Communists Run Anti-War Demonstration
Media Monitor | By Reed Irvine and Cliff Kincaid | January 30, 2003
The January 18 rally in Washington, D.C., heavily publicized by C-SPAN, was a classic case of communists using front groups to attract “useful idiots” to their activities.
A growing "anti-war" movement encouraged by Hollywood and the media is working to undermine public support for American foreign policy and portray the Bush Administration as more of a threat to the world than the regimes in Baghdad or Pyongyang. A key fact – completely ignored by the major media – is that open and identified communists are playing key roles in sponsoring the protests.
The January 18 rally in Washington, D.C., heavily publicized by C-SPAN, was a classic case of communists using front groups to attract "useful idiots" to their activities. The Iraqi regime called the rally "an emphatic dissent against preparations for war…"
The communist role was apparent to those with an elementary understanding of the key players. Two leading members of the communist Workers World Party, the WWP -- Brian Becker and Larry Holmes -- organized and orchestrated the day's events, and several other communist and socialist groups openly participated in the rally under banners denouncing "imperialism." Holmes served as an emcee for much of the event. Brian Becker played a public role as an organizer and a speaker, was in the staging area of the march where he gave numerous interviews to the press, and orchestrated the affair as demonstrators moved from the Capitol. But the media didn't identify them as WWP members.
The WWP, formed in 1958 by a communist named Sam Marcy, has taken up the role that used to be played by the Moscow-oriented Communist Party USA, which has diminished in importance since the demise of the old Soviet Union. But like the CPUSA, the WWP believes in working with the Democratic Party and liberal-left groups that form its base of support.
C-SPAN ran live coverage of this rally and re-aired the event several times during the day and night. But it misled viewers by telling them that a group called International A.N.S.W.E.R., which stands for "Act Now to Stop War and End Racism," was behind it. In fact, International A.N.S.W.E.R. and its predecessor, the International Action Center, were started by the WWP, of which Becker and Holmes are leading members. Holmes appeared on C-SPAN's Washington Journal program before the rally to promote it. But C-SPAN ignored the patriotic counter-demonstration staged by FreeRepublic.com and failed to interview anyone on the air who could rip the mask off the communist-inspired event.
Many C-SPAN viewers were disgusted. When a viewer called C-SPAN to complain about the prolonged coverage of the anti-American rally, the host said it was designed to balance programs that conveyed the Bush Administration view. But the coverage was deceptive because C-SPAN didn't identify the real nature of the sponsoring group, International A.N.S.W.E.R., and didn't alert viewers to the full scope of communist and socialist groups in attendance. Two days after the rally, C-SPAN was still featuring a link on its own Web site to International A.N.S.W.E.R.
Reed Irvine is the former Chairman of Accuracy In Media and Cliff Kincaid is the Editor of the AIM Report.
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