> "An Appeal to the U.S. Antiwar Movement for United Demonstrations in the
> Fall": <http://uslaboragainstwar.org/article.php?id=8021>. Please sign a
> petition (initiated by US Labor Against the War) to appeal to U.S.
> antiwar leadership bodies to "initiate a call for united national
> demonstrations in the fall of this year."
More misguided nonsense from the liberal peace movement. Everything they've done so far hasn't worked, so their answer is more of the same, albeit more "unified."
From the statement:
"Powerful national mobilizations that confront the government in the streets with hundreds of thousands can be a crucial factor in bringing the unjust and immoral war against Iraq and the occupation of that country to an end."
This hasn't stopped the war so far and it hasn't rolled back the Pentagon-Industrial Complex one iota. The mainstream movement is so pathetic that they can't even be bothered to take a risk and engage in some civil disobedience. This call is a call for more mass rallies where people stand around listening to approved speakers.
This strategy just hasn't worked.
"We must remember the truth revealed by the Pentagon Papers: that mass actions against the Vietnam War were not ignored by the war makers. Rather, those in power viewed these actions as manifestations of a potential social upheaval too disruptive to be left out of their geopolitical calculations. Mass national actions remain the clearest, most direct means to demonstrate our opposition to the war and reshape the political landscape."
More nonsense. The Pentagon Papers showed that the elite planners of the
Vietnam War opposed it early on, but they didn't move to stop the war. The Vietnam War ended YEARS after the last major anti-war protests. That's not to say that the peace movement didn't accomplish anything, but they rejected strategies which would have ended the war, such as mass violent rebellion, sabotage, and civil disobedience on a mass scale.
"Over the past few years, the major antiwar coalitions in this country, to their great credit, have mobilized hundreds of thousands of people in the streets. Yet the war and occupation of Iraq continue, making clear that larger actions are required to get U.S. troops out of Iraq"
Yes, we can give them a bit of credit, but the anti-war movement has been an utter failure. It started out by rejecting the effective methods and structure of the anti-globalization movement for a hierarchical, centralized movement based on a false analysis of the movement 30 years earlier. Then last year the main coalition sold out the anti-war opposition by deliberately not protesting to please the Democrats.
LARGER actions won't accomplish anything. Different tactics and strategy might be effective.
The hurdle the anti-war movement faces right now has nothing to do with unity, rather a privileged mass decision to not resist the war machine by any means necessary.
Chuck