Article from the Feb. 2005 issue of the Socialist
newspaper of the Socialist Party, Irish section of the CWI

Iraq End the Occupation

Build for 19 March Day of Action

by Daniel Waldron

ON 19 MARCH this year, the second anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, there will be an international day of action against the continued illegal occupation. Socialist Youth are now nationally campaigning to mobilise the maximum number of people for this event.

February 15th 2003 was an historic day, when 30 million across the globe came onto the streets to show that they rejected Bush and Blair's phoney arguments for the war, including 20,000 in Belfast and 150,000 in Dublin. However, popular opposition to the war and occupation is even greater than it was at the advent of the conflict. The British and American governments have finally admitted that there are no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, which was the main pretext for the invasion. Also, revelations of brutality against Iraqi civilians by some British and American troops and, of course, the rising death toll of soldiers and civilians, which now stands at well over 100,000, have helped erode much support for the pro-war camp.

However, we must remember that despite the huge public opposition to the war, Bush and Blair still went ahead with the invasion. That is because they represent the interests of the capitalist class, big business owners who pushed for regime change in Iraq to protect their economic interests by securing Iraq's vital oil resources.

Socialist Youth supports the right of the Iraqi people to fight back against the imperialist occupation of their country. However, this does not mean that we are uncritical of the actions and tactics of the resistance movement.

Although it has a relatively loose structure, the resistance is heavily influenced by the ideas of the Mullahs, with militias based on religious or national groups. There is a real danger of inter-ethnic conflict now opening up.

When Al-Sadr and his supporters took control of some shia towns, they implemented elements of their interpretation of Sharia law, which led to the oppression of women and homosexuals, with a number of executions taking place.

Also, indiscriminate car bombs and suicide attacks, along with the execution of foreigners in Iraq, do nothing but alienate people in the West from the struggle of the Iraqi people. We call for a secular, multi-ethnic resistance movement, based upon and under the democratic control of the working class to fight for an independent, socialist Iraq.

Recent reports on the War can be found here
while earlier ones
(from the preparations for war until the end of 2004) are here. If you want to get involved in building for 19 March,

campaigning for an end to the occupation of Iraq and fighting for a socialist future

contact Socialist Youth on 07821058319 or

socialist_youth@hotmail.com