FOOL US ONCE...
Written by James A. Lucas to
The Dayton Daily News (Ohio),
March 24, 2007.

To the Op-Ed Editor:
We are entering the fourth year of our occupation of Iraq, but eventually we will get our troops out. Then we can breathe a sigh of relief, but it should be a very short sigh since then we will have to confront some unpleasant issues and questions.

One of them is why are we so easily deceived by our leaders into going to war? Let me mention some historical examples of this.
We were stampeded into supporting the Korean War and millions died. The Gulf of Tonkin trick got us deeply embedded in the Vietnam War and millions died.

Shortly after the Cold War ended we were told that we needed to attack Iraq to protect Kuwait’s national security, despite the fact that we have our own history of violating the national security of other nations by subverting their democracies. So we killed over a half million Iraqis.

In that same time period of the 1990s we successfully caused the disintegration of Yugoslavia by economic skullduggery, covert CIA and military actions and by exploiting internal ethnic differences. Then we helped to end a war in Yugoslavia that we were responsible for causing in the first place.

All this time more resentment was building against our government throughout the world. Then the attacks of 9-11 occurred and the American people focused on the threat from terrorists outside our borders and there was little consciousness that other peoples have been victims of U.S state terrorism. So now we have a state of perpetual fear and a perpetual cycle of terror.

Today, once again, we are engaged in a war against Iraq and have intensified sectarian differences and we have the blood of over a half million Iraqis on our hands for a second time.
Furthermore, our puppet Iraqi government now seems to be approving an oil deal that will favor Western corporations. So the era when Iraq’s oil was used mostly for the benefit of the Iraqi people may have come to an end, at least temporarily.

It is important to note that these tragedies have occurred during the administrations of both political parties. The lives of Iraqis mean little to most of the politicians in both major parties. If there were no Americans dying in Iraq almost none of our politicians would be calling for us to leave Iraq. And at this time we appear to be on the verge of attacking Iran with little congressional opposition.

Further, our leaders seem determined to make enemies of all of the 94% of the world who are not Americans. Our two political parties differ only in the speed with which they are driving us toward a brick wall. We need to reverse gear. And, in order to do that, we need to see around corners, get well ahead of the curve, and prevent future wars.

Finally, it is not likely that these changes will come about unless we continue to be active in the anti-war movement and in the campaign for economic justice between nations.

—James A. Lucas
—Dayton, OH

FREUD WOULD DISAPPROVE
OF RESCINDING INVITATION TO EDWARD SAID
Written by Andrew Rubin to
The New York Times,
March 11, 2001.

Dear Editor,
Although towards the end of his life Sigmund Freud eventually became affiliated with Zionism [“A Stone’s Throw is a Freudian Slip,” March 10, 2001], for much of his career he was in fact ambivalent about it and expressed his political reservations in several letters written to Jewish leaders. In 1930, for example, in response to an appeal to challenge British restrictions on Jewish immigration and access to religious sites in Jerusalem, Freud wrote to the head of the Jewish Agency, Chaim Koffler, to say that “I can raise no sympathy at all for the misdirected piety which transforms a piece of Herodian wall into a national relic, thus offending the feelings of [PalestinianArabs].”

Freud, moreover, would have hardly approved the Freud Society of Vienna’s decision to rescind its invitation to Edward Said, who has
throughout his writings repeatedly and eloquently exhorted his readers to understand Jewish and Palestinian history as an ensemble
of inseparable experiences. “Reading Palestinian and Jewish history together not only gives the tragedy of the Holocaust and of what
subsequently happened to the Palestinians their full force,” Said wrote recently, “but also reveals how in the course of interrelated Israeli and Palestinian life since 1948, one people, the
Palestinians, has borne a disproportional share of the pain and loss.”

For the Freud Society of Vienna to retract its invitation to Edward Said on the grounds that Jörg Haider poses a threat to Austrian Jews
is to overlook not only the real causes of anti-semitism in Vienna, but also its real consequences in Israel and its occupied
territories. Freud had a word and theory for that: repression.

—Sincerely,
—Andrew Rubin, Co-Editor,
—The Edward Said Reader (Vintage).

POLLY KLAAS:
TRAGEDY AND PROPAGANDA
Written by Kerwin Kaye to
The San Francisco Chronicle,
December 1993.

To the Editor:
While the media has been devoting near single-minded attention to the Polly Klaas kidnapping [in Petaluma, California, October 1993—Editor] and murder [Her body was discovered after a search of more than two months—Editor], a few other events in the world have passed relatively unnoticed. The war in Bosnia raged on, US and UN troops killed more civilians in Somalia, the military continued its rule in Haiti, the Israeli occupation carried on with increased violence, the AIDS epidemic took still more lives, hunger and homelessness consumed the minds and bodies of thousands of Americans, and thousands of women were beaten in their homes. Why, in the face of so many equally human and grievous stories, does the media choose to focus so much attention and give such heart-rending detail to this case? And what makes this case so different from the other 56,000+ child abduction cases that the media routinely ignores?

Polly Klaas’ whiteness plays no small role in this equation. When the kidnappings and murders of young Black children was happening in Atlanta [between 1979 and 1982—Editor], the press simply ignored the cases and could not be bothered until the numbers began to add up (police response followed a similar pattern). The fact that the victims were poor and Black made their murders no less tragic, their families no less loving, but it simply didn't mean as much to that mainstream, white, middleclass audience whose perspective the media generally reflects. Polly lived in the suburbs, where this type of thing “isn’t supposed to happen.” Much of the reason people go to live in the suburbs in the first place is to avoid violence (and/or to avoid non-whites), and most simply don't care much about what happens to those who are left behind.

But Polly’s case held our attention for more reasons than this alone. The Klaas story enacted in a real and tragic way a myth we have been told for a very long time. Polly’s story was in this sense a very easy one for the media to tell because it so precisely fit a traditional understanding of where danger lies in our society. The suspect, Richard Davis, is a man of color, an ex-con, a crazy man who, the media insinuates, takes delight in his brutal acts. [Davis was convicted and sentenced to death in 1996. His case led to the “three strikes” laws that are widespread throughout the United States. Despite a recent suicide attempt, he still lives on death row in San Quentin—Editor] He is quintessential “Other,” the devil incarnate. Moreover, this devil entered directly into Polly's home, the American sanctuary, and took her. Polly's kidnapping and murder fit easily into traditional notions of the family, in which violence comes from the Other (the man of color, the crazy person), and the home— particularly the suburban home—acts as a retreat from danger. Press coverage has played on this familial myth, “reporting” that Polly “had loving parents” (i.e. they were upset) and downplaying the fact of her parents’ 10-year-old divorce.

The truth about this type of reporting is that it is propaganda, a selective telling of facts which create a false impression overall. It creates genuine sympathy for Polly and Polly’s family, takes our own identification with Polly's vulnerability, and gives these feelings expression within a very confined and traditional pattern. It makes us forget that the overwhelming majority of child sexual abuse happens within the family, that most rape is committed by people (men) the victim already knows, that most children are abducted by their own fathers who decide that the child would be better off with them after a divorce. By focusing exclusively on the Klaas case, we are made to forget that many of the most respected members of our society are child abusers and molesters themselves, a fact underscored by the quick resignation of the head of the Polly Klaas Foundation after allegations that he had molested his own children.

The real danger in this type of propaganda lies in its power to take our genuine emotional reactions and channel them toward conservative ends. Because the suburban home was unable to protect Polly, because “Little Father” (who in this case was absent) failed to ward off the Other, “Big Father” is called on to do the job, and a whole chorus clamor for longer jail terms and more money for police protection.

Forgotten is the fact that the U.S. is already the most incarcerated nation on the planet, and that the police do more to harass and control communities of color than they do to protect little girls like Polly. If we really wanted to do something about violence against children, we might consider taking some money away from the criminal injustice system and using it to establish a network of shelters where kids in bad situations could run away. Of course, such a plan would undermine the patriarchal family and is therefore considered heretical, whereas support for the police fits in easily with traditional family values.

—Kerwin Kaye
—New York

EDITOR’S NOTE:
As Mr. Kaye’s letter was written in 1993, and refers to events that had recently taken place, we suggest that readers do a search to learn more about Polly Klass abduction and murder, and the way the story took hold of the American media.

For starters, the following, “Polly’s Story,” is located on the website of The Klass Kids Foundation, which was founded by her father (referred to in the letter) Marc Klass in 1994.

“During a slumber party in October of 1993, 12-year-old Polly Hannah Klaas was abducted at knifepoint from her Petaluma, California home. Thousands of residents from the surrounding community immediately responded with the largest manhunt in American history. Hundreds of selfless volunteers abandoned normal daily routines for 65 days. They answered countrywide calls, read thousands of letters and searched for Polly. A mass distribution of 2 billion images of Polly was sent worldwide. She had soon become a symbol of love and lost innocence.

The world froze one cold evening in December when the media reported that Polly, America’s Child, the beautiful girl with the warm brown eyes shown smiling in home videos for millions of TV viewers, was not found alive. The country was outraged. The public cried out for change in legislation and pro-action in crime prevention.

Polly was faced with a choice few people ever have to make,” said her father, Marc Klaas. “By putting herself in mortal danger to protect her family and friends, Polly has become my greatest teacher.”

Marc Klaas immediately dove into a campaign to put children higher on the national priority list. With no prior media, political or public speaking experience, he immediately became savvy in affecting proactive legislation, and sought to advocate children’s issues and speak out on crime prevention.