A Deafening Silence

     Why isn't the anti-war movement claiming victory
     for America's withdrawal from Iraq?

By Marilyn Katz
October 25, 2011
http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/12181/a_deafening_silence

Progressives continuously ask people to 'get involved'-
with the implied promise that if they do, they can make
a difference. When we fail to claim the victories that
are there, we undermine our own arguments.

On Friday, October 21, President Obama announced the
withdrawal of all combat troops from Iraq. Since then, I
have diligently read my e-mails from United For Peace
and Justice and NoIraqWar. I have navigated the
blogosphere looking for responses from those who over
the more than eight years of this war's duration have
consistently, almost daily, called for its ending. But
except for essays by Earl Ofari Hutchinson and Robert
Parry, virtually nothing celebratory is to be found in
the endless stream of debates of the various anti-war
entities.

While often at odds with each other (and often
themselves) on the issues, the Republicans and right
wingers bent on characterizing anything the president
does as an error have predictably accused the president
of "giving in," of putting the United States in danger
due to the withdrawal of troops.

The mainstream press has been little better or kinder,
placing the announcement not within the context of a
universally hated "war" but in the context of a tactical
debate of whether to leaver 5,000 or 10,000 troops on
the ground.

All of this could be expected. What was not expected was
the silence of the anti-war movement. What has been
absent is the voice that strongly declared the
announcement as a victory - albeit long in coming-for
the millions of Americans who from the fall of 2002 on
opposed its onset, decried its human and financial cost
and demanded its ending. What has been missing is the
voice that declared that the anti-war movement has
prevailed. What is missing is the voice that praises the
president for acting on the promise he made.

The reason for this failure is multifaceted. It lies
partly in the fact that for 30 years the left has been
isolated in the wilderness. It reflects the left's own
self image as a political force that has little power,
has ceased to be relevant and that is not interested in
putting mass in the movement.

This failure may also disturbingly indicate that many on
the left have become more interested in "defining
themselves" rather than reaching out to others. If you
are trying to organize and build a movement, victories-
even partial ones-are critical to energizing the base.
If however, you are more invested in self-definition,
the purity of your position and the sanctity of your own
righteousness becomes more important. It allows you to
define yourself as different from (Obama, liberals, name
your bete noir).

As one of my staff (who by her own admission is in a
"fringe" group) put it, "Well, he didn't really end it.
There will still be troops there." This is a perfect
example of how not to influence Obama or the movement
that we hope to build. In other words, it is a perfect
way to lose (and continue losing) even when you win.

As someone who was an early opponent of the war and an
organizer of the 2002 rally at which Barack Obama first
proclaimed his opposition (and some would argue launched
his campaign for the presidency), I find this silence
both problematic and dangerous.

Progressives continuously ask people to "get involved"-
with the implied promise that if they do, they can make
a difference. When we fail to claim the victories that
are there, we undermine our own arguments.

We of the progressive movement resent when the press or
the right distort events to further their own purposes.
But history belongs to those who write it and if we, by
our silence, let the narrative be written by others, we
have little room to complain or and leave ourselves no
space to compete.

I have listened to and read a litany of complaints from
progressives these past three years about the failure of
Obama to deliver on what was expected. Yet here is the
president executing the very thing that we urged for
more than a decade, and we have nothing to say.

Where is the declaration of victory? The praise? The
statement that at least recognizes and commends him for
a promise made that was kept? How can we expect him to
listen to us when his omissions are met with hostility
and his praiseworthy actions met with deafening silence?

I have always adhered to the maxim "claim no easy
victories." To this I would add another: "A victory is a
terrible thing to waste." If we don't claim our
victories and praise our allies, we will have few of
either. If we don't write our history, others will. And
we will not like what we see.

ABOUT THIS AUTHOR
Marilyn Katz is the founder and president of Chicago-
based MK Communications. An anti-war and civil rights
organizer during the Vietnam War, she served with Lee
Weiner (one of the Chicago 7) as co-head of security
during the August 1968 protests at the Democratic
National Convention.

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