[lbo-talk] The Antiwar Movement Strikes Back

[Jack Smith]

The following article appears in the Nov. 8, 2003,  Hudson Valley Activist
Newsletter, published by the Mid-Hudson National People's Campaign/IAC, in
New Paltz, N.Y. and circulated via jacdon at earthlink.net.
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THE ANTIWAR MOVEMENT STRIKES BACK
 
By Jack A. Smith
 
The U.S. antiwar movement was united and reenergized in Washington Oct. 25
as demonstrators rallied and marched behind the banner, "End the Occupation,
Bring the Troops Home Now!" 
 
Police Chief Charles Ramsey estimated the crowd at 50,000.  Organizes
posited that it was twice that number.  Regardless, this was the largest
protest against U.S. aggression in Iraq since President Bush prematurely
declared victory from the deck of an aircraft carrier on May 1.
 
The protest was perhaps the most important of the five national peace
rallies in Washington since October last year, even though it was far from
the largest.  Here's why:
 
First of all, the action was the product of unity between the country's two
principal antiwar coalitions ‹ International ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War &
End Racism) and UFP (United for Peace and Justice).  The two coalitions,
which acted separately in the past, shared responsibilities equally,
including the selection of speakers.  Whether or not this important display
of unity will carry over into the future is a matter of conjecture.
 
Second, the huge and broad antiwar movement, which is based on several
hundred national and regional peace groups, began fading following the fall
of Baghdad.  Given the resurgence of struggle against the occupation by
Iraqi resistance forces, the inability to locate Iraq's alleged weapons of
mass destruction, a serious reduction in public support for the war, and
President Bush's sagging popularity, the Oct. 25 protest was an essential
step in reviving the U.S. peace movement.
 
Third, the united political message that echoed and reechoed throughout the
day was for the immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops.  During the Vietnam
era, when the peace forces made a big contribution toward actually ending
the war, it took several long years for the broad movements to unite around
the then-radical demand to "Bring the Troops Home Now!" In this war, it took
only months.
 
Oct. 25 turned out to be a good day for an outdoor mass demonstration for
another reason as well.  The weather in Washington was perfect, in the 60s
and sunny. Out of town buses began arriving at 8:30 a.m. for the 11 a.m.
rally, and continued arriving until 2:30 p.m.  Most of them originated from
ANSWER's 150 organizing centers in the eastern part of the nation.
 
Participants in the march and rally were multinational with a predominance
of youth.  Perhaps a thousand of the demonstrators were either family
members of GIs presently serving in Iraq, Kuwait or Afghanistan or veterans
of past wars. Some active duty GIs in civilian clothes were also in the
crowd. One of the most moving of the rally speakers, Fernando Suarez del
Solar of Escondido, Calif., is the father of a Marine killed in Iraq. "I am
here not only in the name of my son but in the names of 350 kids who have
died in this illegal war," he declared Spanish, which was translated after
every phrase. "President BushŠlied to the American people and to the entire
world about this warŠ. We need to make Mr. Bush understand that he is not
the owner of the lives of our children.  He is not the owner of America."
 
A large sign demanding the immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops bedecked the
raised stage at the rally site near the Washington Monument.  Virtually
every one of the dozens of speakers, each allotted only three or four
minutes, repeated the "Bring the Troops Home Now" demand.
 
Each coalition had its own MC and speakers for alternating half hours for
the duration of the rally.  It worked surprisingly well and the audience
enjoyed a broader variety of speakers and entertainers than was usual when
one or the other coalition conducts its own rallies.  Many of the speakers,
not only from the more left wing ANSWER but UPJ as well, imparted an
anti-imperialist as well as antiwar message.
 
Several speakers were exceptionally well-received, including ANSWER's former
Attorney General Ramsey Clark, who is campaigning to impeach President Bush
for high crimes and misdemeanors.  Rev. Al Sharpton, a long-shot candidate
for the Democratic Party presidential nomination, brought the house down
when he declared, in reference to President Bush's demand for an additional
$87 billion to defeat the Iraqi resistance, "Don't give Bush $87 billion for
war, don¹t give war 87 cents; give out troops a ride home instead."  He also
scoffed at the demand from some quarters to withdraw only gradually in order
to preserve Washington's dignity.  "You cannot get out with dignity," he
intoned, "because you lost it when you entered Iraq in the first place." 
The greatest applause appeared to be reserved for a group of older women
peace activists who formed themselves into a riotously funny singing group
called the "Ragin' Grannies," especially when they rendered their own
satirical composition "Georgie Porgie" to the tune of "Yankee Doodle."
 
Two feeder marches, one organized by the Muslim-American community and the
other by the African-American community reached the rally just before the
big march was to begin. The two-mile march route took the demonstrators past
the White House, FBI building and the Justice Department before returning to
the Washington Monument.  The trek ended up being about 20 blocks long, with
the front of the march reaching the Justice Department before the tail  end
left the Monument grounds.
 
The Washington event was one of some 40 coinciding U.S. and international
protests that took place Oct. 25.  Up to 20,000 also marched in San
Francisco that day.
 
Mass media coverage somewhat improved from earlier in the year.  C-Span
covered the events live and repeated the entire rally and march a second
time. CNN had frequent reports. Most of the major national papers, such as
the Washington Post, had satisfactory coverage.  Associated Press sent out a
fair account that was picked up by innumerable papers.
 
ANSWER set the original date for the Oct. 25 rally in June and began seeking
unity between the two coalitions to work together on the event a few week
later.  It took over two more months of persistent effort (including
pressure from an important group within UPJ) to convince the UPJ leadership
to agree to unity.  The outcome showed it was well worth the effort.  "The
movement has gotten a very big gust of wind in its sails at the very moment
that the Bush administration is slipping in the polls," is how ANSWER's
Brian Becker assessed the united protest. 
 
Whether unity in action will become more frequent is another matter. There
are clearly elements in the peace movement that prefer rivalry between the
coalitions to unity in pursuit of a common goal. In her remarks that opened
the rally, Petra Lindsay of Youth & Student ANSWER spoke of the event being
the "first step toward unity."  It will be interesting to see if obstacles
materialize to prevent a second step.
 
In sum, the Washington protest clearly strengthened both coalitions as well
as the broad antiwar movement as a whole at a time when an activist movement
in the streets of small towns as well as large cities is needed now more
than ever ‹ not just to end the occupation and bring U.S. troops home from
Iraq but to disrupt Bush administration plans to extend the "war on
terrorism" to a number of other countries on the right-wing hit list.