17 March 2003

Against the will of the majority of the world population, millions of whom have shown their opposition to the war on countless demonstrations in the past weeks and months, Bush and Blair and co are ready to launch their attack on Iraq any minute now. Millions will be enraged that a war has started.

Despite all the talk about Weapons of Mass Destruction and human rights, this war is about defending the interests of the US empire in controlling the world and its resources by extending control over oil reserves in the region. Bush himself was not even elected by the US people but levered into the Presidency by the Supreme Court stopping votes being counted in Florida!

 This war reveals once more the character of the capitalist system in which lives of working people are subordinated to the greed for profit of the ruling elites and big business.

Why are Bush and Blair to ignoring world public opinion?

Their starting point is the interests of their own capitalist states. Democracy does not mean anything to them if what the majority of people want does not coincide with the interests of a tiny, super rich minority who own the planet's wealth and rule the world.

Oil and control over oil reserves are an important motor for the world economy. Bush and the strong oil industry behind him want to be in control over the oil price to be able to make huge profits in the future.

All the talking about freeing the Iraqi people from Saddam's dictatorship is pure hypocrisy. Saddam was supported and armed by the US when he still served their interests even though he has never been anything else but a criminal dictator. The sanctions that were implemented after the Gulf War in 1991 did not harm Saddam's dictatorship but millions of Iraqi people. Only the Iraqi people themselves can truly free themselves from dictatorship, indeed Bush's plans are for removing Saddam but keeping the essentials of his regime intact.

It would also be an illusion to believe that there are good and bad capitalist leaders. The leaders that are speaking out against a war are not doing so because they on the side of the Iraqi people. There are other reasons for it. France, Germany and Russia that fear an unchecked US hyper-power will simply ignore them, while Blair hopes to score points by being Bush's most loyal ally. Most of those countries have rival economic interests in the region and therefore are not interested in helping to strengthen US dominance. But moreover, they are somewhat more aware of the enormous political consequences this war will have in the whole of the Middle East and especially in those countries who up until now have been willing servants of the US and other western powers.

Undoubtedly, a war would destabilise the region. It is possible that a number of Middle Eastern regimes will fall in the course of the war through pressure from below. Furthermore, this war will have devastating consequences in Israel/Palestine. The Sharon government in Israel could use Palestinian protest against the war to launch brutal attacks against the Palestinian masses in the occupied territories which then in return could lead to mass protest in other Arab countries. Western governments that speak out against the war are afraid that instability in the region would lead to a loss of influence for them.

None of these countries however have taken any serious steps to prevent a war. Indeed the French, German and Russian governments are all currently militarily involved in other regions. The German government has increased its engagement in Afghanistan to free US troops for Iraq, the French government is engaged in the civil war in the Ivory Coast and the Russian government who is still leading a war against Chechnya. These military campaigns are not for the benefit of ordinary working people.

The same is true for the United Nations. The UN does not and never will represent the will of working people, from its foundation it has been dominated by the bigger imperialist powers. Any UN decisions which act against the interests of any of the big powers are ignored.

We have seen a mighty and potentially powerful anti-war movement in the over the last few months.

From the very beginning, our anti-capitalist youth movement, International Socialist Resistance (ISR) and its affiliates across the world, have been actively involved in helping to build the anti-war movement. We have sought to answer Bush and Blair's war propaganda, debate with those who have been led to believe this would be "war for peace" and show why this is an imperialist war. In many countries and cities, we have taken the initiative to organise anti-war and youth against the war committees to prepare for school student and student strikes on the day the war starts.

All those initiatives were very important but it is clear that mass demonstrations, even of millions we have seen in London and Rome, will not stop the war on their own. Now further steps need to be taken to stop the war. It is necessary to organise mass blockades against the transportation of weapons and other war material. Protests should be organised outside US and British military bases with material explaining that we are against Bush and Blair's governments, not hostile to ordinary working US and British people. 

The key element in fighting this imperialist war is organising mass resistance that involves working class people. They have got the power to bring the economy and the whole society to a standstill and to hit those standing behind the war where it hurts them most - their profits.

In a number of countries trade union activists have taken the initiative to organise strike actions on the day war starts, as have school students and students. We welcome these initiatives and want the trade union leadership in all those countries to follow these examples. They represent millions of workers worldwide and have a responsibility to oppose this war for imperial power and profit.

They have got the strength to cut across the war plans of Bush and Blair. Already in Europe March 14 saw millions take strike action against a war, and in Spain alone five million struck. In Italy the FIOM metal workers' union has decided to strike if a war starts.

A one day all out strike in all sectors, a general strike, is the best and effective way to express working people's opposition against the war because it puts pressure on those who gain from a war and could open the way to bringing down those governments who actively support the war today.

Millions have been shocked by this war and the cynicism and lies which have been part of Bush and Blair's campaign. It has revealed to millions that imperialism has not changed its spots, and many will not only want to fight against this war but also the system which gives rise to these horrors. That's why in ISR we believe we need to go on to build a permanent movement that will fight for a society that takes people first before power and profit, and in which the majority of people decide about their own future, a socialist society.

ISR International Co-ordinating Committee, 17 March 2003