“No justice, no peace!” the protesters shouted, blocking traffic on Constitution Avenue the day it was announced the police officers who beat Rodney King had been acquitted. I was among them.
“No justice, no peace!” The cry went up again for Abner Louima, Amadou Diallo, the people of Vieques, as it should have. “No justice, no peace!” rallied labor and environmental activists together to oppose the World Trade Organization, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
The chant was to have been taken up again this weekend in Washington, at protests of a scheduled meeting of the IMF. The meeting was cancelled after the September 11th attacks and the protest marches turned into peace marches.
Since the crowd in DC will be composed of Americans, they will probably direct their sentiments toward our government, but what will they say? We are all in new territory. The world did change on September 11th. For the first time in most of our lives, the United States was attacked. For the first time in most of our lives, the response by the American political and defense establishment has been rational and deliberate. It doesn’t seem to make sense. In 1983, the flyspeck island of Grenada elected a government we didn’t like and we immediately hit them with an amphibious assault. In 2001, over 6,000 American civilians are slaughtered and in response, we’ve taken diplomatic action to isolate the bad actors and foster a climate of world opinion against them. It doesn’t square with our past behavior, but I approve.
This moderate, methodical strategy probably means there are more people frustrated with Mr. Bush on the right than the left, but the left reflexively criticizes and the right reflexively defends him, so we’re all a half step off.
I’m not a big fan of George Bush. I didn’t vote for him and doubt I ever will, but his actions – for the most part – since September 11th, have been measured and restrained. I give him high marks for his repeated calls to stand with our Muslim friends and neighbors, at home and abroad. In these times, especially, the standard to apply is based on actions, not identity. Not only should this apply to dark-skinned people with turbans, but also to George Bush. If we fail to acknowledge and reinforce his behavior when he does right, our criticism of his missteps will have less meaning.
Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson said America deserved what it got on September 11th, because America is a haven for gays, lesbians, feminists and the ACLU. People were outraged; they should have been. What Falwell and Robertson said was practically an endorsement of Osama bin Laden’s belief that he was acting as God’s agent.
On the other hand, many people on the left have implied America deserved what it got on September 11th, because the alliance of American capitalism and militarism has sown the seeds of hatred and resentment of America across the globe.
Osama bin Laden probably agrees with all of the above. He probably does hate gays, lesbians, feminists and the ACLU and he probably does hate the global reach of American corporations and military.
No one, however, deserved what happened on September 11th. No matter how much I, or anyone else on the left, disagree with globalization or rampant capitalism, no one deserved September 11th. If we are ever going to progress as a society, we have to leave behind murder and carry ourselves forward on the strength of our convictions.
So, what do you put on your placard at the peace march? “No justice, no peace?” Terrorists are the scourge of the new century. To put terrorism behind us nations will have to join together and take action. The goal should not be war, but justice. Lives will be lost; some will be innocent lives. We must take every precaution to see that we do not shed innocent blood, but we should be sure we see justice done. And while we’re at it, we should check our arrogance and greed, to ensure we don’t inspire any more would-be terrorists.
No Justice, No Peace
“No justice, no peace!” the protesters shouted, blocking traffic on Constitution Avenue the day it was announced the police officers who beat Rodney King had been acquitted. I was among them.
“No justice, no peace!” The cry went up again for Abner Louima, Amadou Diallo, the people of Vieques, as it should have. “No justice, no peace!” rallied labor and environmental activists together to oppose the World Trade Organization, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
The chant was to have been taken up again this weekend in Washington, at protests of a scheduled meeting of the IMF. The meeting was cancelled after the September 11th attacks and the protest marches turned into peace marches.
Since the crowd in DC will be composed of Americans, they will probably direct their sentiments toward our government, but what will they say? We are all in new territory. The world did change on September 11th. For the first time in most of our lives, the United States was attacked. For the first time in most of our lives, the response by the American political and defense establishment has been rational and deliberate. It doesn’t seem to make sense. In 1983, the flyspeck island of Grenada elected a government we didn’t like and we immediately hit them with an amphibious assault. In 2001, over 6,000 American civilians are slaughtered and in response, we’ve taken diplomatic action to isolate the bad actors and foster a climate of world opinion against them. It doesn’t square with our past behavior, but I approve.
This moderate, methodical strategy probably means there are more people frustrated with Mr. Bush on the right than the left, but the left reflexively criticizes and the right reflexively defends him, so we’re all a half step off.
I’m not a big fan of George Bush. I didn’t vote for him and doubt I ever will, but his actions – for the most part – since September 11th, have been measured and restrained. I give him high marks for his repeated calls to stand with our Muslim friends and neighbors, at home and abroad. In these times, especially, the standard to apply is based on actions, not identity. Not only should this apply to dark-skinned people with turbans, but also to George Bush. If we fail to acknowledge and reinforce his behavior when he does right, our criticism of his missteps will have less meaning.
Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson said America deserved what it got on September 11th, because America is a haven for gays, lesbians, feminists and the ACLU. People were outraged; they should have been. What Falwell and Robertson said was practically an endorsement of Osama bin Laden’s belief that he was acting as God’s agent.
On the other hand, many people on the left have implied America deserved what it got on September 11th, because the alliance of American capitalism and militarism has sown the seeds of hatred and resentment of America across the globe.
Osama bin Laden probably agrees with all of the above. He probably does hate gays, lesbians, feminists and the ACLU and he probably does hate the global reach of American corporations and military.
No one, however, deserved what happened on September 11th. No matter how much I, or anyone else on the left, disagree with globalization or rampant capitalism, no one deserved September 11th. If we are ever going to progress as a society, we have to leave behind murder and carry ourselves forward on the strength of our convictions.
So, what do you put on your placard at the peace march? “No justice, no peace?” Terrorists are the scourge of the new century. To put terrorism behind us nations will have to join together and take action. The goal should not be war, but justice. Lives will be lost; some will be innocent lives. We must take every precaution to see that we do not shed innocent blood, but we should be sure we see justice done. And while we’re at it, we should check our arrogance and greed, to ensure we don’t inspire any more would-be terrorists.