01/07/2005
stampa
invia
If you were to write 'The People’s History of the United States from 1492-today'
including September 11 2001 to today, for Americans and Arabs, what would you
write?
Do you believe that the Americans will ever tire of living in this climate of
permanent war?
stampainvia
Interview with Howard Zinn, the most important historian in the United States
From our correspondent
Alessandro Ursic
On the fiftieth anniversary of Albert Einstein’s death, Howard Zinn, the most
important historian of the United States, and Gino Strada, surgeon and founder
of Emergency, met in Rome Thursday June 23, 2005 to talk about war.
PeaceReporter interviewed this great representative of the pacifist world in
a preview.
If you were to write 'The People’s History of the United States from 1492-today'
including September 11 2001 to today, for Americans and Arabs, what would you
write?“I would say that the events of September 11th were not only a catastrophe for the victims of that day and for their families,
but that they had a profound effect of American society by offering an excuse
for the United States government to declare war and giving life to an atmosphere
of fear throughout the entire country, which brought with it attacks against the
civil liberties of all Americans. The effect was particularly devastating in
regards to the rights of Arab-Americans, who were automatically associated with
terrorism. So, 20 million Muslim-Americans became second class citizens, harassed
and put under surveillance.”
According to you, can the war on terrorism declared by the Bush Administration
have some effect?
“Bush’s ‘war on terrorism’ cannot be successful because the war itself is terrorism
and the conflicts in the Middle East, first in Afghanistan and then in Iraq, have
incited enormous rage in that region, increasing support for terrorism. The terrorist
threat will diminish only when the United States is forced to retire from the
wars it has begun.”
Do you believe that the Americans will ever tire of living in this climate of
permanent war?“Yes, but it is impossible to foresee how it will happen. One thing is certain:
that evermore Americans are opposed to this war. We saw the same phenomenon during
the Vietnam war: a growing loss of confidence in the government. Sooner or later
the Americans will tire of seeing the dead, the wounded, the country’s wealth
spent for the war, while at the same time the money for health, education and
welfare diminishes.”
Some recent data shows that class mobility in the United States is not as high
as a few decades ago, and that the divide between the upper and lower social classes
is wider than ever. There are those who say that the United States is no longer
the “land of opportunity.” Do you believe this trend will change?
“The United States was never a ‘land of opportunity,’ except for a small minority. The very rich and the truly poor have always lived together with a buffer in
the
middle constituted by the middle class Americans, insecure in regards to their
future. In recent years, even before power went to the Bush administration, the
divide between rich and poor widened dramatically. The average salary of a managing
director is more than 400 times higher than the salary of a normal worker. This
trend can only end if there is a great protest movement in the country which replaces
the existing political class with new leaders and creates new laws which tax the
rich more heavily and give greater social benefits to the lower and middle classes.”
The majority of observers sustain that the Bush administration has seriously
damaged the reputation of the United States to the world, including historical
allies. How much time do you think it will take to repair this damage?
“Reputation can change very quickly in any direction. If there is a radical
change of foreign policy in the United States, after some times people will return
to regarding the United States in a positive light.”
At one time president Bush said “History will judge me on Iraq.” What do you
think this judgment will be?
“It will be that Bush’s war on Iraq was as disastrous for Iraqi’s as Americans
and that the Bush administration extended the United States’ empire to its limits,
to the point of making it collapse.”
Articoli correlati:
Gli argomenti più discussi:
Le parole chiave più ricorrenti:
