As we go to press the TV is broadcasting scenes of US 'victory'. Yet if we
have learned one fact in recent weeks it is that the first casualty of war is
the truth. This war is not finished yet no matter what the headlines say. In the
end the courage of those opposing the invasion of their land is no match for the
superior firepower of US imperialism. At the same time the mass of people have
to eat, and since 'humanitarian' bombs have wiped out their electricity and
water supplies, many people, no matter how reluctantly, will have to turn to
their invaders to provide the necessities of life.
The second, third and fourth victim (and countless more) are invariably
innocent men, women and children, some of them in uniform, most of them not. All
claims that civilian casualties were being studiously avoided stand exposed by
the brutal assault on the Al Jazeera TV base and on those journalists who have
dared to report from the front honestly, instead of doing what they were told.
The scenes of jubilant Iraqis welcoming their liberators are a farce. There
are examples in modern history of genuine scenes of liberation. Picture the
celebrating crowds following the defeat of the Nazis in Paris or the liberation
of Rome. That was genuine jubilation on the part of millions. Scenes of children
crowding around tanks or small crowds pulling down statues of Saddam Hussein do
not stand up to comparison. In reality these were extras in a US propaganda
film.
Just as the imperialists' earlier self-deception that the war would be over
in days if not hours was shattered, so now the myth that they have secured
control will not stand up to the "pockets of resistance" they will
meet everywhere. Their dream of establishing a puppet regime, and then
proceeding to exploit the Iraqi masses and their oil reserves, and asset
stripping the country through privatisation, will prove more difficult than they
imagine.
US firms are already circling over the battered body of Iraq like vultures
ready to swoop. Here Bush has found a role for the UN after all. They can pay
American firms to rebuild what their air force has wrecked.
The real intentions of the imperialists are now clear for all to see. Not
liberation, not the destruction of weapons, but securing spheres of influence,
and attempting to impose their authority on the masses everywhere in a war to
re-divide the worlds markets and raw materials in the interests of US
imperialism. Thus this war and its successors are not a sign of the strength of
imperialism but of the weakness of the capitalist system, which can no longer
proceed as it did in the past. Instead we have a return to the period of wars,
revolutions and counter-revolutions which dominated capitalism before the second
world war.
Even when they do succeed in their occupation of Iraq, this is only the first
of many such wars. Syria appears to be next in line followed perhaps by Iran.
Everywhere they tread they leave behind not peace and stability but turmoil and
devastation. To recall the words of the Roman historian Tacitus "they
create a wilderness and call it peace."
Anyone who imagines that the conclusion of war in Iraq will mean we can all
go back to 'normal' is seriously mistaken. This will be the fantasy above all of
the Labour leaders, who have been terrified of the mass movement of opposition
the war has provoked. In reality that mass opposition reflects the burning
discontent in society, which will be intensified not only against further wars,
but also against privatisation, closures and job losses. The same crisis which
compels the capitalists to go to war abroad, will mean an all out assault
against the working class at home too.
The task of the hour for militant workers is to go on the offensive inside
the labour movement. Brown's budget, hidden behind the smoke of war, will demand
that we foot the bill for their military adventure. Not one hospital ward must
be closed, and not one worker must lose their job to pay for this or any future
imperialist aggression! Brown's budget plans, borrowing to fund more military
adventures and puny spending increases based on a delusional growth forecast of
3 – 3.5% will mean a disaster. There will be no such growth in the next period
and we will be asked to pay for both war and slump.
The firefighters struggle was put on hold while the war raged. But nothing
has been solved for the firefighters. They have already rejected the insult of
an offer from the government, and will rightly want to take action for their
just claim, against job losses and against the threat to their right to strike.
There are more imperialist wars of plunder already being planned. The TUC
leaders must not be allowed to hide under the table as they did on this
occasion.
Not a penny for imperialist plunder!
Not in our name, and not at our expense!
For working class internationalism!
Above all it is necessary for the unions to mount a serious campaign against
Blair inside the Labour Party. Those MPs who supported the war could be
deselected and replaced by the union movement and the rank and file. Why stop
there? All those Blairite MPs who support privatisation, job losses and
anti-working class policies should be removed.
The struggles against imperialist war and to defend jobs and conditions are
intimately linked. Capitalism is responsible for both assaults on working
people. Both struggles require us to fight to reclaim the unions and Labour.
They can only end with the socialist transformation of society.
