do, as outlined in Pentagon documents: bomb
other countries, send military forces onto foreign
soil and topple their governments. The United States
is openly planning an all-out war -- not excluding use
of nuclear weapons -- against Iraq, a country it has
been bombing for a decade, with the proclaimed aim of
replacing its government with leaders selected by
Washington.
(3) Precisely what is being "defended"?
What is being defended is related to what was
attacked.
Traditionally, "defense" means defense of national
territory. On September 11, an attack actually took
place on and against U.S. territory. This was not a
conventional attack by a major power designed to seize
territory. Rather, it was an anonymous strike against
particular targeted institutions. In the absence of
any claim of responsibility, the symbolic nature of
the targets may have been assumed to be
self-explanatory. The World Trade Center clearly
symbolized U.S. global economic power, while the
Pentagon represented U.S. military power. Thus, it
seems highly unlikely that the September 11 attacks
were symbolically directed against "American values"
as celebrated in the United States.
Rather, the true target seems to have been
U.S.economic and military power as it is projected
abroad. According to reports, 15 of the 19 identified
hijackers were Saudi Arabians hostile to the presence
of U.S. military bases on Saudi soil. September 11
suggests that the nation projecting its power abroad
is vulnerable at home, but the real issue is U.S.
intervention abroad. Indeed the Bush wars are designed
precisely to defend and strengthen U.S. power abroad.
It is U.S. global power projection that is being
defended, not domestic freedoms and way of life.
In reality, foreign wars are more likely to undermine
the domestic values cherished by civilians at home
than to defend or spread them. But governments that
wage aggressive wars always drum up domestic support
by convincing ordinary people that war is necessary to
defend or to spread noble ideas. The principal
difference between the imperial wars of the past and
the global thrust of the United States today is the
far greater means of destruction available. The
disproportion between the material power of
destruction and the constructive power of human wisdom
has never been more dangerously unbalanced.
Intellectuals today have the choice of joining the
chorus of those who celebrate brute force by
rhetorically attaching it to "spiritual values", or
taking up the more difficult and essential task of
exposing the arrogant folly of power and working with
the whole of humanity to create means of reasonable
dialogue, fair economic relations and equal justice.
The right to self-defense must be a collective human
right. Humanity as a whole has the right to defend its
own survival against the "self-defense" of an
unchecked superpower. For half a century, the United
States has repeatedly demonstrated its indifference to
the collateral death and destruction wrought by its
self-proclaimed efforts to improve the world. Only by
joining in solidarity with the victims of U.S.
military power can we in the rich countries defend
whatever universal values we claim to cherish.
* * * * * *
* *
LIST OF SIGNATURES (as of 10 April 2002)
Daphne Abeel, Journalist, Cambridge, MA.
Julie L. Abraham, Professor of English, New York City.
Michael Albert, ZNet, Boston.
Janet Kestenberg Amighi. Anthropologist, Hahneman
University, Philadelphia.
Electa Arenal, Hispanic & Luso-Brazilian Literatures,
City University of New York.
Anthony Arnove, Editor/Publisher, South End Press,
Boston.
Stanley Aronowitz, Center for Cultural Studies, City
University of New York.
Dean Baker, economist, Center for Economic and Policy
Research, Washington, DC
Houston A. Baker, Jr., Duke University, Durham, NC.
David Barsamian, Director, Alternative Radio, Boulder,
CO.
Rosalyn Baxandall, Chair, American Studies at SUNY-Old
Westbury.
Medea Benjamin, Founding Director, Global Exchange,
San Francisco.
Dick Bennett, Professor Emeritus, University of
Arkansas.
Larry Bensky, KPFA/Pacifica Radio.
Norman Birnbaum, Professor Emeritus, Georgetown
University Law Center
Joel Bleifuss, Editor, In These Times, Chicago
Chana Bloch, Professor of English, Mills College.
William Blum, author, Washington, DC.
Magda Bogin, Writer, Columbia University.
Patrick Bond, University of the Witwatersrand,
Johannesburg.
Charles P. Boyer, Professor of Mathematics, University
of New Mexico
Francis A. Boyle, Professor of International Law,
University of Illinois.
Gray Brechin, Department of Geography, University of
California, Berkeley.
Renate Bridenthal, Professor Emerita of History, The
City University of New York.
Linda Bullard, environmentalist, USA/ Europe.
Judith Butler, University of California, Berkeley.
Bob Buzzanco, Professor of History, University of
Houston.
Helen Caldicott, pediatrician, author, founder of
Physicians for Social Responsibility.
John Cammett, historian, New York.
Stephanie M.H. Camp, Assistant Professor of History,
University of Washington.
Ward Churchill, Author, Boulder, CO.
John P. Clark, Professor of Philosophy, Loyola
University, New Orleans.
Dan Coughlin, Radio Executive Director, Washington,
DC.
Sandi Cooper, historian, New York. Lawrence Davidson,
Professor of Middle East history, West Chester
University, PA
David Devine, Professor of English, Paris, France.
Douglas Dowd, economist, Bologna, San Francisco.
Madhu Dubey, Professor, English and Africana Studies,
Brown University
Richard B. Du Boff, Bryn Mawr College, PA.
Peter Erlinder, Past President, National Lawyers
Guild, Law Professor, St. Paul, MN.
Francis Feeley, Professor of American Studies,
Universit� Stendhal, Grenoble.
Richard Flynn, of Literature and Philosophy, Georgia
Southern University.
Michael S. Foley, Assistant Professor of History, City
University of New York.
John Bellamy Foster, Eugene, OR.
H. Bruce Franklin, Professor of English and American
Studies, Rutgers University
Jane Franklin, Author and historian, Montclair, NJ.
Oscar H. Gandy, Jr., Annenberg School for
Communication, University of Pennsylvania.
Jamshed Ghandhi, Wharton School, University of
Pennsylvania.
Larry Gross, Annenberg School for Communication,
University of Pennsylvania.
Beau Grosscup, Professor of International Relations,
CSU Chico, CA.
Zalmay Gulzad, Professor of Asian-American Studies,
Loyola University, Chicago.
Thomas J. Gumbleton, Auxiliary Bishop, Roman Catholic
Archdiocese of Detroit.
Marilyn Hacker, Professor of English, The City College
of New York
Robin Hahnel, Professor of Economics, American
University, Washington, DC.
Edward S. Herman, economist and media analyst,
Philadelphia.
Marc W. Herold, University of New Hampshire.
John L. Hess, Journalist and correspondent, New York
City.
David U. Himmelstein, MD, Associate Professor of
Medicine, Harvard Medical School.
W.G . Huff, University of Glasgow.
Adrian Prentice Hull, California State University,
Monterey Bay
Marsha Hurst, Director, Health Advocacy Program, Sarah
Lawrence College, NY.
David Isles, Associate Prof. of Mathematics, Tufts
University, Medford, MA.
Robert Jensen, School of Journalism, University of
Texas. Diana Johnstone, journalist, Paris, France.
John Jonik, Political Cartoonist/Activist,
Philadelphia.
Louis Kampf, Professor Emeritus of Literature,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Mary Kaye, Professor of Fine Arts, Art Institute of
Boston,
Lesley University. Douglas Kellner, University of
California, Los Angeles.
Michael King, Senior News Editor, The Austin
Chronicle, TX.
Gabriel Kolko, author, Amsterdam.
Joyce Kolko, author, Amsterdam.
Claudia Koonz, history professor, Duke University, NC.
Joel Kovel, Bard College. Marilyn Krysl, writer,
University of Colorado.
Mark Lance, Philosophy, Justice and Peace, Georgetown
University.
Ann J. Lane, University of Virginia.
Karen Latuchie, book editor, New Jersey.
Peggy Law. Executive Director, International Media
Project, Oakland, CA.
Amy Schrager Lang, Associate Professor of American
Studies, Cambridge, MA.
Helena Lewis, Historian, Harvard University Humanities
Center.
Dave Lindorff, Journalist, Maple Glen, Pennsylvania.
Eric Lott, Professor of English, University of
Virginia.
Angus Love, Esq., Narberth, PA.
David MacMichael, Director, Association of National
Security Alumni, Washington, DC.
Harry Magdoff, co-editor, Monthly Review, New York
City.
Sanjoy Mahajan, physicist, University of Cambridge,
England.
Michael Marcus, Dept. of Mathematics, City College,
NY.
Robert McChesney, University of Illinois.
Jo Ann McNamara, Historian Emerita, Hunter College,
NY.
Arthur Mitzman, Emeritus Professor of Modern History,
University of Amsterdam.
Margaret E. Montoya, Professor, Schjool of Law,
University of New Mexico
Robert Naiman, Center for Economic and Policy
Research, Washington, DC.
Marilyn Nelson, Poet/Professor, University of
Connecticut.
Suzanne Oboler, University of Illinois, Chicago.
Bertell Ollman, Department of Politics, New York
University.
Alicia Ostriker, Professor of English, Rutgers
University, NJ.
Christian Parenti, author, New College of California.
Michael Parenti, author, Berkeley, CA..
Mark Pavlick, Georgetown University, Washington, DC.
Michael Perelman, Professor of Economics, Chico State
University, CA.
Jeff Perlstein, Executive Director, Media Alliance,
San Francisco.
David Peterson, writer and researcher, Chicago.
James Petras, State University of New York,
Binghamton.
Joan Pinkham, Translator, Amherst, MA.
Lawrence Pinkham, Professor Emeritus of Journalism,
University of Massachusetts.
Cathie Platt, Licensed Professional Counselor,
Charlottesville, VA.
Gordon Poole, Istituto Universitario Orientale,
Naples, Italy.
Douglas Porpora, Professor of Sociology, Drexel
University, Philadelphia.
Larry Portis, American Studies, Universit�
Paul Val�ry, Montpellier, France.
Ellen Ray, Institute for Media Analysis, New York
City.
Elton Rayack, Professor of Economics Emeritus,
University of Rhode Island.
Lillian S. Robinson, Simone de Beauvoir Institute,
Concordia University, Montreal.
Rick Rozoff, medical social worker, Chicago.
Albert Ruben, writer.
Sten Rudstrom, Theater Artist, Berlin
William H. Schaap, Institute for Media Analysis, New
York City.
Ellen Schrecker, Yeshiva University, New York City.
Gretchen Seifert, artist and photographer, Chicago
Anne Shaver, Professor Emerita of English, Denison
University, OH.
Gerald E. Shenk, Social & Behavioral Sciences Center,
California
State University, Seaside.
Mary Shepard, media critic, St Paul, Minnesota.
Francis Shor, professor, Wayne State University, MI.
Robert M. Smith, Brandywine Peace Community,
Swarthmore, PA.
Alan Sokal, Professor of Physics, New York University.
Norman Solomon, author and syndicated columnist, San
Francisco.
William S. Solomon, Rutgers University, New Brunswick,
NJ.
Sarah Standefer, nurse, Minneapolis, MN.
Abraham Sussman, Clinical Psychologist, Cambridge, MA.
Malcolm Sylvers, University of Venice, Italy.
Paul M. Sweezy, co-editor, Monthly Review, New York
City.
Holly Thau, Psychotherapist, Oregon. Reetika Vazirani,
Writer, New Jersey.
Gore Vidal, writer, Los Angeles Joe Volk, Friends
Committee on National Legislation, Washington, DC.
Lynne Walker, Historian, London.
Karin Wilkins, University of Texas at Austin.
Howard Winant, Temple University, Philadelphia.
Steffie Woolhandler, MD, MPH, Associate Professor of
Medicine, Harvard Medical School.
George Wright, Department of Political Science,
California State University, Chico.
Howard Zinn, writer, Boston, MA.
__________________________________________________
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