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The
Michigan Socialist | News | World
The struggle against
the
U.S./UK occupation of Iraq
The
following is a presentation made by Nadia Mahmood of the Worker-Communist
Party of Iraq at the annual "Communist University," held
in London by the Communist
Party of Great Britain. The article has been corrected for
American English grammar and spelling.
THE WCPI WAS established in July 1993 to bring
into being a socialist republic in Iraq -- by organizing the
socialist tendency within the working class; by escalating
mass confrontation of the whole class against their oppressor,
whether the oppressor came in the shape of a fascist party
like the Ba'ath Party or occupation of any other kind; and by
organizing many sections of society around the working class
political alternative, among, for example, young people,
women, human rights advocates, freedom-lovers, etc.
That is the philosophy behind the
establishment of the WCPI, and behind our political stand on
the various issues and situations that we have been through
since we formed our party.
In our struggle to achieve our aims, we have
always looked at political transformation and any changes or
developments from the workers' point of view.
Before any policy could be made, we had to
analyze and evaluate whether these shifts would achieve the
workers' aims and demands, whether it would push our struggle
forward or not, and whether it would take us to new stage or
push us back. That was, and is, our aim.
Dealing with the war and occupation, could
they achieve workers' demands? Is it true that the war was
launched to bring to us the freedoms we fought for years to
gain?
Was the war launched for our welfare, for
human rights? Are the workers benefiting from the current
situation? The answer is clearly no.
You might ask: what are the workers saying in
Iraq, what are they doing? What are their demands and have
they a voice? Have they organized themselves?
As you know, we have had 35 years of
dictatorship under the dominance of the Ba'ath regime.
Thirteen years of economic sanctions and three wars have left
the workers isolated and deprived them of the opportunity for
political intervention to determine their future.
For that reason, the U.S. has brought onto the
political scene the Iraqi bourgeoisie, Islamic leaders,
nationalists, heads of tribes, ex-generals, and former Ba'ath
Party members.
I could say the U.S. has gathered the right
wing of Iraqi society and formed from them as the "governing
council."
The workers and the Worker-Communist Party of
Iraq are forming the left wing in society. They are standing
together. Now after four months of the war and occupation, the
whole of society has collapsed.
There is no water, no electricity, no
communications, no jobs, no security, no education, no health
system, no policing -- nothing.
Most industry and service facilities and
institutions have been rendered out of action, and thousands
of factories and smaller workshops have closed their doors,
either due to lack of water and electricity or lack of
security.
Reports are being widely circulated that the
U.S. is thinking of privatizing the public sector.
This clearly means an increase in unemployment
among workers. Millions are out of work already with
absolutely no means of earning a living.
They are threatened with hunger, while food
rations, which were distributed by the previous regime, are
rapidly running out.
Now, in the aftermath of the war, we have
started organizing workers, the unemployed, talking to women
in their own organizations and holding mass meeting. The media
gave very little attention to this.
Groups of activists in the labor movement, the
workers and unemployed founded the Union of the Unemployed in
Iraq on May 24. The UUI wanted to bring all unemployed workers
together and to push forward their basic demands.
The Union of the Unemployed in Iraq has 85,000
members in al-Nasiriya alone. I do not have the latest figures
from Baghdad and Kirkuk, as they are increasing on a daily
basis.
Since the founding of the UUI there have been
weekly demonstrations to draw the attention of the occupying
forces to our conditions, but there has been no response to
its demands so far.
These demands are for securing either jobs or
unemployment insurance, and demands for emergency allowances
to all those who are unemployed, with full payments to all
those who lost their jobs because of the war.
On July 29, the UUI organized demonstrations
in the three major cities of Baghdad, Nasiriya and in Kirkuk.
In Nasiriya on July 29, it was agreed with the
Italian forces, which control the city, that the UUI will
distribute food to the people there. This will give some power
to the workers and UUI.
In Baghdad, the UUI organized a sit-in in
front of the headquarters of the U.S. civil administration
(the former Republic Palace).
The U.S. forces arrested 19 members, among
them Qasim Hadi, the secretary of the Union of the Unemployed
in Iraq. The detained protesters were brutally assaulted and
tortured.
There were other demonstrations organized in
May, June and July. Yanar Mohamad, along with other women in
the WCPI, have established an organization demanding freedom
for women and have taken part in organizing women in the UUI
and workers' councils.
The women's freedom activists call on women to
leave their homes and join the workers' movement. Workers have
established workers' councils and trade union organizations.
Other actions have been taken too: for
example, there have been demonstrations amongst different
sections of workers on the railways, in petrol stations and
many other industries.
Their demands range from paying the arrears
owed to them, to calling for all casual workers to be made
permanent, and to stop privatizing petrol stations. The
workers are sending delegates to negotiate with those
administrating their areas of work.
The Worker-Communist Party of Iraq believes
that the struggle of unemployed people, or workers' councils,
will not only achieve economic gains for those who work in
Iraq, but is also a political answer to the current situation.
Achieving the demands of the unemployed, the
workers and women will elevate the expectations of the masses,
and will prevent the reactionary forces like the nationalists
(Ba'athist) and Islamic groups from exploiting the suffering
of the workers and splitting their ranks.
It will improve security and political
stability and therefore will give the people a chance to
return to their jobs.
The struggle of the Union of the Unemployed,
workers' councils and trade unions will help the masses to
decide their future after decades of staying on the periphery.
Our stand is to get the forces of the U.S. out
of Iraq. The existence of the U.S. in Iraq will cause
insecurity, and has turned Iraq into a field of political
liquidation.
With the presence of U.S. forces, the
Islamists and nationalists will be revived under the flag of
"against occupation." It will raise nationalist and Islamic
feeling among the most devastated and desperate people.
Islamic and nationalist groups will appear on
the political stage as "liberators" from the "invasion," which
is not the case.
They have no brighter agenda than the U.S. has
for the Iraqi people. They will hijack the people’s resistance
against the occupation and use it for their interests.
In the demonstration that took place in
al-Nasiriya on July 3, the Islamic groups attacked the 7,000
demonstrators on the UUI march. They could not bear the idea
of political activities organized outside of their mosques.
Moqtada al-Sadir, who was trained by the
Iranian intelligence, called for protests against the
occupation by forming an Islamic Army. The al-Sadir group
kidnapped our comrades on July 22, 23 and 24, and they burned
our headquarters in al-Nasiriya.
So, in addition to the fact that the U.S.
occupation will keep the situation on the edge of explosion
and exploits human and natural resources in the interests of a
few companies, it is also supporting the most reactionary
forces in Iraq, the heads of tribes and ethnocentric parties.
Let me say a few words about the situation for
women -- surprisingly we do not have any records or
information about kidnapped or raped women in the days of the
war, but now every day we are receiving new reports about the
raping and abduction of women, by local people or by American
soldiers.
The Worker-Communist Party of Iraq and the
working class have one aim: to end occupation and establish
local councils.
We have set up the first local council in
Kirkuk city and we want to take this to other cities in
Iraq.
The occupation, as well as wars and economic
sanctions, have been approved by bourgeois parties in Iraq, by
nationalist parties and Islamic parties, but have been
strongly opposed by workers.
Workers have no common interests with the
puppet "governing council."
Finally I would ask you to support Iraqi
people, Iraqi workers, morally and financially. International
solidarity will empower workers in Iraq to stand on their
feet.
Any donations, from individuals or
organizations, would be very much appreciated. Visit our
website, read our newspaper. If you could arrange to visit
Iraq, that would be a great initiative.
I believe strongly we have to end the unipolar
world.
We have to replace the new world order based
on this unipolar world, with another one, and western
government with the workers’ council republic and help open
the road to communism over the world
again. | 
