Making our voices heard

There's a grim assessment of the current situation from me right below. Paul Loeb has a more optimistic, and likely more practical, take on things: "If enough of us take public stands, we may yet avert going to war with Iraq."

I fully believe that the decision to attack Iraq has been made and a very significant amount of internal momentum has built up within the military and foreign policy circles to virtually guarantee that an assault will come to fruition. That, however, need not be taken as a signal to give up all hope of preventing the slaughter. Mass action is needed to at least try to prevent the war; to make voices of dissent known; to, as Michael Albert likes to stress, "raise social costs". Success may be unlikely, but that should not preempt efforts. It would be much better to act and fail, than to not act at all. So contact your elected officials. Write your local paper. Get out into the streets. Sing an anti war song. Talk to people. Do something.