TMC's Educational Materials on US attacks on Afghanistan The Education Committee has as its mission providing an educational resource on the recent events, and offers several services to the community, including arranging talks and events at local community groups.  The following are links to what we feel are some of the most useful sources on recent events.  These articles together provide context for recent events as well as a variety of perspectives on US foreign policy and peaceful alternatives currently missing from the US media.  This page is being constantly updated, and comments are welcome!  Why have people opposed the war in Afghanistan? What other policy options could the US have pursued? What are the root causes of the conflict? What is the history of the region? What does the immediate future of Afghanistan Hold? What has been the backlash against immigrants and against civil liberties? How has the US Media covered the conflict? What has been the opposition to the war ? What are other resources on peaceful perspectives on the Conflict?

1. Why have people opposed the war in Afghanistan?

• Barbara Lee, U.S. House of Representatives, ‘Why I Opposed the Resolution to Authorize Force’
• Manning Marable: ‘Terrorism and the Struggle for Peace.’ From Along the Color Line (weekly column).
• Orlando and Phyllis Rodriguez “Not in our son’s name.” (Statement by family of victims of 9-11 attack). 
• Arundathi Roy, ‘War is Peace.’ From Outlook (India).
• Edward Said,  “Backlash and Backtrack,”  From Al Ahram (Egypt).
• Howard Zinn, ‘A Just Cause, not a Just War’ forthcoming in the Progressive, December 2001.

2. What other policy options could the US have pursued?

• Rahul Mahajan and Robert Jensen, A War of Lies, 10/8
• Military Options: Where Would They Lead? From the Institute on Policy Initiative
• Ritu Sharma and Robert Gustafson, "Operation Enduring Freedom?" FPIF Commentary, November 1, 2001
• Project on Defense Alternatives
• Joshua Bearman, ‘Uneasy Justice - Why a trial makes more sense than war’ LA Weekly, 10/12
• Stephen Zunes, ‘U.S. Military Response is Wrong -- And It Won't Work’ San Jose Mercury News, 10/12
• Imran Khan, ‘Terrorists Should Be Tried in Court - Bombing Civilians Will Only Lead to Further Atrocities’ The Guardian (UK), 10/12
• Michael Mandel, ‘Say What You Want, But This War is Illegal’ Toronto Globe & Mail, 10/9

3. What are the root causes of the conflict?

• Carl Conetta, ‘Beyond bin Laden: The Temptations of a Wider War’
• Chalmers Johnson, ‘Americans Feeling the Effects of ‘Blowback’
•  Noam Chomsky on recent events also, recent interview .
•  War: Terrorist or Oil (from Pnews)
• ‘International Perspectives on US Attacks’(Frontline,India), 10/04.
• ‘Phantom Towers: Feminist Reflections on the Battle between Global Capitalism and Fundamentalist Terrorism’ from Economic and Political Weekly (India)10/27.
• A War of Lies, by Rahul Mahajan and Robert Jensen, 10/8

4. What is the history of the region?

• Eqbal Ahmad, “Roots of the Religious Right” in Dawn (Pakistani Newspaper).
• Ahmed Rashid, “Osama Bin Laden: How the US Helped Midwife a Terrorist” from the Public I (9/13),  and ‘Pakistan, the Taliban and the US”
• Robert Fisk, “Saudis turn their back on the Taliban, a monster they helped create’ From the Independent (UK)
• See FAQ on Afghan women
• Information on the Region from Duke University

5. What does the immediate future of Afghanistan Hold?

• Retribution killings in Afghanistan by Naveed Miraj in the Frontier Post (Peshawar)
• Afghan Women Warn Against the Northern Alliance from Institute on Policy Analysis
• Justice Has Been Redefined as Success in a War That is Sounding a Retreat from Civilization by  George Mombiot, in The Guardian (UK)
• RAWA's (Revolutionary Afghani Women’s Association) appeal to the UN and World community, in the Independent Media Center
• ‘This must be the end’ by Andrew Murray (Stop the War Coalition-UK) in the Guardian 11/16
• The Corrupt and Brutal Reclaim Afghan Thrones, Evoking Chaos of Somalia, by JANE PERLEZ in the New York Times (11/19)
• When the Dust Settles in Afghanistan, Where Will Bush Take His War on Terror? By Rupert Cornwell, the Guardian (UK)

6. What has been the backlash against immigrants and against civil liberties?

• Seizing Dictatorial Power  by William Safire (New York Times)
• Conservatives denounce dissent on campuses. From the Boston Globe and Lynne Cheney's campus crusade by Bill Berkowitz (WorkingForChange).
• New Anti-terrorism legislation affects booksellers, by the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression.
• ‘Bush Order on Military Tribunals is Further Evidence That Government is Abandoning Democracy's Checks and Balances’ by Laura W. Murphy, Director of ACLU Washington National Office.
• ‘The New Patriotic Act… by Any Means Necessary’ by Patricia Williams, November 26, in The Nation.
• ‘Holding Terrorists Accountable? It Depends on the Color and the Cause’ by Tim Wise, November 04, in Znet.
• Declan McCullagh, ‘Eavesdrop Now, Reassess Later?’ from Wired,  including full text of the “Patriotic Act.”
• "National Security" Toll on Freedom of Expression
• Arabs Ask, “Why Do They Hate Us?” from Alternet
• Vijay Prashad, “Shrouded by Flags” from Z Magazine

7. How has the US Media covered the conflict?

• ‘The War on Journalism’ by the First Amendment Center.
• ‘Fox: Civilian Casualties Not News’, in FAIR and ‘Burying the Lead: Democracy Denied’ by Jim Naureckas (11/15)
• George Mombiot, ‘gagging the skeptics’ from the Guardian (UK)   
• FAIR: “Media March to War”
• Laura Flanders, “A Sore Press Corps is a Better Press Corps” from Z Magazine
• Norman Solomon, “Orwellian Logic 101 – A Few Simple Lessons” from FAIR

8. What has been the opposition to the war ?

• 100,000 March for Peace in London from Stop the War (London) and Thousands Call for End to War in London March
• ‘Thousands Protest School of Americas’ (Ga.)
• Anti-war Protesters Rally at Bush's Maine Estate from Common Dreams
• John Nichols: “Growing Opposition” from the Nation
• Jeremy Brecher, “Now, More Than Ever: A Global Movement for Global Justice”

9. What are other resources on peaceful perspectives on the Conflict?

• Counterpunch- political newsletter
• Common Dreams- breaking news for the progressive community 
• Middle east Information Project
• Independent Palestine Information Network
• Teaching Material from University of Oregon
• CCCO – Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors

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"I am against war, against violence, against violent revolution, for peaceful settlement of differences, for nonviolent but nevertheless radical changes. Change is needed, and violence will not really change anything: at most it will only transfer power from one set of bull-beaded authorities to another."  Thomas Merton
© Thomas Merton Center 2002