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

Ending Obama’s War (con’t)

Below is the text of the talk given by APP member Adaner Usmani, on October 7th, 2009 (at the event advertised in the previous post). Audio of the full discussion, including a very helpful Q & A session, is available here.

Because I only have a few minutes to speak on the issues I’ve been assigned, I want to start by saying that I won’t be able to represent to you all of the complexities that characterize the situation in Pakistan–and specifically in the NW. What I want to do, though, is to begin from what I think are the simple, and in some sense most important points that the anti-war movement must be prepared to assert–and then start to outline some of the more specific issues.