English Home
See the Overseas Appeal: Stop Bush's War!
Messages from foreign friends
The meetings of the 41st International Antiwar Assembly in Japan
were successfully held on August 3rd in Tokyo and other six cities (Sapporo in the northernmost Hokkaido region, Kanazawa on the coast of the Sea of Japan, Nagoya in Tokai, Osaka in Kansai, Fukuoka in Kyushu, and Naha in the southernmost islands Okinawa). [Pic. left: The central meeting in Tokyo]
Against the occupation of their country by the coalition forces of the US-UK, Iraqi people are now waging indomitable struggles including those in the form of guerrilla battle. And to this battle field in Iraq, the Koizumi government of Japan is planning to dispatch its Self-Defence Forces in support of the US army. In the middle of this situation the Assembly was held. Thousands of workers, students and other citizens rallied at the meetings renewed their resolutions to fight for another uplift of international antiwar struggle.
At the central meeting in Tokyo, a keynote report was addressed by Mr. Kusuda Yasuyuki for the Executive Committee.
He accurately summarized the characteristics of the present state of affairs as follows:
From the top: Naha, Nagoya and Fukuoka
Faced with militant counterattacks from Iraqi people, the US government is now troubled by the nightmare, 'Vietnam again'. US policies for occupation and rule have gone bankrupt; deceptions of the 'cause for the war' have also been exposed to the light of day. The US force, which was exclusively dependent on the 'unprecedented military strength' built through RMA, was once drunk with joy at the 'splendid success in the blitz tactics'; the success was, however, momentary one, which was brought about only by a tactical retreat, or outwitting, by loyalist forces to Saddam. What's worse, cruel 'guerrilla hunts', with arrogant attitudes of US soldiers against Islamic way of life, have added fuel to the resentment of the people. US power holders are on the intellectual level of 3-year-old infants, or orang-utans, which cannot be conscious of others' existence, in that they are indifferent and inconsiderate to others living in different religions, cultures and nationalities.
The Koizumi government, having joined in a 'Hakenkruez alliance' led by the US, is now planning to dispatch Japanese troops to Iraq. The government is bent on strengthening its neo-fascistic internal ruling order, like a state that can wage wars of aggression.
He concluded his report by calling on the participants as follows:
The Japanese Communist Party's emphasis on 'support for the Iraqi reconstruction' means its acceptance of the military aggression by US imperialism. In opposition to the degeneration of the official peace movement, we must resolutely create a revolutionary antiwar struggle, to end the military occupation of Iraq by American imperialism, to stop Japanese troops to Iraq!
Following the keynote report, messages of solidarity from abroad were presented. All the messages that arrived by the date were printed along with their Japanese translation and distributed to the participants. A student from the Zengakuren read them one by one, as giving a brief introduction of each group or individual. Participants responded to the messages with heartfelt applause.
After a break, a medical worker took the platform. As reporting that her hospital authorities had conducted intensive drills successively on the assumption of war, she expressed her resolution to organize antiwar struggles at her workplace.
A speech from Zengakuren Chairman Iida Shin'ichi was impressive. He made a lively report on the latest struggles by students against the bills for Japan's participation in the military administration of Iraq, including the dispatch of SDF troops. 'The day the government scheduled to railroad the bills, Zengakuren students carried out demonstrations around the Diet Building far into the night together with workers', he said. He added that, in the midst of the struggles, Zengakuren students continued daily discussions and studies to reforge their way of thinking for growing into consistent bearers of revolutionary antiwar struggle. Expressing his strong resolution for the coming struggle, the Zengakuren chairman concluded his speech.
From the top: Sapporo, Osaka and Kanazawa
The central meeting was closed with calls of antiwar slogans and the International by all participants.
Workers, students and other citizens who joined in the meeting engraved the speeches and messages on their hearts, making up their mind to advance antiwar struggles in solidarity with people all over the world.
Let us advance together!
Overseas Appeal for the 41st International Antiwar Assembly
Stop Bush's War!
The Executive Committee for the 41st International Antiwar Assembly in Japan
Zengakuren [All-Japan Federation of Students' Self-Governing Associations]
Antiwar Youth Committee
Japan Revolutionary Communist League - Revolutionary Marxist Faction [JRCL-RMF]
Stop the war of aggression for world domination by the US militarist empire!
Stir up the raging flames of international antiwar struggles!
1.
Oppose the military occupation of Iraq by the US-UK imperialist states!
Crush Bush's ambition to colonize Iraq and the Middle East!
Oppose the continued aggressive war in Afghanistan!
2.
Oppose the US government producing small-scale nuclear bombs!
No to its building of MD systems!
3.
Stop Japanese imperialism dispatching troops to Iraq!
Stop the enactment of the law allowing Japan
to participate in the military administration in Iraq!
Smash the US-Japanese machinations to take sanctions against North Korea!
Break the chauvinistic propaganda infused by the Japanese government!
4.
Oppose military attacks on Palestine
by the Israeli government in the name of the 'eradication of terrorism'!
Oppose the warmongering US provoking war against Syria and Iran!
Based on proletarian internationalism,
resolutely advance antiwar struggles all over the world!
A warmonger is devastating the Middle East and its neighbourhood - the warmonger of the militarist empire of the United States.
President George W. Bush has an illusion that the United States is able to dominate the world by means of its overwhelming military strength hightechnically built up with RMA (revolution in military affairs). As if Thomas Hobbes of the 17th century, the Bush administration is fancying its own state as 'Leviathan'. In complete disregard of the existence of sovereign states constituting the world of today, this warmonger sees the world as an arena of 'war of everyone against everyone'. With this crazy belief, it is now attempting to force the unilateralism of the American state onto the whole world in a militarist style.
In actuality, it is this warmonger that shot devilish weapons, including bunker busters, MOABs, cluster bombs and depleted uranium munitions at Iraqi people.
The tidal waves of mass-scale demonstrations held by workers and toiling masses in the world against the planned military attack on Iraq went round the globe as many as four times, starting in January. Nevertheless, the coalition forces of the US and the UK launched a pre-emptive attack, ignoring the UN resolution. Bombardments against Iraq carried out on the basis of the Bush doctrine (the strategy of pre-emptive attack) have razed Iraqi towns and villages to the ground, killing tens of thousands of soldiers and people over the country.
What is worse, those 'weapons of mass destruction' (WMD), which were held up as the 'cause for war', have not yet been found. Neither Saddam Hussein nor his sons, Uday and Qusay, have yet to be 'reaped' (Rumsfeld). All of Saddam's military forces, supposed to be the other party concerned to conclude an armistice, have gone underground.
Even though Bush staged a ceremony to declare 'the end of major combats' in Iraq on May 1st, guerrilla warfare is still going on against the coalition troops, against their occupation, or rather, it will be intensified day by day.
The crisis of the military administration in Iraq
Thanks to neglect of the disarmament of the Iraqi army forces by the headquarters of the US army, guerrilla battles of the Iraqi people against American imperialism, against the occupation are now spreading all over the land of Iraq under the military occupation and rule by the US-led coalition forces .
'US forces are not liberators. Now is the time for jihad!' - Widely distributed leaflets are inspiring people to rise in an anti-American holy war. In Baghdad, thousands of ex-soldiers rose in a mass demonstration in protest against the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA). Underground brigades loyal to Saddam are unleashing dauntless guerrilla attacks upon the occupation forces.
CPA Chief Paul Bremer, having sacked Jay Garner, the incompetent head of ORHA, scrapped the plan to convene a 'national conference', which the latter had previously promised to the representatives of religious groups and the ethnic / tribal leaders over the county. On June 1st, Bremer arrogantly announced the indefinite postponement of the start of an Iraqi Interim Authority (IIA). All this vividly shows the bankruptcy of the coalition forces' occupation policy. It means that the US has been driven into a formidable quagmire, a semi-perpetual occupation of Iraq by the coalition forces. Look! How Rumsfeld is revealing his irritation!
In fact, on June 9th, the US forces issued the order of 'Operation Desert Scorpion' to 'wipe out guerrillas' from the 'Sunnite triangle' on the north and west of Baghdad, and since then they have been carrying out military attacks using air forces and special squads. This was followed by the 'Operation Desert Sidewinder', which started throughout the country on June 29th. Forcible implementation of these cruel guerrilla hunts is adding fuel to the fire of anti-American resentment of the Iraqi people.
Today, the whole area of Iraq is increasingly assuming an aspect of 'Palestinization'; its 'Vietnamization' is a matter of time.
This is not all. The farcical 'peace agreement' in Aqaba (June 4th) has gone bankrupt due to the attacks on Palestinians by the Zionist Sharon government, along with the joint counterattacks against them by Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade. On June 29th, however, a 3-month-long 'truce', an empty agreement under the condition of Israel's pullout from North Gaza, was reached.
'By getting bridgeheads in occupied Iraq and Israel, and by exporting democracy to the Arab / Middle Eastern states, we are going to change them into obedient followers of the US.' - The ambition of the Bush administration as such to 'democratize the Middle East' is now hung by a thread.
The Democrats who are embodying the will of the East Establishment have started revealing the fact that the official report on Iraq's WMD was totally a lie and that it was cooked up by hawks in the Bush administration, who scrapped undesirable reports from the CIA. This is a prelude to the Presidential election coming up next year, which implies that, together with the deflationary spiral aggravating the US economy, Bush, Jr. will suffer the same misery as that of his father.
In order to contain Iranian Shiites, who can be a threat to its military authority in Iraq, US imperialism has labelled Shiite Iran as part of the 'axis of evil' and has added this state to the list of its main targets of attack under the pretext of the construction of nuclear plants in this state with Russian aid. Aggressive imperialists in the US are artificially making up a 'democratization' movement in Iran using CIA cat's-paws in both Iran and the US. At the same time, branding North Korea, too, as part of the 'axis of evil', the Bush administration is instigating the Japanese imperialist state and the South Korean government to take sanctions against this state for its suspicious nuclear weapons program. Amid this situation, imperialist power holders of the US are intensely expanding and strengthening the 'coalition of the willing', which they have made up to invade Iraq.
The Bush administration is now attempting to set up a 'second UN' on the basis of the 'coalition of the willing', independently of the existing UN, by scraping together states that approve the US resorting to a pre-emptive attack against any country it regards as 'evil'.
A leap towards a 'Hakenkreuz alliance'
To the battlefield in Iraq where shots are still ringing out, the Japanese imperialist government is intending to send its ground troops (of the Self-Defence Forces), at any cost. 'Boots on the ground!' - In response to this strong demand for infantry from the Bush administration, the Koizumi government is rushing to join the coalition forces now occupying Iraq.
In the summit meeting held on May 22nd, the US and Japanese rulers mutually confirmed their 'security alliance in a global context'. During his stay at Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas, Koizumi Junichiro was invited to sit in on Bush's morning intelligence briefing from the CIA, which was an unprecedented incident except for the case of Tony Blair. At this point, it must be said, a Hakenkruez alliance was virtually formed between the US, Britain and Japan. Koizumi has chosen to go to hell along with Bush, the neo-Hitler, who swears to 'export death and violence to the four corners of the earth'. For this very reason, Koizumi pledged to dispatch Japanese ground forces to Iraq.
On June 6th, the Koizumi government railroaded the notorious Armed Attack Law through the plenary session of the Diet, which authorizes the government to order a war-preparedness even in a situation where an armed attack is just 'anticipated' (and which allows it to suppress domestic opposition). This law was enacted leaving the war-renouncing Article 9 of the Constitution of Japan untouched. However, on the absolute basis of the US-Japan military alliance, the Koizumi government is about to place the revision of the Constitution on the agenda, thus trying to boost the Japanese state up into an 'ordinary state' that can wage war.
Furthermore, the Koizumi government, now as a willing tool for Bush, is piling more pressure on North Korea (including economic sanctions) in the cause of 'stopping the proliferation of WMD'. Ruling politicians are stirring up national chauvinism against North Korea in the hearts of the people, saying 'North Korea is no different from gangsters' (Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Abe Shinzo). By means of such hysterical agitation, they are planning to carry out coercive 'inspections' of North Korean boats calling at Japanese ports. On top of that, they are attempting vicious suppression, in reality, against the Korean groups in Japan which they assume to be 'supporters of the terrorist state'.
A turn to the century of darkness
The war of aggression against Iraq committed by the militarist empire of the US, the sole superpower in the world, has heralded the darkness of the 21st century.
Right after Bush's speech on the 'end of major combats' in Iraq, we stated as follows.
'What forms the nodal turning point in contemporary world history is, as a matter of course, the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. The so-called new cold-war structure that followed it plainly represented the structure of the world in transition to the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia / Kosovo in 1999, which was conducted in no relation to a UN resolution. We defined this bombing of Yugoslavia as the essential turning point in contemporary world history. In contrast to this, aerial bombings in Afghanistan, which were conducted against a background of this turn of world history, without a UN resolution, has significance as the real turning point in contemporary history. On March 19th, 2003, the aggressive war was launched against Iraq on the basis of the 'coalition of the willing', by trampling on the adoption of a UN resolution on the continuation of inspections in Iraq. This must be seen as Act 2 of the real turning point in contemporary world history.' (Quoted from 'Bush's War: The Meaning of the Aggressive War on Iraq and His Ambition for World Domination')
Bush's war on Iraq has revealed a tremendous gap of twenty-some years in high-technology military strength between the US and the other advanced countries.
From the point of view of ideology, the war on Iraq, upon which the US empire unleashed its 'unprecedented military strength' built up with RMA, is characterized as an attack on 'Islam fighting with light firearms' by 'Christianity on jet bombers'.
At present, in order to strengthen its nuclear capability, the Bush administration is rushing to the production of small-scale nuclear bombs and the development / deployment of missile defence systems. Thus the war in the 21st century has acquired characteristics as high-technology, religious war against a background of the tremendous gap in military strength and on the basis of the religious / ideological antagonism between Christianity and Islam.
The air bombing against Iraq by the US-UK coalition forces on the basis of the strategy of 'pre-emptive attack' and the subsequent occupation of this country by them constitute, in the immediate sense, the beginning of the 'democratization', or 'westoxification', of the Middle East; however, they form, at the same time, the opening of the 21st century as a century of darkness.
In opposition to the military prevalence of America's unilateralism, power holders of France, Germany and Russia (and China as well) are trying to patch up the UN, which has been playing the role of a mediator between nations. These powers of 'old Europe' (so branded by Rumsfeld), however, are unable to vie with the overwhelming high-tech military strength of the sole superpower. For this reason, they are trying, for the time being, to rally members of the African Union, as well as Asian and South American countries, against the Hakenkruez alliance.
The new, east-west cold-war structure of the world in the 1990s has changed into another world structure in the beginning of the 21st century, turbulently developing around the two poles: the Hakenkruez alliance led by the US and the Franco-German-Russian allies. As is symbolized by the aggressive war on Iraq, the world in the 21st century will turn to a world of darkness. Unless the long-lasting situation of de-ideologization is broken through, particularly unless the establishmentarianization of the working class in advanced countries is overcome, the 21st century will have to tolerate the arrogant behaviour of the warmonger America. This shall not be allowed to happen.
Spread flames of international antiwar struggles!
Working people all over the world! All the Muslim people fighting against US brutalities! Let us fight together boldly to smash the ambition for world domination of the United States, the present-day Leviathan!
Remember - massive waves of antiwar demonstrations, organized by working people all over the world to stop the war of aggression against Iraq by the US empire, went round the world as many as four times. Despite the worldwide uplift of the struggle, however, it was forced to be defeated. This reality must be overcome.
Today, the Japanese Communist Party (JCP), which still professes itself the leadership of the opposition in Japan, is preaching 'rebuilding of Iraq under the command of the UN' - despite the fact that Iraq has been devastated by the US in complete disregard of the UN. What is more ridiculous, it proposes a plan that includes Anglo-American aggressors as main forces for this 'rebuilding'. What is this, if not proof that this party has gone as mad as Bush?
The leaders of the JCP condemn Bush's war as 'unlawful'. This implies that they accept wars when they are based on the 'principles of the UN Charter'. In fact, they approve the continued existence of the Self-Defence Forces, violent apparatuses for the imperialist state of Japan. They have gone so far as to endorse the 'practical use' of the SDF troops in the event of an emergency. Their policy change comes from the party's position that it agrees to a 'war by way of self-defence'. This is nothing but proof that they are imbued with the idea of 'peace by force', which is no different from that of imperialists. It is an inevitable result of the basic line of this party that has been making it a goal in itself to seek a 'reform within the framework of capitalism'.
Comrades all over the world! Workers and students in Japan are fighting to overcome this degeneration and distortion of the class struggle by the official leadership. In opposition to the obstruction placed by the Rengo trade union leadership, which is serving the imperialist bourgeoisie, we are fighting to strengthen the solidarity of workers and students who are advancing joint actions against Bush's war by going beyond the framework of existing national trade union centres.
Today, most of the working class in advanced countries have yielded to their own bourgeois governments and the capitalist ruling class. Both the AFL-CIO leadership and the British TUC leaders, who had opposed the war policies of their respective governments before the war, expressed support for the war as soon as it was started. This is the epitome of betrayal!
Engulfed in the waves of nationalism stirred up by the ruling class in each country, official leaders of labour movement have obliged their rank-and-file workers to give support to the war. This humiliating state of affairs must be broken through, and for this purpose the working class in advanced countries must make strenuous efforts.
We denounce the Sweeney leadership of the AFL-CIO supporting the aggression against Iraq and express our resolution to fight in solidarity with US workers who are tenaciously organizing antiwar movements from below in their workplaces.
We denounce the vicious agitation of 'war on terrorism' (i.e. asymmetrical warfare) propagandized by Yankee imperialists and other imperialist power holders.
We clearly express our heartfelt solidarity with Muslims fighting against brutalities of American imperialism.
All the people in Iraq! Advance struggles against occupation and kick out the US-UK forces!
People in Palestine, waging militant resistance under the banner of 'anti-American imperialism, anti-Zionism' against Israeli rulers! Organize struggles on the basis of Islamic inter-nationalism!
All the people of Arab countries! Denounce your governments submitting to American imperialism! Support the Iraqi and Palestinian people fighting against imperialist aggressors!
(July 1st, 2003)
Japanese students agianst the Emergency Bills
in front of the Diet Building
Messages of Solidarity
from Foreign Friends
CAMPUS ANTIWAR NETWORK (CAN) August 2nd; New York, U.S.A.
Statement of Solidarity to Zengakuren and the International Antiwar Assembly in Japan:
Though the Bush administration declared three months ago that the war in Iraq had ended, the fighting continues. Here in the US, soldiers and military families alike are becoming increasingly vocal in their demand that the troops be brought home immediately, as soldiers' tours of duty are repeatedly extended, and the death count continues to climb. And pressure on the Bush administration has been growing as public becomes more aware of the lies that were used to lead us into war.
Along with you, and hundreds of other groups around the world, the Campus Antiwar Network is continuing the fight to end the occupation of Iraq, against domestic attacks on our civil liberties, and against drastic cuts to education funding even as the defense budget skyrockets. We stand in solidarity with your efforts at this conference, and look forward to continuing to work with you in building a global movement - together, we can stop this war!
Sincerely,
BERKELEY STOP THE WAR COALITIONAugust 1st; Berkeley, U.S.A.
End the Occupation! No Troops to Liberia!
In 1945, the U.S. committed the worst crimes in human history, vaporizing tens of thousands of lives instantaneously with the atomic bomb. Almost 60 years later, ironically enough, the Bush administration has accused Iraq of carrying nuclear weapons and has used the guise of disarmament to carry out the massacre of a country ravaged by 12 years of UN-led sanctions by the world's premier military force. In the last few weeks, however, the President has been under intense scrutiny for the fact that weapons of mass destruction have not been found and, furthermore, that the accusation in the first place was full of lies.
Another reason given for going to war was that we need to "liberate the Iraqis"; however, this is nothing but hypocrisy as we see now that 4 out of 5 are unemployeed, electricity production is dropping, and clean water is hard to come by, as untreated sewage floods the rivers.
The real reason for the U.S. invading Iraq, exposed by these contradictions, is for nothing more than imperialism. First, Iraq has the 2nd largest reserve of oil in the world, and sits in the worlds most oil-wealthy region. If the U.S. controls the Middle East, it controls the flow of oil, and therefore it controls the profits. The U.S. has also adopted many neoliberal policies regarding Iraq by selling port, reconstruction, and even cellphone contracts to American companies, all the while importing cheap goods destroying the local economy and putting even more out of work. Second, ever since the defeat of the U.S. in Vietnam, it has tried numerous times to assert itself as a unilateral military and economic power in the world. Grenada, Nicaragua, El Salvador were the first steps; the first Gulf War was another; "humanitarian" interventions during the Clinton years were others; and, now, we have Afghanistan, Iraq, and possibly Liberia.
Our job is threefold.
First, we must argue against the military occupation of any imperialist power, no matter what the rhetoric is. We have seen time and time again that these nations are not able to intervene for humanitarian reasons, are often the cause of the problem in the first place, and only wish to further their agenda. The U.S., refusing to call it genocide, stood by as hundreds of thousands were slaughtered in Somalia. Also, conditions in Afghanistan for the most part are worse than they were, including for women.
Second, we must connect the attacks happening abroad to the attacks happening on working people everywhere. Here in the U.S. for example, many states are facing terrible budget crises they could have been saved from using the money spent on the war; however, those wishing to fight for better contracts are often accused of siding with the "terrorists" as civil rights are slashed left and right in an atmosphere of fear.
Third, if we want to fightback, we need to work to rebuild the left, separate from parties whose interests side with imperialism. The Democratic party in the U.S. has been a vacuum for activists especially in the last 30 years. Most movements since the 60's have focused their energy on supporting Democratic cadidates which means shutting up when Jimmy Carter or Bill Clinton is in office, who have both attacked the rights of people here at home and in other countries while in office.
This last point is very important. It means we must argue with people we know that the U.S. should not send troops to Liberia, that Japan should not send the Self-Defense Forces to Iraq, and that the best thing would before these militaries to pull out. A common question may be, "well, what _can_ we do then?"
That people cannot rule themselves in nations rich enough to support them is a racist notion and was the 19th century European justification for imperialism called "White Man's Burden." What put the Taliban and Saddam Hussein into power was imperialism and thinking it can get rid of them is dangerous. An uprising in Iraq in 1991 threatened the sovereignty of Saddam, yet the U.S. allowed its old ally to crush the rebellion. In Liberia, the civil war is fueled by the increasing IMF debt. If we want people to overthrow their oppressive rulers, then we need to make it possible for them to do so. You cannot do so if you are starving, and you are up against weapons of the U.S. military.
We must work to build movements that can opposed these powers at every turn, as each concession we give, emboldens imperialism, and to us, is a loss. Within our own countries, we can find the anger and the will to build these movements among the layers of society that are being most affected. Here, working people and students are facing budget cuts, unemployment, tuition hikes. There we will find the possibility to fight back. I hope my experience helps.
In solidarity,
DR. HOWARD ZINN (Professor Emeritus of Boston University)July 30th; Boston, U.S.A.
I am happy to send my strong support to the August 3rd Anti-War Assembly in Japan. I agree with your opposition to the Unit ed States illegal and immoral attack and occupation of Iraq, and I have been expressing that opposition in speech and writing all over this country. I am glad to see that we in this country and you in Japan are engaged in a common struggle. Japan's refusal, up to now, to build a nuclear arsenal and to engage in preparations for war, has been a model, and your insistence that Japan's pledge not to participate in war should be applauded.
I am confident that those ten million people around the world who demonstrated for peace on February 15th we will prevail.
DR. JOHN BELLAMY FOSTER (Professor of University of Oregon)August 6th; Eugene, the USA.
I would like to offer my solidarity with the Antiwar Assembly in Japan, especially on this day, August 6, 2003 the anniversary of one of the world's greatest war crimes perpetrated by the United States. This is of course the same country that has recently invaded and is now occupying Iraq and that has active duty troops at present in 120 different countries. Bringing an end to the U.S. quest for hegemony over the world economy by increasingly militaristic means is the first priority in the advancement of world peace today.
THE LIBERATION FRONT OF POLYNESIA (F.L.P)
TAVINI HUIRAATIRA NO TE AO MAOHI
July 29th; Tahiti, Polynesia
A l'occasion de votre 41eme congres international et au nom du Front de Liberation de Polynesie, je souhaiterais vous transmettre mes salutations nationalistes a toutes les organisations presentes ainsi qu'au peuple Japonais.
A l'occasion de ce congres, je vous renouvelle encore une fois notre soutien total et inconditionnel au combat que vous menez contre toutes les formes de guerres a travers la planete toute entiere et en particulier contre les injustices qui existent dans votre pays.
Je souhaiterais egalement vous encourager dans la lutte que vous entreprenez actuellement contre votre gouvernement qui souhaite envoyer des troupes japonaises en Irak.
Pour ma part, je vous informe que lors de la venue du President Jacques Chirac en Polynesie (Te Ao Maohi) du 25 au 28 Juillet 2003 dernier, nous avons organise une manifestation d'une grande envergure et qui a regroupe plus de 4.000 personnes ; Notre decision a ensuite ete d'arreter la manifestation d'une maniere pacifique en raison des plusieurs escadrons de gendarmes mobiles qui etaient armes et prets a utiliser leurs armes contre nous, comme cela a ete le cas en 1995, ou d'ailleurs vous etiez presents parmi nous.
La corruption continue a sevir chez nous avec notre gouvernement de " collabo " soutenu par l'Etat francais colonialiste et scelerat.
Plus de 160 ans de colonialisme, et plus de 30 annees d'experiences nucleaires dans notre pays par un Etat etranger Terroriste ne nous arretera pas dans la lutte dans laquelle nous nous sommes engage pour l'accession de notre pays a l'Independance.
Je souhaite, cette annee encore, que d'importantes resolutions soient prises a l'issue du 41eme congres international et qu'un jour nous puissions ensemble eradiquer la guerre sous toutes ses formes a travers le monde.
SOLIDARITY AND LET'S FIGHT TOGETHER!
"IAORANA"
PRESIDENT OF THE BANGLADESH NATIONAL WORKERS FEDERATION
TAFAZZUL HUSSAINAugust 3rd; Dhaka, Bangladesh
Dear Friends & Comrades,
Greetings and best wishes for successful holding of the international antiwar assembly. This year's assembly is very much significant because of the destructive and dangerous neo-Hitlerism by Bush Blair and company. World oil tycoon's most obedient servant Bush and his accomplice Blair invaded and occupied sovereign states like Afghanistan & Iraq ignoring all norms of civilization.
Is it not a crime to invade and occupy Afghanistan with fake Laden theory?
Is it not a crime to invade and occupy Iraq with fake theory of "Weapons of mass destruction"?
Is it not war crime to kill Iraqi people daily when they themselves admit that the allegation of weapons was wrong and fake?
After the enquiry report should they (U S imperialists) not be on trial for 9/11?
After admitting false and fake document, can they kill any body even sons of Saddam?
But in spite of all these the liars are still trying to plant some weapons to discover (!) later to cover their earlier lies. Because to cover one lie one has to tell ten lies. Even they can kill their own man like Dr. Kelly in Britain.
I wish total success of the assembly. You can afford it. Antiwar tide must start from Japan, because you have the experiences of the greatest horror.
Finally will the peace loving people of Japan accept the bill which was passed in Japan's parliament authorizing the administration to deploy Japanese troops in Iraq?
Thanks,
Марксистская платформа
July 24th; Moskva, Russia
Мы поддерживаем борьбу участников ４１ международной антивоенной ассамблеи против разжигания американским империализмом и его сателлитами мировой войны за установление без- раздельного господства над миром и считаем необ- ходимым противопоставить империалистам союз всех пролетарских и миролюбивых сил.
ВЛАДИМИР ПРОНИН
Председатель Киевской городской организации Общества защиты духовной культуры Украины <Прометей>July 30th; Kiev, Ukraine
Я посоветовался с нашими товарищами и они, как я и ожидал, с энтузиазмом приняли предложение принять-пусть заочное, участие в Вашей конференции. Наша Киевская городская организация общества защиты духовной культуры Украины "Прометей", ознакомившись с присланным мне проектом Заявления с осуждением американо-британских агрессоров за их действия в Ираке, согласна его подписать.
Присланное мне Вами обращение я практически полностью поддерживаю и никаких принципиальных возражений с моей стороны нет.
Полностью согласен с Вашей трактовкой разоблачений политики Буша как начала президентской избирательной кампании политическими конкурентами нынешнего американского президента, а не как борьбу честных политиков с бесчестным. В подтверждение радующего меня совпадения наших взглядов высылаю Вам в качестве приложения к этому письму свой материал на эту тему под ироничным заголовком "Кто бы мог подумать!".
Возможно, стоило бы разъяснить, что мы собственно, выступаем не так в защиту Хуссейна, долгое время бывшего американским ставленником, вырезавшим, в частности, партию иракских коммунистов, и только впоследствии вышедшим из подчинения янки, а иракского народа, подвергшегося яростной и не спровоцированной агрессии, а кроме того, мы протестуем против присвоенного правящими кругами Соединенных Штатов права решать, какая страна и какой политик соответствуют канонам демократии, а какие не соответствуют и должны за это тотчас же понести наказание.
В последнее время "Прометей" участвовал во всех протестных акциях, в том числе - против агрессии США и НАТО в Югославии и Ираке. От нас исходила инициатива развернуть активную борьбу за освобождение руководителя литовских коммунистов Миколаса Бурокявичуса, уже 9-й год отбывающего тюремное заключение по надуманному и абсолютно незаконному абсурдному обвинению.
В связи с этим, не могла бы предстоящая конференция принять также заявление с требованием немедленно освободить литовского политического заключенного Миколаса Бурокявичуса с тем, чтобы это заявление переслать затем в адрес нового президента Литвы Роландаса Паксоса? Этот мерзавец, победив на выборах, радикально ухудшил условия содержания Бурокявичуса в тюрьме. Если прежде он содержался в двухместной камере со своим товарищем и тоже политзаключенным Ю.Куолялисом, то теперь их обоих переместили в одну камеру с двадцатью уголовниками!
Наконец, о решении режима президента Украины Кучмы послать украинскую бригаду для участия в оккупации Ирака. Это действительно так и коммунисты, а также часть антикучмовской оппозиции делали все возможное, чтобы не допустить этого и продолжают резко выступать против этого акта агрессии против иракского народа. К сожалению, режим Кучмы в своем холуйстве перед правящими кругами США переступает все нормы и пределы.
Успехов в нашем общем деле и в проведении конференции.
REGIONAL PARTY OF COMMUNISTS
August 6th; St. Petersburg, Russia
Dear comrades! On behalf of Regional Party of Communists we send our warmest greetings to the participants of the 41st International Antiwar Assembly!
58 years ago the USA applying against civil population of Japanese cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki the inhuman atomic weapons brightly showed the wild animal essence of imperialism.
The USA today, becoming the unic superpower and the main force of the imperialism of transnational corporations is trying to subordinate the world at whole and to delay, at the price of innumerable human victims, the inevitable historical downfall of capitalist barbarism.
The great responsibility lies on the left political movements, and in the first place - on the Marxist parties and organizations.
It is necessary: the maximal activization of the work for the insertion of the internationalist socialist consciousness in the exploited masses, for the exposure of the machinations of the imperialism and of the collaborationist cliques.
It is necessary: the mobilization of the toilers of the world at whole against the regional butcher dictatorships like Saddam Hussein and similar ones and against the main enemy of humanity, the main force of modern global imperialism - the terrorist military-state machine of the USA.
It is necessary not to weaken the campaigns of solidarity with peoples of Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine, which feel the occupiers' oppression.
It is necessary: the close coordination of actions for the organization of counter-offensives of revolutionary forces expressing the fundamental interests of worker class and of oppressed peoples of the world against the TNC imperialism.
Long live the proletarian internationalism!
On behalf of the Executive Committee of RPK
Yevgeniy Kozlov, the Secretary
WORKERS REVOLUTIONARY PARTY (EEK) OF GREECE
Athens July 30th, 2003
Dear comrades, brothers and sisters of Japan
The Central Committee of the Workers Revolutionary Party (EEK) of Greece and the Coordinating Committee of the Balkan Socialist Center "Christian Rakovsky" express their internationalist solidarity to the 41st International Antiwar Assembly and their dedication to the common international struggle against the war barbarism unleashed by American imperialism and their "Coalition of the willing" all over the world.
It is extremely important that this International Antiwar Assembly takes place in Japan, where American imperialism initiated the use of nuclear weapons of mass destruction in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, a horrendous crime against humanity, the first act of the Cold War that followed, and a warning for the unprecedented catastrophes that US and world Capitalism, a social system in its historical decline and crisis, generates.
This systemic crisis and decline did not end but accelerated with the end of the Cold War. More than a decade after the collapse of the Soviet Union, despite the initial triumphalism of the "victors" about the "end of History", " the end of communism", "the final and complete victory of Capitalism", U.S. and European imperialisms have devastated the Balkans, Afghanistan and now Iraq with a series of wars of aggression and 'high tech' State terrorism but they did not succeeded to re-establish a new world equilibrium nor a new stage of ascent of the system beyond its chronic crisis. Finance globalization, a temporary way out from the world crisis that emerged in the early '70s, has exhausted itself as it is demonstrated by the Asian 1997 Crash and the financial maelstroms that followed from Argentina's bankruptcy to the collapse of the "dot.com" economy" in America itself, the center of the crisis. The spiral of deflation that started in Japan in the early '90s now engulfs Germany and the European Union and threatens the US economy itself.
The first conclusions can be drawn: Capitalist globalization has solved not the historical crisis of the system nor opened a new historical stage; it globalized its contradictions which are exploding through financial shocks, an indefinite global imperialist terrorist war misnamed "war on terror", attacks on the living standards and democratic rights of the workers all over the planet - but also with popular uprisings and revolts as in Argentina and all over Latin America, the heroic Intifada of the Palestinian people, and now the guerrilla warfare and Intifada in Occupied Iraq.
Imperialism is not omnipotent as the new Nero in the White House thinks putting in flames the entire world. Its foundations are undermined by the crisis and it's immediately threatened by the rebellious masses and a new generation of fighters both in the periphery and the center. The class enemy cannot be securing a stable basis even in the metropolis. It is shown by the extension and deepening of the international movement against capitalist Globalization, its merging with the all powerful world anti-war movement and the unprecedented mass demonstrations of millions of people, particularly from February 15, 2003 onwards.
We have to continue the world struggle against the war and against the system that generates the war, world capitalism.
Against the offensive of world imperialism we have to launch our counter-offensive of revolutionary struggle, defending first of all the people in Occupied Iraq, demanding that all foreign troops leave immediately the country, supporting unconditionally the Iraqi resistance against the forces of Occupation until their final victory, the liberation of the country. We have to defend the Palestinian people and its Intifada, against Zionist oppression and the conspiracy of the so-called "road map" until victory and the liberation of Palestine.
Against Global Capital and its Coalition of willing butchers we have to build our own revolutionary International of the working class and the oppressed masses.
Now more than ever is actual the slogan Socialism or Barbarism!
Long live the international solidarity in struggle!
War against the war of imperialism!
Forward to the world socialist revolution!
On behalf of the CC of the Workers Revolutionary Party -EEK
And of the Balkan Socialist Center "Christian Rakovsky"
Savas Michael- Matsas, Gen. Secretary of EEK
NEWS AND LETTERS COMMITTEE
July 21st; Chicago, U.S.A.
Dear Comrades
As we greet you on this day that commemorates the true day of infamy that will never be erased from history when Hiroshima and Nagasaki were atom-bombed by American imperialism, and reaffirms our determination to end the barbarism of war through the creation of a new society based on human foundations, we are sending you excerpts from the Marxist-Humanist Perspectives thesis for 2003-2004, which has just been drafted. We welcome your response as part of our ongoing dialogue with revolutionaries everywhere on the struggle for a new alternative to the barbarism of capitalism the world is reaching for today.
Revolutionary greetings from the Marxist-Humanists of the U.S.
Excerpts from: Draft for Marxist-Humanist Perspectives, 2003-2004:War, resistance, and the need for a new alternative
The key question facing us today is whether the forces of revolt will project a viable alternative to this stage of capitalism. The fact that political protests have fallen off elsewhere in the U.S. since the end of the Iraq war does not mean that the hundreds of thousands who participated in anti-war protests have become quiescent. The lopsided scale of the U.S. victory, which was able to blunt much of the anti-war opposition, combined with the failure to project an emancipatory alternative from the left, is making it more difficult than ever to envision a transcendence of the present stage of capitalism.
The U.S. "victory" in Iraq was not only made possible by massive military force. It also resulted from the fact that the Iraqis did not try to defend Saddam Hussein's regime. Instead, they welcomed the fall of his genocidal dictatorship. Yet … the joy felt by the masses of Iraqis over the collapse of Hussein's regime is giving way to growing resentment over the chaos and destruction wrought by the U.S. occupation.
The massive use of military might against Iraq … is intended not only for foreign consumption; it is also aimed at convincing the American public that there is no alternative to the present form of society and course of political affairs in the U.S.
The possibility of a continuous war between U.S. imperialism and Islamic fundamentalist terrorism presents the liberation movements in this country with a serious challenge. As we saw from September 11, 2001, few things strengthen U.S. rulers more than such attacks-just as Bush's arrogance in invading other countries with overwhelming military force provides a recruiting ground for terrorists.
We face the threat of a vicious circle of war and terrorism.
What can be done to break out of this vicious circle of imperialist war and terrorism? First, we must emphasize what not to do. We must not focus all our energy and opposition exclusively on attacking the U.S., even though it remains the sole superpower and the force responsible for so much global destruction. A one-sided opposition to U.S. imperialism that fails to seriously oppose Islamic fundamentalism or dictatorial regimes like that of Saddam Hussein's or North Korea's will not move us forward. It only plays into Bush's hands by enabling him to present U.S. militarism as the agency for promoting "liberty" and "democracy" throughout the world....
Such an approach diverts attention from the way U.S. imperialist actions are rooted in the nature of globalized capitalism. Imperialism is not the product of a cabal of right-wing ideologues who have managed to take control of the Bush administration. Imperialism is the expression of a determinant stage of capitalist production. It can be stopped and uprooted only by abolishing the capitalist system as a whole.
What distinguishes a Marxist-Humanist response to imperialist war and terrorism is not just that we oppose both sides of the conflict but that we take responsibility for projecting a vision of a new society that transcends capitalism.
By a new society we mean the total uprooting of the very fabric of this racist, sexist, class ridden society-the abolition of capitalist value production through the creation of new human relations based on the unity of mental and manual labor. Marx's humanism remains for us the measure of any effort to create a new society.
REVOLUTIONARY MARXISTS IN BRITAIN
July 10th; London, Britain
Revolutionary Marxists in Britain send our warmest greetings to the Antiwar Assembly.
We face a situation in Britain where the "Labour" Government of Blair allies itself with Bush in military aggression in the Middle East. There has been massive opposition to the imperialist war against Iraq. Huge demonstrations show massive opposition to Bush and to the Blair government, but this opposition lacks effective organization and leadership. This is the task we Revolutionary Marxists have to confront.
Your struggle against war and imperialism is a great inspiration to us. Your fight is our fight. We have much to learn from you.
top / English Home