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Protesters deluded
The Mirror actually went out if its way to print what protestors had to say at an anti-war rally with their names and ages [Operation Infinite Protest, Sept. 27]. How quaint. How remarkable these insights were! Typical, actually of how history is often distorted. Already Canadians have a poor understanding of Canadian history and culture. It is evident that we grasp American history and its role in the world even less. In fact, the whole point has been missed by these people, with their absolutely useless rhetoric.
A few stood out and I actually spent some time dissecting and forming a rebuttal. I quickly realized, however, there was no point. It is funny, that these people are out insulting the United States and defending the interests of societies that crush, murder and gang-rape their own citizens and dissenters. Oh yes, I forgot. It is America's evil humanitarian aid and oppressive progressive prowess to blame. Never mind the concept that each is responsible for their own actions.
Last I checked, the U.S. was not occupying any country or actively in control of any regime. Whatever they did during the Cold War was to prevent the advancement of the Soviet empire. This sometimes meant allying themselves with goons they did not necessarily ideologically agree with. Had they not done this we would be certainly discussing this matter underground.
The next thing we will hear from such bored people is that Hussein released chemical gases on Kurds and murders moderate voices because of American trade embargoes. In fact, he was starving and killing his people well before the Gulf War. The cycle of destruction goes back way further than before the birth of a nation that was the first to ever defend the interests of liberty in history. This is not propaganda but a fact.
--Sandro
While I can only support the general call for tolerance and vigilance against racist attacks following the events of Sept. 11, I fear that many of the protesters at the recent rallies in Montreal are unequipped intellectually to deal with the coming years of conflict for which we are surely headed.
In your story, you quote "Richard" who proclaims, "We need... to stop the siege on Iraq and to get troops out of the West Bank and Gaza. It's pure greed that is keeping them there." This shows a stunning lack of political awareness as to the real issues involved both in the American presence in Saudi Arabia and the Israeli troop presence in the occupied territories. The current situations cannot be reduced to a mere "West Bad/Everybody Else Good" dichotomy, no matter how much it excites the youthful mind still clinging to a juvenile fantasy of absolute morality and Star Wars-like confrontations of Good and Evil. We cannot accuse our leaders of being simplistic if we are so eager to become so ourselves.
Similarly, Jaggi Singh's suggestion that, "Instead of asking who did it, we must ask, 'Why did it happen?'" is both illogical and dangerous. How can we discover the "why" if we don't first discover the "who?" And if we simply accept that the developing world is in some vague way responding as a whole to American imperialist aggression, does that not lead inexorably to the conclusion that the developing world as a whole is therefore in some vague way culpable? It's time for Mr. Singh to go back to school and brush up on his logic to see where his arguments lead. Leaders without such an understanding are dangerous indeed.
I join with Dipti Gupta (partially), who was quoted as saying, "I still believe in the power of words. Let's have a debate." But I remind everyone that a protest is not a debate. It is the subjugation of multiple voices and views to the service of a singular, monolithic political idea or ideology. A mob cannot debate--it can only rage. If we're going to talk, let's actually talk. But to do that, we need to be informed. I hope all those university students at the protest are hitting a lot of books, beyond even the ones on their required reading lists. If not, they'll simply be swept aside as ignorant reactonaries while the rest of us try to negotiate a lasting, peaceful world order in the chaos of the coming years.
--Adam Barken
Ed's note
The photo that ran last week, a still from the film Eye to Eye, was taken by Charles Altman.
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