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Activists Speak Out About ANSWER

January 20, 2003 - Medics involved with January 18th protests speak to problems with ANSWER

I know that working with Worker's World Party aka International Action Center aka Int'l ANSWER is hard. They really fall so short and have strange politics around so many aspects of this "movement", but especially democratic organizing and communication. It's clear to me that they, at this time, cannot and should not run medical at a demo. They were sorely unprepared and should know this. I missed most of the meetings and preparations. I'm sorry I couldn't have been more active in participating in medical. I just had personal and time obligations that I needed to attend to.

IAC/ANSWER made promisses to ya'll and didn't follow through. Their medics weren't properly trained. They did not have the supplies that they should have purchased. Their medics intervened in our medics treatment of people. The clinic was unprepared for what was needed despite hard work to communicate DAMN's concerns over what and who should be in there. The ABC camera crew had more water for several camera people than ANSWER had for the hundreds of thousands of people they knew were coming. It seems to be their tactic of choice, make it hard to come to agreements, then at the last minute, drop their plans with you and then do it themselves the way they wanted to all along. It undermines the cooperative preparationsbetween groups, all just to be in charge of it all. That is what they do and have a long history of such behavior. Not that I think they want to take over action-medical, but they would never let us have a fair say or (gasp!) control in medical for th! eir events. They are really frustrating that way.

I have no trouble saying these things. It is what happened. They didn't have properly trained or qualified people out there with the ANSWER medical badges on. We know this. This is not shit talking or devisive. This is a situation we need to work on and adjust for accordingly in the future. Who has the tent is less of an issue than how we are going to work with them and around them so we can do what we have been trained (through workshops and experience) to do. I think it seems there is no hope for a true partnership in working *with* them on this aspect of organizing, although I hear there is this "Santa Claus" guy has been known to be very generous and can perform miracles. I have already written him on this matter.

(DAMN= DC Action Medical Network)

I witnessed first hand how they fucked the medics. We even had a meeting with them and I saw all the bullshit they did wrong on sat. ANSWER is not the answer [another medic]