Since the failure of the of the Vietnam war and the end of dictatorships in Latin America, the Americans have tried, sometimes with success, to erase “Yankee Go Home” graffiti from the planet’s walls.

Several months of diplomatic bulldozing and two weeks of war have annihilated all these efforts. Not since the tragic images of Vietnamese napalm victims has anti-American sentiment been so widespread throughout the world. The White House was hardly trying to win a popularity contest, but it never foresaw the rise of resistance throughout the world, even among those it claims to have brought liberty and democracy.

Throughout the Western World, anti-war protests have served to catalyze groups and consolidate civil society and progressive forces. Led for the most part by anti-globalization activists, the peace movement is, at the same time, consolidating this struggle with a neoliberalism that is largely linked to American domination. This symbiosis is here to stay.

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Translation: Chad Lubelsky

Editor notes: Quebec-based commentator Gil Courtemanches column is published every two weeks in Le Devoir. It appears on rabble.ca with permission. Gil Courtemanche writes in French. As many of you read French, were offering you a chance to read Gils commentaries in the language in which theyre written. Please continue to let rabble know what you think of this approach.

Une guerre aux effets pervers

“Dommages collat