Andrew Murray

Where to start with Andrew Murray's egregious piece in yesterday's Grauniad? Today's paper gives a brief response from Alan Johnson of Labour Friends of Iraq

Andrew Murray (Comment, March 16) wants "full sovereignty restored to the Iraqi people", but rubbishes the election in which 8.5 million Iraqis defied the bombers. It was right to oppose the invasion, but wrong for the anti-war movement to ignore solidarity with the new and independent labour movement, women's groups and democratic political parties that desperately need our support.

In his piece Murray puts forward 4 points why the Iraq war should be at the top of the election agenda:

1. the 2 million people who demonstrated against aggression on February 15 2003 have been shown to be correct, while those making the case for the war have been proved disastrously mistaken at best, reckless liars at worst.

   Did not the war lead to the overthrow of a brutal fascistic regime? Is Murray really arguing that Iraq would now be better off under the Saddamm Hussein run Ba'ath party?




2. we must demand that the occupation is brought to a speedy end, our troops brought home, and full sovereignty restored to the Iraqi people.

   Would that be "sovereignty" to those who voted in the recent elections?




3. the "war on terror" is cutting closer to home than ever, with centuries-old civil rights being scrapped on grounds which closely resemble those used to promote the war against Iraq.

   It is justified to campaign against the threat to civil liberties in the recent bills before parliament. But does this really relate to the war in Iraq?




4. the threat of new wars, including an extension of conflict in the Middle East to Syria or Iran has to be taken extremely seriously. The Washington neo-conservatives are brutally frank about their objectives and we must assume they will try to attain as many as possible, by force if necessary, over the next four years.

   So a Marxist like Murray who says

   Many of our organisers are of the left, and defend its traditions against those who would prostitute them in the service of US power.
   

   is arguing for the support of brutal tyrannical unpopular regimes that survive by the use of authoritarian police methods? Is that really a a tradition of the left? If Murray thinks it is then is this a Left that anyone would want to support?

Murray ends with

The anti-war movement has spoken the truth on behalf of millions of citizens - there should not be a single parliamentary candidate in the forthcoming election able to hide from it.

That's it. The anti-war movement brings "the truth", in all its revealed glory. As the man said "Trust those who seek after truth. Run away from those who profess to have found it."