All the anti-war-in-Iraq people came out this weekend to affirm each other’s pacifism. While the numbers weren’t spectacular (less than 50,000 in either DC or San Francisco), it continues to show that the anti-war-in-Iraq movement won’t roll over, regardless of the case made by the Bush administration. That’s the hypocrisy of it all — they claim that Bush is determined to go to war, no matter what, while they seem determined to ignore the evidence that Saddam Hussein has weapons of mass destruction. In addition, these kind of protests also serve to illustrate another problem with this movement. The honest-to-goodness pacifists are overshadowed by the nutcases who want to rally support for all kinds of other causes, everything from legalizing pot to freeing Mumia.

If Trent Lott, Strom Thurmond, and their ilk represent what’s wrong about the extreme right in America, then these anti-war nuts represent the failings of the extreme left. I mean, it’s one thing to be against war (and no one is more against war than the U.S. military) and it’s something entirely different to support a dictator like Hussein. By the way, these people over at A.N.S.W.E.R. (Act Now to Stop War & End Racism) who organize all this nonsense are socialists from the Workers World Party.