Once again, Britain is getting ready for war. The Prime Minister is expected to hold a vote on bombing Syria as early as tomorrow; members of the political class have taken to the airwaves, putting on their serious voices, and saying things like "International Community" and "A Compelling Case"; and a UN Security Council Resolution has been used to give the whole project a veneer of legitimacy. All we need before we start dropping bombs is a Stop the War Coalition protest in a neatly demarcated space outside Downing Street, complete with speeches from the left's big hitters and ambient art-rocker Brian Eno.
And that's what we got this weekend. Unlike Stop the War's famous march before the 2003 invasion of Iraq—notable for being the biggest anti-war protest of all time before a war even started—the sense of fatalistic gloom arrived early, hovering over the speakers' podium. A feeling of fatigue was detectible in the crowd too—except among the 100 or so who broke free and organized a sit-down on Whitehall—perhaps because the war everyone there wants to stop is already happening.
The US-led coalition of 12 nations has led over 7,000 air strikes in ISIS territory in Syria since August last year (killing suspiciously few civilians in the process), and Britain is already bombing and droning northern Iraq in coordination with Kurdish forces: a tactic that's unlikely to be successful as long as ally Turkey continues shelling them.
Since the Paris attacks—which were committed by Europeans, not Syrian refugees—France and the US have intensified sorties over Syria, and Russia has even started using the odd chemical weapon to brighten things up. While this has boosted the confidence of the Syrian Army, it has done little to threaten ISIS: The caliphate continues to consolidate power, monopolize violence, and think of new feature ideas for the next issue of Dabiq, its monthly online propaganda magazine.
Should Parliament vote "Yes" to joining the aerial bombardment of Syria, British ministers will no longer feel "embarrassed" (MP Crispin Blunt's actual word) for "outsourcing" (David Cameron's actual word) their killing in Syria to the big important countries.
So, the reasons for war are clear: It's about stopping generals making jokes about us at the NATO Christmas dinner; it's about preventing Michael Fallon from feeling left out, looking down sheepishly at his Brussels sprouts while the other defense secretaries makes in-jokes about their time together in "Operation Inherent Resolve."
But what about the arguments against? On Saturday, I headed down to Whitehall to ask some of the 4,000 people protesting for their thoughts. The whole affair is creating a headache for Jeremy Corbyn, who is hoping for some grassroots support in his attempts to convince his party to oppose the war. Various members of his shadow cabinet support the war, which is causing a lot of arguing within the party. Since people standing around with placards seems to be the definition of grassroots, I asked them about Labour's handling of the situation, too.
VICE: Nick, what brought you out here today?
Nick: I'm here because making lives in Syria more miserable is not going to solve the problem. I'm being very selfish: It makes us ever more a target for terrorism. But I think the real reason is bombing never solves any problem in the world at all.
So how do we combat this apocalyptic death cult of pure unadulterated evil?
I do not know. It's a battle of ideas, and it's a long process in terms of trying to persuade those of the Islamic faith that fundamentalism is not the way to go. There's also a battle to be had in persuading, for example, Saudi Arabia, in being more liberal in its views and other countries that formalize more extreme forms of Islam into their legal system.
Jeremy Corbyn said he's going to try and use this movement to build a grassroots opposition to the war.
I'd rather not comment on that... ... to be a bit mealy-mouthed about it: Jeremy Corbyn is a man of great principle. But I don't think he's a unifying force in the Labour Party.
VICE: Hi Toby. Why are you here?
Toby: I completely disagree with bombing Syria. I think it just perpetuates terrorism and it makes us responsible for terrorism—and we shouldn't be responsible for it.
Do you think they're gonna bomb anyway in spite of all the people who don't want it?
Yes.
Is that depressing?
I think it's just, you know, we live in democracy and it's our right to protest and we should. It lets people in other countries know that we're against what our government is doing and shows that there's a failure somewhere in the democratic process.
VICE: Hi guys. What's the point of opposing the bombing of Syria if we're basically already bombing Syria?
Bearded Man: Because we don't want to escalate it. There's a terrible civil war going on in Syria, we should be helping refugees, not bombing them!
But don't the attacks in Paris make this necessary?
That's a load of nonsense! If anyone wants to commit criminal acts and do whatever, they'll do it. That's about policing and intelligence.
Ian: Actually it'll mean there are more terrorist attacks. The people who are being bombed, ISIS, are actually in favor of being bombed. It makes them martyrs. They're not afraid of death, are they?
Do you sympathize with Corybn's position right now?
Carole: I'm not a member of the Labour Party either but I paid my £3 to vote for him and so far he's been excellent. I'm an old woman now—the same age as Corbyn—and I know what war's about. We haven't got the right in anybody's name to commit all these young people to another war.
Bearded Man: Who do you write for?
It's called VICE.
Bearded Man: Vice! Carol knows all about vice. Ask her what she got up to in the 60s.
Carol: I'll tell you something about vice. When you get to my age, you've got two alternatives: either you pay for it or you have a vivid imagination. My imagination is boundless.
Thanks Carol.
VICE: Where have you guys come from and why?
Kim: I took the train all the way down from a tiny place in Gloucestershire because the last time there was a big protest, before the Iraq war, my children were a lot younger and I couldn't come. And every time I heard something about it afterwards, I thought, 'I should've come.' Not because I think being here will make a difference but because it means whatever little power I've got, I've done something.
What about the argument that the Paris attacks means we need to do something?
It's not a good argument. Violence doesn't solve violence. That said I don't know what the answer is. But if I'm stood in my cosy kitchen and I hear on Radio 4 that they've just bombed a school... I don't want it to be as a result of my government.
Josie, what do you think of Corbyn?
Josie: I'm a big fan. I think he can make it through to the next election.
What about the others in his party who want him to resign over this?
The idea of a party whip and everyone in the party having the same beliefs is ridiculous. There should be internal conflict. You want there to be debate not just across parties but within them. It's not something that invalidates the leader.
VICE: Hi Kasya. Why are you here?
Kasya: I'm here because dropping missiles in Syria isn't going to solve our problems. It's a short-term answer to a long-term problem. This has been happening for long enough... starting another way in another country is not going to solve the problem. We need peaceful solutions.
And how long are you going to sit here?
As long as it takes!
VICE: Why did you come here?
Bashir: I didn't. Well, I didn't know this was going on. (laughs)
Well what do you think of it?
I just saw the signs..."Don't Bomb Syria." People need to be aware of what's going on in the world. The things that are happening in Syria are really bad.
Will bombing make things worse?
Of course. That's how ISIS started. When people lose their homes, lose their family, they get angry. And they need to put their frustration somewhere. And this is where it starts. Then things like Paris happen. It'll lead to more violence.
[Owen Jones finishes his speech on the podium]
VICE: Do you like Owen Jones?
Ifti Shah: He's a problem. He's an apologist for imperialism. He hasn't said once that Britain is the cause of all these global problems. He hasn't once talked about capitalism. He hasn't once talked about racism. He's just playing his part in the mainstream bullshit politics that this country is a professional at disseminating. Fuck this man! Fuck Britain! Fuck the British state!
Sam: Owen just quoted Einstein who said: "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing again and again and expecting different results." So he's attributing to the British state the assumption that it's trying to solve the problem by bombing ISIL and Syria. The implication is Britain is just getting it wrong and they expected it to work.
What are Britain's real motivations?
They don't give a shit about the people of the Middle East. They want to control the region.
VICE: Why are you here?
Georgia: Just because I think we're making the same mistake we've made a million times. It's just repetition, repetition, repetition. I don't understand it.
So how do we defeat ISIS?
Not through bombing. Things have gotten way worse since we started bombing. We're already bombing in Iraq. I don't understand the logic of bombing for peace.
Zuhair came with her two children. She is Syrian. She did not want to be photographed.
So you think Syrians don't want more Western bombs?
Zuhair: Absolutely. We don't want another war. We saw what happened in Iraq and Afghanistan and everywhere, and we don't want another war. The war will not sort out ISIS.
What do you think of the way Jeremy Corbyn's handled his response? He's looking to grassroots support like this to oppose the war.
I think it's absolutely fantastic. We all have to stand by him. I think he has a big challenge in parliament and I'm absolutely with him. We need to support him more and educate people more so they know what war is about. We have a lot of evidence that war doesn't sort out the problem at all.
Was it important that your children came here too?
Absolutely. It's very important for them to see what's happening. They are too small to understand. They are very young. But they need to see. They have cousins in Syria. And they need to see what is happening.
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