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The Michigan Socialist | News |
World News
The real war of
liberation has begun...
All troops out now!
By MARTIN SCHREADER
Editor, the Michigan Socialist
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| The lucky
ones: Young children made refugees by the presence of U.S.
Marines around the Iraqi city of Fallujah. These children are
forced to endure the weather and military guard dogs in order to
wait for a time when they might be let back into their homes. |
A LITTLE OVER a year ago, the American capitalists
and their supporters thought they had every reason to celebrate.
The invasion of Iraq and the toppling of Saddam
Hussein’s Ba’athist regime were hailed in the media as an astounding
success. Nearly all the political representatives of capitalism were
triumphantly proclaiming “a new day” for Iraq and reveling in the
belief that they brought “liberation” to the Iraqi people.
In the 12 months since, as the invasion became an
occupation, ongoing resistance chipped away at both the patience and
the image of the occupiers. As the numbers of wounded and killed in
action reached into the hundreds, retaliation by occupation forces
escalated.
By the end of 2003, the American occupiers, and
their allies in the so-called “Coalition of the Willing,” had begun
to take their aggression and frustration out on Iraqi civilians.
Reports began to surface of atrocities and war crimes committed
against civilians suspected of being “sympathizers” of the
resistance forces.
Many of these acts of aggression were carried out
against an emerging movement among the Shi’ite religious community
in Baghdad and the southern region of the country. Iraqi Shi’ites,
who had been a favored target of the Ba’athist regime due to their
religious kinship with Iran, began to organize themselves into
militia groups.
In March of this year, the American viceroy in
Iraq, Paul Bremer, ordered the closure of a small newspaper aimed at
the Shi’a community in Baghdad’s “Sadr City” neighborhood because,
they claimed, the publication advocated violence against the
occupiers (an unsubstantiated charge).
And then, all hell broke loose.
Within days of this act, Shi’ite militias
throughout Baghdad and southern Iraq had mobilized for combat.
By the anniversary of the Americans’ entrance into
the Iraqi capital, these militias, now joined by hundreds of
thousands of ordinary Iraqis of all religions and ethnicities, had
seized control of most major cities south and west of Baghdad,
including Falluja, Najaf and Karbala.
In northern cities like Tikrit, Kut and Kirkuk,
Sunni militias exchanged gunfire with U.S. Marines. In Baghdad
itself, armed strikes and demonstrations by workers are coupled with
skirmishes between militias and American occupation forces.
The isolated pockets of resistance have given way
to a generalized mobilization of the people against the occupation.
Even the newly minted Iraqi Army has collapsed, with significant
sections of it joining with the militias or formally declaring
neutrality.
The situation in Iraq today is nothing short of a
war of national liberation against colonial occupation.
THE SPARK THAT lit this prairie fire was the
series of moves against Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. The son of a
revered Shi’a religious figure (for whom Sadr City is named), and a
self-proclaimed direct descendant of the Muslim prophet Muhammad,
al-Sadr has been one of the most outspoken opponents of the
occupation.
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| Moqtada
al-Sadr |
The first act was the closure of al-Sadr’s Baghdad
newspaper, which, though small, was considered vital to the Shi’ite
residents of Sadr City. The issuing of an arrest warrant for al-Sadr
by the Coalition Provisional Authority, allegedly for the killing of
a pro-American cleric shortly after the 2003 invasion, quickly
followed.
When Shi’ite residents of Sadr City protested the
arrest warrant and the closure of al-Sadr’s newspaper, the occupiers
responded with rocket attacks from Apache helicopters. Close to 40
people were killed, and over 100 were wounded.
The result was open rebellion; militias supportive
of al-Sadr, organized as the Army of the Hidden Imam (the al-Mahdi),
rapidly took power in several cities, including Najaf and Karbala.
In many of the areas where the al-Mahdi took power, the local
councils appointed by the occupiers simply handed over control
without a struggle.
Iraqis of all ages, both men and women, have
joined in the new struggle. Sunni and Shi’ite militias have formed
working agreements to common strikes against the occupiers, and have
found support in both the religious (Chaldean) and ethnic (Kurdish)
minority communities.
For his part, al-Sadr sought to appeal to the
people of the United States for support and assistance: “I call upon
the American people to stand beside your brothers and sisters, the
Iraqi people, who are suffering an injustice by your rulers and the
occupying army, and to help them in the transfer of power to honest
Iraqis.”
This statement alone explodes the myth created by
Washington — that all those opposing the occupation of Iraq are, at
once, “anti-American” and akin to former CIA agent-turned-terrorist
leader, Osama bin Laden.
Al-Sadr’s call quite clearly (and quite correctly)
makes a distinction between the people of the U.S. and the regime of
George W. Bush. He regards (again, quite correctly) the people of
the United States and the people of Iraq to be “brothers [and
sisters].”
This is a far cry from the reactionary religious
fundamentalism commonly associated with al-Qa’ida and similar
groups, which see no difference between the people and the
government of a given country.
Such a distinction not only displays a kind of
nuance and sophistication that is notably absent from the
proclamations of the capitalist politicians in Washington, it also
reflects an often-ignored reality within the U.S. itself.
FOR THE LAST 12 months, the people of this country
have sat in shocked silence as the Bush regime has devastated one of
the oldest civilizations on earth.
From the “shock and awe” attacks of the early days
to the violent suppression of protests and torturing of innocent
civilians, we have watched the destruction of an entire people for
the benefit of corporate donors to Bush and his Republican Party.
The combined power and influence of the
government, media and ruling class have sought to either win over or
silence Americans into supporting the war.
However, these efforts have only partially worked;
mass antiwar demonstrations still occur with regularity, involving
tens of thousands of people.
As a result, the capitalists have to spend more
time dealing with the domestic situation (i.e., the antiwar
movement), instead of securing their interests in Iraq (which
includes brutally and violently suppressing the anti-occupation
movement).
Many of them thought that the victory of John
Kerry in the race for the Democratic nomination would be enough to
keep those who dissent in line (see
related article). However, with
the outbreak of the national liberation struggle in Iraq, the
situation has once again went “out of control” of the ruling class.
There is now open talk of how long it will be
before Bush’s proclamation that “all necessary force” will be used
to suppress the national liberation struggle leads to the use of
nuclear weapons.
For working people still caught in the grips of
war propaganda and patriotism, the main concern seems to be how best
to “save face.” That is, they are concerned about how to best end
this situation without opening the people of this country to another
attack on the scale of what happened on September 11, 2001.
While it is understandable that most people do not
want to see another wanton attack on innocent civilians, most of
whom really do not support the program of endless wars of conquest,
the fact is that such “vulnerability” exists now because of the
government’s agenda of war and repression.
The continued occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan,
combined with uncritical support for the policies of the State of
Israel in Occupied Palestine and a continued presence on Muslim
“holy lands,” have been and continue to be the impetus for such
attacks.
In other words: until the United States government
ceases its role as imperialist superpower, the risk of another Sept.
11-style attack hangs over the heads of all Americans.
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| Broken:
The charred remains of a U.S. CH-53 Sea Stallion helicopter
outside of Fallujah, Iraq. |
IT HAS BECOME clear that the only way the current
war of national liberation could be successfully suppressed by the
United States is for the Bush regime to commit to nothing short of
genocide as its agenda.
As long as the occupation continues in its current
form, the protracted conflict will continue to draw more and more
Iraqis to the side of al-Sadr and the al-Mahdi.
Only immediate withdrawal of all occupiers or the
brutal suppression of the Iraqi people can change that.
Certainly, the unconditional, immediate withdrawal
of all occupation forces from Iraq would be a stinging defeat for
the Bush regime and American imperialism in general.
However, the fact is that such a defeat is
fundamentally more desirable than either continued occupation or the
massacre of the Iraqi people — both of which will only lead to the
loss of more innocent lives.
Anti-imperialist Socialists work for this kind of
defeat, actively organizing and mobilizing people to demand the
unconditional, immediate removal of all occupation forces from Iraq.
As part of this work, Socialists also point out
that the only way to avoid this kind of bloody mess from happening
again — the only way to secure real peace — is to transform the
specific movement against war and imperialism into a general
movement against capitalism and class rule.
In a conflict such as we see in Iraq today, where
the people have armed themselves and are actively fighting against a
foreign occupier, our sympathies and support are with the people.
We cannot reconcile our determined desire for a
peaceful solution to the conflict in Iraq with acceptance of the
continued occupation, and we cannot expect that such continuance
would ever lead to a peaceful solution.
On the contrary, the continued occupation — to say
nothing of its military victory over the forces of national
liberation — would mean years and years more bloodshed and violence
visited upon the Iraqi people (and, in turn, on the American
people).
AT THE SAME TIME, while we Socialists stand in
solidarity with our brothers and sisters in Iraq, by working and
organizing for the immediate withdrawal of all occupation forces, we
give no measure of support to al-Sadr’s religious movement.
Iraq has a long and proud history of secularism
and democracy. Throughout the 20th century, the Iraqi people have
continually fought to secure peace and freedom in their country.
Beginning with the anti-colonial struggles against
the Ottomans and British, and continuing through the guerrilla
struggles against the Ba’athists and now the “Coalition” occupiers,
the people of Iraq — especially working people — have fought for
freedom and self-determination.
However, in the vacuum of power created by the
invasion and occupation of Iraq, religious figures like al-Sadr have
been able to come forward and be political leaders.
The Iraqi people deserve better leaders. They
deserve a leadership that best reflects the traditions of secularism
and democracy that have defined the people of Iraq over the years.
While al-Sadr is certainly a sight better than many other
politically active religious leaders, he stands on a political
platform that is at odds with the desires of the Iraqi people.
The only advice we can give our brothers and
sisters in Iraq is to come together and build the organizations and
bodies that can effectively and democratically govern the country.
The best place to start with such work is among
the many independent trade unions, organizations of the unemployed
and, where they exist, the democratically elected workers’ councils.
These bodies, still in many ways in their
embryonic stages, can serve as the basis for a new democratic
republic and new society in Iraq that is representative of the
majority of the people.
It will be on the basis of such democratic
assemblies and organizations of working people that a genuinely
democratic (and socialist) solution can be created — a solution that
can open the door to a better world for all humanity. |
