RE: [Marxism] Re: The Military Programme of the ProletarianRevolution(was Re: Many Vietna...

["David McDonald" <dbmcdonald@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

By far the most effective denunciations of war crimes in Vietnam came from
the Winter Soldier hearings, where people who had committed war crimes owned
up to them publicly.

In South Africa we have seen the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, in
which people who have committed terrible crimes are forgiven, morally and
legally, for setting the record straight and exposing what they have done,
and apologizing for their actions. An imperfect process, but a morally and
politically necessary one. It is extremely powerful and is a way for a
society to get at the truth of what it has allowed to happen and, hopefully,
to move forward.

We will see people come forward in the United States who will admit to
terrible crimes against humanity committed in Iraq. What they will have to
say will have infinitely more power and effect than any denunciation any of
us could possibly make from the outside. This is not something we can do for
them, they must do it for themselves. We can help by mobilizing public
opinion and action against the war. We must be patient, we must not let our
anger and outrage about what our government and its unfortunate apparatus is
doing determine how we approach political questions, otherwise we would all
be doing very foolish, adventurous and counterproductive things.



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