Anger at occupation of Iraq

24 September anti-Iraq war demos

Anger at occupation of Iraq

London

On the demo. Credit Concernedphotography.net via indymdediaTENS
OF thousands took to the streets of London on Saturday 24 September to
protest against the occupation of Iraq.

The Socialist Party and International Socialist Resistance contingent
(see next section) marched under the banner of ‘unity against war,
terror and racism’.

Feeder marches came from East London and South London where the local
community organised after the police shot Jean Charles de Menezes.

Had the national demonstration been held in the immediate aftermath
of the shooting and terrorist attacks, as the socialist argued at the
time, the turnout could have been many times greater.


Socialist answers grab attention

EVERY DEMO has its high points and the sight of bystanders singing
along as we marched past, singing the Internationale, on Saturday’s
anti-war demo certainly stood out for me.

Sarah Sachs-Eldridge

Our red and energetic International Socialist Resistance (ISR) and
Socialist Students contingent on the demo grabbed the attention of loads
of young people who then marched and chanted with us.

ISR contingent met after the demo. Credit Concernedphotography.net via indymdediaThe
400-500 young people who joined with us wanted to see an alternative put
forward – an alternative to the war and occupation, an alternative to
Blair and Brown and their policies both domestic and foreign and an
alternative to capitalism.

They had very important questions such as "is it possible to
avoid civil war?" and "how could socialism be achieved?"

So the ISR contingent met after the demo to discuss the way forward
and to address some of these questions. This discussion attracted many
who were not getting these questions answered by speakers on the
platform.

We linked the need to end the occupation with the urgent need for the
Iraqi working and oppressed masses to unite and organise for their own
security and against privatisation and unemployment.

We explained the socialist alternative to war and terrorism, to low
pay and exploitation and outlined how the working class needs to
organise itself to make capitalism history.

Unfortunately some of the Stop the War Coalition officers wanted to
stop the discussion. We have consistently argued for youth speakers at
the main rally particularly to raise the socialist alternative and the
success of this meeting shows there is a growing audience for it.


Photo credit Concernedphotography.net via indymdedia


Washington

THE ANTI-war demonstration in the US capital Washington on 24
September attracted over 100,000 people to protest at Bush’s war. In
fact the city’s police chief Charles Ramsey estimated that up to 150,000
protesters turned out.

The T-shirts and banners on the demo were imaginative – "Make
levees not war" linked the war with the catastrophic failures
uncovered by hurricane Katrina.

"Iraq is Arabic for Vietnam" was self-explanatory. Around
147,000 US troops are in Iraq. Since the war began two and a half years
ago, 1,911 members of the US military had been killed and 14,641 have
been wounded.

The contingent from Socialist Alternative, the Socialist Party’s
sister party in the US, was lively. Banners and placards with "Dump
the elephant, dump the ass, build a party of the working class"
were once again very popular (the elephant is the Republican Party’s
symbol, the ass that of the Democratic Party).

As war and economic troubles bite deeper in the USA, this mood of
opposition to the government – and the capitalist system that all the
mainstream parties defend – will increase.


Anti-war mood hardens

IN THE same week that hundreds of thousands marched internationally
against the occupation of Iraq, opinion polls show that the mood in
Britain is hardening against the war.

There is no doubt that attacks on British troops in Basra have had a
big effect.

Blair claims that British troops are helping to improve the security
situation. But a clear majority of people, 64%, believe that the
situation Iraq is getting worse, despite the presence of British forces.
Only 12% now share Blair’s view.

Only 41% agree with Blair that troops have a duty to remain in the
country until things improve.

Most people, 51%, now want the government to set out plans to
withdraw troops from Iraq, regardless of the situation in the country.