By Andrew W. Shaw
Both the media and the anti-war movement are hurting today, on the sixth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, but a growing information clearinghouse that combines both continues its quiet but surprisingly well-resourced fight from its home base in San Francisco’s Sunset District.
Antiwar.com disseminates information about developments in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as stories on the Middle East, Sudan, various other hot spots, and what it calls “the war at home.” The site – with up to 120,000 hits per day and up to 500,000 regular visitors — has a paid staff of 10 people, funded by donations and philanthropic foundations.
“There’s a lack of original sources,” Eric Garris, who started the site in 1995 during the US intervention in Bosnia, told us. “At the beginning there were a lot of reporters in Iraq. Now it’s a lot of ‘official reports’ and unverifiable blogs. We incorporate both.”
Garris edits and publishes the site, drawing from a broad range of regular contributors.He said the site has grown more sophisticated with each military deployment, illustrating Randolph Bourne’s philosophy that “War is the health of the State.”
“Americans are suffering war fatigue and are vulnerable to myths. Most people think Obama is going to end the wars, so they don’t have to worry about it anymore,” Garris said, a sentiment he disagrees with. “Obama seems weak on foreign policy: he keeps [Hilary] Clinton, [Robert] Gates. That’s a slight shift, not really a change.”