>>Dennis, one can attend a demo organized by ANSWER, as I and hudreds
>>of thousands of others have, without supporting them as an
>>organization or anything in their agenda.
>>
>>Doug
>
>
> True. It's a personal choice. But I cannot see anyone with decent politics
> attending a "Bring the Troops Home" rally organized by those who were
> friendly with Saddam. Bush may not care about Iraqis, but neither does
> ANSWER, and to continue giving them a bigger stage than they deserve hurts
> the antiwar left, as well as undercuts the rather complicated task of just
> what is to be done in the wake of Bush's invasion.
I'm kind of surprised that Doug has such a shallow take on ANSWER. ANSWER, like any other sectarian Left party, uses the attendance at events they organize as an argument that they have grassroots support. ANSWER puts itself at the had of the anti-war movement (sic) because thousands of people have abandoned their principles and common sense in order to support events organized by an organization that undercuts the Left. People say that they'll attend an ANSWER protest "just this once," and then they go to another demo and another demo. Before you know it they've sold their little authoritarian organization as a bogus coaliton and other coalitions are cutting deals with them, like UFPJ.
If ANSWER cared about the Iraqis, why ddn't they organize a protest back in June? Or in August? Why October? It's because they are setting a date that is favorable to their organizational priorities. That the rest of the anti-war movement would go along with this and not organize a protest this month just demonstrates the utter bankruptcy of the "antiwar movement."
And it looks like the protest won't make any difference, because opposition to the war is growing without the help of the ANSWER anti-war movement(tm).
Chuck0