International
Fifteen years after Iraq war protests, peace is further away than ever
*Cartoon: Martyn Turner, used with permission: https://www.facebook.com/martynturnercartoons/ . http://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/martyn-turner
Jeremy Corbyn’s warnings on Iraq, Libya and Syria have proved terrifyingly right. And now Iran looks like the next battleground
On this day,15 years ago, I joined about one million others in central London to march against the impending Iraq war. We were not just part of the biggest political demonstration in British history, but the largest simultaneous protest event in the world, with millions marching in every continent. We gathered in Hyde Park and heard many famous voices speaking out against the war, from Labour politician Tony Benn to playwright Harold Pinter.
When Jeremy Corbyn took the stage, he too was a familiar face to all peace march veterans and Islington residents like myself, but less so to other members of the crowd. But his words stirred the souls of everyone present. He asked why we could afford to spend billions on a war nobody wanted while children around the world were dying of poverty and starvation. And he warned of the risks in invading Iraq: “It will set off a spiral of conflict, of hate, of misery and of desperation that will fuel the wars, the conflict, the terrorism, the depression and misery of future generations.”
How terrifyingly right he was. And again when he made the same arguments in respect of Libya and Syria. In the 2011 debate on Libya, as a backbencher under Ed Miliband, Corbyn warned: “We have not thought through the implications of what we are doing.” I for one should have listened, rather than obeying the Labour three-line whip.
And as party leader, his speech in the 2015 Syria debate – pilloried by the Tory government and Labour critics at the time – now reads like the cries of Cassandra. Corbyn warned that with no credible Syrian opposition forces, no long-term strategy and no plan for a political settlement, the refugee crisis and civilian casualties would only grow, and mission creep was inevitable. “Is it right,” he asked, “for us here in Westminster to see a problem, pass a motion and drop bombs, pretending we are doing something to solve it? That is what we did in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya. To oppose another war and intervention is not pacifism; it is hard-headed common sense.” Instead, he said, all Britain’s efforts should be directed to producing a peaceful and just political settlement to the war …