Cleland, Schulz and Stern

November 20, 2003 9:06 PM

Three great interviews in Salon: Former Senator and Vietnam veteran Max Cleland on the stonewalling of the 9/11 commission and the situation in Iraq, author Jessica Stern (previously discussed here) on the recent bombings in Istanbul and Riyadh, and executive director of Amnesty International USA William Schulz on why the left must confront terror with the same zeal that it battles Bush, or risk irrelevance.
posted by homunculus (5 comments total)

War protesters of various stripes, alongside anti-globalization and human rights activists, have staged several large rallies nationwide this year, channeling their anger at the Bush administration through slogans like "No blood for oil," "End the imperialist occupation" and "Regime change begins at home."

The left is addressing the problems of terrorism. The difference is that the right attacks the symptoms (suicide bombings), while the left tries to understand the causes (imperialism, double-standards with our "allies", etc.). Perhaps (just perhaps) the left is aiming at a long-term strategy that might actually solve some of the long-held grievances the world has with the U.S., instead of slowly turning every country into a police state (including our own), and exaserbating the problem.

The right has consistently been ignoring root causes and attempting to consolidate the "big monster" of Al Qaeda with every terrorist act around the world, when in fact, most terrorism has nationalistic roots. The recent bombings in Turkey (Kurds), the suicide bombings in Israel (Palestinians), the urban terrorism in Russia (Chechnyans), the kidnappings in Indonesia (Abu Saayaf) -- this isn't a global conspiracy with a organized hierarchy. Each situation is different, has different causes and different solutions.

But every time you hear some "lefty" start talking about this, you can see the veins on the "righty's" head start throbbing. "Just git 'em! Teach 'em a lesson! Stop all yur thinkin' and less start bombin'!"
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 6:00 AM on November 21, 2003

"Schulz said that the political left has thus far botched a key mission. "There's been a failure to give the necessary attention, analysis and strategizing to the effort to counter terrorism and protect our fundamental right to security," he said. "It's a serious problem." " - Maybe I missed it, or maybe Schulz is speaking from some parallel universe he inhabits, one where Diebold voting machines failed to "malfunction" in Florida during the 2000 election, and so Al Gore was elected.

The LEFT has botched a key mission? Oh boy. 9-11 occurred on whose watch? And what was the response? What are the apparent results, now, of that response?

Terrorist attacks are on the upswing in at least 1/2 dozen Middle East nations, Iraq's become a quagmire and a money pit which has generated what is approaching 10,000 US casualties, the Taliban is moving back into Afghanistan, Turkey is beginning to destabilize........all hope of a peace saettlement between Israel and the Palestinians is dead for the forseeable future..........

So - this is supposed to be the fault of the left?

Further, I've read countless descriptions, from the left, of alternative strategies - to the current, flailing Bush paroxysm - to counter terrorism. I guess Schulz doesn't read much.

Or - is he suggesting that people on the left pick up arms and become vigilantes?
posted by troutfishing at 7:28 AM on November 21, 2003

anybody have the articles in full? I canceled my Salon sub when it turned into all polemic all the time.
posted by ednopantz at 1:18 PM on November 21, 2003

Just click on the free day pass and you'll be able to read the articles after watching the short ad, no subscription required.
posted by homunculus at 1:48 PM on November 21, 2003

Better yet, add this link to your bookmarks:

http://premium.salon.com/daypass/index.jsp

This automatically bypasses the need to watch the advertisement. Additionally, you can use it to auto-validate any Salon article you're reading that requires a daypass. So, for instance, if you click on the salon article above, then click the bookmark I just gave, it will automagically give you a daypass and bring up the article you're trying to read in full.

You're welcome.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 2:27 PM on November 21, 2003