BY DONNA BURNS
MELBOURNE — Thirty people attended a February 10 public forum in Footscray on the US drive to war against Iraq. The keynote speaker was Iraqi refugee Surma Hamid.
Speaking on behalf of the Committee for the Defence of Iraqi Women, Hamid explained why there should be no war against Iraq. "The war will cause more killings. [The US and its allies] want to pour thousands of bombs and cruise missiles on the cities and the people from 10,000 metres and then send ground forces to encircle the cities and move against Baghdad. This war will make into rubble the Iraqi society."
Hamid argued that the war will greatly hinder the pro-democracy movement in Iraq. "This war will only strengthen the reactionary forces in the region. They will find fertile ground for growth and recruitment. The wound inflicted on the people will be exploited by Islamic and nationalist parasites... The overthrow of [Saddam Hussein's] regime in Iraq is the work and the job of the people of Iraq."
Lincoln Hancock, Socialist Alliance candidate in the March 15 Maribyrnong City Council election, argued that "to stop this war requires mass action, comprising the broadest possible alliance for peace". He went on to argue that "many people are beginning to realise that George Bush is not simply a trigger-happy redneck but rather that he is the spokesperson for the corporate interests that are set to gain from this war".
A Maribyrnong Anti-War Group was formed out of the forum and will hold a rally on February 22 in Footscray. "While the city-wide mobilisations and the student movement will be on coal face of the anti-war struggle, it is the local actions that will be its backbone", Hancock told Green Left Weekly.
From Green Left Weekly, February 19, 2003.
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