Tariq Ali, “No War: The Movement That Has Dissolved Itself” | MR Zine
Posted by Faiz on March 31st, 2008
“There is a growing crisis of political representation in the West. Democracy is becoming hollow.”
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March 31st, 2008 at 11:23 pm
Is it me or does the author spend to much time criticizing citizenry of the West and not analyzing how and why citizens are disempowered. I’ve seen the movement with my own eyes. It exists, and I think the author distorts the truth to say the least.
April 1st, 2008 at 11:09 am
I am not sure that I understand your point. Can you point us to the analysis you claim Ali lacks?
April 3rd, 2008 at 10:52 pm
I guess my real problem with this blurb is that he glosses over the anti-war movement and writes it off as a big failure. I think it’s an unfair assessment if you look at what is going on in the United States (ANSWER coaltion: http://answer.pephost.org/site/PageServer?pagename=ANS_homepage). The historic Winter Soldier event has been recreated recently with vets from Afghanistan and Iraq telling horrific stories (http://www.ivaw.org/wintersoldier)
Iraq Veterans for Peace is organized and growing by the day. They are teaming up with the ANSWER coalition to lead large marches and rallies. I attended one in Washington on Sept. 15h in which thousands upon thousands marched to the Capital.
It seems like pretty a pretty vibrant movement to me. I’m sure if he elaborated on what he wrote, it would help clarify. I guess to him Westerners just aren’t mobilizing enough. He seems content to blame it all on the dehumanizing of the enemy and the gullibility of people to believe Iraqi casualties are not like Western casualties. I think some credit needs to be given to the West here, especially to the American left which has been mobilizing consistently against the war since it began. Don’t you think so?
April 4th, 2008 at 11:03 am
It sounds to me as though you are confusing Ali’s criticism of the antiwar movements “effectiveness” with its “utility”. I would suggest that we keep the two aspects of the antiwar movement separate; as such, there is much credit needed to be given to (North) American antiwar activists, organisers, and the people who support the antiwar movement. However, the effectiveness of the antiwar movement is another issue. To date, the movement has been unable to affect a single policy shift with respect to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Our elected representatives are confident enough in the political ineffectiveness of the movement, so much so that they voted on prolonging the war without even the semblance of public debate. Where has the antiwar movement been throughout the U.S. leadership races? Let us not fool ourselves into thinking that we’ve accomplished more than we have by going out to these much needed rallies. Does this criticism mean that we simply pack up and go home? Of course not; we must not stop agitating. However, we also need to understand that unless the rallies translate into votes, they remain an ineffective tool within our democratic system. Ali alludes to this point in his piece: Where has all the rage gone?. Finally, here is another “blurb” from another antiwar activist rooted in the underdeveloped world: “I envy you. You North Americans are very lucky. You are fighting the most important fight of all - you live in the heart of the beast.” I am certain you would not call it an “unfair assessment”.