Paralyze the War Machine

Only three days following the massive anti-war protests in Washington D.C., San Francisco and other cities in the U.S. and throughout the world, President Bush has made it clear that he intends to conduct an atrocious war against Iraq, no matter what the UN inspectors, UN Security Council, or any other nation might say or do. Thus, it is clear that protest action alone, however massive, could never prevent a vicious predator at the helm of the most voracious war machine in history from executing his evil designs.

There are two forces on earth that could prevent this – and two forces only. The first force lies among the denizens of Wall Street. If the financial powers that be conclude that the war that is presently being contemplated by the Bush administration would run counter to their interests, they could easily use their many levers of power to dissuade Bush/Cheney et al, or even remove them from office, if necessary. Should we leave the matter in the hands of Wall Street? I don't think so.

The other force that could prevent the war lies among the toiling American masses themselves. We could shut the country down. As John L. Lewis once said, "You can't mine coal with bayonets." At least, no one has done it yet. The war machine could not function if train crews and truckers refused to haul war material, dock workers refused to handle it, sailors refused to navigate the seas with it, ground crews refused to service aircraft, and pilots refused to fly it. Furthermore all military installations rely upon many civilian subcontractors to perform their belligerent activity from day to day. The American working class could easily paralyze the war machine. That would be the surest way to go, and the anti-war movement must immediately recognize that all of its efforts must be exerted to bring this about.

A general work stoppage could be organized far more easily by organized labor itself. However, if the leadership of the AFL-CIO refuses to take the lead on this, a general strike could be brought about spontaneously by the general public itself. Such a happenstance could conceivably occur in response to massive civil disobedience. Massive civil disobedience could supplement an officially sanctioned general strike (if there could ever be such a thing), or it could precipitate a spontaneous general work stoppage. If people from the general public would continuously replace the participants in massive civil disobedience actions as they were arrested and hauled away, a general strike would effectively develop, because people can't engage in civil disobedience and perform their jobs at the same time. I would urge the anti-war movement to immediately adopt a strategy of mobilizing a general strike in the U.S., in the event that the Bush administration launches a war against Iraq, or anyone else, for that matter.

Global solidarity forever,
Hal Sutton, trustee
UAW Local 1268