We will take Iraq as an example to find why this movement has failed to organize and lead world’s progressive people and become a real force. In my opinion this happened for two reasons: Due to the dominance of traditional left and its pressure group mentality on this movement. 

1. It lacks any alternative for the economic, social and political problems, which face the Iraqi society. It deals only with war and militarism and yet it restricts itself to protesting against this aspect. It acts as the shadow of the USA militarism and war. It acts as a peace campaign calling for peace and calm. It has not been a force to change the status quo but one to maintain it. 

Saddam’s regime dealt with these problems. However, no one knows what the solutions of the anti-war movement to the economic, social and political problems, which faced the Iraqi society before the war, were. It even did not see addressing these problems as its task. Therefore the slogans of this movement were very empty and pacifist like Hands off Iraq, No for War, No Blood For Oil and so on. While opposing the war, this movement had nothing to say in regard to one of the most oppressive regimes of our time- Saddam’s regime and the struggle of people in Iraq against this regime. It argued that overthrowing Saddam’s regime is the task of the people of Iraq. Instead of participating along with people of Iraq in struggle to overthrow the murderous Baath regime and oppose the USA way of overthrowing the regime through war, which was going to destroy the society and install a more reactionary regime the anti-war movement either supported Saddam’s regime or denied having any responsibility to overthrow this regime. Therefore when the antiwar movement was marching on streets of the major western the major western cities, people in Iraq were so desperate that many welcomed the war which they knew was going to destroy their cities, homes and working place. They wanted a change, any change.

While committing daily atrocities and destroying cities to ashes, haphazard killing, torture, incarceration of people in prisons without trial, empowering religion, sectarianism and tribalism and opposing secularism are the solution of the USA ruling class for the problems which merged after the war. On the other hand car bombs, kidnapping, beheadings, assassinations, oppressing women, killing followers of other faiths is how Islamists and nationalists deal with these problems. We still do not know what are the anti-war movement’s solutions for these issues. As we said objecting the solutions of other forces is not a solution. Because the anti-war movement was a protest movement it not only failed to provide an alternative for the situation in Iraq but it also failed to find a mechanism to force the occupation forces to withdraw and prevent the country from falling in the hand of gangs of political Islam and ethnic groups and slipping into a civil war which can only be done by struggling on ground in Iraq. 

Many among this movement enter a stage of denial where they deny the terrorist nature of political Islam, the reactionary nature of active bourgeois forces and any possibility of civil war. Due to this lack of alternative and a program to change the status quo, the anti-war movement become a movement to maintain the status quo. It became a campaign calling for peace and calm. For Iraqis This movement also cannot last long. The discontent people cannot be organized around negative demands. They only can be mobilized around positive slogans and around a program to change the status quo. Therefore despite the good intention the anti-war movement not only cannot prevent the war from happening but it has practically emptied the stage to the other active forces. The task of the bourgeoisie which controls all the capabilities of the society is to maintain the status quo while our task, we who control very little is to change the status quo.

Only positive program, which provides solutions to the problems, which face humanity, can achieve this task. No political movement can keep momentum and achieve significant gains against today’s powerful ruling class without posing an alternative and struggle for positive slogans. History of class society is full of examples of spontaneous movements and movements that lacked prospect to change the world, which ended up in utter defeat. Today the anti-war movement faces this same fate. A movement which struggles against one of the manifestations of the current ruling system without saying anything about the system and the economic, social and political problem created by it can not mobilize progressive people around the world. For anti-war movement to be able to mobilize world’s progressive people must have its our own independent agenda and solutions for all the problems that have been pushed to the fore. It has to peruse its agenda to change the world during war and time of peace. It should not call to back off and leave the situation as it is before each war. It must have a mechanism inside Iraq to thwart the role of these two terrorist poles. Demonstrations in the major western cities are important but their effect is limited. We have to face the active forces in Iraq. This movement should realize that the war in Iraq was part of the USA attempt to establish the New World Order. It is to assert the USA superpower status and maintaining status quo whether before the war or now means slow death and is not an option. Struggle to maintain status quo is not only a pacifist struggle but also unprincipled. From the point of view of people in Iraq this position is reactionary. The only principled and progressive position is the one, which struggles to change the status quo for better. Is to struggle shoulder to shoulder with people in Iraq to change this reality. This movement fails to understand that war and the events of today are part of a developing reality and therefore the struggle against war cannot be separated from the struggle against this reality. This pacifism and dominance of traditional left mentality and outlook have pushed many among this movement to side with one of the most reactionary forces of our time political Islam. They regard fighting against Islam not as their priority. Some even regard Islam as a progressive and anti-imperialist force. This position have force many progressive people to distance themselves from this movement and have paralyzed this movement. Therefore, mobilization has not been against the entire system and in particular against both poles of the war, and for solutions to the major problems pushed to the fore by the system including the war but was against a single solution put forth by one of the two terrorist poles, taken out of its context- the war. We may get asked, what is wrong with stopping the war only? Is it not a positive achievement to prevent the war from happening even without making any change in lives of people? Is not it a positive achievement to stop the USA from attacking other countries?

The problem with peace movement that lacks a program to change the status quo and which struggle against the war only is that it is ineffective and therefore cannot stop the war. its continued military intimidation of the world. It was to show its military superiority. It was about redefining the West's relationship with political Islam. It is not to destroy political Islam but to strike an alliance with it with different terms and conditions. It must understand that political Islam is fighting for power and has nothing to do with the rights and freedoms of people in Islam-stricken countries. Political Islam has nothing to do with struggle against imperialist relations of production. Political Islam is a very reactionary, right wing and terrorist movement. It should realize that despite the fact that political Islam was created and nurtured by the west to face the left and communists in the Middle East and against the Soviet Union, it is today one of the two international terrorist poles fighting for its share in power. This pole enjoys enormous capabilities.

It should not see political Islam as few groups of terrorism but rather as an international political movement. The current situation in Iraq and ongoing massacre is created by the confrontation between two terrorist poles. The equation at least has two poles. The movement of world’s progressive people must understand if it does not come with an alternative to both these two sides it cannot succeed and it will remain ineffective It must stand decisively against terrorism of political Islam. It must stand decisively against the new reactionary alliances between the USA ruling class and political Islam to intimate the humanity. We must pursue our own independent policy for ridding the region of both these two poles. The anti-war movement must struggle to put the right of deciding the future regime in Iraq at the hand of people. The movement of World’s progressive people must provide solutions to the issue, which face human beings in Iraq and Middle East. In Iraq it should actively stand against the USA occupation, ongoing military operations and its attempt to impose Islamic, ethnic and tribal gangs on Iraq. It must separate its ranks from the ranks of all reactionary forces like political Islam