[Peace-discuss] State of the anti-war movement

[C. G. Estabrook]

[I think it would be worthwhile for AWARE to represented at this assembly, June 
28th and 29th 2008 in Cleveland. --CGE]

"The only correct demand for the U.S. anti-war movement is for the immediate and 
unconditional withdrawal of all US forces from Iraq."

	CPR for the Anti-War Movement
	by Ron Jacobs

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 national meeting 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 at charter.net>.
URL: mrzine.monthlyreview.org/jacobs210508.html

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