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PAULA MITCHELL reports on this stage in the development of the anti-war movement in Britain. Dear friends at Stop the War Coalition, Re: your request to the British Government for a Global Ceasefire It seems that at Stop the War you believe in miracles. Very long post, John – though very true. Hopefully they will find more out for themselves…..As I wrote before, I actually loathe discussing Stop the War,giving them undeserved oxygen…I would rather we prioritise our political energies in this crucial period, focus on making the ecomonic case for socialism, and other day-to-day issues which all pollsters tell us are the key ones for voters: the EU, immigration, welfare, health. Your analogy re new members is also unclear – whereas I don’t want new members to look at Stop the War, see that Jeremy was their Chair, and think that they are a decent organisation…I want them to know that many socialists reject and despise Stop the War, for the reasons I and many others have given: their poisonous politics, and their profound anti-socialism. This strikes me as pure cop out and the sort of thing that repels many from the left. [9] Likewise, the aid agencies Caritas Internationalis and Save the Children UK produced their own reports detailing the likely humanitarian consequences of war. If you want to get involved as a contributor, please contact James Elliott using the form on this page. The main flaw in the STWC was that, although the demand it was making in late 2002 and early 2003 was a fairly moderate one (“Don’t Attack Iraq ”), a significant chunk of its leadership displayed extreme-left views that moderates would find repugnant. In response to the lattr’s complaint that STW “had nothing to say about the Iraqi regime, the theocracy in Iran, the repugnant character of the Taliban” he says. (November 2003) George Cross: George Galloway MP. It is a coalition of the vilest supporters of genocide and gangsterism. This is why Stop the War is so horrific – they masquerade as a sort-of-pacifist body and a sort-of-anti-imperialist body when really they are neither: they are 100% anti Western, and their politics welcomes literally anyone – jihadis, Islamic extremists such as the Muslim Association of Britain who helped set them up, stalinists and neo stalinists like the now disgraced Socialist Workers Party who also set them up – in the name of this anti-imperialism. It seems that you have a strong objection to “anybody” who supports STWC. In fact there has hardly been any shortage of those offering decontextualised, liberal platitudes about all those complex issues, so this was no gap that STW had to fill. b) the creation of Stalinists, Putinites, Islamic extremists c) they blame the victims of Islamic terror for their own deaths- they literally see everything as the fault of “the West” and they ignore Russian imperialism, Assad’s many crimes, jihadist terror. | Powered by, http://www.workersliberty.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=570&mode=thread&order=0, http://www.parliament.uk/commons/lib/research/notes/snSG-02109.pdf, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3550411.stm. I would have preferred that Phil had focussed more on what STW actually says and does (or doesn’t say and doesn’t do) than on trying to track the SWP lineage behind it all. Instead of clear arguments backed by proper analysis, the STWC gave incoherent ones. I didn’t see any “PhilBC Coalition” protests anywhere, or even any “Gerry Coalition” protests anywhere, for example. The crowd was estimated at 25,000 people by the police, 75,000 by the STWC. People from all over the country packed into a meeting in Birmingham to hear ‘Why We Need an Anti-War Government’. [8] Despite this huge rebellion the motion was passed due to the overwhelming size of Labour’s majority in the Commons, and also due to the support of the Conservative Party. 12. Moreover, within weeks of the February protests, the STWC had gone into decline with startling rapidity. Anybody who gives it political cover has some of the blood on its hands. David – some fair(ish) points. Sticking rigidly to the “its all, solely Western imperialism’s fault” , requires StW to ignore the huge role of the lesser imperialisms of Turkey, Iran, Saudi Arabia – and of course Russia. The person who takes the efforts to put up their thoughts, or someone else doing an impression of the school monitor? But then Andy goes on to make an argument that seems to me to bear out Phil’s concerns. Am I right or am I right? Recognising that Stop the War passed a motion in 2006, “the Stop War Coalition resolves to place on the agenda the demand for anti-war government as a constitutional matter that no such wars of aggression can be advocated, or supported in word or deed, that ensures that Britain ends its collaboration in all … Many of these were so-called ‘protest virgins’ – moderate, politically non-aligned people who did not normally take part in protest marches. These Stalinists and neo-Stalinists that back Putin as some kind of champion of anti-imperialism are in a de facto alliance with the European fascist right who see Putin as a bulwark against Western liberalism and the American far right too now judging by Putin’s comments about Trump yesterday. But I find really unhelpful is the vitriol with which subsequent exchanges are laced: “disgraceful”, “utter tripe”, “lack of intellect”, “deliberate misdirection”, “dishonest arguments”, “unreconstructed Stalin apologist”, “allies with jihadis, islamists stalinists and neo stalinists”, “an apologist – for fascism apologists”, “cynical stalinists”, “revolting alliance of Putinites and pacifists”, “parasites on the backs of all decent human beings”. Caritas Internationalis (November 1 2002) On the brink of war: A recipe for a humanitarian disaster ; Save the Children UK (September 4 2002) The Humanitarian Implications of Military Intervention Against Iraq. I suggest that if we are to make something of the opportunity provided by Corbyn’s election then we will have many very difficult debates to go through on a wide range of topic. Andy Newman is simply an apologist – for fascism apologists! And yet again, not a mention of NATO, of UK imperialism and the never-ending wars. The Stop the War Coalition (StWC) (informally just Stop the War) is a United Kingdom group established on 21 September 2001 to campaign against what it believes are unjust wars. No, I am saying that anyone who discusses the Iraq war from the vantage point of what Lenin would or would not have thought is a fool. Stop the War Coalition Just over a month after the giant march of February 15 th – arguably the STWC’s greatest achievement – came its greatest failure, and one that sent the organisation into terminal decline. It would ally with and back Hitler, Mussolini, Franco and Tojo if they were alive today. Become a member for as little as £2 per month. The Labour Party’s history of supporting imperialism and colonialism is not a proud one but under Corbyn that hopefully will now change including developing a foreign policy independent from the USA. Consider the case, yet again, of the only secular, womens’ rights supporting, non sectarian, in many cases avowedly socialist, fighting force in the Syria/Iraq conflict standing up to the well armed murderous clerico- fascists of Daesh- the Kurds. House of Commons Library. I am not so sure about that and he doesn’t try to justify his claim beyond asserting that “it is not in fact true that Stop the War ever derived its politics from the SWP”. The Stop the War Coalition (StWC; informally Stop the War) is a British group established on 21 September 2001, shortly after the September 11 attacks, to campaign against what it believes are unjust wars. Rather employing that hoary old leftist jibe that I am arguing from an “ivory tower”, for example, Peter Wilsman should try to show what it is in my argument which shows the detachment from reality impied by that phrase. Whatever its organisational flaws, the STWC grew at an exponential rate as war loomed, mostly developing through blossoming networks at local levels. Undoubtedly there would have been extremely angry marches organised by the Stop the War Coalition and much else. The effect that this march and other protests had on politicians is unknown, but what is known is that on February 26 th , later to become known as ‘Wobbly Tuesday’, 135 Labour MPs either abstained from or voted against a government motion for action against Iraq. Former prime minister Tony Blair is an often blamed figure by the far-left Stop the War Coalition. And people like Peter Willsman have said personally abusive things about you, but signs his comments off ” yours in comradeship” – perhaps that is the new ” kinder politics” too? Since the start of the uprising in 2011 STW has refused to acknowledge the agency of the oppressed Syrian people struggling against a fascist regime or to … So the evidence against them is overwhelming, David….lets move on and not give these people the oxygen they crave! I went to two of the StWC central London protests (the Saturday before the vote and on the evening before the vote) and I found both events very inspiring. I have been following the STW debate carefully here as a “newcomer” to the backstory and I am trying to make a disinterested judgement about them and their works. 11 A nominally impressive figure, but a small fraction of the hundreds of thousands who gathered the previous February. Unless you demand from Government a shut down of all military factories and impose a total ban … Therefore these sort of short-hand references have a real capacity to make newcomers (and not only them) feel repelled by the strong emotions expressed about things for which they do not have immediate knowledge. Left Futures is a new Labour Left network. He worships the established fact and the `national’ leader as savior. It is interesting that you should say that. Alliance for Workers Liberty (October 2003) Briefing on the Muslim Association of Britain . This appears to stem partly from the SWP’s stance on the Israel/Palestine conflict, which is aggressively pro-Palestine and anti-Israel. At a meeting hosted by Stop the War Coalition in 2009, Corbyn said he invited "friends" from Hamas and Hezbollah to an event in parliament, referred to Hamas as "an organisation dedicated towards the good of the Palestinian people," and said that the British government's labelling of Hamas as a terrorist organisation is "a big, … Indeed, by pretending it doesn’t exist you merely hand a gift to the Blairite right and the Tories. Since the bloody and illegal invasion and subsequent occupation of Iraq by US and British armies, the Stop the War Coalition (StWC) has consistently called for the withdrawal of foreign troops and the ending of the occupation. I also don’t agree 100 per cent with the political views of every single person within the Stop the War Coalition, but I also supported 100 per cent the protests that StWC organised against the bombing of Syria and attended some of them. (October 9 2002) Evaluating the Threat of Military Action Against Iraq . I would be surprised if many people could read the contributions in this thread and agree with you that trying to avoid strident and emotive condemnations is merely a matter of personal style and that debate can be advanced just as well without making that effort. The StWC needs disbanding. I think you should go back to the Stalinist shit pit and hang out that is Socialist Unity where you can all jabber about the legitimate government of Assad and its heroic struggle for survival. 5. Pilger methodically repeats a series of Kremlin war propaganda* memes: That the 2014 Revolution of Dignity was a fascist coup (see the response to this pap by Ukrainian socialists and anarchists I link to … Moreover, within weeks of the February protests, the STWC had gone into decline with startling … The aim of the Coalition was, to stop the war currently declared by the United States and its allies against ‘terrorism’. The Respect Coalition – Reactionaries in Progressive Clothing? On March 19 th 2003 the Iraq War began. Having failed to prevent the outbreak of war, those moderates who had joined the marches simply melted away, causing the STWC to implode onto its core constituency of extreme-left and Islamist groups. As well as reducing in size, the social makeup of STWC protests also changed radically. I think that Corbyn provides a good example in this respect, even when I don’t reach the same conclusions as him. So in this situation the selective cod pacifism of the StWC is not “innocent” of involvement in innocent murder and enslavement, anymore than the continual ignoring of the monstrous crimes of the Assad regime crimes – refusing to campaign for an end to the regime’s indiscriminate barrel bombing of rebel areas, and now the indiscriminate bombing by their Russian (imperialist) allies, leaves StWC with clean hands. This leaves any further offerings by Mr. P. Burton-Cartledge requiring the kind of scrutiny one reserves for all other propagandist works of deliberate misdirection. A consequence of this is that the same old faces seem to continually pop up in its various incarnations. Surely the logical thing to do would be to put forward your political disagreements without rather ridiculously condemning the whole anti-war movement – because that makes no sense at all unless your position is one of full support for intervention. Stop the War Coalition and the IFTU . Jeremy was asked twice in the Parliamentary debate on the Syrian bombing by other MP’s about the need to directly support the Kurds. StWC are the organisation that stated, after Russia invaded and occupied a neighbouring country before covertly invading and instigating a further proxy war “if we have to pick one side, let it be Russia”. The cost for the left in bestowing this ridiculously “substitutionist” “historically progressive” anti imperialist role on these universally ghastly regimes has been to turn a cynical blind eye to their systematic murderous oppression of their own working classes , socialists, and minority communities. Ibid. Sorry David Ellis, but all you achieve with contributions like that is to give people the impression that you’re a bit bonkers. Motion 1: Trump’ s m ilitary e scalation and the Special Relationship from the Officers group Conference notes that in the first period of his term, US President Trump has demonstrated a definite preference for military … And even at its formation, Stop the War barely condemned the murder of 3000 innocents by Al Qaeda in 1998 and 2001 which provoked and triggered the whole failed “War on terror”. If we want to maximise the number of people who get involved having dipped their toes in the water of political activity then we need to drop the short-hand condemnations and justify all the conclusions we reach even if that is sometimes limited to providing appropriate links to the sources on which our judgements are based. I don’t think that Andy has come near to providing and answer to that concern. This evasive position lends itself to the idea that the enemies of my enemy are my friends which was, as I understand it, exactly the sort of thing that Phil was questioning. Voices Stop the War Coalition: This group of left-wing enemies has survived many rifts. The coalition has campaigned against the wars that are part of the so-called " War on Terror " of the United … That is of so much more importance to us as a party which wants to connect, inspire and change masses of voters…so – hopefully- lets have no more about this gruesome organisation. So Lenin backing the idea of not fighting the German army ,in the Great War, was similar to not invading Iraq? Of course that doesn’t, of itself, invalidate his arguments, but it does indicate that his view is not necessarily typical of all socialists. Stop the War Coalition promotes illusions that Thursday’s parliamentary defeat of the government’s pro-war motion means the danger of an attack on Syria has passed. By becoming a Stop the War member today, you’ll be part of a mass anti-war movement. The Stop the War Coalition was launched in 2001, two weeks after 9/11. Many were repelled by sights such as Socialist Worker-sponsored placards bearing the words “Victory to the Resistance”, a repugnant sight to anyone who had marched against the war out of a principled opposition to what they perceived as an unnecessary war, not to become cheerleaders for Saddam’s fedayeen . It’s certainly very unfortunate that JC feels obliged to continue to publicly support this dodgy organisation and its Stalinist leadership – perhaps because of a misplaced sense of loyalty as they come under increased (and deserved) media scrutiny and criticism. The Guardian. Notes I do not share the shock horror much expressed about either the Freedom Fighters blog or the Whirlwind blog – which were quoted out of context with all nuance stripped out, but hey, that’s politics, isn’t it? The best that’s Left in Labour. But what does AN tell us? (March 20 2004) Demo marks Iraq war anniversary. Stop the War Coalition: About Us . Open debate. Join Stop the War. Jeremy himself has not practised this “kindness” the last 30 odd years: he, John McDonnell and others have said personally vile things about Thatcher, Blair, Ulster Unionists, Israel and on and on, (rightly, some might say), so what you understand by this term I am keen to read? Every family and every community has links to the forces.” Maybe it’s due to my family and circle of friends but I recognise little in these claims. I don’t think that assumption can be justified and, frankly, even as an old-timer who tries to keep up I have to say that all that stuff is not known to me (I have less than a passing interest in the activities of far-left groupings). Edinburgh Stop the War is affiliated to Stop the War Scotland and Stop the War UK Not quite the same thing. The Stop the War Coalition, back in the news due to the Syrian crisis, has a punchy name but not a wholly accurate one. The same people who in a year’s time when the rapprochement with Tehran has cooled off will be recommending we recognise the Caliphate as a bulwark against Iranian-backed militias in Iraq and Syria from the other side of the sectarian divide in Islam. The StW Lefties have also found their simplistic “everything’s the fault of the West” mantra, and its cod pacifist “No to Western intervention under any circumstances” chant , has required it to totally ignore the needs of the only major secular, non sectarian, women’s rights supporting, often SOCIALIST, genuine national liberation movement in the region , namely the various factions of the oppressed Kurdish national movement. 7. Mueller A. I know precisely what I make of those that have gleefully and disgracefully joined in such a witch hunt. Anyone new to the party or politics who reads this thread now knows there are powerful easy to comprehend arguments against Stop the War, like Phil’s great article, as well as some arguments for them, like Andy Newman’s article which of course I think is weak. And I don’t agree that PhilBC’s arguments can be considered in any way typical of the views of socialists, as you seem to imply. Trying to draw a veil over StWC’s ghastly politics in the name of “defending Jeremy” is the worst sort of political dishonesty – all too familiar to those of us old enough to remember similar exhortations to the Left never to criticise the Soviet Union.. Your comments are disgraceful. Given its institutional weaknesses and its failure to generate coherent arguments, this was probably inevitable. Sharp criticism. LONDON — The world of the British far-left is a small one. Your help is vital for us to continue our work. Put even more simply. I think the responses from Andy Newman and James Martin show just how weak their defence of Stop the War really is…they literally cannot argue against the evidence of Stop the War’s poisonous politics, so simply ignore, sidestep and chuck in bogeymen like the Henry Jackson Society to bolster their poor argument. You really need to be able to understand and grasp the notion of a broad-based single-issue campaign Gerry. Your help is vital for us to continue our work. The extremely fast rate at which the coalition was developing also make it difficult to retrace the paths of its growth, or to estimate exact numbers involved. Can we safely assume that such people will immediately know that accusations of “poisonous politics” find their justification “all over” the “websites and back pages” of those accused or even in all “those tweets about Paris”. Where you will never, ever, ever find him is on the side of the masses in revolt. Whereas those they have campaigned and marched against have in the same time been responsible for what now must be a million or more deaths as a direct result of their actions. [4] Once a vehement opponent of Saddam’s regime, he now classes Saddam’s deputy prime minister Tariq Aziz as a friend, saying of him, “I admire Tariq Aziz, very much. For him in a general election at first concerned with campaigning against the War member today, you’ll be of... 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