Straight Talk on International ANSWER

In a recent post I argued that:

Code Pink protesters and members of International ANSWER cheer a U.S. defeat because they hate everything for which the United States stands. If their antiwar campaign were to succeed in forcing a hasty U.S. exit from Iraq, these groups would be the first in line to storm the barricades against a U.S. government under seige by the forces of global anarchy and nihilism.

In the comments to that post a few visitors disagreed with my argument, suggesting that the United States faces little danger "from fringe groups such as these," and that ANSWER cadres are "boogiemen made of straw."

In response, I'd note that I've never said that the American democracy was about to be toppled by the hardline antiwar left. I have argued, however, that various strains of the international antiwar movement have formed strategic alliances with Islamic organizations with ties to such groups as Hezbollah and the Muslim Brotherhood (see this post and its sources, here and here). Such groups are the sworn enemies of the United States, and there is no doubt whatsoever that their ultimate aim is the total destruction of the country.

Now, in the context of this unholy alliance of America's most implacable enemies, consider the recent statement from International ANSWER activist Adam Kokesh.

As reported in this piece on the "9/11 truthers" at the Weekly Standard, the 9/11 deniers have recently joined together with hardline antiwar organizations to protest the Bush administration's Iraq policies. Particularly, the article reports that the groups came together last week at a Washington, D.C., protest rally on the sixth anniversary of the September 11 attacks.

Attending the demonstration was Kokesh, an Iraq war veteran who has emerged as a major figure in the most recent round of antiwar activism. Kokesh was recently arrested for posting International ANSWER banners advertising the September 15 protest marches. According to the Weekly Standard, Kokesh was denouncing the administration's "commitment to attacking governments that sponsor terrorism," and he noted that with the current troop deployments in Afghanistan and Iraq, "It's too bad [the military is] stretched too thin to strike America."

Now, while International ANSWER is not an armed insurrectionary movement, statements such as Kokesh's arguing for a "strike" against America are troubling. International ANSWER is the premier Marxist-Leninist organization among the American antiwar left. Here's what Byron York of the National Review had to say about the group in February 2003:

...International ANSWER... is an outgrowth of another group called the International Action Center, a San Francisco-based organization that showcases the work of Ramsey Clark, the Johnson administration attorney general who has specialized in anti-American causes. Both ANSWER and the International Action Center are closely allied with a small but energetic Marxist-Leninist organization known as the Workers World Party, which in its turbulent history has supported the Soviet interventions in Hungary and Czechoslovakia, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and the Chinese government's crackdown in Tiananmen Square. Today, the WWP devotes much of its energy to supporting the regimes in Iraq and North Korea...

York argues that ANSWER is often considered much too radical for many mom-and-pop war opponents. Yet both York and the Economist article cited above note that ANSWER and its alliance partners have gained credibility among peace activists with their rabid denunciations of the Bush administration. In Britain, anti-American protests organized by the hard-left Socialist Workers' Party and pro-terror Islamic groups have been attended by upwards of a million people.

Reasonable people can debate the significance of all of these activities, this antiar radicalism, group opposition to the war, and the anti-Americanism. However, I'm the kind of person who takes people at their word. If Kokesh laments that the U.S. military is stretched too thin to mount a strike against the country, who knows? There's always Hezbollah and its Iranian backers, who at some point may have devastating WMD capabilities. I would not put Kokesh - in all his hatred - past striking up a relationship with such terrorist forces. In addition, young little peaceniks around the country are currenty being indoctrinated by a multifaceted cultural and educational movement of anti-Americanism and Bush-bashing, and their growing hatred of America is increasingly bolstered by the anti-miltary attacks of mainstream leftist interest groups such as MoveOn.org. To many of these people, the United States is an unmitigated evil, and revolution awaits.

So, lefty commenters here can dismiss my writings and concerns as the ill-considered rants of an unanchored neocon. Be that as it may. I will continue to dissect and expose the statements and utterances of the radical left for what they are - unveiled threats against this country - and I will continue my attampts here to shake loose the sleepy complacency common among many Americans on these dangers, which at some point may constitute the makings of a national death wish.