International Socialists

The anti-war movement didn’t oppose the war on Iraq because we thought the US would lose. Neither did we expect the protest movement to somehow “convince” Bush, Blair and Howard not to go to war. And the reasons for opposing the war didn’t change once it had started.

In fact, every reason for standing up against the war has been proven correct by the US victory – from the fact that there are still no signs of “weapons of mass destruction,” to the growing Iraqi resistance to the US occupation.

But the corporate media’s abysmal coverage of the war has distorted these facts for millions, which is why many people – even those who protested against the war when it began – now have a mix of ideas. Some, for example, are confused about what to say about the US occupation. Others accepted the media’s stage-managed pictures of Iraqi celebrations of “liberation” and now wonder whether the war at least accomplished some good.

So the first job of the anti-war movement after the war is to cut through Washington’s lies and tell the truth – just as we did before. There are still widespread doubts about the Iraq war – and opposition to Bush’s openly stated plan to use Iraq as a stepping stone for more wars in the Middle East and beyond. But many people don’t know what they can do about this. That’s why it’s crucial that anti-war organisations maintain activity that can give a voice to this opposition.

For one thing, the US attack on Iraq isn’t over. It has just entered its next phase – a brutal occupation – and we have to respond to all of its injustices and horrors. Just as importantly, it will be vital to have organisational continuity for the next time the US goes to war – so that activists trying to stop a new slaughter won’t have to reinvent the wheel to build a new movement.

A core of people became determined opponents of the US war machine as a result of the struggle against the Iraq war. This core can maintain the fight against the occupation, while strengthening our ability to challenge the next US war.

This involves not just holding together an activist core, but taking any opportunity available to oppose the US occupation of Iraq and Bush’s wider war plans.

To help arm activists with some ideas to take into this struggle, this issue of Socialist Review looks at the aftermath of the war and why it was right to oppose it; we also examine Labour’s duplicitous stand on the war – and how workers stopped World War I.

No one expects the anti-war movement to draw the tens of millions worldwide that it did in the run-up to the war, or the nearly equal numbers who protested as the invasion started. But we can build a movement that gives voice to the widespread questioning and anger at Washington’s war makers and their policies – and the fake opposition of our own government.