Entry details

Younghusband
Author

Younghusband

Date

March 18th, 2007

Tags

,

Comments

6 Comments so far.
Add yours.

The winding down of the anti-war movement

A few hundred anti-war demonstrators across Canada gathered together on the anniversary of the US invasion of Iraq to denounce both the Iraq war and the mission in Afghanistan. The numbers are not official but do seem substantially less than last October when just under 2000 demonstrators came together to call for the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan. Considering that anti-war sentiment in the US is at its highest, could downward trend indicate that aversion to the war subsiding in Canada? Not necessarily. The G&M reports that demonstrators “rallied for a mix of causes” including countering climate change, raising the minimum wage and democracy in Iran. It seems that the protest movement just cannot get well organized. Either that or the recent cold snap across Canada contributed to the cooling partisan outrage.

One protester said “We’re all here because we want peace and we want to bring about change.”Â? I could imagine the same words being uttered by a member of the CF in Kandahar. S/he needs our support.

ADDENDUM: David Axe has thoughts worth reading on this as well.

Comments to this entry

a517dogg
March 18, 2007
7:53 pm
I think we should make a sharp distinction between the "anti-war movement" and people who want to bring the troops home. At least in America, I think being identified as part of a movement, particularly an anti-war one, carries a stigma. Personally I think we should bring the troops home as soon as feasible, but I am not going to any anti-war protest (there was one at the Pentagon yesterday) because when I see the kind of people that go to those - people like A.N.S.W.E.R., or pacifists, people who make the protest about them rather than about the thing they're protesting - I think "why would I want to associate myself with them?" It's as if all people who disagreed with abortion were identified with the nutcases running around with pictures of dead babies.

In sum, I don't think anti-war feeling is going down. Polls show the majority of Americans want to end American participation in Iraq as soon as possible. But the anti-war movement is over as a political force because normal people view them as nuts.
Garth Jones
March 18, 2007
11:38 pm
Hello there, was actually browsing the net in search of anyone commenting why there were no protests held in England this weekend and came across your posting. I hear what you saying and you have a point but imagine if no one protests becuase of the reasons you give, then what? In order to achieve your point that the anti-war movement is over, everyone would have to feel as you do, that is to be afraid to stand up and have your say because heaven forbid you get taggged with a 'label' that don't fit too comfortable with your ego or what you actually protested for in the first place. It takes all kinds to make up this world and someone has to stand up, that's my opinion anyway but hear me out here...though my original search has brought me here I did find comment about Canada not organising an anti-war rally due to the cold....but as for the reason why no anti-war protests in England? Nothing. It is my belief that this was all due to the amount of sport the nation had over the weekend. World Cup cricket, Six Nations Rugby not forgetting the football! So as I said, you do have a point just look at England, the normal people like you didn't protest because the nuts had sport to follow.
a517dogg
March 19, 2007
3:48 am
Well I would probably be one of the nuts following sport.


But you bring up a good point. If nobody protested, what then? Personally I don't really see what positive effect protesters have on politics other than to ensure that everybody knows people disagree. Perhaps if nobody protested, then the ordinary (although I suppose everybody likes to think of themselves as ordinary...) folks such as myself would feel more comfortable organizing and speaking out en mass.

Barbara O'Brien has written six rules of protesting that I think are as good as anything else on the hypertubes about how to protest.
http://www.mahablog.com/2006/04/12/protesting-101/
ckrisz
March 19, 2007
11:35 am
The antiwar movement is largely over because it has pretty much the political debate, as seen in the 2006 elections.
von Kaufman-Turkestansky
March 19, 2007
5:03 pm
Wait, did you just say that if nobody protested, people would come out and protest?
a517dogg
March 19, 2007
5:05 pm
Yup, that more everyday people would feel more comfortable coming out and protesting if they wouldn't feel like lunatics for doing so.