What is Stop the War Coalition up to?
Subject:
What is the role of StWC? | |
Date: | Sun, 9 Apr 2017 12:48:38 +0100 |
From: | Colin B Bennett |
To: | Stop the War |
To the Publicity Manager. Dear Sir or Madam, I've been a member of the Coalition for some years and always paid my monthly subs of £5. I'm not happy about some of the actions of the Coalition since it seems to reflect Establishment positions rather than neutral ones. I mention two examples: 1. I attended a meeting called by the Coalition at the Old Ship Hotel, Brighton on 27 September 2015. The meeting was chaired by Diane Abbott whom I regard as an archetypical opportunist. She condemned the Syrian Government on that day when the Syrian Government and people were facing enormous odds. On 30September 2015 the Russian Government announced it was going to support the Syrian Government militarily. The Coalition did not make any comments on that positive step. Its line is that all foreign military forces are harmful not differentiating between those supporting the legitimate Government and those supporting the terrorists. 2. Your email of 7 April 2017 in which you write "This is the worst possible way to respond to the indefensible attack at Khan Sheikhun". The tenor of this statement, as well as the use of the word "response", strongly indicates that the Coalition is blaming the Syrian Government for the attack. This is a line peddled by the mainstream media and the western governments. Shades of the Tonkin Incident! If the Coalition spent less time criticising the immigration policies of the US and the UK (which is not in the remit of the Coalition) then it might do a better job in speaking up against war and imperialism. Thank you. Yours faithfully, Colin Bennett
I'm puzzled about some aspects of Stop the War. There are undoubtedly some very committed, genuine people in it. As an example of this, I heard a short clip on BBC Radio 4 recently from a StW picket of 10 Downing Street protesting about the bombing of the Syrian airfield. One protestor was asked by the BBC reporter "do you think Syria was behind this attack?". The protestor said unhesitatingly "no".
I think some StW people are confused and others are guilty of groupthink which is not surprising as we're bombarded with war propaganda around the clock. Some others might merely be "useful idiots".
I'd welcome any comments on this question