We Are Many Page #10

of the global anti-war movement, of course.

This, according to a UK intelligence

document released today,

was a chemical attack which killed

more than 300 people in Damascus.

This kind of attack threatens

our national security interests.

I don't believe we can let that stand.

Every war that comes along,

it's the same damn language.

"They are horrible. They are not human."

"They cannot be trusted.

We cannot negotiate with them."

How many times and how many wars?

Take out Vietnam, put in Afghanistan.

Take out Afghanistan, put in Iran.

Take out communism, put in terrorism.

The same thing.

Hands off Syria! Hands off Syria!

Hands off Syria! Hands off Syria!

It was like this feeling that...

Take a deep breath and go full steam ahead.

Once again we are out on the streets

to stop yet another war.

The controversial decision

to go to war in Iraq,

made here ten years ago,

has had a profound influence

over this debate.

Overwhelmingly, the people of Britain

are telling us

no to immediate action, no to strikes.

MPs are doing their job.

They are listening to what the public want.

All of our constituents are scarred

by the Iraq and Afghanistan experience.

I cannot sit in this House

and be duped again.

The well of public opinion was well

and truly poisoned by the Iraq episode,

and we need to understand

the public skepticism.

The MPs in Parliament should do

what not enough of them

had the guts to do ten years ago

and vote against!

Order, order.

Recite.

The ayes to the right 272,

the noes to the left 285.

The House of Commons

sees itself in a new light today

after last night's historic defeat

for a British Prime Minister.

It is clear to me

that the British Parliament,

reflecting the views of the British people,

does not want to see British military action.

I get that,

and the Government will act accordingly.

What? The retrieval of democracy in the UK?

This is one of the occasions

when something sensational

has happened in Parliament.

- Parliament matters.

- Yeah.

As of now, I think we would all agree

that we're in some kind of state

of social revolution.

Quiet, quiet revolution.

MPs have, as you say, listened to the public,

and the public was so appalled

by what happened

under the Prime Ministership

of Tony Blair and the Iraq War

and the dodgy dossier

that actually they say, "No more."

And I have been on this platform

over many years,

from the time of Suez onwards, over 50 years,

and usually we've found

that we have lost a battle.

But what we must remember

is that all the campaigns

we've been engaged in

have culminated in the decision

taken by Parliament last week.

It's been without any doubt

the most powerful political campaign

in my lifetime.

We said, "Wow, if the British Parliament

is actually listening to the British people,

then why can't the US Congress

listen to the American people?"

Protestors have been outside the White House

almost constantly.

The President has spent days huddled

with his advisors at the White House,

but when he emerged from the Oval Office,

no one expected this outcome.

Many people have advised against

taking this decision to Congress.

And undoubtedly they were impacted

by what we saw happen

in the United Kingdom this week

when the Parliament of our closest ally

failed to pass a resolution

with a similar goal.

Then came the decision that borrowed

from David Cameron's playbook.

I will seek authorization

for the use of force

from the American people's

representatives in Congress.

Now we must stand up and act.

Thank you, Mr. Secretary.

The Committee will be in order.

The Committee will be in order.

- We don't want another war!

- May I ask the police to escort her?

Wait a minute! Nobody wants this war!

Launching cruise missiles means another war!

- Easy with her.

- The American people do not want this!

You know, the first time I testified

before this Committee

when I was 27 years old,

I had feelings very similar

to that protestor.

That is exactly why it is so important

that the Congress itself will act

representing the American people.

It was like a magical moment.

It was one of the rare moments

that our Congress people

were actually listening to us.

And we won. That was the extraordinary part.

We're finished.

History will record this vote on Syria

as the time that the American people,

thanks in large part to the British people,

were able to stop the empire

from going to war before it started.

What everybody now knows

is that these deranged lefties

were absolutely right,

that the Stop The War Coalition

was incredibly right,

whereas all the people with MI6,

the CIA, the British Foreign Office,

the Prime Minister, the Conservative Party,

the mainstream Labour Party, were wrong,

and that's quite something.

This handful of people

have kept this movement going,

and the result is good

because it maintains an anti-war presence

in British political culture.

If you keep coming back, at some point

you will make the change.

If a million people come out

on the street in the future,

then what government is going

to say they're wrong now?

When the last time the public expressed

the opposition that way,

namely 15th February 2003,

history said that the people

on the street were right

and not the people in the government.

I think it shaped people.

The fact of that march

has shaped political debate

and the public understanding ever since.

The Iraq War marks a turn

in history in this respect,

and I'm optimistic about it.

I think there will be less use

of military action in the future.

They are few, and we are many,

and if we come together, we are a force.

There are two forces at work always.

A hatred of injustice, which makes you angry,

and a belief you can make a better world,

which makes you optimistic.

And anger and optimism coming together

are a very powerful force.

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