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Personal Account of the STW March

Brian B | 25.02.2007 20:34 | Terror War

A personal account of the experience of participation in the STW march against the Iraq war and Trident replacement with a critical view on the event.

Arrived at around 12:00pm to Marble Arch/Hyde Park where the march was assembling. Official protest placards provided included messages such as Don't Attack Iran and Stop Trident. The march started moving at just after 1.00pm.

As usual the speeches had already started by the time of arriving at Trafalgar Square. There the marchers were treated to speeches from amongst others Caroline Lucas, Galloway, Lindsey German, Sami Ramadani. I can't remember all the names. At the end was what I think was one of the more important elements of the rally, which was a video shown of the Mayor of Hiroshima sending a message about the anti-war protest. This Mayor said (although I cannot remember the exact words) that anti-war protest in London showed that protest against war and Trident showed that the deaths and suffering of thousands in Hiroshima had not gone in vain.

At the very end STW allowed Brian Haw to speak. He was very energetic and for once there was someone shouting louder than Galloway. His message included repeated calls to remember the kids affected by war with his shouts of 'It's the kids stupid'. Brian Haw also asked why there were not 5 million people marching against the massacre of kids which is a good point. Excellent stuff and it was good that he was allowed to speak, although only at the very end when a lot of people had already left to go home.

Overall I thought the speeches were a little bit better than last time I went to a march. However there was more emphasis placed on pulling the troops out of Iraq, no attack on Iran and no Trident replacement. I did not hear all of the speeches because they had all started by the time I arrived, the sound was not clear enough from where I was standing and I spent a bit of time looking at the various stalls. However from what I could tell there was not much mention of Afghanistan. Blair announced that 1600 troops would be pulled out from Iraq. Then almost immediately after that annoucement it became clear that at the same time another 1000 would be sent to Afghanistan. Obviously this announcement was too late to be considered at the time of the organisation and slogans to be decided on for this march. It has however been obvious that the offensive against Afghanistan has been escalating for nearly a year now. I heard Jeremy Corbyn MP mentioning Afghanistan but where he called strongly for troops to be pulled out from Iraq he did not call for the same for Afghanistan.

In the latest newsletter from Voices in the Wilderness (p4 in Feb/Mar '07 edition) they say "With the fall of the Taliban in Oct 01 Afghanistan fell off the agenda of the UK anti-war movement. As the civilian death toll continues to mount, there is a desperate need for it to be placed firmly back on it." I think that now is the time for the war against Afghanistan, which is already in progress (as opposed to Iran) to be brought back to prominence within the anti-war movement.

One group that had a stall at Trafalgar Square was calling for a strike on Tuesday March 20th 2007 with an authorised demonstration in Parliament Square. I would think that some people will find it hard to strike, with people in employment not having any right to strike especially on a political issue (correct me if I am wrong). However see website at  http://peacestrike.org.

A flier from CND was publicising a lobby on the day of a 'Commons' debate on Trident replacement some time in March 1-6pm and then a rally afterwards 6-8pm. The date for this was not stated. There is a website at  http://tridentvoteday.org.uk

An important question for me would be will this march have made even one iota of difference. Well perhaps due to the incessant repetition of calls to buy the new song from the Stop the War coalition by texting the number that was flashed on the video screen a thousand times or through buying on the internet, maybe the song might reach the top 40. However on the subject of Iraq, Blair has already announced a phased pullout of troops, so will the march have made any change to the prospects of bringing forward this pullout at all and will Trident be abolished. I honestly cannot see how any of that will be stopped due to the march or petition to stop any attack on Iran. There were also requests for donations to STW, but would I want to continue paying towards this organisation when it took a fairly neutral position at the time of the general election and rejected calls for a stronger position to call for voters to select candidates and parties opposed to the Iraq war?

Brian B
- Homepage: http://www.brianb.uklinux.net/antiwar-discuss/

Comments

Hide the following 4 comments

Confused

26.02.2007 14:25

If you don't mind my saying Brian you seem a little confused.
I take it you are against the war yet you shiver at the notion of a strike in which people might risk their jobs
endless walks and talks are unlikely to counter the market in war

Bob


Why don't people march?

26.02.2007 22:03

I reckon Brian Haw's probably pretty sound, but his question seems a bit daft - Why don't people march? It seems obvious to me, but maybe I'm missing something; At least some people (me included) don't march because they see it as a completely pointless activity. How much impact can I have on a march? None. How much notice do Blair and his disgusting murderous ilk take of even millions on the street? None At All. You can march all you like, and that's why its pointless! Its a displacement activity similar in its way to voting for someone who's slightly less bad than the next power crazed scumbag.
Don't vote and don't march - Just Say No! (preferably with a great stunt, a titanuium D-Lock and a bunch of good friends)

Oscar Delphinium


reply

27.02.2007 00:24

To "bob": I have not shivered at the notion of a strike. If I was really against it then I would not have included in my account and then provided a link to the website. I am interested in this and I actually asked a question on the legal position of striking. I think another question is whether many people will take part in it. If the concerns (that people WILL have) cannot be addressed then it will not go very far. I think the organisers should set out the risks and legal advice on how to go about this. I spoke to one person at the stall and asked how many people have said they will take part and the answer was only that some students said they will, which is not quite the same as those in employment. From your accusation I will take it you will be participating and losing your job by taking part in this.

To "Delphinium": If you think that marching will have no effect then why do you think that a mere stunt with a D-lock would have any more effect? Same with striking. If only a few people take part then all it will mean is that a few people lose their jobs unnecessarily and Blair will not care a single jot about that. How many iotas of difference will that make - a few students having to catch up on a days missed lessons/lectures or getting worse scores in their exams.

No comments on Afghanistan...

Brian B


Correction and supplementary rant

27.02.2007 02:34

I said "great stunt" not "mere stunt" . Maybe I'm one of those cynical people only in it for the buzz. Or maybe not. You decide if you want. If you've haven't got strange men in Vauxhall Omegas parked outside your house you're maybe not doing enough? There's only so many of them, and an almost limitless number of us if we get off our arses and stop messing about with "approved" activities. I don't mean to be negative, honest. Please march if you like, but do me the favour of admitting that it won't change anything, any more than voting, or boycotting Toyota coz of whaling or any number of other soft replies that are possible to the murderous people who do lots and lots of very bad things.

For me its about me and my friends putting our soft bodies in the way of the (big) war. Marching just doesn't achieve that - because the killers don't care if there's a hundred thousand, or a million, or five million on the streets one saturday. They proved that admirably a couple of years ago remember.

I was there - and I'm never going again. It was a waste of time.

Oscar Delphinium