To read all 3 articles in this weeks 'A World to Win News service' go to;
http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/AWorldToWinNewsService/ - Haghighat on Falluja and Iraq: “The people are the most decisive factor” Please note that our news service will not come out for the weeks of 16 and 23 August. Haghighat on Falluja and Iraq: “The people are the most decisive factor” 9 August 2004. A World to Win News Service. Following are edited excerpts from the latest issue of Haghighat, the publication of the Communist Party of Iran (Marxist-Leninist-Maoist). Why has US imperialism, the greatest military power in world history, and enjoying the help of other imperialists, in particular the British, failed to fulfil its plans in Iraq? Why, instead, has the situation there grown worse for them every day? In the beginning of the war, the Pentagon (US defence ministry) and the White House arrogantly claimed that the US military is such a gigantic power that no one could resist it. Of course, they have forgotten their humiliating defeats in the Korea and Vietnam wars. The Iraqi resistance has also showed that this arrogant imperialist power has many limitations and weaknesses. The Pentagon war planners claimed that the Iraq occupation would be quick and easy. They said that US forces in Iraq would be reduced to fewer than 30,000. Now in summer 2004 their forces in Iraqi number around 150,000, and tens of thousands more are on the way. All this shows the US’s inability to simultaneously intervene in several countries, contrary to their theories and plans. Reactionary armies always ignore the decisive human factor and the role of the masses, and instead attribute decisive powers to weapons and military technology. This is not the whole of their military line, but it is their starting point. The US military line is no exception. In fact they have extended the use of this theory to its limits. The fundamental reason is that they don’t have the people on their side. Their wars are against the interests of the masses of people; therefore they have to rely on machines. The military doctrine of relying on the most developed weapons found even more support in the US ruling class after their Vietnam defeat. The tens of thousands of American soldiers killed and many more wounded had a big impact on public opinion in the US and outraged the people. The rulers made an effort to develop the most sophisticated killing machines to defeat their enemies while depending on human power as little as possible. The US used and tested some of these weapons in the first war with Iraq in 1991 and then in the war against Serbia. In the war against Afghanistan they used “smart missiles” that found their way into caves with entrances only a few metres wide and then exploded. Videos of those missiles were shown on global television to terrify the people of the world and “prove” the imperialists’ invincibility. But it didn’t take long before the limitations of those weapons were exposed. In Afghanistan even forces like the Taliban – who are hated by many of the people and have only limited support in parts of the country – were able to resist the US and its weapons. For example, in an operation in mid-2003, some Taliban surrounded by US troops were able to break out of the encirclement after a few days and get away. Why was it that this supposedly invincible army, able to target even a hidden mouse hole, could not annihilate a few hundred poorly armed, surrounded Taliban fighters?! However, we should not underestimate the reality of the dreadfulness and massively destructive nature of these weapons nor the imperialists’ seriousness in slaughtering the masses and the revolutionaries. The development of military technology has undoubtedly caused some difficulties for revolutionary armed struggles. These developments are real and have been based on 50 to 100 years of imperialist experience in anti-insurgency warfare, especially in China, Korea, Vietnam and many other revolutionary wars. But these developments have not changed the basic principles of warfare. The recent experiences of Maoist revolutionary wars against US lackeys in Nepal and Peru, and also the experience of the resistance in Iraq as it directly confronts the US itself, show that the dynamic role of human consciousness can change the outcome of war. These experiences prove that the military superiority of the enemy does not necessarily decide the course of the war. The interesting and very important point in the struggle of the youth and masses of Falluja was their seriousness in forming an underground resistance force to fight the occupiers. This can be seen in their way of fighting. Unlike Moqtada Sadr (the Shia cleric who led a mutiny against the US in Najaf and other Shia holy cities), the Falluja resistance fighters did not parade around in armed street demonstrations. The Falluja resistance forces are organised in small guerrilla units. They stage surprise attacks and ambushes against US troops and then disappear among the masses. They don’t present the US military with a big target within easy reach. On the other hand, Islamic fundamentalist forces carry out operations separate from the masses. Sometimes they bomb public places and cause the loss of life of many masses and thus provide fuel for the imperialists’ propaganda. In contrast, the resistance fighters in Falluja rely on the masses for their preparations, logistics and intelligence, and with this they build the solidarity of the Iraqi people, whether Shia or Sunni. The struggle of the Iraqi people and in particular the people’s resistance in Falluja has serious political and organisational limitations, but it has proven that resisting a superior military force and even the strongest in history is possible if the masses take part. We know very little about the leadership of the resistance groups in Iraq. It is clear, however, that these groups are not homogenous. An important part of the resistance has been shaped by the spontaneous struggles of the masses. For example, Ahmed, 29 years old, who along with his small group fights the US, told the New York Times (14 April 2004), “We start work after 11 p.m. Our group is small, just friends, and we don’t even have a name.” This could be a sample of how these groups have formed and how they cooperate directly or indirectly to fight the occupiers. Of course groups linked to the former Saddam regime and fundamentalist religious groups also exist among them. It should be said that there is not a united organisation and a single command. The existence of religious fundamentalists and Baathists among the resistance groups presents a serious political danger to the resistance, since they are prone to compromise with the occupiers. The influence of reactionary political and military lines among the forces of the resistance could damage and even destroy its potential. If the Iraqi resistance is to prevail, its leadership cannot remain in the hands of nationalists and reactionaries. There is a need for a real revolutionary and popular leadership. In the current world situation, that can only be a communist leadership and a revolutionary united front with communists at its centre, and a people’s army under the leadership of the communists. Considering the power vacuum in many cities and villages in Iraq and imperialism’s inability to control these regions due to its intense contradiction with the masses, there are objective opportunities for the formation and development of a genuine revolutionary army that can unite the rage and rebellion of the masses and, with the aim of new democratic revolution, advance the armed resistance against the occupiers. Applying the principles and science of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism, it could launch a protracted war of the masses against the US by using tactics appropriate for a small force, inflicting blows on the occupiers’ weak points and wearing them down. In a long process of war, the imperialist forces will become more exhausted, their lies and deceptions and crimes will be more exposed, their internal contradictions will crack open, and their financial and economic power will be under more pressure. Anti-war and anti-imperialist struggles on a world scale and in their own country will expand and the masses increasingly join in. So as the war continues over a relatively long period of time and if the resistance leadership has a correct line, the power of the invading force will decay and the force of the resistance will flourish. - end item - --------------------------------- ALL-NEW Yahoo! Messenger - all new features - even more fun! [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar. Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free! http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/BRUplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> *************************************************************************** Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. 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