[Marxism] London Anti-Iraq-War Conference Report

[Paddy Apling <e.c.apling@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

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Where we're at
(Friday 06 January 2006)
ANDREW MURRAY
ANDREW MURRAY reviews recent developments in the 
anti-war movement and sets the agenda for activists in coming months.

THE worldwide movement against the occupation of 
Iraq and the Bush administration's open-ended war 
on the world enters 2006 with a renewed sense of unity and purpose.

The international peace conference held in London 
before Christmas was a political success beyond anyone's expectations.

For the first time, representative Iraqi figures 
were in the same hall as leaders of the anti-war 
movement in the US, which is daily growing in 
strength, and of the movement here in Britain.

Over 1,300 delegates and individuals from across 
the country joined them, packing the Royal Horticultural Hall to capacity.

The conference not only inspired all who 
attended, it also laid the basis for a programme 
of mass action against the occupation of Iraq and 
for the closer co-ordination of the anti-war movement worldwide.

The resolution unanimously adopted at the close 
of the day's proceedings bears republishing in 
full, since it outlines clearly the programme of 
the anti-war movement for the period ahead.

"This international conference, embracing 
representatives of the Iraqi, British and 
American and many other peoples, drawn from all 
parts of society, declares that the crisis caused 
by the invasion and occupation of Iraq is the 
central problem in world politics today and demands urgent resolution.

"It affirms that the invasion of Iraq in 2003 was 
unlawful, in breach of the Charter of the United 
Nations and justified by the invading powers with 
lies designed to manipulate public opinion.

"It declares that the occupation of Iraq by US 
and British military forces has brought misery 
and suffering to the people of Iraq.

"The occupation represents the denial of their 
national rights, impedes social, economic and 
political development and threatens the wider 
peace in the Middle East and the world.

"It has accounted for the loss of tens of 
thousands of lives of the Iraqi peoples, as well 
as more than 2,000 soldiers from the occupying armies.

"This conference therefore demands an immediate 
end to the occupation of Iraq, as called for by 
the majority of the Iraqi, British and American peoples.

"It demands the withdrawal of the occupying 
military forces and the return of full 
sovereignty to the Iraqi people, who should be 
allowed to determine their own future free of external interference.

"We salute the struggle of the Iraqi people for 
national freedom and the worldwide movement 
against the war and the occupation.

"We pledge to step up our campaign against the 
occupation until it is ended. To this end, we 
call on the anti-war movement in all countries to:

? Organise international demonstrations on March 
18-19 2006, the third anniversary of the war and 
invasion, calling for the immediate withdrawal of 
troops and an end to the occupation

? Campaign for a full international public 
inquiry into the assault on Fallujah in 2004

? Give full support to the campaigns of military 
families in the US, Britain and the other occupying countries

? Develop an international co-ordination from 
this conference to plan further events

? Campaign against the privatisation of Iraqi oil

? Oppose any attack on Iran or Syria."

The politics embodied in the conference 
resolution already clearly command mass support 
in the country. The TUC is unanimously in favour 
of a speedy end to the Iraq occupation and many 
unions are playing a significant role in support of the anti-war movement.

The military families movement, led by Rose 
Gentle and Reg Keys, has extended the movement's 
reach into areas where the left has seldom trod in recent years.

The Muslim community remains staunch in its 
support for a halt to the "war on terror" and the 
school students against the war campaign is 
rebuilding its strength and activities.

The recent, partially successful, effort to block 
the sweeping authoritarian proposals advanced by 
the government after the July 7 bombings in 
London has underlined the potential for mass 
action on issues arising from the war.

The critical issue is maintaining that mass 
pressure in 2006 - above all, in forcing the 
government to withdraw British troops from Iraq.

There is no danger of public opinion being won 
round by Blair's arguments on the issue. The 
British people know that they were lied to over 
the war and they know that the occupation has 
been a catastrophe from almost every perspective.

However, there is a danger of Iraq being allowed 
to sink down the political agenda, as people 
become habituated to the crisis rumbling on, much 
as was the case in relation to Ireland in years gone by.

That was one of the merits of the international 
peace conference. It united and re-energised the 
movement as few events have done since the great 
anti-Bush demonstration in November 2003. The 
mere fact of so many people attending testifies 
to its vitality and enduring commitment.

The priority now has to be to build the largest 
possible demonstration in London on March 18, as 
part of an internationally co-ordinated protest 
against the continuing occupation of Iraq on the 
third anniversary of the start of the war.

This has to focus not just on the central issue 
of troop withdrawal but also on the broader 
attempt of the US administration to convert Iraq 
into a client state, with is main natural 
resource, oil, privatised and the Pentagon 
authorised to establish permanent military bases in the country.

This would turn Iraq into a permanent source of 
war danger in the Middle East. The continued 
sabre rattling against Syria, including by 
Foreign Secretary Jack Straw this week, again 
underlines the seriousness of this danger.

Likewise the threats against Iran risk an 
escalation of conflict in the region.

The ignorant and offensive remarks of Iranian 
President Ahmadinejad - remarks concerning the 
Holocaust, remarks, incidentally, denounced by 
Muslim Association of Britain leader Azzam Tamimi 
at the conference - must not be allowed to 
furnish a pretext for further aggression.

When will the movement stop marching, it is sometimes asked.

When the occupation of Iraq is ended and 
imperialism's war in the Middle East defeated is 
the only honest answer that the anti-war movement can give.

Of one thing we can be sure - if this movement 
ever risks relaxing its efforts, the only winners 
will be Bush and Blair and their agenda of 
aggression and attacks on civil liberties.

The international peace conference showed how 
deep the understanding of that responsibility has 
sunk among the people of this country.

? Andrew Murray is chairman of the Stop the War Coalition.

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