If WWP/IAC/ANSWER was interested in "unity" they would stop organizing these competing protests, where they take advantage of the work of other groups and take credit for the results. I think we have every reason to believe this time that ANSWER saw the handwriting on the wall, that the anti-war movements weren't rallying behind their red flag, so they cut their losses to avoid another embarassment like New York.
I'm sure it was a bitter pill to swallow at the WWP offices when they realized that they had been out organized by a network of anarchists with fewer resouces.
Chuck0
jacdon at earthlink.net wrote:
>
> APRIL MARCH ON WASHINGTON UNITY STATEMENT
> FROM THE A.N.S.W.E.R. COALITION
> Issued February 27, 2002
>
> In response to calls for unity in the anti-war movement the
> International A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition (Act Now to Stop War & End Racism)
> is announcing that it is moving its National March on Washington Against
> War and Racism from April 27 to April 20, 2002.
>
> [For a Calendar of Activities for April 19-22, scroll to bottom.]
>
> Clearly everyone understands the need for many activists from many
> movements to be in Washington D.C. to protest the dangerous racist war
> drive that threatens the people of the planet and to fight Bush and
> Ashcroft's attempts to dismantle the Bill of Rights, criminalize
> dissent, and investigate and imprison people based on racial and
> religious profiling.
>
> A.N.S.W.E.R. calls on people to rally at the White House at 11 a.m. on
> April 20, 2002, before marching to the Justice Department and on to a
> unified rally with the other coalition. This march will be the first
> that breaks the ban on demonstrations in front of the White House that
> was unconstitutionally imposed prior to anti-war demonstrations in
> September during the head-long rush to war.
>
> A.N.S.W.E.R. has been organizing for an anti-war March on Washington
> since November 2001 and widely disseminated a call for April 27 in
> December. The Coalition settled on the April 27 date out of deference to
> the National Colombia Mobilization taking place April 19-22. In recent
> weeks other groups and individuals have come together to call an
> anti-war march on April 20. It became evident that having two anti-war
> demonstrations on succeeding weekends on seemingly similar themes,
> without very compelling reasons, would be a disservice to the movement.
> Upon learning about the April 20 mobilization, A.N.S.W.E.R. took the
> initiative to try to open lines of communication in an effort to rectify
> this unfortunate situation.
>
> People around the country are saying that what the movement needs on
> April 20 is a united front. This means those with political differences
> marching with independence while showing that we can come together to
> fight the war makers. All movements have different currents. The only
> way we are going to stop George Bush's declared "endless war" is to have
> a movement that comes together against this common foe.
>
> A.N.S.W.E.R. believes that the anti-war movement must be broad, that it
> must embrace the workers movement, unions, communities of faith,
> immigrants, students and youth, and particularly communities of color.
> We also believe that the movement must strongly express its solidarity
> with the struggling people of the Middle East, Asia, Africa, Latin
> America and the Caribbean, who are fighting to determine their own
> destinies free from U.S. imperialist and colonial domination and that of
> the transnational corporations.
>
> Our experience since forming the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition on September 14
> has proven that you do not have to choose between being broad and
> embracing the oppressed peoples of the world and making the connections
> between their fight and the fight of the people in the U.S. The
> A.N.S.W.E.R. coalition includes more than 500 organizations and
> prominent individuals who have campaigned against U.S. intervention in
> Latin America, the Caribbean, the Middle East and Asia, and
> organizations that have campaigned for social and economic justice for
> poor people and civil rights inside the United States. The steering
> committee includes Nicaragua Network, Mexico Solidarity Network,
> IFCO/Pastors for Peace, International Action Center, Partnership for
> Civil Justice LDEF, Kensington Welfare Rights Union, Middle East
> Children's Alliance, Committee for Justice to Defend Palestinian Rights,
> Bayan USA (Filipino community) and the Korea Truth Commission.
>
> The A.N.S.W.E.R. coalition rejects the opportunistic use by the Bush
> administration of the tragedy of September 11, to pursue, through
> military means, pre-existing imperialist objectives while simultaneously
> ramming through domestic policies that strengthen corporate rule, attack
> civil rights and attempt to crush dissent, all at the expense of working
> people. As the war and occupation in Afghanistan is continuing, the
> Bush administration has sent almost 700 troops to the Philippines, has
> increased their support for the Colombian government's intensified war
> against the Colombian people and the Israeli repression of the
> Palestinian people.
>
> A.N.S.W.E.R. will take a stand against any new war carried out by the
> Bush administration, whether it's in Iraq, Sudan, Somalia, Iran, North
> Korea, Yemen, Indonesia or elsewhere. We must not only oppose war and
> racism at home. We must stand firmly with the people's struggles of the
> world.
>
> A.N.S.W.E.R. demands that the Bush Administration's war budget of more
> than a billion dollars a day be converted into funds for human needs,
> jobs, education, health care, and assistance for the poor.
>
> We call on all those who believe the people of the world are not our
> enemies and are our brothers and sisters to join together in the
> National March on Washington D.C. If you support self-determination, not
> U.S. military and corporate domination, meet at the White House at 11
> a.m. on April 20.
>
> A.N.S.W.E.R. calls on activists and organizations everywhere to work
> doubly hard to fill the streets of Washington with protesters April 19
> -22. We encourage people to support the National Colombia Mobilization
> and the protests against the IMF and World Bank.
>
> We have also learned that Ariel Sharon will be the featured speaker
> along with President Bush at a right-wing pro-war conference organized
> by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) over the same
> weekend as these protests. Sharon and Bush are scheduled to speak at
> 7:30 p.m. on Monday, April 22nd. A.N.S.W.E.R. and other organizations
> are calling a demonstration at that time and appeal to those who are
> coming to Washington for the weekend to stay over if at all possible to
> participate in that very important demonstration.
>
> As we build our grassroots movement against the war towards our spring
> National March on Washington, we encourage activists to focus on
> important upcoming dates such as April 4, the anniversary of Martin
> Luther King's assassination and his Beyond Vietnam speech, as well as
> tax day April 15, to organize local events.
>
> STOP THE RACIST WAR MACHINE - ALL OUT FOR APRIL 20!
>
> FOR MORE INFORMATION see
> http://www.internationalanswer.org, or Email
> ANSWER at afgj.org, or call New York 212-633-6646, Washington 202-543-2777,
> Chicago 773-583-7728, San Francisco 415-821-6545
>
> TO ENDORSE, GO TO
> http://www.internationalanswer.org/campaigns/april/a20-endorse.html
>
> CALENDAR OF EVENTS
>
> APRIL 19-22
> National Colombia Mobilization
> http://www.colombiamobilization.org
>
> APRIL 20
> NATIONAL MARCH ON WASHINGTON DC
> Assemble 11 am at the White House
> The people of the world are not our enemy - solidarity
> against U.S. world domination!
> http://www.internationalanswer.org
>
> APRIL 20
> Stop the War at Home and Abroad
> http://www.a20stopthewar.org
>
> APRIL 20-21
> Protest the IMF and World Bank
> http://www.globalizethis.org
>
> APRIL 22
> Protest Ariel Sharon and George Bush - 7 p.m. at the annual conference
> of American Israeli Public Affairs Committee.
>
> FOR MORE INFORMATION see
> http://www.internationalanswer.org, or Email
> ANSWER at afgj.org, or call New York 212-633-6646,
> Washington 202-543-2777, Chicago 773-583-7728, San
> Francisco 415-821-6545
-- << Chuck0 >>
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"...ironically, perhaps, the best organised dissenters in the world today are anarchists, who are busily undermining capitalism while the rest of the left is still trying to form committees."
-- Jeremy Hardy, The Guardian (UK)