On the other hand if serious accusations are to be made then they need to be made with supporting evidence or not at all. George Galloway MP, the renegade Labour MP who became Vice-President of the STWC and who was expelled from the Labour Party in the aftermath of the war, was asked in 2002 if he was part of the Stalinist left. LONDON — The world of the British far-left is a small one. And yet again, not a mention of NATO, of UK imperialism and the never-ending wars. Red or green, aligned or not, Left Futures seeks to refresh and activate your politics. However, when the focus of US military intentions switched to Iraq , the Coalition began to develop a new prominence in British civil society. Shame, he probably had a bright future. Instead of clear arguments backed by proper analysis, the STWC gave incoherent ones. Stop the War Coalition Stop the War was founded in September 2001 in the weeks following 9/11, when George W. Bush announced the "war on terror". Actually, in 1917, Lenin’s home was Switzerland. Very long post, John – though very true. 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). BBC News Online. Although the Israeli government strongly supported the US in its stance on Iraq , Israel remained a neutral country during the Iraq War. First of all, it was arguably a mistake by the STWC to focus on protest marches as the main technique of campaigning. With all due respect to him, I don’t think it’s unfair to describe him as someone who is on a rightwards political trajectory – from the Socialist Party into the Labour Party and then supporting Yvette Cooper in the leadership election. For a socialist like me and many of those who like Left Futures, the moral position is to oppose BOTH American imperialism AND Stop the War’s twisted so called movement. 6. 9. [10] However, established bodies such as the Church of England and Save the Children were not part of the STWC, and were unlikely to join when one takes into account the explicit or implicit support to totalitarian regimes given by some of its key figures. Unsubstantiated conspiracy theories were touted as hard fact. I voted for Corbyn in the leadership election and hope to be able to vote for him in a general election. The Stop the War Coalition (StWC) (informally just Stop the War) is a United Kingdom group set up on 21 September 2001 that campaigns against what it believes are unjust wars.. I don’t know much about STWC. James, those are poor efforts to delegitimise John Penny and Gerry as commenters according to their (presumed) affiliation, instead of engaging with and rebutting their actual arguments. The main anti-STW contributors are doing themselves a great disservice in being so venemous and insulting to their opponents. As to your point that I consider StWC to be the anti-war movement, yes I suppose I do think that. As such, it was hugely successful in mobilising hundreds of thousands around a simplistic , but essentially accurate “It’s all about oil” and associated anti US Imperialism mantra. 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. Andy admits that STW has recently “published a couple of silly articles” and says that this was a deviation from the general picture. The aim of the Coalition was, to stop the war currently declared by the United States and its allies against ‘terrorism’. It seems that you have a strong objection to “anybody” who supports STWC. p. 132 Certain British NGOs were able to produce rigorous analyses. You really need to be able to understand and grasp the notion of a broad-based single-issue campaign Gerry. 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? Imagine someone recently brought into, or back into, politics in the wave of enthusiasm generated by the process leading to the election of Jeremy Corbyn. A witch hunt that is not because StWC positions or internal practices but because it is the main organisation that combats their own permanent war/colonial regime change mentality and so is seen as a threat, and more importantly right now it is seen as a way to attack and undermine Jeremy Corbyn. The ‘protest virgins’ were the first to go. It does him no favours if we sweep the dark side of the StWC under the rug. It is the type of argument that gives the anti-left outpourings of people like Nick Cohen some traction. Why We Need an Anti-War Government. On March 20 th 2004 the STWC held a march to commemorate the first anniversary of the beginning of the war. 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. Your help is vital for us to continue our work. 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. Success in that requires that that we have high standards of toleranceband civility combined with generous assumptionsbabout what motivates those we disagree with. Cohen N. (2003) Pretty Straight Guys . | 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. That’s based on my experience of StWC being the only organisation to my knowledge that organised anti-war protests against the bombing of Syria. Is that an impossible notion by definition? Stop the War has since been dedicated to preventing and ending the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and elsewhere. Protest marches are somewhat limited in their effectiveness as a campaigning tool. Stop the War opposes the British establishment’s disastrous addiction to war … A simple question: what is an organisation called ‘Stop The War’ doing appointing as It’s Chair, someone who supports the bombing of Syria? ... UK involvement with the brutal bombing of Yemen in favour of the deeply repressive Saudi dictatorship exposes British foreign policy. Further, for you to say that foreign affairs is a marginal concern for voters is a device to place such debate beyond the democratic process because it raises uncomfortable questions about power that too often liberal and social democrat interventionists don’t want to face ( Trident is another example which until Corbyn was a no go area within Labour ). Just as too many on the Left for generations made apologies for the huge crimes of the totalitarian Stalinist regimes masquerading as “socialist states”. sorry comrades,stop the war coalition are parasites on the backs of all decent human beings and humanity,how the hell can you defend this evil virus called stop the war coalition that compares the isis mass raping of women and children,beheading of the innocents with there arms tied behind there backs,genocide of christians and non sunni muslim minoritys to freedom fighters who fought francos fascists in spain,how dare you defend these vile sectarian and anti semetic racists and bigots of stop the war coalition,deep shame on the lot of you. Not again…all you have done is prove the point that Stop the War is not anti-war, but anti-west. In fact the unravelling of the post 1918 current state boundaries may have gone so far now that no solution on current boundaries is possible. Initially a campaign to oppose an American military response to the terrorist attacks, the first meeting was chaired by Lindsey German and attracted around 2,000 people. 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. This appears to stem partly from the SWP’s stance on the Israel/Palestine conflict, which is aggressively pro-Palestine and anti-Israel. The Left needs to rethink its analysis, and form a more principled, tactically flexible, campaigning vehicle to challenge the UK government’s cynical role in the Middle East – including its absolute refusal to challenge the huge role of Turkey and the Gulf states in supporting the Sunni fundamentalists in the conflict – including the clerico-fascists of Daesh. Anti-war campaign group in Bristol. Its core activists were unable to capitalise on the huge groundswell of support they had received prior to the war in Iraq , and it was to become dogged by poor leadership and vulnerable to hijack by political and religious extremists. What Stop the War has done instead is focus on the inadequacy of UK military action as a solution. Mueller A. Stop the War faces a coalition of critics L e t t e r s Airstrikes hit the town of Hamouria in the eastern Ghouta region, a rebel stronghold east of the Syrian capital Damascus, on 9 December 2015. I say no to all of them. 983 likes. So Karl, in short….No to Washington, No to Moscow, No to Islamic fundamentalism, No to Freemarket fundamentalism…and Stop the War is in alliance with at least 2 of them! 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. We have initiated many campaigns around these issues. Open debate. Most of the activist Left, not just the Trot groups and the old Stalinists of the CPB, and their allies in the Labour Party, really did, and do seem to think that “US/Western Imperialism ” is the only major barrier to world peace and socialism. On March 19 th 2003 the Iraq War began. David – your style of debate and political argument is just one style, and others have their own style of debate, which include use of heightened language and emotion, which I also think is perfectly reasonable. SWP activists have contributed to a significant part of the STWC’s organisation in many local branches as well as at the national level. 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. Most of the arguments claiming to link the Israel/Palestine issue to the Iraq issue tended to be simply comparisons – the malign effect of US foreign policy in the Middle East , a perceived oppression of Muslims by the West, track records on failing to observe UN resolutions – rather than actual concrete links between the two countries and conflicts. In collaboration with the Stop the War Coalition and the Muslim Association of Britain, CND has organised anti-war … The issue is what is tactically appropriate for the real people fighting fascist tyranny NOW in the area – not fitting everything that occurs into a rigid , pre-set ideological narrative – based on entirely bogus soviet era “Stalino-Marxism”. Andy lists different interest groups in STW from pacifists to those who believe that British troops can justifiably be used to “protect and promote British territory, citizens and interests”. The Stop The War Coalition website has published a number of posts about Ukraine. He starts of with three assertions about the wisdom of STW on three issues (Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya). Your help is vital for us to continue our work. The most visible outward manifestation of this huge growth was the massive demonstration that took place on February 15 th 2003. But then on a second take I try to go through removing all that stuff because it clogs up debate rather than encourages it. Edinburgh Stop the War Coalition. 11 A nominally impressive figure, but a small fraction of the hundreds of thousands who gathered the previous February. Are you even in the Labour Party John, because it is quite clear from your lecturing Judean Peoples Front essay that the key points of what is really going on here regarding a dangerous witch hunt against Jeremy has gone straight over your head. But Lenins home was Russia ,and the Germans were invading that. Instead it makes those words ring hollow. Muddling together Iraq and Palestine into one issue might have been popular when appealing to the membership of the SWP and the Muslim Association of Britain, but had little influence with policymakers looking for clear arguments. 1. 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. The most egregious by far are by John Pilger. A response will come in due course. So give up trying to occupy any moral high ground, James. By becoming a Stop the War member today, you’ll be part of a mass anti-war movement. Stop the War Coalition demonstration in Central London against military action in Syria. Moreover, within weeks of the February protests, the STWC had gone into decline with startling … A consequence of this was the involvement of the Muslim Association of Britain (MAB), which, along with the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, would co-sponsor the Stop the War protests. 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 … Stop the War has since been dedicated to preventing and ending the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and elsewhere. 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. The Stop the War Coalition had been formed on September 21 st 2001 in London , in the wake of the September 11 th attacks. 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. Your position is profoundly anti-socialist, P Spence. The Russia that has an ultra-conservative, ultra-capitalist, homophobic regime that represses and imprisons socialists. The Stop the War Coalition, back in the news due to the Syrian crisis, has a punchy name but not a wholly accurate one. 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. Campaigning. Stop the War was founded in September 2001 in the weeks following 9/11, when George W. Bush announced the “war on terror”. The Respect Coalition appear to be belatedly discovering that socialist and Islamists don’t necessarily believe the same things, and at some point will probably have to decide whether to retain the support of the Muslim Association of Britain or whether they want to undertake any meaningful campaigning on gay rights or women’s rights. Neither Phil nor Andy do that. were invading,so why compare him By deliberately blurring the two issues of Iraq and Palestine , the STWC arguably did considerable harm to its own ability to make a coherent, well-argued case against war. 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. The coalition has campaigned against the wars that are part of the so-called " War on Terror " of the United … On the day war broke out, hundreds of people gathered in the city centre to voice their anger, and main roads were blocked by large crowds both at midday and in the evening. Moreover, within weeks of the February protests, the STWC had gone into decline with startling rapidity. I think I have made my reasons clear David. in the UK. For example, the Church of England produced an excellent review of the arguments for and against war. People who don’t know their dreadful lineage and politics may be fooled by the “Don’t bomb Syria” placards, but it is up to socialists/genuine Labour members to tell them the truth: avoid Stop the War and all their works. This conjunction of the SWP and the MAB led to the STWC drawing a clear link between war in Iraq with Israel/Palestine. If you want to get involved as a contributor, please contact James Elliott using the form on this page. Notes As for the Kurds they are unfortunately either Stalinist groupings now loyal to Putin and Assad like StWC or they are manipulated by the West like the Kurds in Iraq being trained by Turkey. Funnily enough, I loathe giving obviously poisonous groups like Stop the War so much oxygen but articles like this from Andy Newman simply make my blood boil….when, as you rightly argue elsewhere, there is so much hard thinking and medium/long term policy work to do on the economy, the EU, immigration, welfare, let alone health and education: the sort of work that any credible opposition should be doing now after a shattering election defeat. I have my criticisms of the political views of some of its leading figures (I remember Tariq Ali writing in the Guardian in the period shortly after the Iraq invasion, that all groups opposing the US should be regarded as “freedom fighters”) so I am inclined to see some force in some of the criticisms criticisms made. '[6], Also prominent in the Stop the War Coalition leadership were the activists of the Socialist Workers Party (SWP), a Trotskyist organisation wedded to the principle of protest politics. Yours? If there was a Soviet Union today, we would not be having this conversation about plunging into a new war in the Middle East, and the US would not be rampaging around the globe. Why We Need an Anti-War Government. The Coalition was at first concerned with campaigning against the war in Afghanistan . Church of England produced an excellent review of the protests in my city give illustration. 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