After several weeks of small crowds and dreary weather,
organizers of protests against the bombings in Yugoslavia
were pleased to see a bright spring sky and a respectable
showing at last Saturday's rally at the South Park Blocks.
The protesters borrowed slogans from the late '60s:
"Hey, Clinton, whaddya say, how many kids did you kill
today?" Many wore T-shirts left over from the early
'90s: "No Blood for Oil." Yet unlike both the Vietnam
War and the Gulf War, the fighting in Yugoslavia has
provoked little public outcry.
In 1991 Portland attracted national media attention
when more than 10,000 people came out to protest the
bombings in Iraq. Last Saturday's protest, by comparison,
drew about 250 people and received little coverage from
even local media. Activists say there are a number of
reasons for the lack of public involvement.
Although both wars were started in the name of defending
people under attack, critics saw self-serving motivations
behind the Gulf War--namely, securing U.S. oil supplies.
Second, activists say, because a Democratic president
initiated the military campaign, many liberals are reluctant
to criticize the airstrikes. "Clinton has disoriented
people by coopting leftist credentials," says Chuck
Oliver of the Coalition Against the War in Yugoslavia.
In addition, most media have presented the issue as
if there are only two options: either do nothing and
let genocide continue or bomb Yugoslavia and stop the
genocide. "Many people feel that if they're speaking
out against the bombings, then they're speaking for
genocide," explains Andrew Bacelis, a student organizer
at Reed College.
Dan Handelman of Peace and Justice Works agrees. "The
only debate in Congress is over whether or not to send
in ground troops," he says. "There's never any talk
of trying to settle the conflict through means other
than military intervention, of negotiations with people
other than the leaders who have created this war."
Another reason for the low protester turnout may simply
be time. In the Gulf War, the buildup of troops preceding
the actual bombing campaign lasted four months, giving
people more opportunity to debate and question the real
motivations behind and possible consequences of a U.S.-led
bombing campaign in Iraq. In contrast, many people were
caught off guard by the bombings in Yugoslavia, which
were carried out with little public debate beforehand.
"Most people thought the bombings would end quickly
because of the character of Clinton's previous bombing
campaigns," Oliver says. "However, as the conflict grows,
it seems as if we're in for a much longer involvement."
Last Saturday's rally was only the beginning of a long
campaign against U.S. military intervention in Yugoslavia,
one speaker emphasized.
As time passes--and the number of American casualties
rises--public protests against the war are bound to
escalate.
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Willamette Week | originally
published April 21,
1999
