APP at the Left Forum

A couple of us from APP participated in a handful of rewarding panels at last weekend’s Left Forum. Comments/questions centered on familiar themes: why the US is in Afghanistan and whether it might withdraw, what has happened to the US anti-war movement and what can be done about it, what is the state of the Left in Pakistan, etc., etc. At times, if I may, it felt as if we Leftists might very well be taking one small step forward, on the road to political recovery (a Jesse Jackson plenary notwithstanding).

Regardless, I thought there might be some interest in the talks APP members gave, since they carry a collection of points that ought to be made and re-made in the context of the war in Afghanistan and Pakistan. I am posting an unabridged version of my remarks after the break. They run quite long, as I picked and chose from this material when I spoke at the panels themselves. But I include it all in the hope that some of it is of use.

–Adaner

Rethinking Pakistan

Here’s an excellent panel that took place at the Left Forum on April 18, 2009. Get the panel videos HERE.Or, click on the speaker’s name for the video of her talk.

Rethinking “the most dangerous place in the world”: the War on Terror in Pakistan

Rakhshanda Saleem (Moderator) – Counseling and Psychology, Lesley University, Pyschiatry, Harvard Medical School

Saadia Toor – Sociology, College of Staten Island

Sahar Shafqat – Political Science, St. Mary’s College of Maryland

Madiha Tahir – Writer/Journalist, Columbia University

Sofia Checa – Graduate student, Sociology, University of Mass. Amherst

Panel videos HERE.