Berkeley Forum

Can we believe Tim Rutten when he makes the following sweeping statement
about the MoveOn.org ad which referred to General David Petraeus as "General
Betray Us"? (Calendar, December 6):

"It was...rejected out of hand as an expression of loony narrow-mindedness by
most Americans who oppose the war."

What evidence does Mr. Rutten have that most opponents of the war rejected
the ad out of hand?

The violent occupation of Iraq, which is based upon the loony and
narrowminded fantasies of the Bush militarists, is in itself a betrayal
of this country, of Iraq, and of international stability.  Any political or
military leader like General Petraeus who actively advances the lies
undergirding the occupation contributes to this betrayal of world peace.

I seriously doubt that antiwar critics of the ad constiture a majority.
In my own circle of peace proponents, I know of only one who disapproved
of the MoveOn.org ad, not because of its loony narrowmindedness (the text of
the ad is actually carefully argued and backed up by significant documentation)
but because he believed that the play on General Petraeus's name became a
distraction from the issue of the war itself.

Another antiwar critic of the ad, Jon Soltz, the Iraq veteran who co-founded
VoteVet.org, said: "What we need to do as veterans of the Iraq war is distance
ourselves from personal attacks and focus on the policy issues."

Taking into account, however, the 25 Senate Democrats who voted to support
MoveOn.org, as opposed to the 22 Senate Democrats who bowed to the Bush
intimidation machine (thus rendering their motives suspect) and voted
to censure them, one has to wonder whether the ad  "was rejected out of
hand...by most Americans who oppose the war."

The vast majority of Americans are so disgusted and sickened by this war that
they cannot wait for it to be brought to an immediate end.  Do you think they
really care about this silly brouhaha in the face of the horror of the
war?

Unless Mr. Rutten can provide persuasive evidence to back up his statement,
his credibility will remain in question.

Clive Leeman

# posted by Berkeley Forum : 6:21 PM