Our movement can topple Bush and Blair
johnmy
What SOCIALIST WORKER thinks
Our movement can topple Bush and Blair
TONY BLAIR and George Bush hoped the state visit of the US president
to Britain this week would be a victory parade in the wake of their war on
Iraq. Instead the scale of the protests turned the visit into a siege. The
two warmongers were forced to cancel planned parades and speeches. They were
to hide behind huge numbers of police, totally cut off from any contact with
ordinary people.
Thursday's magnificent demonstration through London indicated the
enormous depths of opposition in this country to Bush, Blair and their war
policy. Media commentators who had predicted the protests would be low key
and small have been forced to eat their words as central London was brought
to a standstill.
The scale of the protests against Bush stunned even the organisers.
Among those who marched were many who had not joined the great demonstration
against war back in February. The brutal reality of the US and British
occupation of Iraq has deepened the anger against them.
The case for war pushed by Bush and Blair has been exposed as lies.
This too has increased the feeling of opposition to the war. Those who
protested this week know that the war and occupation have not brought the
peace, prosperity and democracy to Iraq promised by Bush and Blair.
Instead the violence meted out by the occupying forces is deepening
the resistance to the US and British forces. That resistance has thrown the
whole US policy in Iraq into deep crisis. But that does not mean we can sit
back and just watch what is happening in the Middle East.
The great danger is that Bush will respond to the political weakness
he now faces at home and the defeats his troops are suffering in Iraq with
even more violence. He has already resumed bombing raids in Iraq. And he is
making the same sort of threatening noises about Syria and Iran that he was
making about Iraq 18 months ago.
Bush has still not given up on his original plan to reshape the Middle
East and dominate the world, using war to enforce US interests. That's why
one of the biggest cheers in Trafalgar Square on Thursday came when speakers
made it clear that the anti-war movement was determined to stop Bush going
on to launch attacks on Iran, Syria or North Korea. Our protests can help
ensure that the occupation of Iraq is ended as quickly as possible.
We can also create a tide of resistance in the US and in Britain so
powerful that it becomes politically impossible for Bush and Blair to wage
more wars, anywhere in the world.
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Bush's war is breeding violence
THE BOMB attacks in Turkey show one thing clearly. The "war on
terrorism" preached by Bush and Blair is breeding terrorism around the
world. The more the US occupies parts of the Middle East, the more it is
creating despair and bitterness.
Some people will react to the random bombing and killing by the US and
its allies Britain and Israel with random bombing of their own. Socialists
have always been opposed to such methods. But we also understand that what
causes them is the much greater violence of George Bush and his friends.
The bigger the anti-war movement in the US and Britain, the more
successful we are in challenging Bush, Blair and their imperialism. And the
quicker we can force them out of the Middle East and bring about the justice
without which there will be no peace.
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WE were there
"My husband was drafted in November 2002. He was taken to Fort
Campbell in Kentucky and kept there for three months of retraining before
his draft even started. He was told he would be in Iraq for 179 days. Now he
has been told he will be there for 508. He wants to come home. So many of
the US soldiers want to come home. I think the war has everything to do with
corporate and oil interests. I am proud to be on the demo today. I hope it
will have an impact in the US."
a.. JARI SHEESE, member of Military Families Speak Out
"Bush just seems to think we are idiots. So many innocent people have
died already, and for what? He probably doesn't care about us, but today
will go some way to making him listen. I still can't believe Blair invited
him. Look at the reaction today-it speaks for itself."
a.. SONIA, TAY and SARAH, students from University College London
"It is only right that we are here in such numbers. It's not just
about Iraq-it's about all Bush's foreign policy and the sheer selfishness of
his government. They don't think about anybody but themselves. It's really
important to show we are against the war. Just because Blair supports it
doesn't mean we do."
a.. VIV and ESTHER, a painter and decorator and a tattooist
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More voices from the march
"WE WANT to stop Bush. He doesn't deserve a state visit. I was on the
student fees demo a few weeks ago. So I am against Bush and against
taxpayers' money being wasted on this visit instead of being spent on useful
things like health and education."
a.. JO, Nottingham University
"WE HAVE just had the European Social Forum in Paris and decided we
just had to be here. The anti-war movement in Britain has been such an
inspiration to us in France."
a.. ZAK, student from Paris
"I AM marching to show Bush and Blair that we are against them and
what they have done. I am against the occupation of Iraq, and we are also
marching in solidarity with the Palestinian people. We have to show Blair
and Bush that people don't want the kind of world they want."
a.. MOHAMMED, school student from north London
"WE HAVE built our anti-war group from the bottom up. It has involved
all sorts of people, including people new to any kind of politics and
protest. We had 150 of us come down today by bus. Many more came down
independently."
a.. JIM, member of the Unison union, Leicester
"THE LAST time I was on my feet in the streets of London was marching
against the Vietnam War. This is even more important."
a.. TERESA, from Mundesley, north Norfolk
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