IRAQ: THE LEFT WAS RIGHT

CURT GUYETTE, METRO TIMES, MI - They take no satisfaction in knowing that they were right in opposing this ill-fated Iraq war from the outset. All they want is for people to listen to them now. And what they have to say is this: If we are ever going to get all of our troops out, it will be because of pressure that starts at the grassroots level and works its way up to the top of the political chain - not the other way around.

When the Bush administration was spewing its lies and the mainstream media marched behind in lockstep, trumpeting myths about weapons of mass destruction and fantasies about invading troops being greeted with tossed bouquets, members of the peace movement were trying to warn us not to make what became a mistake of epic proportions.

But America didn't listen. The drumbeat for war was too loud, drowning out the voices of opposition. Shoved to the margins, they were all but invisible. When not being ignored by mainstream media they were on the receiving end of ridicule from squawking chicken hawks. . .

"The peace movement hasn't been marginalized, we've been mainstreamed," says Leslie Cagan, co-chair of the national antiwar coalition United for Peace and Justice. But the shift in opinion has not resulted in an outpouring of protesters taking to the streets.

Wendy Hamilton, director of the Detroit peace group Swords Into Plowshares is perplexed by the lack of outrage: "Where's the anger? Where's the indignation? Why aren't people saying we were lied to and doing something about it?"

Part of the answer is cynicism, she says. People believe that nothing is going to change as long as George Bush remains in office, so why bother to protest. . .

Another factor is what might best be described as a feeling of disconnection between everyday life on the home front and the wars under way. During World War II, gasoline, tires and even food were rationed. Instead of being asked to plant victory gardens and buy war bonds in this conflict, we're urged by our president to hit the stores and visit Disneyland as a show of patriotism.

As for Vietnam, it was the draft that motivated many young people to take to the streets. Trying to bring about an end to the war, for them, was a matter of self-preservation.

This time around, the war - as well as the one in Afghanistan that has been under way since fall 2001 - is being fought by an all-volunteer military and an army of private military contractors.

As a result, say many of the activists we talked with, the war has been reduced to a sort of background noise for the vast majority. . .