Great South Bay Forum Debates the War in Afghanistan

The Great South Bay Forum on Current Affairs held one of their most important and compelling meetings yet at their most recent gathering: an in-depth examination and debate on the war in Afghanistan.

The forum, which meets again Wednesday night, heard from guest speaker Michael Zweig, Professor of Economics at SUNY Stony Brook and author, who held a Q&A session and viewing of his DVD "Why Are We In Afghanistan?" in the Bar Harbor branch of the Massapequa Public Library.

The film looks at domestic pressures and geo-strategic interests that keep the U.S. in the region. It also looks the long history of U.S. foreign interventions that forms the broader context for this war, and the growing peace movement against it.

Zweig explained the reason why he created the 27-minute documentary.

"Most of our attention in this country was previously focused on Iraq," he said. "But when it became obvious that we were going to be escalating in Afghanistan, there wasn't much information in the U.S. about that war, the history of it, and the background. So, the organization I belong to, U.S. Labor Against the War, started scrambling around saying, what do we have that can explain the whole situation in Afghanistan to people, to put it into some kind of context? That's what this DVD does."

So far, "Why Are We In Afghanistan?" has been successful in finding an audience.

"The first run of DVD was 1100, and they sold out in a few months," he said. "So now I've made 2000 more, and I have maybe 500 left."

Forum member Bill McNulty finds it unfortunate that important messages like Zweig's have difficulty being heard on the truly large scale they deserve.

"There are hundreds and hundreds of people like this,' he said. "They're out talking to small groups...30 people here, 20 people there. It adds up, but unfortunately it never gets beyond the propaganda and the huge sums of corporate money that are setting the agendas."

Morty Greenhouse, coordinator of the Forum, has known Zweig for years and had invited him to that evening's meeting.

"During the Vietnam war we had a forum at our high school," he said. "Michael came with a bunch of students - I think he was teaching at the high school at that time - and that's when I first met him."

New Forum attendee Jack Smith found Zweig's DVD quite informative.

"Many of the libraries in Nassau and Suffolk County are looking for programs to present to their patrons," he said. "This would be an excellent DVD for libraries to show, because it really raises the consciousness of people about what's going on in Afghanistan."

Zweig said he's just presenting the facts in "Why Are We In Afghanistan?" People are free to draw their own conclusions.

"I'd like people to understand more, just as the title says, why are we in Afghanistan?" he said. "What's involved? And what the hell are we doing?"

You can buy Zweig's movie at http://www.whyareweinafghanistan.org/. A free streaming version is also available.