From the War in the Gulf, to
the War at Home
No War But The Class War!
On Wednesday March 19 2003 at about 9:30 PM, the United States and
its allies began a murderous assault upon Iraq. The millions in the
United States and around the world, who marched against war, have
seen their "message" ignored. But war is the health of the modern
state. Capital can no more give up war, than it can give up
exploitation. In attacking Iraq, the largest imperialist power on
earth has picked on a somewhat smaller one: The big fish eat the
small fish.
Whether the small fish has any teeth remains to be seen. In
Afghanistan, the US had a fairly easy time in achieving their goal of
ousting the Taliban, even though it failed to capture Bin Laden or
senior Taliban officials. Even Bush confessed to reporter Bob
Woodward, that the war in Afghanistan "was almost too good to be
true." But Iraq promises to be a much more costly war for the US.
Air strikes, which terrorize the Iraqi population and destroy
their cities, can only accomplish so much for the US. And the looming
ground presents the spectre of heavy US casualties, which will
certainly undermine support for the war at home. The last time the
US sustained any significant casualties was during the Vietnam War,
and the deaths of US troops in any significant number will surely
resurrect those demons.
And the US risks more. The longer the war continues, the greater
the disruption of oil production and the greater the possibility the
global economy will sink into recession.
The Iraqi Kurds have received encouragement to rise up against
Hussein and the offer of a Kurdish State has been floated, but such a
development is opposed by Turkey. Although it recently agreed to let
the US use its airspace even as it moved its troops to the Iraqi
border, in anticipation of a Kurdish uprising and to send a message
to its own Kurdish population. If the war drags on, the deeply
unpopular Arab nations of the region could well be drawn into the
conflict; ironically one of Bin Laden's stated goals.
So why has the US chosen to embark on this gamble? Quite simply
they have no other choice. The war has little to do with Bush's
daddy, a cowboy mentality, or even September 11, and everything to do
with the economy. The US economy is trembling under 31 trillion
dollars of debt, and with a faltering stock market and a plummeting
dollar, massive oil reserves and the possibility of a permanent US
presence in the Gulf makes for an attractive prize. In short, it is
the capitalist system that has brought the world to war.
And only through a break with the capitalist system can future
wars be averted. Not by appeals to so-called moderate nations like
Canada, which plays 'soft cop' in this conflict appealing to the
United Nations to continue its starvation sanctions. Not by chanting
"Vive la France." For France has its own reasons for opposing the US,
and they have little to do with concern for the Iraqi people;
rather, they concern the French imperialist state's position
vis-à-vis the US.
To break with capitalism means to engage in class struggle: This
means bringing the economy to a halt. The most powerful weapon
working people have is to withdraw labour from the capitalist system.
During the war in Afghanistan, dockworkers in Nagasaki, Japan refused
to load military supplies bound for the region. Train drivers, who
refused to move a freight train carrying ammunition for British
forces bound for the Gulf, repeated this action in Britain in
January. And while only a full scale break with capitalism can create
a new world, resistance can be practiced on multiple levels:
absenteeism, informal work to rule actions ("go-slows"), even
occupations and creative industrial repairs.
If actions against the war were significant and the battle in Iraq
does not go smoothly, it could provoke the kind of break down in
authority in the armed forces as was seen in Vietnam: desertions,
mutinies and a concern for one's own survival over that of the unit.
Were these conditions to take shape, the imperialist war might well
begin to resemble a civil war.
And in these conditions, begins the fight to build a new world:
A world without war, without classes, without bosses ,without
money
For communism
March 22, 2003
Back to Against Capitalist War,
Against Capitalist Peace / Back to Home
Page