It was five years ago today

Remember? Fifteen million people or more marched against war:

In New York,

image from the New York rally

at the South Pole,

scientists protesting at South Pole

in Amsterdam,

an arial overview of the Dam Square

And of course, London.

London antiwar protesters. From Wikipedia

But not just there. Rome had three million people turning up in what was the biggest anti-war demo ever and there were smaller events all over the world, from Cape Town to Vancouver, from Paris to Glasgow. If ever there was a war opposed from the start and pursued against the wishes of the voter, it was this one. And yet all the demonstrations, all the anger didn’t stop it. Five years later Iraq is still occupied, over a million Iraqis have died as a result and those responsible for it have never ever had to suffer the consequences.

It’s no wonder many people have become desillusioned, bitter and cynical; I’ve had bouts of it myself. It’s therefore good to see, over at Comment is Free, Andrew Murray celebrating the very real achievements of the anti-war movement that put 2 million people on the streets of London:

The demonstration was the apex of a broader movement which touched almost every part of society in 2003. This included the greatest-ever engagement of British Muslims in active politics, thousands of school student walkouts, peaceful civil disruption in towns across the country, local authorities coming out against the war, and train drivers declining to move munitions for the invasion.

It was a movement entirely outside the established structures which normally mediate the relationship between people and power. It was organised by the Stop the War Coalition (with CND and the Muslim Association of Britain as our partners), a campaign not 18 months old and run on a shoestring.

Hundreds of thousands of trade unionists joined the demonstration, while the TUC – its eyes on its ministerial connections, not its members – maintained a frigid indifference. Labour and Tory party members protested against their leaders, while Liberal Democrats dragged their hierarchy to the demonstration behind them. Marching at the head of the demonstration, I missed what may have been the most telling sight of the day – Piccadilly blocked by people without a single banner among them. This was the march of the unmobilised.

It was also a march against Murdoch and his mendacious press, exploding the myth of his political omnipotence. Rupert said war, the people said no. All Alastair Campbell’s strategy of controlling opinion through appeasing the Sun in vain!

The demonstration, and the movement around it, exploded the notion that society is slumped in a consumer-sodden apathy, and incapable of political engagement. The country’s biggest mass movement followed a general election with the lowest turnout in modern times, and preceded one in which participation was scarcely improved. The problem is the system, not the people.

The Man Who Copied His War Protest Got 40 Grand – What Did Brian Haw Get?

A beating from the Met, that’s what:

Government and Police under fire for beating up Brian Haw

Tue, 01/15/2008 – 13:00 – Wire Services

The British government and London’s Metropolitan Police came under heavy criticism today for mercilessly beating up Britain’s iconic peace protester Brian Haw over the weekend.In an unprovoked attack by a police officer, Mr. Haw was assaulted in the face with his own camera and arrested while observing a demonstration against the ban on unauthorised protest under the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act (SOCPA) which was taking place outside Downing Street.

Mr. Haw, who was bleeding from the assault, was then dragged into the police van where he was further assaulted by policeman, according to witnesses.

“I utterly condemn the aggressive mishandling of Brian Haw during Saturday’s demonstration, and his subsequent treatment while in the custody of police,” Green MEP Caroline Lucas said. “He is a passionate and peaceful campaigner, and a popular hero following his outstanding efforts to publicly oppose the Iraq war.”

According to other protesters arrested along with Mr. Haw, the peace protester was once again badly assaulted before being strip searched and charged under the SOCPA.

“This incident provides yet more proof that police actions taken under the terms of SOCPA are putting a stranglehold on civil liberties and threatening the right to gather in peaceful protest,” Lucas added. “It is a sad day for this country when the face of modern democracy is frightened and bloodied and peering out of a police van on a Saturday afternoon.”

More…

Score another one for Bush: the surge works

The surge in homeless veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan, that is:

Experts who work with veterans say it often takes several years after leaving military service for veterans’ accumulating problems to push them into the streets. But some aid workers say the Iraq and Afghanistan veterans appear to be turning up sooner than the Vietnam veterans did.

“We’re beginning to see, across the country, the first trickle of this generation of warriors in homeless shelters,” said Phil Landis, chairman of Veterans Village of San Diego, a residence and counseling center. “But we anticipate that it’s going to be a tsunami.”

With more women serving in combat zones, the current wars are already resulting in a higher share of homeless women as well. They have an added risk factor: roughly 40 percent of the hundreds of homeless female veterans of recent wars have said they were sexually assaulted by American soldiers while in the military, officials said.

“Sexual abuse is a risk factor for homelessness,” Pete Dougherty, the V.A.’s director of homeless programs, said.

Special traits of the current wars may contribute to homelessness, including high rates of post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, and traumatic brain injury, which can cause unstable behavior and substance abuse, and the long and repeated tours of duty, which can make the reintegration into families and work all the harder.

Once more proof that soldiers, though most are stupid enough to vote Republican everytime and believe in these stupid wars, do not matter to the GOP and its cronies once the photo-op is over. If anybody in the US military is reading this and is scheduled to go to Iraq or Afghanistan save yourself from a future of homelessness.

Clueless in the Pentagon

Wired’s the Danger Room has a post on the US Navy’s attempt to understand and recruit “kids today” –with little succes:

A helpful translation of Myspacespeak

The typical kid today “has always been online,” and “has never known a world without digital phones.” Because of that, he a worldwide social network; his “best friend may be Chinese,” the report says. “Teens are creating new forms of social behavior that blur the distinction between online and real-world interactions — and largely ignore the difference between the two.” The dual life is “creating a whole new language.” The presentation warns recruiters that they’re liable to experience more than “just a generation gap” with today’s kids. To older military types, the youngsters will appear to be “a somewhat alien life force.”