Meet the organizers of this past weekend's protests
``Basically, A.N.S.W.E.R. is dominated by the IAC, which is largely a front for the Workers World Party, a Marxist-Leninist group that has been around since the 1950s,'' said Stephen Zunes, chair of the Peace and Justice Studies Program at the University of San Francisco. ``They are very effective at organizing because they are hierarchical. The main problem that I have with them personally is they have been very reluctant to acknowledge the nature of Saddam Hussein's regime.
``But A.N.S.W.E.R. is not a reflection of the overall movement,'' Zunes added. ``Some people have said, `Well, bummer that this is the group that's behind it, but let's go to the march anyway.' ''
In recent weeks, a virtual slugfest about A.N.S.W.E.R.'s socialist roots has scorched the pages of the Nation and other left-oriented magazines. Writers David Corn and '60s activist-turned-historian Todd Gitlin have warned that, in the long run, A.N.S.W.E.R.'s radicalism will prevent the broader anti-war movement from reaching out to the churches, unions, Republicans and moderate voters needed if it is to succeed.
``They are uncritical of anybody that the United States and NATO oppose, from Milosevic to Saddam Hussein,'' said David Walls, a sociology professor at Sonoma State University. ``That's the weakness of their position. They won't acknowledge that there is something despicable about Saddam's regime and violations of human rights; they think it's too much of a concession to the imperialists. But it leaves them without a lot of credibility themselves.''
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