The following articles were published in "The Guardian", newspaper of
the Communist Party of Australia in its issue of Wednesday, October 2nd,
2002.
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Marching for peace, against war
From London to Sydney and from Rome to Washington, hundreds of thousands
marched over the weekend to stop an illegal war against Iraq.
In London, estimates of the numbers ranged from 150,000 (the police) to
over 350,000 by the march organisers.
"Nothing can take the British people into a war that they do not accept
and do not want", said former Labour Party MP, Tony Benn. "When the
bloodshed begins, if it does, criminal responsibility for what has
happened will rest with those who have taken that decision. There is a
share of responsibility with us as well."
The Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone said: "This is the largest march
for peace I have seen in 30 years. This will have an electrifying effect
on the Labour Party conference and on those MPs opposed to war.
Over one hundred thousand flag-waving, whistle-blowing and chanting
demonstrators took to the streets of Rome last Saturday.
In Sydney about 2000-3000 marched from Town Hall Square to Belmore Park.
Speakers included John Sutton, National Secretary of the CFMEU and
Meredith Bergmann, Labor Party MLA in the NSW Parliament.
Following the joint statement from former Australian Prime Ministers,
former Army and Navy Chiefs of Staff and the National Secretary of the
RSL, David Woolcott, the former Australian representative to the United
Nations, also came out in opposition to unilateral action by the US.
A letter published in the "Sydney Morning Herald" by Major-General
Stretton (ret) asks, "How could Australia be under any threat from a
county with no current nuclear weapons, no delivery system ... and a
country which would not even be interested in Australia were it not for
our belligerent talk of supporting America in an attack.
"There is simply no rationale for Australia to be involved. To send
young Australians into a war ... is irresponsible to say the least."
In Washington, thousands of people opposing war with Iraq marched to the
residence of Vice President Dick Cheney on Sunday, culminating three
days of demonstrations in the US.
"Many thinking people are questioning this war", said Rita Clark a 70
year old grandmother. "I have to do this for my children and
grandchildren", she said.
Protestors held banners saying "No Blood for Oil" and blamed Cheney for
pushing the nation towards war.
There were protest marches in Cyprus, Spain and many other countries.
Many more actions are planned in Australia, Britain, the USA and
elsewhere during October. In Australia, there will parallel actions this
week in solidarity with the big protest at the US Pine Gap base in the
Northern Territory.
Meanwhile US attorneys, Carl Messineo and Mara Verheyden-Hilliard have
declared that "no UN resolution and no Congressional resolution can
legalise an illegal war. A war of aggression violates the US
Constitution, the United Nations Charter and principles of the Nuremberg
Tribunal. It violates the collective law of humanity that recognises the
immeasurable harm and unconscionable human suffering when a country
engages in wars of aggression.
"The US administration is now waging a campaign to convince the people
of the United States to fall into step and finance with money and blood
this war brought for conquest on behalf of the corporate and oil
interests that make up Bush's true constituency."
Commenting on the National Security Strategy document issued by
President Bush on September 17, the attorneys said that "Bush's
pre-emptive war against Iraq doesn't even purport to pre-empt a physical
attack. It purports to pre-empt a threat that is neither issued nor
posed. Iraq is not issuing threats of attack against the United States.
It is only the United States which threatens war.
"It is not for disarmament. It is the US which has stockpiled nuclear,
biological and chemical weapons. It is the US which is directly
threatening to use these weapons against another country. It is the US
which has bombed Iraq relentlessly for more than ten years, killing
scores of innocent civilians.
"There has been no evidence that Iraq is capable of an attack on the US,
let alone possessing the intention of carrying out such an attack", said
the attorneys.
UN Security Council members France, Russia and China, who have the power
to veto any Security Council resolution, have refused to support the
proposed US-British war resolution.
Voices need to be raised to ensure that these governments reject US and
British pressure and blandishments and exercise their votes rather than
abstain as has often happened in the past.
Despite this powerful and worldwide opposition, George Bush continues to
threaten war and declares that the US will take unilateral military
action irrespective of a UN Security Council rejection.
CPA General Secretary Peter Symon told "The Guardian" that "the whole
world now stands on the edge of a precipice. A war against Iraq will be
only the first act in a series of wars against many countries.
George Bush's Strategy statement makes this very clear. This can still
be stopped by the people and governments building a mighty collective
opposition to the US war plans. There is still time. It is not too late."
Note: Next week's Guardian will carry an analysis of the National
Security Strategy of the US issued by the Bush administration.
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