Swans Commentary
http://www.swans.com/
September 8, 2008
Note from the Editors: Change is the mantra of the 2008 presidential
election, yet change when it comes to war is defined as more war, or the
right war, or the winnable war. No candidate even questions the military-
industrial complex or war for oil, let alone suggests peace. In true form and
with another 9/11 upon us, McCain and Obama will strike their best commander-
in-chief poses at Ground Zero to remember the victims of the tragedy that
became the Pearl Harbor of the Global War on Terror. We prefer to use this
sad occasion for a more reflective commemoration by publishing "Letters
Against the War" by the late Tiziano Terzani. Terzani's book, a series of
letters he wrote between September 14, 2001, and January 17, 2002, is a
profoundly humane, insightful, prescient plea to choose peace over the war he
knew would only fuel the flames of terrorism and destroy peoples and cultures
of which we have little understanding. Just as the world changed after
September 11, one's perspective cannot but change after reading this book,
which explains why no American or British company would publish it. Terzani
could not have predicted nor even fathomed the horrifying crimes committed
against prisoners at Abu Ghraib, and in stark contrast to choosing peace, we
found ourselves in one of the darkest chapters of war and its cover-up. Peter
Byrne reviews the documentary and accompanying book "Standard Operating
Procedure" that reveals the culture that encouraged these atrocities.
Opponents of war would be well advised to consider a real candidate for
change, Ralph Nader, rather than supporting war by voting for its advocates
(including Barack Obama). At his August 27 Open the Debates rally he asked us
"to apply our time to waging peace -- muscular peace." Nader, like Terzani,
is effectively censored in the American media, so we are publishing the
transcript of this impassioned speech. (Also censored is any coverage of
antiwar protest at the Conventions for Change, as resident activist Martin
Murie laments.) For those looking to Ron Paul, Gilles d'Aymery reveals the
wizards behind the curtain of this man's platform and from what he found,
there's not much love in the rEVOLution... If you're still reading and still
think you're a progressive, have a look at Joel Hirschhorn's article, then
imagine Carol Warner Christen moderating the duopolist debates when she
challenges endless war and asks, did anyone care that we killed children?
Those "change" candidates are also flexing their muscles at Russia as we head
down the path to Cold War II. Charles Marowitz wonders if the same type of
Stalinist dogmatism that literally extinguished the great experimental
theater director Vsevolod Meyerhold and free artistic expression in 1940 may
be reawakening in Putin's 21st century Russia. Encapsulating all of the
above, R. Scott Porter's poem considers our tenuous relationship with the
planet, and we close with your letters, on Jimmy Carter's snub, Joe Biden's
values, and Ralph Nader's platform for change you can believe in.
As always, please form your OWN opinion, and let your friends (and foes) know
about Swans. It's your voice that makes ours grow.
# # # # #
http://www.swans.com/library/art14/ga259.html
Ode To Peace And Life (Introduction to Tiziano Terzani's book)
- Gilles d'Aymery
http://www.swans.com/library/art14/terzani1.html
Letters Against The War (Eight Essays) - Book by Tiziano Terzani
http://www.swans.com/library/art14/pbyrne80.html
Torture For Fun And Uncle Sam - Book & Film Review by Peter Byrne
http://www.swans.com/library/art14/rnader02.html
We Will Decide! - Ralph Nader
(Transcript of his August 27th speech in Denver)
http://www.swans.com/library/art14/ga258.html
Behind The Curtain Of Ron Paul's Disciples - Gilles d'Aymery
(You'll love the rEVOLution...)
http://www.swans.com/library/art14/murie56.html
Denver Braying - Martin Murie
http://www.swans.com/library/art14/joelh06.html
Neo-Progressives Sell Out To Democrats - Joel S. Hirschhorn
http://www.swans.com/library/art14/carenc44.html
Well-Known "Evils" We Never Seem To Learn - Carol Warner Christen
http://www.swans.com/library/art14/cmarow116.html
The Fall Of Meyerhold - Charles Marowitz
http://www.swans.com/library/art14/porter04.html
Nature And Man - Poem by R. Scott Porter
http://www.swans.com/library/art14/letter147.html
Letters to the Editor
# # # # #
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Gilles d'Aymery
--
Swans
"Hungry man, reach for the book: It is a weapon." B. Brecht
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