March 20, 2003

Whatever one's feelings about the rightness or otherwise of it, war is never a comfortable time. This one in particular is cause for nervousness among Americans overseas. I've just received email from the US Embassy in Rome advising "American citizens in Italy to take prudent steps to ensure their personal safety in the coming days. Remain aware of surroundings, avoid crowds and demonstrations, keep a low profile, vary times and routes, and ensure travel documents are current."

Strangely enough, all this is very familiar to me. In 1984, I made a long visit to my dad in Jakarta, Indonesia, and ended up working in the commercial section of the US Embassy. One of the perks of the job was an Embassy carpool which took us to work and home again every day.

Then the Islamic Jihad issued death threats against US and European citizens in Indonesia (I don't remember why, if there was any reason other than "We hate you"). The French and British embassies promptly evacuated all diplomats’ families. The US Embassy didn't send anyone home, but instituted security measures. "Varying times" meant that the car could show up anytime between 6:00 and 9:00 am, and "varying routes" meant that the trip could take even longer than usual. In the event, nothing happened, and after a while life returned to normal, though a year or two later a rocket was fired into the Embassy grounds.

So I am eerily accustomed to this feeling of being under seige, of having to think about where I should and shouldn't go (no more movies in English at the cinema, maybe no cinema at all). No big change in lifestyle is needed; I rarely find myself among crowds of Americans anyway. A "worldwide caution" also just issued by the Embassy warns of "potential for retaliatory actions to be taken against US citizens and interests throughout the world." Okay, so I won't eat at McDonald’s or Burger King -- no great loss! (Later: A McDonald's window was smashed in Milan during peace protests on Saturday, March 22.)

I had much the same feeling of "they're out to get me" for some time after 9/11, with one big difference: this time, a lot of Italians have it in for me, too. In Italy, as elsewhere in the world, there have been huge peace demonstrations, which the US embassy advised American citizens to avoid: not all the demonstrators would have distinguished between George Bush and Americans in general. There are also a lot of Arabic-speaking and/or Muslim immigrants and businesses in our neighborhood. I'm not sure what to think of them or what they would think of me, especially since Milan was found last year to harbor Al Qaeda's European headquarters (NOT in our neighborhood).

It's depressing, this feeling that some people hate me enough to kill me simply because of my citizenship, and wouldn't bother to find out first what I actually think about things.

And, as is inevitable for Woodstockers, I know people directly endangered by the war: an Indian schoolmate living in Baghdad with her Iraqi husband. Her mother taught me Hindi for several years and was our class homeroom teacher; I worry about her, worrying about her daughter (ironically, her son lives in the US).

March 24, 2003

I find the news coverage of this war emotionally confusing, when contrasted with my memories. When we returned to the US in 1972, I had my first exposure to television news. At the time, Walter Cronkite closed every evening's newscast with a list of American and Vietnamese (north and south) casualties - which ran to the hundreds most days, if I remember correctly. I now suppose that it was his way of protesting, but at the time it upset me; I felt he was being callously dismissive of all those deaths. I had a personal stake: my dad had been in Vietnam (as a civilian, with the US Agency for International Development), and could easily have been one of those numbers.

So it feels odd to me that every news source hurries to reports when one or two or a dozen of ours are killed. I want to scream: "It's a war, people, what did you expect?" I could well be misinterpreting, but I wonder if the Powers That Be, and/or the media, have tried to persuade the American public that you can have a war without any actual casualties on your own side. That you can be a soldier without actually risking your life in combat.

I don't really even know what I'm saying here, and am very confused about my own feelings. But, for what it's worth, I'm sharing them with you.

I find it grimly ironic that the American news media are making a big deal over whether or not to show the Al Jazeera footage of captured and killed Americans. I understand the need for delay, of course: their families should not have to learn about it from television. But all this public soul-searching and breast-beating by the news organizations - so that the decision to air or not itself becomes news - is that necessary?

For better or for worse, the Italian media has no qualms: the footage was shown yesterday on TV, and can be viewed on the website of Italy’s major newspaper, Il Corriere della Sera. Apparently the bodies were edited out of this version, but it seems to show the entirety of the interviews.

In Italy, the protests continue, large and small, organized and not. Saturday there was a big demonstration downtown. Ross and I were on the metro when a number of the demonstrators were heading home, with their rainbow peace flags, scarves, etc. (After many visits to San Francisco, I associate the rainbow flag with gay pride. I was confused when I saw the first peace flags weeks ago - it seemed unlikely that so many gays had suddenly come out in our neighborhood!)

One of the protestors was wearing a sweater with a large "Levi's USA" label. Mixed metaphor?

I wasn't paying attention to their conversation, until a guy sitting next to me jumped in, saying: "These Americans have it easy against the Iraqis. If they took on the Russians or Chinese, it would be a different story." Huh? Does he think the US is doing this just to beat up on somebody? Then he added: "I'm a leftist." Meaning what? That you're automatically anti-American? But I squelched my combative nature, and kept all these thoughts to myself.

I would have more sympathy with the protestors if I were convinced that more of them actually knew what they were talking about. I am always willing to listen to an intelligent argument on any side of a question. But I suspect that many are anti-war and anti-American simply because it's trendy and fun to go to peace marches, hang out flags, etc. And, for the schoolkids, it's a great excuse not to go to classes. But do they really know anything about the issues?

Berlusconi, meanwhile, manages to have his cake and eat it, too. After a vituperative debate in parliament, US airbases in Italy are allowed to be used for logistical support, but not as a point of departure for bombing runs, "because we are a non-belligerent country." This after Berlusconi's many eager protestations of support to Bush and Blair over the last few months. Airbases in Germany are being used in exactly the same way.

Following the War

March 25, 2003

I've read that many Americans, and probably others, are obsessively watching the war coverage on television - and that coverage is closer, more immediate, and probably scarier than we've ever seen before.

I'm avoiding the television. I get plenty upset just thinking about it all; I have a vivid imagination and don't need supplemental images. Instead, I read web news constantly, via several sources. news.google.com is my homepage nowadays. It's a portal, still in beta testing, which displays several different articles on each top story, refreshing every 5 or 10 minutes. It's interesting to compare how different sources worldwide cover the same news. I receive the New York Times headlines daily by email, with links to the full articles on their website. You have to register to read the articles, but it's free, and well worth it.

I check CNN.com now and then just to see the all-American perspective. And I've been listening to National Public Radio, an American news source I trust, via their site. I keep open the front page of Il Corriere della Sera, the Italian newspaper, mostly because they have a constantly-updated stream of wire feed headlines. Offline, as always, I read The Economist each week.

When I can't take any more war news, I go to Slayage for articles about Buffy.

One place to monitor public opinion, strangely enough, is the binaries groups on the Usenet. This is where people post music, movies, TV shows, etc. for others to download, generally the most popular music, TV shows, and movies. But these activities can take on a political flavor. Right now some of the music groups feature collections of American patriotic songs. And, in one of the country music groups, someone is posting Dixie Chicks songs with headings like "music for traitors" and "to oppose the war is to support terrorism." (These statements don't go unchallenged.)

In the video groups, people are posting excerpts from American news programs, including one titled "This is why we fight - Iraq executions, 1991." (No, I didn't download that.) Only two parts of the Oscars have been posted, the "In Memoriam" section, and Michael Moore's acceptance speech.

Italian Incidents

Three cars belonging to American personnel have have been burned in Vicenza (near the Aviano airbase). One was a Jeep Wrangler, very obviously the property of an American. (There aren't many of those in Italy, for good reason: fuel costs four times as much in Italy as in the US, and there are many streets where a car that size simply wouldn't fit.) A group calling itself "I Nuclei Territoriali Antimperialisti" has claimed responsibility.

Though for thinking people it's not true, it's hard not to feel that, for many Europeans, pacifism equals anti-Americanism. The US Embassy emailed yet another warning this week about avoiding demonstrations. I overheard a conversation in our local bar the other day: An American couple living in a nearby building had draped US flags from their balconies. They were asked by their homeowners' association to remove them, to avoid vandalism to the building.

We're erring on the side of paranoia, perhaps. Ross bought a trendy new school backpack a few weeks ago. She chose a model with the Union Jack on it, because she's very fond of England and her relatives there. When the war started, we got a bit worried about that. So she has temporarily traded (for his plain blue model) with a schoolmate who will never be mistaken for a Brit or an American.

The Beginning of the End

April 10, 2003

A number of people wrote to say that they liked my dad's piece in the last newsletter; some liked it enough to forward it to others (which you are welcome to do). I liked it, too, but I'm glad and very relieved that Iraq does not, after all, look like turning into another Vietnam.

One Italian headline this morning read: "Baghdad falls, Iraqis celebrate, Pacifists embarrassed." Indeed. It does begin to seem that, whether Bush's reasons for going into this were right or wrong, the end result of getting rid of Saddam is appreciated by the Iraqi people. Let's just hope we get the peace right.

Meanwhile, back in Italy... the American flag story I overheard turned out to have a backstory that I had missed. It was reported in the papers that someone in Milan had hung an American flag on their balcony; subsequently the entrance door to the entire building was ripped out by vandals. So, in the case I heard about nearer to home, the condo association's fears (that an American flag on display would result in building damage) were fully justified. Probably the homeowner's association of the first building are now arguing about who should pay for the repairs.

Rossella has been telling me about her classmates' discussions about the war. Some of these kids say they are Communist, which they assume automatically means anti-war. Others say they are Fascist. I wonder if any of them know what either term actually means? Many make sweeping statements like: "Of course everyone's for peace." But one girl in her class is well-informed, and expounds her views very skillfully; Ross thinks she'll grow up to be a politician. This Lucia has told her classmates that America has actually been at war since September 11th, and that, while war is bad, some wars, including this one, are justified. I am glad to see that at least one kid in the bunch thinks for herself, and says what she thinks.

April 14, 2003

Yesterday there was a street fair on Viale Monza, and Forza Italia (Berlusconi's political party) had a booth selling flags. The US and British ones were most prominently displayed (and largest), alongside Italian and Forza Italia flags, and some of a design I'd never seen before, saying "Liberta' e Pace" (freedom and peace). Trying to make local political capital out of a victory in which Italy barely participated...

LT Smash

August 28, 2003

I've been reading his weblog from the war zone since March; he's a very good writer, with a wry sense of humor that well suits the situation he found himself in. Now he's finally arrived home after eight months in the Gulf.