February 14, 2003
ALL WE ARE SAYING IS, GIVE TREASON A CHANCE:
Coalition plans disobedience campaign when war starts (Christopher Walker, February 14, 2003 , Times of London)ORGANISERS of tomorrow’s anti-war march in London plan to follow it with a campaign of civil disobedience throughout the country designed to last while any conflict in Iraq persists.Ghada Razuki, a leading member of the Stop the War Coalition, said that the action would begin on the day war was declared with demonstrations designed to bring the country to a standstill. [...]
Leaders of five of Britain’s biggest unions have given warning that there could be widespread strikes if an attack on Iraq were launched. They stopped short of encouraging industrial action but demanded a recall of the TUC, which they claimed was allowed for by the organisation’s constitution.
Speaking at a meeting organised by the coalition, Paul Mackney, general secretary of the lecturers’ union Natfhe, said that the day the war started could see “massive protests in every industry”.
There's been some concern expressed about a recent NY Sun editorial that suggested NY police keep a close eye on this weekend's protests, with a mind towards potential future prosecutions for treason. Obviously just marching around with signs doesn't qualify as such, but a co-ordinated campaign to intentionally disrupt the functioning of your nation while it is prosecuting a war surely does. Posted by Orrin Judd at February 14, 2003 8:41 AM
What about -- just for the sake of discussion -- a peacetime dispute, in which the national (or possible state or local) government enunciates a policy that is frustrated by, say, the dockworkers, who refuse to load or unload ships?
This is not hypothetical. It has happened many times, though not so often in the U.S.
What next? Send in the Army to load the ships?
That's my view. You get to vote, but when you are on the losing side (as I almost always am), you have to lump the policies you don't like.
Fire them.
Posted by: oj at February 14, 2003 3:40 PMKind of interesting. What we're talking about here is not exactly treason. Minor obstruction of logistics and transport absent declared war are minor offenses. The best way to deal with it would be a couple of off-the-books fatalities. Peace creeps are not known for personal courage in the face of real danger. There were no violent "anti-war" actions after Kent State.
Posted by: Lou Gots at February 15, 2003 10:33 PM