The Antifa specialty is labeling anti-war activists and writers as "red-brown," red for left and brown for fascist. You may pretend to be on the left, but if we can find the slightest association between you and someone on the right, then you are a "red-brown" and deserve to be quarantined.
By claiming to defend helpless minorities from a rising fascist peril, Antifa arrogates to itself the right to decide who is, or might be, "fascist."
Whatever they think they are doing, whatever they claim to be doing, the one thing they really are doing is to tie the left into such sectarian intolerance that any broad inclusive single-issue anti-war movement becomes impossible. Indeed, it is precisely the imminent danger of nuclear World War III that leads some of us to call for a non-exclusive single issue anti-war movement -- thus setting ourselves up as "red-brown."
That is why Antifa -- unwittingly let us say -- is running interference for the war party.
It is most unfortunate to see CounterPunch become a platform for Antifa. It didn't have to. The site is quite able to reject articles, as it has systematically rejected contentions about 9/11 or as it rejected David Cobb's and Caitlin Johnstone's (no relative) right to respond. It could have taken a principled stand against calls for violence and censorship. It did not do so. It is one thing to encourage debate and quite another to sponsor mud wrestling.
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