I dont know about you, but I have my suspicions about the Stop the War Coalition.
Despite the record numbers of people who took to the streets to protest the war, both before and after the fact, I know of not one single call to action organised or proposed by them.
Surely the very least that should have happened was a call to boycott American & Israeli goods, services and events?
But.....
No call to boycott
No suggestions for direct action.
No access for ordinary citizens to speak (I know - I applied to them repeatedly & was ignored)
No speakers even acknowledging the Tel Aviv puppetmasters to the whole Imperialist Enterprise.

If, as a ruling entity, you want to control all aspects of a society, not simply those that either agree with or fear you, then it is in your best interests to ensure that any dissent is controlled and ultimately given a 'safe' vent.

If all those worthy souls who turned up to demonstrate, angry and ready to take action, were anything like me, we all went home after a few of hours of platitudes from a carefully controlled list of speakers, feeling that the energy had been somewhat diffused, the solidarity rendered limp and without any clear notion of what to do next.

I can't help but wonder in whose interests their current 'negotions' for the Bush criminal's unwelcome are being made.

You may possibly find some subtle hints as to the activities of the secretive Stop the War Coalition on the posters they paste up all over the place, or the leaflets they try to hand you, or their stickers on lampposts, or possibly even their website:

 http://www.stopwar.org.uk

The Stop the War Coalition is a coalition of various groups led by the leading members of the Socialist Workers Party (SWP). The SWP is a revolutionary political organization that believes in workers power, and the overthrow of the state. It's politics support workers struggles globally against racism, sexism, environmental degredation, and other important issues.

The Stop the War Coalition is focused on stopping the war, bringing the troups home, and showing the lies of the Bush, Blair and other imperialists. If you want to be involved in other tactics, such as boycotts etc., this is probably not the venue to do it in. It is not the mandate of the coalition, although any individual actions, or groups of people that want to do so, just do so on their own.

The Socialist Workers Party is a real pain in the ass to the British Government, and is very well known thoroughout Britain by workers and trade unionists. It is an excellent party to belong to if you want to affect real change. You can read the paper here:  http://www.swp.org.uk/

Making suggestions to the SWP, rather than to the Stop the War Coalition, is probably a better idea, but I'm sure that to have a say in activities, you need to be a member. (No different than in the states where the Democratic Party is not going to allow anyone who is not a member to advise them what to do. Join the party, and have a voice in the party.)

So, unless you have a better group to bring over two million people to the streets to protest against war, as the Coalistion did in Feb. I guess you should probably just thank the SWP for starting the coalition in the first place.

We've got a fantastic opportunity here folks to really embarass Blair in front of his new bestest mates n completely destroy Bush's promo video for next years election.

With enough of causing enough chaos our message will even get through to Blair's adoring US public, that this lying shit does not represent the views of this country and in fact there is no 'coalition of the willing', of which we are supposed to be a part, just some harrassed small nations n Bush n Blair.

Bush has taken the US for a ride, we can spell it out them over the coming days. This war is for Bush and Blair's Imperialist Ambitions, we are fighting and killing vast numbers of innocent people for oil and corporate interests, the war on Iraq is in fact State Armed Robbery of the most evil savage kind. (Bush's Nazi Grandfather would be very very proud).

So come on people take to the streets, I'm sure you could pull a sickie n join the fun in London over the coming days, and what's more think of the good that could be achieved.

And in reference to the Pagan chap, why do you feel the need to speak at a large scale rally, preaching to the converted. Get a few mates together n protest in your local town centre and CONVERT SOME PEOPLE!!!! The facts are out there, it's just that it's getting through to everyone, SCREAM the message until it's heard. (You could even call yourselves the 'Whatever Town Stop the War Coalition', it's that kind of groovy (semi) organisation).

Good Luck everyone, lets make it an N18,19,20,21 to remember!!

This is going to be so much fun, even if it rains all day.

Remember your anti-war umbrellas.

Whether you trust/don't trust the anti-war coalition is irrelevant. They are very organised, and have done a lot to make the demo visible. But what we do within that demo is all up to us, and rather than turning up expecting to be empowered, we should be making an effort to empower the demonstration.

What is the anti-war movement but a vast collection of individuals trying to fight the forces of greed and oppression. So instead of looking for leaders, lets just kick ass. I hope to see George Bush fleeing Buckingham Palace in his helicopter ( and wouldn't it be great....just great...if someone from the Iraqi resistance was just there under his chopper, with a shoulder mounted rocket launcher....and then BAM!!!! ) No.....bad man....behave....think positive thoughts, not violent thoughts....

We....are....peaceful....not.....violent. Stop....thinking....about....blowing...up....Bush

Its difficult. He is responsible for so much evil and suffering in the world. But its not really his fault. He is like the Homer Simpson of politics. It is the people who stand behind him who we need to worry about. How do we fight them? We're not even sure who they are...

just some harrassed small nations n Bush n Blair.

"Bush has taken the US for a ride, we can spell it out them over the coming days. This war is for Bush and Blair's Imperialist Ambitions, we are fighting and killing vast numbers of innocent people for oil and corporate interests, the war on Iraq is in fact State Armed Robbery of the most evil savage kind. (Bush's Nazi Grandfather would be very very proud)."

Indeed, Bush and the "Bush Regime" are unraveling their own sordid agenda...
There are many US citizens who see through it and understand that many in the UK (and in other parts of the world) do not approve of actions in Iraq, any more than we do. Protest! Protest! Protest!

We do here, trying to effectively communicate our frustration with the US Government in as many ways as possible. Thanks to organizations like Move On, and of course Indy Media, we can see the impact of like-minded humans, despite the efforts to drown out those voices by "paid off" media puppets...

Many here in the US will be protesting with you!

I can not be in London this week.
If I could be there I would be mobilizing like Judgement was coming.
Do not underestimate how important it is to show this man, and the American people, that they do not have an Ally in the great British people. The integrity of your nation is at stake, and your respect in the eyes of your European neighbours.
In memory of the greatness achieved by the RTS'ers and Tree Activists of Britain who entertained me for three years and inspired millions worldwide... and for my fallen comrades, in memory of Simon Jones, please, for me... drive that fucker out of your country...

Wishing you all well over in the UK. Bush recently visited Australia to "thank" our so called leader Mr Howard for his subservience. As would be expected the Howard government did all it could to crack down and removed protests as far as possible from Bush. Luckily we had two Greens in parliament who heckled him and made their objections apparent. Good luck tomorrow. Our support is with you!

SAlud

Creo que tenemos que hacer que nadie olvide este dia en Londres...
Hay que hacer que pagen todo lo que estan haciendo en el mundo estos malditos cabrones
que les cueste danos economicos o de otro tipo!!
Vamos a por ell@s!!!
Cambiaremos el mundo aunque sea a pedradas!
Viva la revolucion!

Violence is not an answer -it's a reply

Can anybody speculate on the nature of the direct action we will be directing at Bush?

Understandably the police would like to know this as much as I would, but will there be mass sit downs or heftier measures of civil disobedience and where will these take place?

In Genoa I witnessed the police beating and gassing many nonviolent protestors and I saw many angry young men smashing up shops and banks and throwing stones at police in a desperate effort to harm capitalism. We need to open peoples eyes without being written off as anarchist thugs.

fuera el maldito yankee Bush del Reino Unido y de cualquier parte del planeta por que es la encarnacion del mal, que respete la vida y retire sus tropas de Irak, Afganitan, y America Latina, pero el señor Bush perdera su guerra que como la perdieron en Vietnam, que asi sea.
el señor bush es el principal terrorista mundial, es un criminal, un mentiroso y su principales complices Blair la puta de Usa, Aznar el chupahuevo de Usay y sharon Fasista de mierda criminal, abajo el imperialismo, abajo el caPitalimo neoliberal, abajo el ALCA bomba que matara de hambre al pueblo latinoamericano

fuera bush de cualquier parte del mundo, no le queremos es un criminal la encarnacion del mal, es un maldito mentiroso fuera bush de irak de afganistan de america latina, abajo el imperialismo yankee, abajo el maldito capitalismo neoriberal, abajo el ALCA: la bomba que asesinara de hambre al pueblo suramericano, fuera maldito gringo del reino Unido y tu complice, tu perra Blair y tu complices criminales Aznar chupahuevos de EUA, sharon que ironico ahora es facista el maldito judio,

Thank you so much, everyone who is attending the London protests! We here in the U.S recognize and love your efforts to drive or phony "president" out of your country- it's been a nightmare living under his regime for the last 3 yrs, and the louder the world community helps to condemn him, the better the chance that his career will be dead in the water before the 2004 elections.......so thanks.....I love all of you!!!