It has been hard, these past few weeks, not to feel helpless, depressed, fearful
and, most of all, erased. Ari Fleischer warned Americans to watch what
they say, but in case some failed to obey this edict, many in the media
ensured that views deviating even slightly from those of Donald Rumsfeld were
censored, condemned or both. Who needs Fleischer when you have Thomas Friedman
or Jonathan Alterwho would have rather circumscribed careers without the
First Amendmenttelling Americans, especially young Americans, to shut
up and pledge allegiance?
From The Economists Treason of the Intellectuals, to Tim Russerts show on CNBC where Friedman expressed his deep disappointment
with college students who questioned administration policy, to Alters
semi-hysterical smear Blame America at Your Peril in Newsweek (not to mention Michael Kellys already infamous assertions in the Washington
Post that pacifists are objectively pro-terrorist, evil and liars), some journalists are taking up Fleischers banner
and launching a nice little ideological jihad of their own. As Alter,
a serial 60s-basher put it, the left (of his imagination) is unforgivably
out to lunch and knee-deep in ignorant and dangerous appeasement. What we need to do is shut up because its kill or be killed.
All of these attacks begin, as smears usually do, by utterly distorting what
many on the left have been saying. Maybe Im on the wrong listserves, but
I have heard no one justifying the September 11 attacks or expressing sympathy
for the Taliban, as The Economist and Alter suggest. And even though
both articles condemn left-wing appeasement (so they can liken us
to Nazi sympathizers), who on the left has been urging that we appease bin Laden?
Instead, many have argued that the attacks were a reprehensible criminal act,
and that whoever was responsible should indeed be hunted down and brought to
justice. We see this as a hideous crime, but we dont see war as the solution.
In fact, many of us fear that the current policy of bombing what little remains
of Afghanistan and its benighted people (especially its women!) will, in addition
to killing innocent civilians, do little to end international terrorism and,
indeed, make matters much worse.
Why might those of us so out to lunch think that? Well, for starters,
Bush the Firsts jolly little war in the region made the material existence
of millions of Iraqis, especially children, much worse without hurting Saddam
Hussein one bit. Alter says that after the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center,
we tried turning the other cheek and it didnt work. If U.S.
policies in the Middle East have been turning the other cheek, Id
hate to see what belligerence is. Maybe Alter, patriot that he is, is perfectly
happy to associate himself with government policies that have helped kill more
than 500,000 Iraqi kids since 1990, but I, patriot that I am, am not. I think
our country can and should do better, and I think that liberals and progressives
have a right to say so.
The Economist says there is a worrying confusion between (legitimate)
explanations and (unwarranted) justification of last months terror. Maybe at The Economist, but not in the pieces Ive been reading.
Many left-liberals question the sanctions in Iraq, our countrys ongoing
support of the autocratic and repressive Saudi regime, and the use of American
weapons to kill Palestinians. But it is a viscous slander to assert that the
left feels the attacks were deserved. Andrew Sullivan went
so far as to suggest that we are a pro-terrorist Fifth Column. I
would think those who seek to silence other views, stifle dissent and condemn
peace proposals are serving the forces behind this brand of terrorism much better
than we ever could, especially since they actually have mass circulation media
outlets as podiums.
Alter, Kelly and others might look to the example of CNNs intrepid Christiane
Amanpour. In addition to her gutsy reporting from the front, Amanpour hosted
a CNN special on October 13 titled An In-Depth Look at Islam. She
powerfully reminded viewers that the American and Arab media present almost
diametrically opposed views of the region. Until recently, Americans barely
saw anything at all except telegraphic coverage of the escalating conflict between
Israelis and Palestinians. The Arab press and the Al-Jazeera network, however,
repeatedly show their viewers the children in Iraq suffering from the sanctions,
Israels use of American weapons and even critics of the Saudi regime.
Americans need to know how their governments policies are being represented in the rest of the world, and they need informed public debate about those policies. The lesson is simple: We dont need less information and commentary, we need more. You would think that journalists and commentators, of all people, would be the first to insist upon this principle.
Susan J. Douglas is a professor of communications at the University of Michigan and a senior editor at In These Times. She is the author of In Our Prime: How Older Women Are Reinventing the Road Ahead.