Re: The emerging antiwar movement

["Derek S." <derektheredrebel@xxxxxxxxx>]

--- Walter Lippmann <walterlx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> The International Action Center and Workers World
> Party
> made the political priority and invested the
> organizational
> muscle to build the biggest protest against the
> threatened
> US military invasion of Iraq to date. Good for them
> and for
> the struggle as a whole that they did this!

No one denies this, and I think I probably speak for
most when I say that we all greatly appreciate the
work they've done.

> Did they prevent
> anyone from
> organizing any other protest of the threatened
> invasion?

No one claims this is the case. But we can all form
our own "coalitions" and go have as many seperate
protests as we want, and even endorse each others, but
what we really need is for these seperate entities to
come together, work together, and decide together, in
order to put up the best fight possible. The issue
isn't that ANSWER didn't put on a great event, it is
that we need to elevate the anti-war movement to
maximize its power to really stop the war, and in
order to do this, we need something like the broad
coming-together of forces we're advocating. ANSWER,
the anti-war group with the most authority and power
right now, is not going this route. So we need to try
to convince them that they should. This doesn't take
away from the fact that we recognize they have
hithereto done the best anti-war work in the country.

> Instead of complaining about this biggest anti-war
> demo
> in a decade, it would be preferable to see it as a
> building
> block toward an even larger and more effective
> movement.

I agree. So what's the next step?

> The IAC and WWP don't have a lock on this movement.
> No one does. Thus, those who think they know how to
> build a bigger, broader and more effective struggle
> are free to do so. Who could stop them?

Of course no one can stop us. But why do we want to
compete with ANSWER? They are fantastic anti-war
organizers, and I want to work with them, along with
the all anti-war folks, to build a movement. And if
they were to issue a call for a broad coalition, and
they were genuine about it, then it would be very
effective since they have the most clout. This is what
I think they should do, so I'm telling them that. But,
if they want to do things their way, then a seperate,
broader coalition will arise beside them.

> If they
> succeeded
> in building something bigger and broader than the
> IAC
> and WWP, then the IAC and WWP would join that.

This is not for sure. This didn't happen in the
anti-Gulf war protests in the Bay Area, nor with the
Mumia movement.

Best,
Derek

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