WIVL schrieb: > > DOWN WITH IMPERIALIST WAR ON IRAQ! > The US monopoly capitalists are trying to divert the attention of the > working and lower middle classes in the USA away from the deepest economic > crisis that it has faced since the Depression of the 1920's. Besides > wanting to deflect the attention away from massive problems on the home > front, the Bush administration and the section of monopoly capital that he > represents are already preparing for the next election in 2004. They want > to maintain their control of the state apparatus. This is one of the main > reasons behind the looming war on Iraq. Therefore the monopoly capitalist- > controlled media, mainly from the US and the UK are trying to > psychologically prepare the working and middle classes of the world for a > war on Iraq. We are supposed to believe that Saddam Hussein and his army is > a threat to 'world peace'! What little threat there was, had been dismantled > by the UN inspectors between 1991 and 1998. If there had been any so-called > weapons of mass destruction, we would long ago have heard of this on the > headlines of the capitalist media. For the moment, the only ones with the > weapons of mass destruction appear to be the US, UK, Germany, France, > Chinese, Russian and Israeli regimes! Due to imperialist control of the UN, > the allegations that the UN inspectors are spying on the Iraqi military must > be seriously considered. The United Nations is not a neutral party in the > whole affair as it is its sanctions that have killed hundreds of thousands > of Iraqi children due to blocking of medical supplies. Meantime the Iraqi > elite have continued to live in luxury. The giant companies in the US, UK, > Germany, France, China and Russia are all competing with one another for a > piece of control over the Iraqi economy. > > > > Why does imperialism want a war on Iraq? > > > > Firstly it must be said that the different monopolies from the various > imperialist countries mentioned above have no fundamental problem with the > war on Iraq. They all have a stake or are trying to get a bigger stake for > themselves. What they are arguing about is who controls the oil, who gets > the contracts to rebuild the oil refineries after the war and such detail. > The truth is that these monopolies are part of the handful of capitalist > gangsters who control the world's wealth and who would stop at nothing to > increase their profits. If there is no reason for a war, they are sure to > manufacture a reason. It is not for nothing that the US regime has set up > the "Proactive Pre-emptive Operations Group" which brings together secret > military actions, with information warfare and deception. It's aim is to > provoke 'terrorist' attacks which will then require "counter-attack" from > the US on countries harbouring the 'terrorists'. In short this is a special > unit that can manufacture a reason for war or invasions. The UK, Israeli , > the French , the German regimes all have similar secret structures. > > > > But why do they need a war? There is huge over-capacity in the world economy, > meaning that many factories are working at much less than full capacity. > Investors from all over the world have huge amounts of money in the US > economy that is in decline. For some time now there has been a deep economic > crisis in the US. There is no major industrial expansion in the US. Since > Sept 11, 2001, many thousands more workers have been laid off in the US. A > huge component of the US economy is the military industrial complex. The > bottom line is that the military industrialists need a war to boost their > decreasing profits. Indeed immediately after the Sept 11 attacks Donald > Rumsfeld , the US Defence Secretary was demanding a war on Iraq. They only > stopped then because they had not yet laid the psychological groundwork for > this. The US working and middle class have been so brainwashed into thinking > that they are under threat that sufficient numbers of them are providing > political support to the murderous plans of the monopolies, with George Bush > as their spokesman. Such has been the political damage done by 'terror' > groups that through their indiscriminate choice of targets where workers and > lower middle class get hit, the capitalist parasites take advantage of this. > The capitalist media has also helped to drive the US working and middle > classes into the arms of reaction. A wedge has been driven between the US > and UK working class on the one hand and the working classes in the > neo-colonial world on the other. The monopoly parasites are riding the crest > of the wave, hoping to take maximum advantage out of this. No matter how > many Iraqi civilians or American or British youth are slaughtered on the > battle field, as long as the dollars keep rolling in, the monopolists are > happy. Anything to divert attention away from the real issues facing the > working class in the imperialist centres. That the French , German, Russian > and Chinese regimes hesitate is not that they are anti-war, but they fear > the working class opposition on their home soil. Similarly the Saudi and > other Arab regimes also fear the revolt from the working and middle classes > on home soil. This is also the reason why the SA regime is making feeble > anti-US statements on the Iraq question. They have an election coming within > 18 months and need to keep up the pretences of being 'independent' and > pro-worker. The Cosatu, Nactu and Fedusa leadership should be leading mass > protests against the pending war on Iraq but they are too concerned with > keep the peace with their capitalist masters that they fold their arms and > do nothing while the Iraqi working class stands to be slaughtered on a mass > scale- not to mention the US and UK workers who are being used as cannon > fodder in the slaughter of fellow workers. > > > > The second important reason why the US wants to wage a war on Iraq is that > they want to impose a puppet regime that is directly under their control, > much like in Afghanistan. Iraq has the second largest oil reserves in the > world, after Saudi Arabia. The US economy is heavily dependent on imported > oil, including that from Iraq. Anti-imperialist feeling is growing among the > world working classes, not least in the Middle East. If there were to be a > popular overthrow of the Saddam regime and the indirect control of > imperialism over Iraq broken, this would be a devastating blow to the > already shaky US economy. As with any raw material from neo-colonial > countries, any crisis would affect imperialist countries more than the > economy of the neo-colonial countries themselves. This is because the > working classes in the neo-colonial countries are subsidising the economies > in the imperialist centres through cheap raw materials while being kept in > abject poverty by their regimes, the local lackeys of imperialism. Even the > coming to power of an Islamic regime that is not under direct imperialist > control would pose problems for US monopoly capital. [Such a regime would > not be pro-working class but may as in the case of Iran pose as > anti-imperialist]. Any overthrow in Iraq with directly impact on Saudi > Arabia where the regime is under enormous anti-imperialist pressure from the > masses. > > > > Defenders of democracy? > > > US imperialism wants the world to believe that they are the foremost > defenders of democracy. Nothing is further from the truth: Did US > imperialism lift a finger when Saddam was gassing the Kurds? No. In fact the > very weapons used by Saddam had been supplied by the US during the Iran > -Iraq war. This supply of weapons was personally supervised by the very > Rumsfeld [current US Defence secretary] in visits to Baghdad. Did the US > regime act against the murderous Turkish state when they slaughtered > hundreds of thousands of Kurds? No. In fact the US supplied the weapons to > the Turkish regime that helped them carry out the slaughter. The US has > strong links with the Pakistani military who seized power in a coup. The US > regime instigated the failed coup in Venezuela. The US regime arms and funds > the murderous Israeli regime in their ongoing slaughter of the Palestinians. > The US regime has strong trade ties with the Chinese regime - one of the > most brutal Stalinist regimes still remaining. This confirms our long held > view that the Stalinist claim of building Socialism in one country means in > reality capitulation to imperialism. > > > > Recently the North Korean regime, another Stalinist bureaucracy, expelled UN > nuclear inspectors. Yet the US does not threaten it with war as they do > Iraq. Firstly, North Korea has no oil. Secondly North Korea is an ally of > China and any attack on them will severely undermine the huge US investments > there. There has been a huge move from South East Asia to China by > imperialism. So crushed are the working class that imperialist reaps massive > profits there. This is on a massive scale what imperialism did in South > Africa when the resistance movement had been crushed in the 1960's. Russia > sells weapons to North Korea and the Russian capitalists would surely not > tolerate a war on them. > > > > Whether it be a formal 'democracy' or military or Stalinist dictatorship, for > US imperialism the bottom line is that they will only tolerate complete > subservience to their domination and exploitation of the working classes. > The history of the class struggle has shown that only the combined might of > the world working classes can stop imperialism in their tracks. Time and > again they have been forced to retreat. They can be defeated once again! > > > > The working class rises despite the role of the established working class > leadership > > > Across Europe and in the heartland of reaction, the US, the working class > resistance is rising but the leadership of the working class movement in > South Africa keep their members off the streets. The working class should > demand action from their leadership or set up alternative action fronts to > meet the imperialist forces head on. Already, Bush has cancelled his plan > tour of Africa in January due to the mere threat of revolt from the working > classes of Africa. If there had been massive demonstrations, this would have > weakened the psychological grip that the capitalists have over the US > working classes and would have inspired resistance all over the world. The > African masses have won the first round without the help of the leadership. > Now is the time for the working class to rise in their millions to stop the > slaughter of the Iraqi people and to prevent US and UK youth from being used > as cannon fodder for the profits of the handful of capitalists. These > capitalist parasites will make all sorts of promises today to gain support > for their murderous plans, but tomorrow workers will be dumped into > starvation on the unemployment line! > > > > The Way Forward > > > We call for the setting up of Anti-Imperialist Fronts across the world, of > the broadest possible forces to stop imperialism in their tracks. The > Vietnamese working class and peasants halted them, the Venezuelan workers > stopped their coup, the world working classes have the power to stop the > slaughter in Iraq. Only the Iraqi people led by the working class can decide > their destiny. > > > > IN EVERY CORNER OF SOUTH AFRICA, WE CALL FOR THE SETTING UP OF > ANTI-IMPERIALIST FRONTS, COMPRISED OF ALL ANTI-IMPERIALIST FORCES, WORKERS > ORGANIZATIONS, COMMUNITY STRUCTURES, WOMEN, YOUTH AND UNEMPLOYED STRUCTURES! > A START HAS ALREADY BEEN MADE IN CAPE TOWN BY A NUMBER OF ORGANIZATIONS. OUR > NEXT MEETING HAS BEEN SET UP FOR THURSDAY 16TH January 03 AT 6PM, COMMUNITY > HOUSE SALT RIVER. CONTACT PH 0731555529 FOR MORE DETAILS > > > > US military bases out of Botswana and Diego Garcia! > > US military bases out of the Middle East and from every corner of the globe! > > Down with imperialist war on Iraq! > > Stop the UN blockade of Iraq! > > Workers of the world unite! We call on the working classes in the US to unite > with your class brothers and sisters in Iraq to stop the handful of monopoly > capitalists in their tracks! We have nothing to lose but our chains! > > Forward to the Anti-imperialist Fronts! Forward to sustained mass actions and > General Strikes to halt imperialism in their tracks! > > Forward to the rebuilding of the Fourth International! > > Forward to a Socialist Federation of Workers' states in the Middle East! > > Forward to Socialism! > > > > Issued on 10th January 03 by Workers International Vanguard League, 1st Floor > Community House, 41 Salt River rd, Salt River 7925 South Africa. Ph 021 > 4476777 or ph 0731555529 > > Email : [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ > -- > > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] 12/14/02 02:21AM > > www.newstatesman.co.uk > http://pilger.carlton.com/print/124759 > > New Statesman (London) > 16 December 2002 > > John Pilger reveals the American plan > > Two years ago a project set up by the men who now surround George W Bush > said what America needed was "a new Pearl Harbor". Its published aims have > come alarmingly true, writes John Pilger > > The threat posed by US terrorism to the security of nations and > individuals was outlined in prophetic detail in a document written more > than two years ago and disclosed only recently. What was needed for > America to dominate much of humanity and the world's resources, it said, > was "some catastrophic and catalysing event - like a new Pearl Harbor". > > The attacks of 11 September 2001 provided the "new Pearl Harbor", > described as "the opportunity of ages". The extremists who have since > exploited 11 September come from the era of Ronald Reagan, when far-right > groups and "think-tanks" were established to avenge the American "defeat" > in Vietnam. In the 1990s, there was an added agenda: to justify the denial > of a "peace dividend" following the cold war. The Project for the New > American Century was formed, along with the American Enterprise Institute, > the Hudson Institute and others that have since merged the ambitions of > the Reagan administration with those of the current Bush regime. > > One of George W Bush's "thinkers" is Richard Perle. I interviewed Perle > when he was advising Reagan; and when he spoke about "total war", I > mistakenly dismissed him as mad. He recently used the term again in > describing America's "war on terror". "No stages," he said. "This is total > war. We are fighting a variety of enemies. There are lots of them out > there. All this talk about first we are going to do Afghanistan, then we > will do Iraq . . . this is entirely the wrong way to go about it. If we > just let our vision of the world go forth, and we embrace it entirely and > we don't try to piece together clever diplomacy, but just wage a total war > .. . . our children will sing great songs about us years from now." > > > Perle is one of the founders of the Project for the New American Century, > the PNAC. Other founders include Dick Cheney, now vice-president, Donald > Rumsfeld, defence secretary, Paul Wolfowitz, deputy defence secretary, I > Lewis Libby, Cheney's chief of staff, William J Bennett, Reagan's > education secretary, and Zalmay Khalilzad, Bush's ambassador to > Afghanistan. These are the modern chartists of American terrorism. > > The PNAC's seminal report, Rebuilding America's Defences: strategy, forces > and resources for a new century, was a blueprint of American aims in all > but name. Two years ago it recommended an increase in arms-spending by > $48bn so that Washington could "fight and win multiple, simultaneous major > theatre wars". This has happened. It said the United States should develop > "bunker-buster" nuclear weapons and make "star wars" a national priority. > This is happening. It said that, in the event of Bush taking power, Iraq > should be a target. And so it is. > > As for Iraq's alleged "weapons of mass destruction", these were dismissed, > in so many words, as a convenient excuse, which it is. "While the > unresolved conflict with Iraq provides the immediate justification," it > says, "the need for a substantial American force presence in the Gulf > transcends the issue of the regime of Saddam Hussein." > > How has this grand strategy been implemented? > > A series of articles in the Washington Post, co-authored by Bob Woodward > of Watergate fame and based on long interviews with senior members of the > Bush administration, reveals how 11 September was manipulated. > > On the morning of 12 September 2001, without any evidence of who the > hijackers were, Rumsfeld demanded that the US attack Iraq. According to > Woodward, Rumsfeld told a cabinet meeting that Iraq should be "a principal > target of the first round in the war against terrorism". Iraq was > temporarily spared only because Colin Powell, the secretary of state, > persuaded Bush that "public opinion has to be prepared before a move > against Iraq is possible". Afghanistan was chosen as the softer option. > > If Jonathan Steele's estimate in the Guardian is correct, some 20,000 > people in Afghanistan paid the price of this debate with their lives. > > Time and again, 11 September is described as an "opportunity". In last > April's New Yorker, the investigative reporter Nicholas Lemann wrote that > Bush's most senior adviser, Condoleezza Rice, told him she had called > together senior members of the National Security Council and asked them > "to think about 'how do you capitalise on these opportunities'", which she > compared with those of "1945 to 1947": the start of the cold war. > > Since 11 September, America has established bases at the gateways to all > the major sources of fossil fuels, especially central Asia. The Unocal oil > company is to build a pipeline across Afghanistan. Bush has scrapped the > Kyoto Protocol on greenhouse gas emissions, the war crimes provisions of > the International Criminal Court and the anti-ballistic missile treaty. He > has said he will use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear states "if > necessary". Under cover of propaganda about Iraq's alleged weapons of mass > destruction, the Bush regime is developing new weapons of mass destruction > that undermine international treaties on biological and chemical warfare. > > In the Los Angeles Times, the military analyst William Arkin describes a > secret army set up by Donald Rumsfeld, similar to those run by Richard > Nixon and Henry Kissinger and which Congress outlawed. This > "super-intelligence support activity" will bring together the "CIA and > military covert action, information warfare, and deception". According to > a classified document prepared for Rumsfeld, the new organisation, known > by its Orwellian moniker as the Proactive Pre-emptive Operations Group, or > P2OG, will provoke terrorist attacks which would then require > "counter-attack" by the United States on countries "harbouring the > terrorists". > > In other words, innocent people will be killed by the United States. This > is reminiscent of Operation Northwoods, the plan put to President Kennedy > by his military chiefs for a phoney terrorist campaign - complete with > bombings, hijackings, plane crashes and dead Americans - as justification > for an invasion of Cuba. Kennedy rejected it. He was assassinated a few > months later. Now Rumsfeld has resurrected Northwoods, but with resources > undreamt of in 1963 and with no global rival to invite caution. > > You have to keep reminding yourself this is not fantasy: that truly > dangerous men, such as Perle and Rumsfeld and Cheney, have power. The > thread running through their ruminations is the importance of the media: > "the prioritised task of bringing on board journalists of repute to accept > our position". > > "Our position" is code for lying. Certainly, as a journalist, I have > never known official lying to be more pervasive than today. We may laugh > at the vacuities in Tony Blair's "Iraq dossier" and Jack Straw's inept lie > that Iraq has developed a nuclear bomb (which his minions rushed to > "explain"). But the more insidious lies, justifying an unprovoked attack > on Iraq and linking it to would-be terrorists who are said to lurk in > every Tube station, are routinely channelled as news. They are not news; > they are black propaganda. > > This corruption makes journalists and broadcasters mere ventriloquists' > dummies. An attack on a nation of 22 million suffering people is discussed > by liberal commentators as if it were a subject at an academic seminar, at > which pieces can be pushed around a map, as the old imperialists used to > do. > > The issue for these humanitarians is not primarily the brutality of modern > imperial domination, but how "bad" Saddam Hussein is. There is no > admission that their decision to join the war party further seals the fate > of perhaps thousands of innocent Iraqis condemned to wait on America's > international death row. Their doublethink will not work. You cannot > support murderous piracy in the name of humanitarianism. Moreover, the > extremes of American fundamentalism that we now face have been staring at > us for too long for those of good heart and sense not to recognise them. > > With thanks to Norm Dixon and Chris Floyd > ====================== > > *** NOTICE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material > is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest > in receiving the included information for research and educational > purposes. Feel free to distribute widely but PLEASE acknowledge the > original source. *** > > > > > www.nu.ac.za/ccs > > >
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