Our friend [not] Tom Harding, the telegraph hack who
infiltrated the wombles in Genoa has written a completely shit and misrepresenting story on the wombles with the help of Peter Cadogan. Here is the article:

Anti-capitalist guerrillas lost in a greater war
By Thomas Harding
(Filed: 09/11/2001)

'WE have just heard that the World Trade Centre has been hit by two aircraft," the man on the loudspeaker said.

"We hope there are no casualties, but if the towers do fall down may it take them many decades to rebuild the heart of capitalism."

The announcement was greeted by cheers and applause by the 1,000 protesters who had just been scuffling with riot police during a march on the world arms trade fair in Docklands, east London, on September 11.

But as the enormity of the events sank in, the snarling
atmosphere changed to sullen acceptance that the
anti-capitalists had been sidelined.

Since then the voice of a protest movement that had gained huge momentum has become lost amid the rubble of New York. It is confused over what direction to take and that is causing rifts among the various protest groups which could signal their end.

The Wombles, the anarchists who dress in white overalls and home-made body armour to confront the police, were at the peak of their power when they forced Oxford Street shop keepers to board up their premises and the resulting huge police operation on May Day.

But the cohesion of the Wombles - White Overall Movement Building Libertarian Effective Struggle - has gone. A knee-jerk reaction was to condemn the American attacks on Afghanistan outright, but others believe the war is justified in removing the oppressive Taliban regime. Some members have been expelled
as a result.

"There have been discussions over the past few weeks about what we constitute, what we stand for and how we act," said a Wombles source. "I thought we had come to some conclusions but perhaps we didn't. There is now a chasm between the idealistic and realistic."

Others are showing less dedication to the cause, talking about "forgetting the whole thing". Certainly only a fraction of the predicted 50,000 anti-capitalist protesters turned up to demonstrate at the annual International Monetary Fund meeting in Washington in late September.

Peter Cadogan, the veteran Left-wing agitator, approves of a war to remove the Taliban and condemns the "negativity" of the movement. "They are naive and will not talk about ideas or goals," he said.

"There is a state of complete confusion about the nature of the anti-capitalist movement. They have the essentials there because there is something deeply wrong in the world. It is the people who have power to think who will provide change."

In American and Europe the movement has changed from one wanting "global justice" to that campaigning for "global peace". But the dwindling numbers protesting outside Downing Street every Tuesday show the public's lack of appetite.

George Monbiot, the darling of the anti-corporation lobby, sees the movement evolving to become more balanced and thoughful. "The fundamental issues have not gone away," he said. "There is serious imbalance in the global community. The poor and weak nations will not be represented at the trade talks in Qatar.

"The protests of tomorrow won't be big street demonstrations. They will be more quiet and focused; less spectacular but more effective."

There was talk of some form of protest in Qatar despite the obvious difficulties posed by a less than tolerant police force. However, there is a plan to picket the Qatar embassy in London today.

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This is the second time that Peter Cadogan has sought to associate himself with the wombles via the press. He is justa sad old liberal with nothing better to do than inpose his view either through clogging up email lists or speaking directly to the press.

I'd advise people to be weary of this character [see the new issue of Note from the Borderland available at radical bookshops, apparently Mr Cadogan was quite
friedly with MI5 in the 1960's!]

W@