The World According to ANSWER

Yesterday, I reached all limits of being a political junkie by attending a speech sponsored by ANSWER Chicago. ANSWER is a group that I have only been familiar with because they are always in the middle of anti Iraq war rallies however the group is so much more than that. In fact, they have an entire ideology that looks to radically change our country around because in their view our country is not merely flawed but in fact a country built on a devious and false premise. Their ideology is part Ron Paul, part La Raza, and finally part Karl Marx, and if they had their way not only would the country change dramatically but likely wouldn't survive for too long.

ANSWER (which stands for Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) sees the Iraq war and the war in Afghanistan as extension of an imperialist foreign policy. They see these two conflicts as extensions of the U.S. plans to not only colonialize the Middle East but to control oil. In fact, ANSWER sees very little difference between the Republicans and the Democrats. In fact, they see this as a systemic imperialistic foreign policy that frankly in their perspective goes back to the late 1950's. That's when Iraq went through a revolution and freed itself from British rule.

In the mind of ANSWER, the dots of this Iraq war connect to events like the Afghan war in the eighties, our military presence in Lebanon in the '80's, and of course our continued to support of Israel. To ANSWER Israel is nothing more than our proxy in the Middle East. ANSWER believes that we should be more even handed in the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, and that of course is code for giving the Palestinians what they want. That's because ANSWER doesn't see much legitimacy in Israel in the first place. To them, Israel is nothing more than a U.S. creation for geopolitical reasons in the Middle East.

If ANSWER had their way, we would withdraw all our military capabilities from the Middle East and begin significant dialogue with most of the countries that we now consider our enemies: Syria, Iran, and of course Palestine. Furthermore, our plans in the Middle East are part of a larger imperialist foreign policy in the world. They saw the disintegration of the Soviet Union as nothing more than an attempt by the U.S. to create one super power. In fact, they believe that the U.S. has the same plans for China.

Furthermore, ANSWER sees most free trade pacts as an extension of our own imperialism. In fact, they see Colombia as the Israel of South America. That is another U.S. puppet meant to extend our interests there. To them, Hugo Chavez is not thug but rather a populist leader that has brought great good to many in his nation. They see our aggression against him not as trying to limit the spread of Marxist ideology and tyranny in South America but rather as another imperialist aggressive action against a legitimate leader.

This brings me to the Marxist ideology. ANSWER sees capitalism as flawed and Marxism as the proper economic system. Throughout the speech, the environment was constantly pointed to as a casualty of capitalism. They see capitalism much like Marx did, and that is a system that benefits the few at the expense of the many. They take many of today's problems: the weak dollar, the housing crisis, high gas prices, and food prices as proof of the flaws of capitalism.

Finally, ANSWER believes that all illegal immigrants should have full citizenship rights, and in fact, they see opposition to them as nothing more than racism. In fact, the Racism in ANSWER is a euphemism for legalizing illegal immigrants. Of course, it goes without saying that ILLEGAL immigrants are merely referred to as immigrants.

So, in conclusion, this is a group that wants us to retreat from the world. Recognize our enemies not as thugs but as honest partners in dialogue. They see any and all free trade agreements as nothing more than part of an imperialistic foreign policy and thus would retreat from free trade. They want to create a nanny state and open our borders wide to all including those that we would cut off free trade to. Now, imagine how quickly the U.S. would disintegrate if ANSWER actually got its wish.

This is important because ANSWER is behind not only many of the anti Iraq war rallies but were a major organizer of the illegal immigrant marches. Many of their protests draw hundreds of thousands. Most of the protestors have no idea what their entire agenda is. This group sees our country as not merely flawed, but as created by miscreants. In fact, the speaker took several shots at our founding fathers, and made sure to mention that most were slave owners.

I found much of the group's philosophy and the speaker especially to be built on hubris, delusion and hypocrisy. For instance, while everything that the U.S. does is always imperialistic, Saddam was excused for his aggressive action in Kuwait in 1990 because most Iraqis felt that Kuwait was part of Iraq. In other words, in the view of ANSWER every U.S. foreign policy maneuver is imperialistic, but Saddam was perfectly within his rights to invade Kuwait. I suppose by that extension Mexico should cede Texas since most Mexicans feel the same way about that state.

The speaker proceeded to tell me , a mortgage broker, was wrong about the roots of the mortgage crisis. He cut me off and went on a long rant that made the crisis a conspiracy theory between the Fed and the large banks. While ANSWER remains a fringe group, its goals must not be minimized. They were successful in rallying hundreds of thousands to the illegal immigrant marches. Their anti war rallies also attract thousands. Anyone that gets into bed with them must know their entire ideology, as it is dangerous and must be confronted.