by Henry Lamb
November 29, 2004
The pre-invasion anti-war movement morphed into a post-invasion anti-Bush movement. The failure of both efforts has deepened the resolve and refocused the efforts blue-state liberals, socialists, and the ever-present rent-a-mob crowd. aNSWER is revving up its street-theater engines to protest the President’s inauguration, and to create a world-wide protest March 19, the second anniversary of the invasion of Iraq.
Disappointed media moguls have already begun the campaign. In a Washington Post article, Robert Kuttner says the anti-war protests will be the most determined antiwar movement since the anti-Vietnam protests led by John Kerry and Jane Fonda.
Like Kerry’s anti-war campaign, the propaganda is based on lies and half-truths, designed to inflame a strong emotional response. The purpose of the war is distorted, obscured, and misrepresented. For example, aNSWER justifies its anti-war position by claiming that the U.S. deliberately targets civilians. They claim that "the top enlisted Marine in Iraq has called on his troops to commit war crimes against the tens of thousands of remaining residents" of Fallujah.
But they completely ignore the fact that coalition troops have uncovered mass graves that contain the bodies of nearly a half-million Iraqis executed by Saddam Hussein, and the discovery of slaughter-houses in Fallujah where innocent victims were routinely beheaded.
These people are not simply "anti-war," they are anti-american.
They call President Bush a " war criminal" while praising the terrorists in Iraq as "resistance fighters" and calling on all americans to display the Palestinian flag in three days of mourning; "Let every flag and kuffiyya fly high in honor of all those who have passed - from Fallujah to Rafah and from Baghdad to Jerusalem."
another group that spews this anti-american venom is the International action Centerfounded by Lyndon Johnson’s attorney general, Ramsey Clark. his group is promoting a "million worker march on washington, december 3-10. it’s no coincidence that this effort is also promoted by the Worker’s World , a socialist newspaper. It’s no coincidence that Sam Webb, who is the national chairman of the Communist Party USa, says "the broad people’s movement must also regroup its forces across the country for an intense period of resistance to that agenda of war."
Still another group, Turn Your Back on Bush is planning another tactic to protest the President on January 20. Concerned that the security surrounding the inauguration will keep their protests off camera, this group is advising their protesters to avoid signs and banners and move through security gates to get as close as possible to the podium. Then, on a signal, when the President speaks, everyone is to turn their back to the President in a silent protest, sure to be seen by TV cameras.
In much of the world, the antics of these protesters would result in jail--or worse. Cuba, China, and many socialist countries routinely eliminate protests--and protesters--against the government and its leaders. It seems ironic that the ultimate goal of these protesters is to transform america into the kind of government that tolerates no dissent. The Communist Party USa says:
Make no mistake: these people are driven by a socialist philosophy, using their anti-war protests as an excuse to demonize america and draw attention to their own agenda.
No doubt, these people will continue to demonstrate, protest, and stage stunts to get media attention. No doubt, their campaigns will influence some people. In america, they have every right to do, and say whatever they wish.
Until these people achieve their ultimate goal, however, those people who prefer capitalism to communism are free to expose the protesters’ socialist agenda, and to explode their propaganda with facts. Should the socialist agenda ever prevail, however, freedom to dissent will be among the first to be lost. Then goes private property, gun ownership, and representative government.
The election of George Bush was a bitter disappointment to the socialists, but they do not consider it to be a defeat. They think they were cheated, again, and they will use any trick, lie, or deceit they can conceive to continue advancing their cause: the transformation of america to socialism.