Hi. I'll be gone for a week and want to leave you with issues that merit some serious attention. - These and tomorrow morning's. Ed
Counterpunch - Aug 15, 2006 http://www.counterpunch.org/chretien08152006.html Weak, Passive, Distracted What Next for the American Antiwar Movement? By TODD CHRETIEN On August 12, 2006, some 25,000 people in San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles and other cities took part in protests against the Israeli/American war in the Middle East. Probably around 50 per cent of the marchers were Arab or Muslim. These protests showed the Arab world, and specifically our brothers and sisters in Lebanon and Gaza that there is opposition to the U.S. government's policies. That's a good start. But you have to ask the question: Why after a month of war did so few people come out to protest? Where were the "anti-war" Democratic leaders? Where were the anti- war groups such as United for Peace and Justice or MoveOn.org? There is no need to expound on the blame the American corporate media shares in many good people's profoundly bad understanding of what is happening. However, media lies are not sufficient to explain the American anti-war movement's passivity. Deeper political explanations are required. While 60 per cent of the American population opposes the endless occupation of Iraq, the anti-war movement itself still accepts many ideas that weaken it. These ideas will not be overcome quickly, but they must be openly raised and debated. The Right to Self Determination The United States dominates the Middle East. It occupies Iraq, funds Arab client states and arms Israel to the teeth. In this situation, the U.S. and Israel government are brutally oppressing the majority via military power and economic robbery. Basic democratic principles require Americans to oppose our government's actions and to stand squarely for the right to self-determination by the Arab people. It is not the American anti-war movement's job to lecture the people of the Middle East on how to conduct their resistance. You do not have to agree with all of Hezbollah's ideas to support their resistance to Israel. Condemning "both sides" in the Middle East is just like condemning "both sides" in the American Civil War. During the Civil War, with all its complications, one side fought for slavery and the other fought for emancipation. Today in the Middle East, one side fights to rob and pillage, the other seeks self-determination and dignity. Vilification of Islam Democrats and Republicans alike have vilified Islam. Bush's latest phrase is "Islamic fascists." Too many anti-war activists have bought into the lie that Islam is a danger. The idea that Islam's ideas are more "conservative" than Christianity or Judaism is ridiculous. The media-created myth that Arabs and Muslim's aren't "ready for democracy" or they "just like to kill each other" are racist to the core. Muslims and Arabs in the U.S. bare the brunt of the "war on terror." The anti-war movement needs to shake off its Islamophobia and make sustained efforts to reach out to Arab and Muslim community in the United States to bring them into the heart of the anti-war movement. The past month has seen largest mobilizations of anti-war Arabs and Muslims since the Jenin massacre in Palestine in April of 2002. Building concrete solidarity, in deed not just in words, with these forces must be a priority. U.S. Aid to Israel The leader of the South African trade union COSATU recently stated that he thinks that the Palestinians face worse conditions than Blacks faced during South African Apartheid. There will never be peace in the Middle East as long as the Zionist state is given a blank check from the United States to have separate laws for Arabs and Jews and treat the Palestinian people as less than human. Israel is part of the American empire and is key to the U.S. plans for permanent domination of the Middle East. If we ever want to see our troops come home from Iraq, then the anti-war movement must fight to cut off all American aid to Israel. This will mean a fierce debate amongst liberal organizations, unions, etc. But it is necessary and now is the best time to raise it. Waiting for Hillary In addition the Democratic Party continues to exercise a profound influence on the anti-war movement. Just as in 2004, when the movement demobilized to get behind John "I'll send more troops to Iraq" Kerry, today, the movement is paralyzed waiting for Hillary Clinton, or some other savior to "end the Bush regime." (This line of reasoning even leads some people to think that Al Gore or John Kerry should give it another go!) Bush is a problem, but he is not the problem. Of course, no serious anti-war person believes the Democrats will bring peace to the world; however, too many anti-war people still believe that the Democrats will bring us closer to peace. This idea has a real impact on political organizing. For instance, rather than throwing its weight behind the August 12 protests, United For Peace and Justice merely asked people to call their Congressional representatives "every day." The Peace Campaign on their website listed events from August 6 to Sept. 21, without listing Aug. 12 mobilizations , thereby failing to identify with the thousands of Arab and Muslims who took to the streets? What Next? Israel still may disregard the ceasefire, or simply use it as cover and expand its war. Or they may adopt a longer range plan to regroup and wait for a better moment to attack Hezbollah, perhaps by engaging Syria. They will certainly continue to exact their revenge on Gaza. But Hezbollah has emerged as the hero to millions of Arabs and Muslims. Hezbollah's fight will encourage the resistance in Iraq and it will give a boost to opposition forces in Egypt, Jordan and other American client states. Unfortunately, the United States may become more aggressive in the face of rising opposition. Remember that after the Tet offensive in Vietnam in January 1968, the U.S. went on to invade Cambodia and Laos. A wounded beast can be more dangerous. Therefore the anti-war movement must prepare for a new round of mobilizations this fall and be prepared to respond to new emergencies. Three-and-a-half years after the invasion of Iraq, the anti-war movement must put itself on a new footing. We must build a movement that stands for self-determination, rejects vilification of Islam and openly embraces Arabs and Muslim forces, fights to cut ties with Israel and severs its allegiance to the Democratic Party. This will not happen overnight, but the people of Lebanon and Gaza have paid too high a price in their own blood for us to not take these lessons to heart here in the belly of the beast. [Todd Chretien is the Green Party candidate for US Senate, running against Sen. Dianne Feinstein in California. He can be reached at: ToddChretien @mac.com] *** How Hezbollah held Israel to a draw By GAVIN RABINOWITZ Associated Press JERUSALEM ? Despite its desperate 11th-hour push, the mighty Israeli military fought to a virtual stalemate against a small group of Hezbollah guerrillas as a ceasefire took effect in southern Lebanon. But it wasn't quite the David vs. Goliath conflict it seemed on the surface, analysts and Israeli officials said. As troops moved in, they encountered a highly trained, deeply motivated foe, armed with sophisticated weapons and tactics and a home-turf advantage. Israel tried to counter this with awesome firepower, helicopter-borne commando raids and air strikes deep into Lebanon aimed at killing Hezbollah leaders and cutting off their flow of arms. As Israel took on Hezbollah again, six years after it ended its 18-year occupation of southern Lebanon, it found an opponent vastly better prepared and spoiling for a fight. ?Hezbollah have been preparing for exactly this battle for six years,? Israeli counterterrorism expert Boaz Ganor said. During that time, the Shia militia moulded southern Lebanon into an ideal battleground from which to fight a guerrilla war. A complex series of bunkers and tunnels were dug out of rocky hills and superbly camouflaged. A vast arsenal of rockets were hidden from sight, often in village houses and caves ? protected by a code of silence among local residents who view Hezbollah as the defenders of Lebanon. After an initial period when Israel tried to blast Hezbollah's rocket launchers from the air, ground forces moved in to find and destroy the well-hidden launchers. To the consternation of the Israelis, they would be hit time and again in villages and towns they had already captured, as Hezbollah squads appeared like phantoms from hidden bunkers ? many of them stocked with enough food and ammunition to last weeks. ?They are shooting at us,? said Idan Swissa, 20, a tank gunner on a rest from the battles. ?You look for it, but you don't know where it is coming from.? ?Their idea was once we come in, they would not stand in front of us and exchange fire from close range, but would try to disperse and hide out and wait for opportunities, and that is what they are doing,? said Yossi Kuperwasser, who retired this summer as the head of military intelligence's research department. It was not just their use of classic guerrilla tactics. Hezbollah was also superbly armed, mainly by Iran and Syria. ?Hezbollah is unique in the world as a terror organization in that it has no problem in getting state-of-the-art technology, because it has two states behind it,? Mr. Ganor said. Much of this weaponry was supplied when Syria sent aid to Iran after the 2003 earthquake in the city of Bam. Nineteen planeloads and dozens of trucks returned to Syria filled with arms, which were then passed on to Hezbollah, Mr. Kuperwasser said. And Israel believes Hezbollah has received intensive training from Iran. ?All this training is conducted under the supervision of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards,? said Mr. Kuperwasser, adding that Tehran has forces based in Lebanon and brings Hezbollah fighters to Iran for specialized training. Last week, the army displayed captured weapons and equipment ? including anti-tank rockets, artillery, mortars, machine guns, rifles, advanced night-vision equipment, communications gear and bulletproof vests. But the weapons that proved particularly effective for Hezbollah were anti-tank rockets, from basic RPGs and Sagger missiles to advanced Russian-made Fagot and Kornet systems and the European Milan missile. Israeli tanks proved especially vulnerable as they accompanied the slow grind of the ground forces moving through southern Lebanon, clearing villages and searching houses. Hezbollah cells hit dozens of tanks, maximizing the damage with an intimate knowledge of Israeli armour. They also used their missiles to devastating effect against infantry searching houses, in one instance bringing a house down on Israeli soldiers and killing nine. It has not always, however, been about high-tech arsenals. Israel, the only country in the world with an active anti-ballistic-missile system on line, was left helpless as Hezbollah fired thousands of Second World War-era Katyusha rockets into Israel. And an array of Hezbollah booby traps, fitted with pressure pads, electronic sensors and remote control detonators, littered the roads of southern Lebanon. Israeli countered them with armoured bulldozers, carving out dozens of kilometres of new roads, allowing forces to bypass the existing ones. While Israel's standing army and special forces spearheaded the assault, the bulk of the 30,000 troops in Lebanon were reservists, many of them nearing middle age, unfit and with little recent training. Israel has traditionally relied on its reserves to boost its forces in emergencies. The reserve system allows Israel a large army, but without the cost of thousands of professional soldiers. The system has proved successful in five wars, but this time there were concerns after the army cut back on training because of budget cuts. Still, military officials said they fought well, using combat experience to make up for physical shortcomings. Despite the blows and the slow pace of their advance, most military analysts gave the Israeli army high marks for its performance in Lebanon. The army said it killed more than 530 guerrillas since the start of fighting July 12, although Hezbollah has acknowledged only 68 dead. Israel lost 118 troops. ?I don't know of any army in the world who could just roll over Hezbollah in a matter of weeks,? said Robin Hughes, bureau chief of Jane's Defence Weekly, adding that Israel faced problems similar to those of coalition forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. The army has used its technical superiority to good effect. Unmanned drones hover over the battle fields, giving commanders back in Israel real-time information. TV footage showed a drone operator spotting a Hezbollah force approaching an infantry position apparently unseen. He called in an Apache gunship that rocketed the guerrillas, ending the threat. Israel's vaunted air force, with its squadrons of F-16 and F-15 warplanes, have pounded targets, dropping laser-guided smart bombs on Hezbollah command bunkers and trucks transporting ammunition from Syria. The army has also shown an ability to learn on the move, changing its tactics from the first days of fighting, when a daylight frontal assault on the village of Maroun al-Ras earned the army several casualties with very little gained. To minimize the exposure of the tanks, the army increased its use of infantry and commandos, taking on Hezbollah gunmen at close quarters in hilly terrain. Combat engineers were sent in to build sand berms to protect tank positions. The Israeli troops operated mostly at night, using their superior night-vision equipment to neutralize some of Hezbollah's advantages. ?Given that Hezbollah has decided on the time, place and type of battle, Israel is doing very well,? Mr. Ganor said before the ceasefire went into effect Monday. * ================================================================ .NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems . 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