Americans are = beginning to=20 ponder the rationale behind fighting a war in which the outcome is not = only=20 uncertain, but guaranteed to see many innocent lives taken. Many did = not find=20 solace in US President George W Bush's statement to Congress in which = he warned=20 that "the course of this conflict is unknown, yet its outcome is = certain."
On Saturday and = Sunday=20 thousands took to the streets in Washington DC in peace marches and = rallies that=20 brought together a m=E9lange of ordinary Americans, political = activists,=20 students, local human rights organisations and anarchists. They were = protesting=20 the coming war and heightened anti-Arab and anti-Muslim sentiments in = the wake=20 of the 11 September attacks on New York and Washington.
Banners and signs = read "Don't=20 dishonor the dead by killing in their name" and "An eye for an eye = makes the=20 world blind". The demonstrations were the biggest so far of many = protest=20 gatherings across the country that have increasingly reflected a = concern over=20 the ethics and morality of the coming war. Some speakers and protesters = at the=20 rallies questioned not only Bush's management of the crisis but his = legitimacy=20 to govern.
"Both want war, = both=20 unelected" one poster read alongside pictures of Bush and Osama Bin = Laden. As=20 thousands marched toward Capital Hill on Saturday, many were chanting = "No War in=20 our name, Islam is not to blame". Many speakers denounced the racial = profiling=20 of Arabs, Muslims and Asians that gained added legitimacy after the 11 = September=20 attacks. One African American speaker noted how "There was no racial = profiling=20 of white guys with crew cuts after the Oklahoma City bombing," a = reference to=20 convicted bomber Timothy McVeigh.
Other speakers = warned against=20 the trampling over of the Bill of Rights and other civil liberties on = the path=20 to increased security. Policy analyst Phyllis Bennis explained = increasing vocal=20 outcry against the war as the result of the lack of any transition = period=20 between grief and war. "The people are beginning to resent not being = given time=20 to mourn," she said. "We were rushed through the mourning into a war = build-up"=20 she said.
Coverage of the = weekend=20 rallies and other anti-war gatherings, vigils and student activism on = campuses=20 across the country have largely been ignored by the drum-beating = mainstream=20 media, or buried in obscure places inside newspapers. The participation = of=20 anarchists who advocate the destruction of the capitalist system was = highlighted=20 in media coverage in an effort to drown the legitimate concerns of the = many more=20 ordinary Americans. Similarly, TV footage gave prominence to the = marginal=20 incidents of violence involving the anarchists at the rally on = Saturday.
Public opinion = polls=20 indicating that 90 per cent of Americans surveyed support the coming = war have=20 been extensively quoted by media voices in newspapers and on TV. Mary = Lou=20 Greenburg, a self- declared communist and feminist who came from New = York to=20 attend the DC peace demonstrations, acknowledged that the findings = represent=20 some sentiments among the public, but cautioned against sweeping=20 generalisations. "The message of those polls is generally to tell the = people=20 what they should be thinking."
Citing the writings = of=20 philosopher and linguist Noam Chomsky, Greenburg talked about the role = of the=20 corporate media in the US in "controlling the public mind" and = mobilising=20 community opinion in favour of vapid, empty concepts, like Americanism. =
The national media = watch group=20 FAIR has criticised what it sees as the many media voices that have = enlisted in=20 the administration's push towards war. FAIR founder Jeff Cohen noted = that CBS=20 anchor Dan Rather seemed "more soldier than reporter" on a popular = late-night=20 talk show when he endorsed the war drive.
Appallingly little = attention=20 has been devoted in the mainstream media to obtaining justice through=20 international law and UN sanctioned processes. Many experts of = international law=20 insist that the Bush administration has yet to present evidence to = substantiate=20 its claim that this is an act of war -- not a crime against humanity. =
Francis Boyle, the = renowned=20 professor of international law at the University of Illinois College of = Law,=20 said: "Even if the Bush administration were to publicly provide clear = and=20 convincing evidence that Mr Bin Laden and his organisation were somehow = behind=20 the terrorist bombings in New York and Washington, the United States = government=20 would still have no valid justification or excuse for committing acts = of war=20 against Afghanistan. Both the United Nations Charter of 1945 and the=20 Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928 absolutely require the United States to = exhaust all=20 means for the peaceful resolution of this dispute. So far the Bush=20 administration has not even begun this legally mandated process."
Boyle, who helped = resolve the=20 dispute between the US, the UK and Libya over the handling of the = Libyan=20 suspects in the Lockerbie bombing case, believes that the 1971 Montreal = Sabotage=20 Convention, which was invoked in the Lockerbie crisis, is directly = relevant in=20 the current crisis. The same convention, he says, "provides a = comprehensive=20 framework for dealing with the current dispute between Afghanistan and = the=20 United States."
Clearly, Professor = Boyle's=20 views are not common. An appearance on the Fox News Channel with the = right-wing=20 pundit Bill O'Reilly on 13 September seems to have branded Boyle an = undesirable=20 guest. After the show, in which he argued for presentation of evidence, = for=20 authorisation from the Security Council and for adherence to the rule = of law,=20 Boyle has not been invited again to speak on any prime-time news = programmes.=20
Pleas for = nonviolence have=20 largely been dismissed as pacifist claptrap. Among those cautioning = against the=20 war is the African American Reverend Graylan Hagler, pastor of the = Plymouth=20 congregation of the United Christ Church in DC. Reverend Hagler has led = many=20 pro- peace and interfaith meetings and has spoken out against what he = calls "a=20 US foreign policy organised around a need to dominate [rather] than to=20 cooperate." The reverend believes that the message he is getting from = his=20 parishioners is one calling for tolerance and peace. "This is not = reflected in=20 the media," he says, adding, "The media has editorialised, ideologised = and has=20 conditioned the people into blind hysteria."
The voices of = dissent are=20 growing by the day. It is not clear, however, to what extent they can = impact the=20 course of the war as American aircraft carriers continue to arrive in = the=20 Persian Gulf. As the anticipated war fails to discriminate between the = alleged=20 terrorists and the innocent, it will be even harder for those Americans = I saw at=20 the anti-war rallies to make sense of what they inscribed earlier on = their=20 signs: "I would like to be able to love my country and justice at the = same=20 time."