Next Steps for the U.S. Anti-War Movements
By Chuck0
Infoshop News
February 17, 2003
Arlington � If you paid attention to the news this past weekend, it was
hard to ignore the massive, historic protests against the U.S. war machine
around the world. Unless you lived here in Washington, where hysteria about
duct tape and the blizzard dominated the news. Still, the millions who
turned out in hudreds of cities around the world were hard to ignore. This
was an epic day of dissent, which won't be forgotten quickly like the
shallow anti-war mobilizations that Washington see all the time. The
international anti-globalization movement organized this weekend of
protests over the Internet and the results showed that this powerful
movement of movements can still move mountains. A decentralized weekend of
actions mobilized more people worldwide than any single city protest ever
could hope to mobilize.
We should all feel encouraged by the size and breadth of the weekend's
protest. President Bush has mobilized the world�against him and his
policies. Millions of people around the globe out about the illegitimate
Bush regime, its drive toward war, and the idea that the U.S. has any right
to tell the world what to do.
Unfortunately, while these protests will have an effect on governments
outside of the U.S., the U.S. government currently occupied by the Bush
regime has a cold, profit-driven heart. We shouldn't be under any illusions
that marching in the streets is going to stop the plans of any American
administration (Republican or Democrat). They believe in the rightness of
their cause and believe that Americans can be rallied to support them once
the war starts. We shouldn't underestimate the stubbornness and cunning of
the current regime, pretzel jokes not withstanding. It will take more to
stop this war and much more to stop the U.S. war machine completely.
Wouldn't it be nice if UN weapons inspectors were running around disarming
the United States? A nice visual, but we are going to have to make
diarmament happen. It's not impossible, after all, when I was a young
activist in the 1980s, I thought that the Soviet Union and South African
apartheid would be around forever. Big changes are possible if we think big
and take the risks necessary to realize our vision.
The protests this weekend were probably the last time in this current war
crisis period that mass protests in the streets can influence public
opinion. Another mass demonstration in Washington or San Francisco right
now is going to have little effect of the current regime's policies. The
encouraging thing about the decentralized nature of this past weekend's
protests was that there were protests in dozens of small cities and towns
across America. These are the kinds of protests that influence average
Americans. Protests in Washington, DC can always be dismissed as the usual
gathering of the "usual suspects" and that it precisely how the right wing
characterizes us on their media programs, which are what average Americans
watch and listen to. But a protest against the war on Mainstreet USA is
much harder to dismiss. These are the kind of protests that get people
talking about the issues.
The Media is the Problem
Many local anti-war groups and peace coalitions are making plans for what
they will do the day of, or the day after the U.S. invades Iraq. These
groups are also talking about more protests and actions. We've gotten to a
point where the usual venues for protest have limited value. Many of us
would like to protest at military buildings and installations, but the
security is just too intense. There are other targets for protest and
dissent that are crucial right now and haven't gotten any sustained
attention from the anti-war and peace movements. I'm talking of course
about CNN, Fox News, ABC, CBS, NBC, the Washington Post, and NPR. The
corporate media are the main method the U.S. regime keeps the American
people ignorant about what is really going on. They play along with the
U.S. regime, going so far as to change coverage on the request of
government officials. And if you've watched ten minutes of the cable news
channels, you have seen how they've turned the plans for war into a cheap
special effects spectacle.
The corporate media isn't just a willing partner in the regime's plans for
World Domination, they also refuse to cover dissent in any in depth way.
Many activists have complained about this and some news organizations have
made changes. What is far worse than bad protest coverage is the very
composition of the news and the "experts" that are brought on to talk about
the issues. Not only are we unlikely to see Noam Chomsky, Starhawk, or
Howard Zinn on CNN, but there are many other activists who will never
appear as commentators on news programs. Instead, we are treated to yet
another talking pro-regime head from the Brooking Institution or the
so-called Carnegie Endowment for Peace.
All the more reason for anti-war and peace activists to put more pressure
on the corporate media to fundamentally change their coverage, not just
cover protests better. We need a press that is skeptical towards people in
power, a press that does their job as journalists instead of simply acting
as "stenographers to power."
What should activists do? We need more protests outside of media offices,
production facilities, and studios. We're talking pickets, mass rallies,
building blockades, studio occupations, electronic civil disobedience, and
anything else it takes to get the corporate media to change. Visualize 3000
people outside the offices of the Washington Post. Visualize an occupation
of the CNN studio in Atlanta. A picket of a TV station in Des Moines. The
corporate media is complicit right now with the plans and activities of the
U.S. war machine.
It is time for us to make them accountable.
"Next up on CNN, Noam Chomsky to talk about U.S. policies in the Middle East."
Next protest in Washington: Code Pink surrounds the White House on March 8.
http://www.infoshop.org/inews/stories.php?story=03/02/17/3245792
