Re: [Marxism] Re: anti-imperialism (An experience with building a coal ition against "empire" in New York City)

["acpollack2@xxxxxxxx" <acpollack2@xxxxxxxx>]

This is brilliant, Fred! I hope the experience of NYGAN, even if only in the 
form in your email, gets disseminated widely. It reads just like the stories 
Fred Halstead tells over and over of supposedly more radical coalitions that 
were going to prove they could tackle multiple issues and went through exactly 
the same process of disagreement, refusal to make the existing war central, 
lack of concrete activity, and eventual and inevitable dissolution.

Another example of how an Iraq-war centered, mass action movement can help 
mobilization around other issues: There are currently small solidarity 
coalitions around Venezuela and if things continue the way they're going there 
-- and even more so if the continentwide revolt deepens -- we could very easily 
be faced with the need to build a mass movement against US intervention in 
Latin America and, within it, a solidarity current in support of those fighting 
the US. Doing so will be qualitatively easier should the movement against the 
war in Iraq be revived with Iraq as the centerpiece: that will put hundreds of 
thousands back in the streets, making it much easier for Latin American 
solidarity/antiwar activists to find and recruit them. If on the other hand the 
LA activists are forced to go searching for support from tiny, disconnected 
NYGAN type formations -- good luck.

-- "Fred Feldman" <ffeldman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
In the 9 months or so that NYGAN existed, it proved unable to decide why
it existed or what to do. It was never able to make opposition to the
Iraq war its central focus -- everytime  someone suggested (yes, usually
one of us ex-SWP antiwar traditionalists) honing in for now on the war
that the US currently had 150,000 troops fighting, others would get
offended, fearing that their issue  would be shortchanged. The group
could not decide on any activity until the two coalitions settled on the
March 19 event in Central Park  and the Fayetteville protest called by
the Military Families.  And then it couldn't carry out its own decisions
on how to participate (although the IAC person carried out all the tasks
he undertook).



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