[Marxism] CPR for the Anti-War Movement by Ron Jacobs

[Bonnie Weinstein <giobon@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

CPR for the Anti-War Movement
by Ron Jacobs
Monthly Review
May 21, 2008
http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/jacobs210508.html

It is fair to say that the anti-war movement in the US is moribund.  A
movement that put a million people in the streets a month before the
invasion of Iraq in 2003 and has drawn as many as half-a-million protesters
to protests as recently as January 2007 has failed to mobilize anything even
near those numbers since then.  Part of this is because of differences among
the leadership of the two primary anti-war organizations, part of it is
because many people opposed to the war have put their energies -- however
misplaced -- into working for Barack Obama, and part of it is attributable
to the belief that there is nothing one can do to stop the bloody
occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan.  The most recent example of this
occurred during the week of March 15th, 2008.  Despite the announced
intentions of both anti-war organizations to organize some kind of national
march marking the fifth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, there was no
such protest.  Instead, hundreds of cities and towns around the country held
smaller observances.

In the wake of the failure to organize a national protest, some folks from
the US who had formed a coalition following a 2007 international anti-war
conference in London decided to step outside the existing organizational
stasis.  They formed a steering committee with the intention of reigniting
the national movement against the war in the United States.  The primary
movers behind this effort include members of the American Friends Service
Committee (AFSC), US Labor Against the War (USLAW), military veterans and
individuals with decades of experience organizing against imperial war, and
representatives of numerous local anti-war committees.  Characterizing
themselves as the mass action wing of the anti-war movement, the steering
committee in early spring 2008 put out a call for a nationalmeeting of
anti-war activists and citizens in late June of this year  -- a call which
has been answered by hundreds of organizations and individuals from across
the US.  Organizing under the name The National Assembly to End the Iraq War
and Occupation, the steering committee has garnered the endorsement of
several labor organizations and individuals like Cindy Sheehan, Howard Zinn,
and Mumia Abu Jamal.  In addition, a multitude of local peace and justice
organizations, church groups, and student organizations have signed on.

When I asked AFSC organizer and coordinator of the Northeast Ohio Anti-War
Coalition Greg Coleridge, who along with Marilyn  Levin of Greater Boston
United for Justice with Peace, is one of the national spokespeople for the
National Assembly, why this conference should be held now, he responded this
way.

    "The ever-increasing human carnage, economic costs, and desire for US
military conquest connected to the Iraq war and occupation demand effective
resistance.  There is an urgent need for greater coordination, collaboration
and cohesion among US anti-war organizations without giving up their own
missions and identities.  The upcoming elections provide ample opportunities
to distract attention from the current permanent nature of the war and
occupation.  Now is the time for anti-war activists and concerned citizens
to come together and call on the anti-war movement to organize mass actions
which communicate to the public and pressure elected officials that US
troops, bases and contractors must leave Iraq immediately."

It is important to note that there is not a call for a withdrawal timetable
here.  As Coordinating Committee member Jerry Gordon told me in a
conversation, the only correct demand for the U.S. anti-war movement is for
the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of all US forces from Iraq.
Furthermore, it is assumed that the best way to make this demand is through
mass action and a unified anti-war movement that utilizes democratic
decision-making and remains independent of any and all political parties and
organizations.  It is not the intention of those on the steering committee
to supersede UFPJ or ANSWER.  Indeed, they have the utmost respect for the
two organizations and the work they have done to this point.  This respect
is evident in the fact that both organizations have members from their
coordinating committees on the speakers list for the Assembly.

The Assembly, which will take place on June 28th and 29th 2008 at the Crowne
Plaza Hotel in Northeast Cleveland, is open to all.  A five-point action
plan will be discussed and voted on during the weekend.  Although there are
several speakers slated for the podium and a number of workshops scheduled,
there will be ample time for anyone to speak and it is hoped that those who
have serious ideas on how to organize a movement that will stop this war
will attend and speak up.  As Greg Coleridge put it in an email to me, "I
see the Assembly as a collective facilitator -- enabling the many different
voices against the war to coalesce and create a massive roar to force an
immediate end to the war and occupation."  He continued, hoping that a
"greater trust" can be developed among those working to end the war.  As for
concrete outcomes, he said the organizers "hope that Assembly attendees will
agree to urge that the broad anti-war movement unite in calling for mass
actions this year and next."

Reminding me that the vast majority of people in the US oppose the war and
occupation, Coleridge explained why he believes mass action is not only
important but essential.  "Unfortunately," he wrote in an email.  "the US
Constitution doesn't permit national initiatives or referendums."  If it
did, he "believe(s) most people today would vote for a federal initiative
calling to end the Iraq war, bring US troops home, close military bases, and
end funding beyond required to transport the troops back."  Coleridge
continued, explaining that "Organized mass street actions have played a
historically important role in producing social change in this country.  A
government that ignores public opinion and mass mobilizations loses
credibility, authenticity, and legitimacy.  No government can effectively
govern without support from the majority of its citizens.  A vast majority
of people oppose the war and occupation.  The anti-war movement has a
responsibility to provide forums where those feelings can be expressed.
National and coordinated mass action is certainly not the only strategy
required to end the Iraq war and occupation.  Over the last couple of years,
however, it is a strategy that has not been utilized for maximum effect.
That must change."

Conference speakers include Jonathan Hutto, Navy Petty Officer, author of
Anti-War Soldier and Co-Founder of Appeal for Redress; Donna Dewitt,
president of the South Carolina AFL-CIO; Cindy Sheehan (by satellite); Colia
Clark, long time civil rights activist; Fred Mason, President of the
Maryland AFL-CIO and National Co-Convenor of USLAW; Jeremy Scahill, author
of Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army; and
Clarence Thomas, Executive Board member, ILWU Local 10, the trade union that
initiated the May 1 one-day strike that closed all U.S. West Coast ports
from Canada to Mexico.

For information and to register for the National Assembly, please go to
their website at www.natassembly.org or call 216-736-4704.
Ron Jacobs is author of The Way the Wind Blew: A History of the Weather
Underground (republished by Verso). His first novel, Short Order Frame Up,
is published by Mainstay Press. He can be reached at
<rjacobs3625@xxxxxxxxxxx>.



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