Iraq vote and protest. posted by Richard Seymour

The antiwar movement could score another victory against the government this evening. The two nationalist parties have tabled a motion demanding an inquiry into the Iraq war and its aftermath, and the Tories - still pro-war, but aware of which side of the argument is winning, eager to defeat the government, and perhaps laying the basis for some future coalition with the nats - have said that unless the government concedes an inquiry, they will help inflict a defeat on them. Blair is insisting that no such inquiry can be had, since "the enemy" is looking for "signs of weakness". If he holds to this, then I think we could see enough backbenchers vote with the opposition to cause the government a serious defeat.

Stop the War and Respect activists will be holding an emergency protest outside parliament starting at 5pm today. At a time when US soldiers are in overwhelming numbers expressing a desire to come home as soon as possible, when recruitment rates are abysmal, when the resistance keeps expanding, when even the puppet president of Iraq feels obliged to criticise the occupiers (while his subordinates beg the UN to extend to mandate for occupation), when even fucking West Point graduates have formed an antiwar group, the occupiers are in serious trouble. So let's get down to the protest and add to their woes.