For many, especially those hundreds of thousands of us who marched against the
Iraq war in 2003, the question recurs: can we do anything about this impending
disaster?
http://www.
UK: National Demonstration: No Attack on Syria
By Stop the War
National Demonstration: assemble Saturday 31 August, 12 noon, Temple Place, London.
http://is.gd/K7JDhj [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=
TAP - the vote in the Commons is not enough. The US is still rolling out its huge military strength and war is going ahead. All that's been achieved so far is a delay of a few days.
Cameron's arrogance and dilemma
For over 18 months
Cameron and William Hague have tried to play the hard men over Syria, calling
for greater action at international gatherings and threatening Damascus with
other people's F-16s. Now, the old Etonian's arrogance has made Britain a weak
link in the shaky FUKUS chain.
At the start of this
week Cameron was strutting the airwaves pressing for immediate bombing. By
Thursday he had been forced into a tactical retreat - though the intention to
press ahead is clear. Washington too rowed back a little to give Cameron, facing
potential parliamentary defeat, a lifeline.
Officials mooted that
the date for bombing could be pushed back to the middle of next week. If anyone
thinks they are in control of events, consider that on that timescale US and
British planes will be bombing a Russian ally just as Obama and Cameron sit down
in St Petersburg at the G20 summit, hosted by Putin.
The call for restraint
by the UN's Ban Ki-moon hardened Labour's opposition to the government. On
Wednesday it went from reluctant support for the government to tabling its own
amendment in the parliamentary debate on Thursday. That amendment placed
significant obstacles in the path to military action. But it said only that the
UN Security Council must be allowed to consider and vote on the weapons
inspectors' report, not that a Security Council authorisation was necessary
before Labour would support action.
Nevertheless, Labour MPs
and others report that they are swayed by both the deep divisions in the
political class and state structures over action and by the mounting public
opposition. Diane Abbott's political stock soared sharply when she said she
would resign from the Labour frontbench if the party rushed into
war.
The emergency
demonstration called by Stop the War in London on Wednesday drew 1,000 people,
extremely significant at short notice and in the bank holiday week.
It seems impossible now
for the government to avoid a second parliamentary vote before bombing, and its
own motion on Thursday in effect conceded that.
These are not trivial
parliamentary games. They are the actual working out of the impasse of the
government's position. They mean that MPs who were expecting to be sunning
themselves this weekend will now be in Britain subject to intense, contradictory
pressures.
They mean that what was
meant to be a lightening strike on Syria this week is now prolonged even before
it begins. A question that was of concern for only a minority in Britain is now
at the centre of national politics and life - should we support Cameron, should
we bomb or not bomb, can we do anything about it.
A major public debate
has erupted way beyond the circles and social media that we as activists use to
talk with one another. The debate is open. Our opponents are an out of touch
government that is inflicting deep social suffering on millions of people, most
of whom declare that they are alienated from the official political
parties.
The government is a
coalition. Its majority depends on Lib Dem MPs, many of whom owe their seats to
the anti-war posture the party took in 2003. They are particularly vulnerable to
pressure, which in this instance means public opinion marshalled and
concentrated into action and political engagement.
There are serious
divisions in the Tory ranks too - usually reflective of foreign policy and
military establishment concerns. Nevertheless, a move by anti-war MP Jeremy
Corbyn and others of the left earlier this year to force the government to
declare that it would seek parliamentary approval for any strike on Syria
succeeded in winning support from Tory rebels.
A principled mass
movement acting intelligently can drive a wedge deeper into the Tory ranks as
well as stiffen the position of Labour MPs.
Mass movement - unity of purpose
Action now can make a
difference. It requires taking the clear anti-war arguments which Stop the War
is promoting and which are voiced by many others, including the Daily Mirror,
deep into British society. All movements need activists, but we cannot simply be
a movement of activists. We have to aim to be a mass movement of people who can
be stirred by this question.
The fact that figures
such as Peter Hain MP who supported the Iraq war are now strongly against
bombing Syria is an indication that our anti-war argument can reach into new and
broad layers. That feeling needs to be focused through public protest and
through inundating MPs in order to tip the balance. There are many forms of
action. Over the coming days the job is to hone them to a single point that will
be felt in parliament and the government as they mull how to
proceed.
There is every chance
that we can play a big role in shifting the debate. What if we do not and they
manage to press ahead anyway? Well, our efforts will have been far from
futile.
First, whatever the
blithe talk of a limited three day bombing with no fallout, the truth is that
there will be major repercussions throughout the Middle East if they do go
ahead. The only question is how great they will be. They will certainly mark a
new phase in which the pressure for further action will intensify and with it
the necessity of a strong, united movement of opposition, as well as solidarity
with genuine progressive forces in the region.
Second, this is not
about something happening far away to other people. It is about the direction of
politics and society in Britain. The outcome of the next days and weeks will
impact on the scale of opposition to the Coalition's assaults on the mass of
people at home.
A government weakened by
defeat of its foreign policy, or even by its curtailment, is going to find it
harder to deal with the protests in defence of the NHS, the strikes by public
sector workers and the developing social resistance to its austerity
policies.
Many of us have
supported Stop the War or taken part in its mobilisations over the years. Quite
naturally there has been ebb and flow, reflecting events and the possibility at
any one time of achieving results. We've also had many healthy debates as the
disaster of Western policy in the Middle East and the War on Terror has
unfolded.
Now is a time to throw
ourselves fully into this upswing of the movement - inundating MPs, taking to
the streets on Saturday, getting ourselves into the media - mainstream, new and
social - everywhere persuading friends, colleagues and family that we need to
take a stand, and that by doing so we can make a difference.
Kevin Ovenden, 29 August
2013
