Solidarity in the peace movement: We must respect a variety of tactics

author : Larry Mosqueda topic : Iraq occupation

[The following is a list-serve posting by OMJP member Larry Mosqueda, related to the controversy discussed in the previous article]

We have to remember that the people that skewed the picture reporting in the news were the Olympian editors, not the brave souls who rightly went down to the port to protest another death ship coming to Olympia. When I saw the ship coming into the port after 11:00 AM, I knew that a good portion of the vigil crowd would go to the port, and rightly so. I saw the photographer taking the picture of the one argument, and I KNEW that that would be the lead picture, since the paper would want to have a faux conflict that would make it a more dramatic moment. As the president of US Steel once said, the purpose of USS is not to make steel, but to make money. Likewise, the purpose of mainstream media is not to report the news but to make money. Any resemblance between reality and reporting is usually just a coincidence, whether it is a local paper like the Olympian or the New York Times.

As we all know, even an expertly organized event like the 100,000 event by Deb and Keith did not make for a good story in the media. When I went to the September 24 protest in Seattle, there were over 5000 peaceful, organized participants. The Seattle PI devoted six paragraphs to the rally and march, and two of the paragraphs were devoted to the one counter-protester who virtually no one saw. It is wrong to believe that if "we" behave ourselves to the standards of the power elite, ruling class or establishment (take your pick) that they will give us good coverage. We need our own press, which we have to some degree in Olympia.

"We," the peace/anti-war movement are a majority movement in the country right now and always have been in Olympia. Thus we are going to have many tactics that will be used by various factions. Some like to only call themselves a "peace" movement. But I have no problem in also being called a protester or anti-war, since even the word "peace" can have Orwellian connotations, such as when US agencies like the nuclear Strategic Air Command can have the slogan "peace is our profession" and local police agencies and prison guards from Chicago to New York to Olympia can call themselves "peace officers" and even some progressives believe it. Or the mistaken, if often well-meaning, belief that the overall purpose of the US military is to protect the peace. (The "overall purpose" is not that of the mistaken beliefs of the soldiers but is determined by elite policy makers.)

There was no conflict at the port until the older woman became abusive and insulting to the crowd. The response by the young woman was understandable. We do not need to seek out conflict with those who are followers of the current regime, but we don't need to shy away from them either and accept their abuse. We do need to be careful about our strategy and tactics, and we need to recognize that there will be many, useful and varied tactics that will propel this movement forward. The fact that Bush's popularity has gone from about 80% (after 9/11) to below 40%, due to a variety of reasons and a variety of tactics, is a testament to the diversity of tactics. (His popularity among Black Americans is about 2%, again, for a variety of reasons.)

I think that the one-hour vigil was reasonably successful, although it is not necessarily the way I would have planned it by myself. But then, I have some respect for the decision-making process (of which I was a part) and recognize that it filled a need for many people. Likewise, it is myopic to believe that with a military ship arriving at the very time of the vigil, that there would not be an immediate and vigorous response. Fortunately there was. I have studied and used a variety of tacticians from King to Marx to Malcolm X and use what is appropriate, and not just what is ideologically "pure." Even Jesus got angry enough to throw the money changers out of the Temple ... maybe some will get angry enough to throw the Navy out of Olympia.

There will be no consensus on November 2 about what will be a variety of events from Seattle to Tacoma to Olympia and elsewhere. I hope that "we" who are older will not be too judgmental about events that show a profound disgust with the criminal actions of the Bush administration. We do need to be careful about how we resist (and not just protest and vigil) but we do not need to be timid. And we need to show solidarity among ourselves.

Good job at the vigil and good job at the port. Protest the Olympian, not the protesters.