The Iraq crisis - No War!
IRAQ: The End of the Beginning
As the statues of Saddam Hussein tumbled in Basra, Baghdad and Mosul, it might have been simple to conclude that the war had been won, the warmongers proved right, the killing worthwhile, the destruction constructive, the outcome a triumph for liberty and the American way. And the looting and disorder? Well, that's just what happens in the immediate aftermath of war.
We have no intention of reading from this script. The remarkable thing about the war on Iraq is not that a rogue superpower, by spending more on its military than the rest of the world put together, can blow a country like Iraq to pieces. Rather, it is the growth of a truly global movement of resistance. On 15 February 2003 the largest demonstration in history took place across Europe, Asia, Australasia and the American continents. Many millions of people became engaged for the first time in their lives, supported by many millions more who had already formed the movement for global justice.
Even where war was prosecuted most vigorously, by the 'Anglo Saxon' governments of the US, Britain and Australia, majorities or large minorities opposed it. In Spain 90 per cent of the population had no wish to be included with their government in the 'coalition of the willing'. In Germany and France, unpopular governments discovered to their surprise that they increased their popular support by opposing the war.
It is arguable that the resistance has already had some effect, restraining the US military and reducing the bloodshed in Iraq. It will certainly be harder for the warlords of 'the American Century' to launch the next phase of their military campaign, wherever that may turn out to be.
The US military may, for the time being, win its wars. But the resistance can still win the argument. There never was a consistent or coherent case to be made for the invasion of Iraq. So now will Saddam's fabled 'weapons of mass destruction' turn out to have existed at all? Will the conquest of Iraq bring liberation or occupation or the chaos of civil war? Will an 'independent' and 'democratic' Iraq be free – say – to oppose the Israeli occupation of Palestine? Will Iraqi oil – unlike anywhere else – bring shared prosperity to the Iraqi people, or the further enrichment of the oil business that runs the White House and chokes the planet? Or will the issue of oil pale as the country descends into internal conflict, tearing itself apart along ethnic and religious lines, serving as a magnet for extremists and fundamentalists?
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As the US administration looks beyond the borders of Iraq to other ’rogues’ that need sorting out, the choice we continue to face is between reasoned argument and brute force – between working to create a democratic peace and war without end. If it is to be brute force, then terrorism will claim its vindication and flourish into the indefinite future. If it is to be democratic peace, then there can be no avoiding the legitimacy that only the UN can confer – and the task of making it effective becomes more urgent still.
The invasion of Iraq cost the US and its allies cost $78 billion – just $1.8 billion would have fed Africa for a year. This is more than scandalous, it is criminal. There can be no peace, and certainly no justice, until the world resolves never again to privilege pointless death and destruction at the expense of human welfare.
Major
Barbara
Weblog on corporate
interests in the war on Iraq.
We
Stand for Peace & Justice
International petition for peace and justice.
Anti-War
Resources
An excellent collection of articles, ideas,
and action resources on ZNet.
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United
for Peace & Justice
A new USA national coalition against the
war.
Independent
Media Center
'Indymedia is a democratic media outlet
for the creation of radical, accurate,
and passionate tellings of truth.' Includes
links to regional IMC's.
Alternative
News Sites
Indymedia Urbana-Champaign (Illinois,
USA) interactively updated site of alternative
news sources on the war.
Stop
the War Coalition
A UK national coalition against the war.
Fairness
and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR)
Analysis of mainstream media's coverage
of the war.
War
Times
' The first casualty of war is truth.'
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AlterNet
AlterNet.org is a project of the Independent
Media Institute, dedicated to strengthening
and supporting independent and alternative
journalism.
US
Bombing Watch
A service of the Colorado Campaign for
Middle East Peace.
Iraq
Action Coalition
The Iraq Action Coalition is an online
media and activists' resource center.
Common
Dreams
' Breaking news and views from the progressive
community.'
ZNet
Extensive reports and analysis on the
war in Iraq and related issues.
Electronic
Iraq
Internet project by veteran anti-war activists.
Voices
in the Wilderness
Voices in the Wilderness is a joint US/UK
campaign to end the economic sanctions
and military warfare against the people
of Iraq.
Iraq
Journal
Includes audio and video reports.
Media
Workers Against War
Journalists take a stand.
Free
Speech Radio News
Regular news reports and special programmes.
Be sure to check out the 'Collateral Voices'
documentary.
Iraq
Peace Team
Non-violent activists on the ground in
Iraq.
Media
Channel
' The global network for democratic media.'
The
Nation
See especially, 'Global
Dispatches' with reports from around
the world in reaction to war.
Baghdad
Radio
Includes links to Iraqi and Arabic radio
stations and news sources.
Democracy
Now
The US alternative radio and TV network.
The
Progressive
One of the US's oldest progressive magazines.
In
These Times
Chicago-based bi-weekly magazine.
Protest.net
For info on upcoming demonstrations near
you.
Network
Opposing War and Racism
Anti-war activities down under.
Revolutionary
Association of the Women of Afghanistan
(RAWA)
Established in Kabul, Afghanistan, in
1977, RAWA is an independent political
and social organization of Afghan women
fighting for human rights and for social
justice in Afghanistan.
Peace
Movement Aotearoa
For the latest news from New Zealand/Aotearoa.
Women
in Black
Started by Israeli women in 1988 protesting
against the occupation, it has since developed
into an international
network of women fighting violence
and war.
Not
in Our Name
A statement of conscience against war
and repression.
The
Artists' Network of Refuse & Resist
' Artists dedicated to creating a culture
of resistance.' Includes music, art, poetry,
theater and more.
No
War Wikki
'The anti-war site you can edit!' A collaboratively
maintained database of anti-war articles
with a direct democratic editing discipline.
See also the PR
Watch project disinfopedia.org's
special section on war
propaganda.
Get
Your War On!
David Rees' cartoons illustrating
three office workers' take on the 'war
on terrorism'.
Mumia
Abu-Jamal Writings on the War
Writing from death row, award-winning
journalist Mumia Abu-Jamal has continued
to comment on world events.
World
Policy Institute
Attached to the New School University
in New York. Offers insightful analysis
of US foreign policy and international
affairs.
Transnational
Institute (TNI)
TNI's Peace
& Security page includes commentary
and analysis by the TNI Fellows and staff.
See especially coverage of the ongoing
India/Pakistan
conflict.
Al-Jazeera
English Page
Regularly under cyber-attack, this site
is intermittanly available and useful
to see what all the fuss is about.
Trident
Ploughshares
Trident Ploughshares activists have pledged
to disarm the UK Trident nuclear weapons
system in a non-violent, open, peaceful,
safe and fully accountable manner.
Campaign
Against the Arms Trade (CAAT)
CAAT is working for the reduction
and ultimate abolition of the international
arms trade, together with progressive
demilitarization within arms-producing
countries.
Christian
Aid
See particularly their latest report Fuelling
poverty - Oil, war and corruption.
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