Are we as brave as the members of the International Brigade?

[Karmadillo]

Or do we worry too much about keeping our powder dry and waiting to fight fascism another day?

http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=1&ItemID=8423

Fascism Then And Now
by John Pilger

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Between 1936 and 1939, the International Brigade fought in Spain on the side of the republican government against the fascist forces of General Franco. They were British and other Europeans, Americans and Australians. They were very young and volunteers, determined to stop fascism in its tracks. Although the republican government eventually fell, in February 1937 the 600-strong British Battalion of the XVth International Brigade stopped Franco’s advance on Madrid. Four hundred were killed, wounded or captured in four days’ bloody battle.

There were many battles like that. Sam Russell, a Brigader, described eloquently how on the Sierra del Pandols, “there was not enough soil to bury the dead, so we covered them with stones”.

<edit>

That legacy is needed today more than ever. Impeccable gentlemen now invade defenceless countries in our name, destroying hospitals, shooting doctors, rounding up thousands and writing a number on their forehead or forearm, then imprisoning and torturing them. They speak of freedom and democracy, and our way of life and our values, and they deride those who reason why. They do not wear armbands and they do not strut. They are different from fascists. But their goals are not different: conquest, domination, the theft and control of vital resources.

When the judges at Nuremberg laid down the ground rules of international law following the Second World War, they described an unprovoked invasion of a defenceless country as “the paramount crime against humanity … from which all other war crimes follow”. The judges also pointed out the obvious: that violent invasion would beckon violent reaction, which compounded the original crime.

more...

[Stephanie]

1. Some of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade are still around in NYC

They show up at anti-war marches with their banner and they march. Someone should interview them before it's too late.

[wli]

2. I'm not anywhere near that brave

I've got permanent medical conditions that make even minor injuries major amputation risks. Heck, lesions/ulcers crop up spontaneously anyway. I'm too chicken to even protest.

[Karmadillo]

4. You get a pass. I don't. I was just curious

as to why we are so hesitant (as a group) to fight those who are dedicated to creating a world completely opposed to the principles we support. How much crap will we eat before we say, "Enough!"

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

3. ¡Viva las Brigadas Internacionales!

[Karmadillo]

5. Kick for the evening warriors

n/t