<nettime> Where to Now for the Anti War Movement

[auskadi <auskadi@cwpanama.net>]

Here are some just some rushed, brief and preliminary thoughts on Where 
to Now for the Anti War Movement ...


Ok, I am not saying the war is over, we know that is not so, but if 
anything it maybe now that Iraq is finally properly  "inside" and that 
any conflicts that continue will be initailly "mopping up" by the 
coalition which will transform in time into regular policing operations 
carried out by the local administration. Rumsfled has already said it - 
it will be for the future Iraqi regime to deal with the "pockets of 
resistance" once they are liberated.

But what will all those poeple who opposed the war do now. Some I think 
will pack up and go home their cause apparently lost. I hope not.
As we see now Iraq has been "liberated" or made part of the smooth space 
of imperial capital the focus moves to the "reconstruction" and the 
establishment of a new administration. It seems that it will not be 
another Kosovo or Timor with the UN taking a leading role, it will not 
even be the form of an assistnce mision as in Afghanistan, but instead 
one where the leading role wil be taken by the military/business elite 
that seems to have its hands firmly on the monarchic tier of  the 
imperial regime. Capital, i.e. coalition business interest and the 
coalition military will be in charge.

Some will, as they did pre war,  try and place their faith in a UN 
rather than a coalition administration. But even if this was to happen 
it is still a matter in many ways of tweedle dum and tweedle dee. That 
is we would be exchanging control of the adminsitration by coalition 
based capital with some broader coalition of capital. ˇWow what a 
choice! Anyone who saw with a critical eye the implementation of  
"democracy" and "sound economic policy" in Timor can tell you that the 
UN administration may only be better by degree compared to the one that 
will be headed by Retired General Whoever in Iraq.

Sure the UN will have a role, picking up the pieces, but by and large it 
will be the monarchy's, the coalition's adminsitration, its NGO's and 
the like that will have the reigns of the show. And of course here we 
have what capital ahs dreamed of for so long, reconstruction of an 
entire state and its adminsitration PRIVATISED! We have seen already how 
US Forces distribute aid. Was it in Um Qasr that rather than giving out 
water for free to thirsty Iraqi's they immediately established micro 
businesses, locals who could sell the water to their fellow Iraqi's for 
a small fee.

For a while I have been saying yes we must be against the war, this and 
the perpetual war we find ourselves in, the thirty years war of our 
generation, but we also have to be-against the way in which the new 
adminstrations will be constructed. A critical eye must be turned to how 
"democracy" and "freedom" will be brought to Iraq, and whoever is on the 
list to be next to be liberated. The antiwar movement should not lose 
its steam, maybe its name, but not its steam. We have seen the growing 
consciousness during the last few months that the object is not just to 
be anti-war but anti the control and administration of life of global 
capital. From Madrid, to San Francisco and Sydney and all those places 
in between people have been attacking the World Bank, McDonalds and El 
Corte Ingles, for what they are - the drivers of this new world order. 
Out of this thirty years war we must build a new way of being - we need 
a new, we need to repeat the Peace of Westphalia.

So all I wanted to do in this little email, as they prepare to get 
together Iraqi political, religous and social leaders to establish the 
first stage of legitimising the new administration, is say we have to 
think about how to deal with this part of the imperial war machine and 
not just hat bloody horrible part we have not seen for the past few weeks.

Any thoughts on how we should proceed should be tossed into the ether 
for all to hear and see because this is where the real work 
begins....and we should no pack up our banners and go home but demand a 
real liberation for the people of the globe including those recovering 
from being liberated in Iraq.

Martin Hardie

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