Irish Anti-War Movement

Irish Anti-War Movement
Type NGO
Headquarters Dublin, Ireland
Chair/Cathaoirleach
 Richard Boyd Barrett
Website http://irishantiwar.org

The Irish Anti-War Movement (IAWM) is a left-wing, anti-Western organisation which occasionally campaigns against some wars if they involve the USA or Israel,.[1] Recent campaigns have been against wars such as the Sri Lankan Civil War and the Gaza War, and the use of Shannon Airport by the US military.[2] but most prominently in recent years for they campaigned for war, supporting the Iraqi regime in the Iraq War.[3]

The Irish Anti-War Movement is affiliated with the Campaign Against an EU Constitution, which campaigned against the Lisbon Treaty and its predecessor the EU Constitution.[4]

There was a number of rifts in the IAWM, most damagingly in 2004 when PRO (and chairperson of the Cork Anti-War Campaign) Dr. Fintan Lane resigned. This caused a number of groups and members to leave the organisation.[5]

Criticism

The Irish Anti-War Movement has been criticised for failing to make any statements on the ongoing civil war in Syria, in particular they failed to condemn the killing of Palestinians in Damascus in December 2012 [6][7]

It is further suspect for its failure to condemn Russia for their attack on Georgia. It failed to condemn Muammar Gaddafi for his slaughtering of unarmed civilians at the beginning of a revolt against his rule in Libya. They have also shown exceptional bias over the Syrian conflict. Their statements on the war condemns violence in general and accuses the West of conspiring against Bashar Al-Assad yet they say nothing about Russian arms sales[8] to the Assad forces or their naval base in Tartus.[9]

The Anti War Movement has also failed to make any statement regarding the fact that Iranian Special Forces have "troops on the ground" inside Syria, actively fighting rebel forces.[10] They have so far failed to organise any protests or marches like that which they organise over Western military action. This "ideology" is reflected in their website's title "The Irish Anti-War Movement: US Military out of Shannon". It is not truly anti-war - that is a misnomer. It is, in every sense, anti-western.

In July 2014 the Irish Anti War Movement condemned Israel for their operation to locate three kidnapped and murdered Jewish teenagers whilst at the same time failing to condemn the brutal murders.[11]

References

External links