What’s Proof Got To Do With It?
The forced march to war
The other challenge looming for the peace movement is that this war just might be relatively successful. I gave up tea-leaf reading some time ago, so I refuse to speculate. But it’s not impossible to believe that Saddam’s regime will quickly collapse, that scant resistance will produce few casualties, that whatever comes next will be better than Saddam, and that much of Iraqi society will support that outcome (remember that when we call for “peace,” there is no peace for those who suffer Saddam’s dictatorship, as they too believe “no justice — no peace”).
If the above should come to pass, then those of us in the peace movement today are going to have to weigh our words very carefully. Once this unnecessary war is actually consummated, “U.S. Troops Out Now!” may be the wrong slogan, and instead we’re going to have to find picket signs big enough to hold our complicated message of: We opposed this war, but now that it has happened, we insist the U.S. provide the money, the troops and the support to build something better than what was before.
When you figure out how to pull that off, let me know. In the meantime, I’ll be hoping for a miracle while I have that café au lait, split open that croissant, page through my morning copy of Le Monde and quietly repeat to myself, “Vive la France!”
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