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Unite the Anti-War Movement!


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As we enter full swing into the presidential election cycle, the anti-war movement will be under enormous pressure to give support to candidates from the Democrats and even the Republicans.

As activists in the anti-war movement, we need to keep focused and remember that there are no short cuts to ending the war. The deteriorating situation on the ground in Iraq itself is one factor, but this must be coupled at home with massive, united mobilizations.  The capitalists and their representatives simply will not voluntarily end the war until they are forced to. There is too much at stake for them.

The anti-war movement as a whole has been digesting the lessons from the nearly 5 years of this war.  After numerous “bait and switches” by the Democratic Party, the main lesson to be drawn is the need for political and organizational independence. Many in the movement have also started to come to the conclusion that the war is a function of the capitalist system itself, and not simply a “bad policy by Bush.”

It is therefore clear that the best way for the anti-war movement to express itself is not by merely standing behind this or that Democratic or Republican “anti-war” candidate but by independent mobilizations on the streets.

The fifth anniversary of the war is fast approaching, and this presents the movement with an opportunity to set aside any unprincipled differences and to organize a national united front action on a specific day, as close as possible to the anniversary of the start of the war, around the demand “End the War Now!” This would send a strong political message during the opening of the election season and boost the morale of the movement.

Building for such a mobilization would also lend a clear focus to the movement’s work on the local level. Preparations for an anniversary action would help local anti-war coalitions draw in the tens of thousands of people who perhaps have opposed the war for some time but are just now getting active.

The Workers International League is active in the anti-war movement across the country. If you agree with our perspectives for the anti-war movement, get in contact with us to help us fight for class independence, maximum unity, and a mass mobilization of the movement. You can write us at [email protected] or at our mailing address, PO Box 18302, Minneapolis, MN  55418.