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A
Review of Anthony Arnove's "Iraq: the Logic of Withdrawal"
Leaving Iraq Now
is the Only Sensible Solution
By RON JACOBS
Coherent. That's the one word review
of Anthony Arnove's latest book, Iraq:The Logic of Withdrawal.
Incoherent. That's what Washington's policy in Iraq seems to
be. What makes Arnove's book so important is that he dissects
that policy and proves that the war in Iraq is not an incoherent
bumble that's gone awry. In fact, as Arnove makes abundantly
clear, it's US foreign policy as it's always been. This remains
the case even in the light of Condoleeza Rice's admission of
thousands of tactical errors. After all, Ms. Rice didn't admit
that the war itself was an error, only the manne in which it
is fought.
As the war drags interminably
on and people continue to die, the antiwar movement in the US
is still fumbling around questions of timetables and demands.
One element of the movement has hitched itself to the progressive
wing of the Democratic party--a connection that has stifled that
element's ability to make the only reasonable demand an antiwar
movement can make: Get out of Iraq now and bring the occupying
troops home. The rest of us in the movement continue to make
this demand, but seem to go unheard. Part of the reason for
this lies in the fact that our allies do have those connections
in the public mind to the Democrats, but the greater reason is
our inability to mobilize the broader mass of the US public--a
public that opinion polls tell us is overwhelmingly opposed to
the continuation of the war.
Like the similarly titled book
written in 1966 about the US war in Vietnam by Arnove's inspiration
and collaborator Howard Zinn, Iraq:The Logic of Withdrawal,
is not a shrill exercise in rhetoric. It isn't full of make
love not war sentiment or calls to hit the barricades with your
black bandannas and gas masks. It is exactly what it says it
is: a logical, point-by-point argument to the world as to why
we need to insist that US troops leave Iraq immediately. There
is passion in these pages, but it is the passion of pure logic in the defense
of humanity and the earth we live on. Well-researched and well-spoken,
the reasonableness of Arnove's presentation does more than expose
the madness of the men and women who are running this war, it
peels away the madness of the system that those men and women
work for.
It is this element of the book
that goes beyond a mere call to end this war. One of the debates
within the movement, especially among the liberals and some leftists,
is how much of the conversation should be about empire. Arnove
argues that because of the economic and geopolitical reasons
behind the US invasion and occupation of Iraq, the occupation
can only truly end when the antiwar movement understands that
it must be an anti-imperialist movement. Like Mark Twain and
his circle of anti-imperialist activists back in the late nineteenth
and early twentieth centuries, Arnove wants the reader to understand
that it is the needs of the financial system we live in that
demands that our men and women go off to kill and die. He does
this patiently and clearly, without a hint of self-righteousness.
Although there is a part of
me that sees war as completely lacking in logic and reason, I
also understand that the reasons wars are fought are completely
logical if one accepts their underlying premise. If the war
is one fought to expand and maintain an empire, than that premise
is that any resource or place that will help in that task is
fair game. That is the logic that informs Washington, just like
it was the logic that informed all empires before it. As noted
above, it is not a logic that has the best interests of the occupied
people or the people whose children make up the occupier's army
in mind. The only logical endeavor that benefits those people
is immediate withdrawal. Furthermore, it is also why we in the
US and Britain have more in common with the Iraqi resistance
and its supporters than we do with the politicians and generals
running this war.
Of course, while this may be
apparent to antiwar activists that understand the true reasons
and nature of this war, it is not apparent to most people. Partially
because of that, even many people who opposed the war before
it began are uncertain about the timetable for leaving it. Arnove's
book is an extremely capable and very readable introduction to
the argument for immediate and unconditional withdrawal. Not
only does he list the reasons that Washington really began this
war, he provides a compelling and coherent list of reasons why
we should get the hell out. This compact and comprehensive text
needs to reach as many people as possible. Buy it and share
it. Ask your library to purchase it.
CounterPunch
Speakers Bureau Sick of sit-on-the-Fence speakers, tongue-tied and timid?
CounterPunch Editors Alexander Cockburn and Jeffrey St Clair
are available to speak forcefully on ALL the burning issues,
as are other CounterPunchers seasoned in stump oratory. Call
CounterPunch Speakers Bureau, 1-800-840-3683. Or email beckyg@counterpunch.org.