the theatrics of protest
by Joshua Lustig
Published: March 23, 2008
It’s tough to be anti-war these days.
With a deadlocked legislature, a distracted media and a weak organization, Americans against the Iraq war have let their rage devolve into resignation as nothing seems likely to change.
On Wednesday, the fifth anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, these same voices sought to vent about a never-ending failed policy. Like the four previous invasion anniversaries, protests were scheduled and pamphlets were distributed.
There was only one problem; no one showed up.
Well, no one isn’t exactly true. Anarchists and political dramatists, a horrible cross-section of an America truly upset over the war, took over and a genuine opportunity was missed. The usual suspects of the radical youth movement arrived, bringing with them the perfect fodder for forgettable associated press photographs: a smattering of fierce sets of eyes as a backdrop for black and red-checkered bandanas worn by anarchist to avoid being identified by the authorities. In other words, those people you don’t identify with.
They organized, they protested and they called more attention to their antics than their message. In short, they and every American hoping to end this war failed miserably.
The raw power of the 2001 pre-war protests seems to be all but lost. Seeing tens of thousands of young people, soccer moms, veterans, local celebrities and people from all walks of this American life take to the streets to protest was a powerful and uncompromising sight. On the other hand, seeing two dozen college-aged anarchists with their faces covered trying to shut down the IRS harkens back to the days of W.T.O. anti-globalization protests: radical and for much of America, impossible to comprehend.
The urge for bombast in protest is an entirely rational one. This war, as many folks see it, has raged on for long enough all while politicians from all sides do little to impede it. Why not then, attempt these attention-grabbing tricks to try and get the media, or passersby or anyone to think about this insane and failed policy?
The trick might be not to look at the end, but rather, to transport our thinking back five long years ago. Back to when the movement began, and to return to the folks that started and summarily abandoned the grassroots anti-war movement.
In 2003, Act Now to Stop War and End Racism (ANSWER) was the preeminent voice of the early anti-war movement. They organized rallies, bussed supporters from across the country to their events and in general, served as a focal point for those Americans who viewed Iraq as a callous mistake. But most importantly, they were incredibly successful.
People attended those marches en masse. But unfortunately for the angry swath of Americans parading through downtown D.C., the media failed to catch on. Rather, they opted to focus coverage on the build-up to war in all off its glossy made-for-the-news-cycle glory. Reporters were embedded, weapons systems were analyzed and somewhere in this mess, the message of the anti-war folks was drowned out in a patriotic fervor.
So A.N.S.W.E.R., in what could be seen as one of the great failings of many liberal social justice movements, started employing a catch-all approach to protest. Instead of just reaching out to those ticked-off soccer moms, they started branching out their rallies to anyone that would show up.
Protests to end the Iraq war expanded and began to look like a smattering of extreme leftist issues: namely, anti-globalization, Veganism and justice for Palestine. All are issues that many people consider important, but that have little if anything to do with the war in Iraq. Instead of expanding the coalition, adding this mass of news ideas served only to distort and confuse the original anti-Iraq war message.
The movement, along with the country’s hope of avoiding war would vanish soon after.
The second they attempted to broaden their message, the A.N.S.W.E.R. as a movement crumbled. Not even after nearly 4,000 American military deaths or trillions of dollars spent has it even begun to regain momentum. A.N.S.W.E.R. seems almost as impotent now as the Congress it helped to elect. It has been reduced to a mere fiery young political action committee with an ever-expanding agenda.
What we need is what A.N.S.W.E.R. and the anti-war movement in general has lost: focus. We need less of the Cindy Sheehan theatrics and more of a consensus-building ideal that reaches out to all Americans. While our young raging anarchists have the right idea, they have a radically wrong message.
The polls show that people are on the side of ending this war in a safe and effective manner. There are even politicians openly touting and benefiting from this same message. If there was ever a good time to take to the streets again, it’s right now.
So call up your local soccer mom, your grandma and your mailman: network, motivate organize. You can even try to get your crazy Republican uncle on board. If being anti-war is really the movement we’re all convinced it is, there’s room for everyone.
Even the anarchists.
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