Should the Anti-war Movement Support the Iraqi Resistance?

Should the Anti-war Movement Support the Iraqi Resistance?
By Mike Rhodes
January 29, 2005

Porto Alegre, Brazil - At a workshop held yesterday at the World Social Forum, to discuss ending the US occupation in Iraq, a proposal was discussed to support the Iraqi resistance forces. Albert Petrarca, who is in the Pittsburgh Anti-war Committee and who attended the workshop said “the proposal to support the Iraqi resistance came during the question and answer period and their position was that it wasn’t enough to just be against the war but that you had to take a stand in support of the resistance.” The argument was made that the focal point of resistance to U.S. imperialism was in Iraq. If the Iraqi resistance fighters are successful, it will signify a significant defeat for the Bush administrations ability to carry out further wars of aggression. Therefore, anti-imperialists should objectively be on the side of the Iraqi resistance.

A panelist and spokesperson for the End the War Coalition in England disagreed. While she agreed that the struggle to end the war in Iraq is central for all progressives and that a defeat for U.S. forces in Iraq would be of historic proportions, she argued that including support for the Iraqi resistance into the demands of the anti-war movement would have a disastrous effect. If you make that a point of unity in the anti war movement, she argued, you will not be able to build a mass movement capable of stopping the war.

According to Petrarca, the position of the panelists to not include support for the Iraqi resistance as a demand of the anti war movement, had traction with workshop participants.
They did agree, however, to bring the issue up for discussion on Sunday when the World Social Forum will consider proposals from the many workshops at the forum.

There was agreement to support massive worldwide demonstrations against the war on March 19 & 20, 2005.

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