|
Stop Anglo-American Imperialism October 7th, 2002 (1)
The war-crazy Bush administration is about to attack the Iraqi people, quibbling about 'Iraq developing weapons of mass destruction'. On September 16th, Saddam Hussein's Iraq announced its 'unconditional' acceptance of UN inspections for weapons of mass destruction and the resumption of the inspections was soon agreed between the UN and Iraq. Flurried by these developments, George Bush is now desperate to block the UN inspections in cahoots with Tony Blair as his lieutenant, persistently asserting that believing Saddam will fully accept the inspections is a great mistake. 'Because Saddam has rejected the inspections' ― is the way Bush and Blair justified their plan to attack Iraq only a month ago. What they are doing now that Iraq has accepted the inspections is pressing the UN 'not to resume the inspections' without the Security Council's new resolution, under which they are to enforce military attacks. What shameless gangsters they are! 'For the military overthrow of the Saddam Hussein regime' ― for this evil goal alone has the US government been ramming its opinion through against all opposition by producing a string of far-fetched arguments. Rogues ― this is the right word for the worst-ever President cowboy Bush and his followers. Ruling politicians in France and Germany (though they participated in air raids against Afghanistan a year ago) have expressed their opposition to a 'military attack on Iraq without the consent of the UN'. Among the permanent members of the UN Security Council, Jiang Zemin's China and Putin's Russia have also announced their 'opposition' to a new resolution that would give the US-UK alliance the green light for attacking Iraq, while both are wavering before US pressure (and reportedly Russia has bargained with the US for its oil-related interests). The extremely hawkish and arrogant attitudes of Anglo-American imperialism are now faced with surging anger from peace-aspiring people all over the world. In Britain, 400,000 workers and people raised their outcry against the war policies of the Blair government. Even in the US under George Bush, conscientious US citizens are bravely voicing opposition to the war, criticizing the majority of the Democratic Party as being submissive to the administration. 'Don't attack Iraq! Stop Bush!' People's voices are resounding throughout the world. Rulers in the Middle East (who are said to be under 'threat from Iraq') are unanimously expressing their 'uncooperative position' or 'objection' to the unjust plan to attack Iraq, pressed from below by the seething resentment of the Islamic people. Although faced with strong 'objections' and isolated from the rest of the world (or rather, fuelled by that), the Bush administration is dashing headlong towards to a military invasion of Iraq, laying bare its US nationalism and unilateralism. Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld and Paul Wolfowitz, crazy worshippers of the almighty military might, are sounding the bugle of the march. On September 11th last year, US imperialism was struck to the heart by Islamic militants with their jihad attacks on its economic and military pivots; its political prestige collapsed. Shocked by these attacks, the Bush administration launched a one-sided offensive for slaughter (called asymmetrical war) under the banner of 'eradicating terrorism', first in Afghanistan, and now throughout the world. What is called 'war on terrorism', however, has plunged into difficulties. For it has met with angry fight-backs from toiling masses over the world (particularly from Islamic peoples) and, moreover, successive 'negative' and 'uncooperative' responses from the rulers of Islamic countries in the Middle East, those in China and Russia, and those in continental EU countries, all of whom have been pressed by the struggles of the people. On top of this, the US capitalist economy itself, already suffering concussion from the September 11 shock, has now fallen into a bottomless pit, stripped of the covers on its ostentatious prosperity. In order to break through this impasse, the jingoist US government is desperately beating the drum for war. (2) It is a year ago that Anglo-American imperialism assaulted the world's poorest country, Afghanistan. The invaders went on a rampage in the cruelest war of slaughter. Gruesome weapons (literally, weapons of mass destruction) including Daisycutters, thermobaric bombs, bunker busters, cluster bombs and depleted uranium munitions were shot and rained upon the land to kill tens of thousands of Muslim people like worms. The US forces were not satisfied with their one-sided defeat of the Taliban regime; they perpetrated dreadful massacres by packing the captured Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters into small containers. They have taken the survivors to their Guantanamo base in Cuba, isolated from the eyes of the world, where they have been imposing the utmost cruelty on the prisoners within the sun-baked Camp X-Ray. Under the pretext of 'retaliation for the September 11 terror', the US government has resorted to such state terrorism and practical use of their 'weapons of mass destruction' with no hesitation. This historic crime of imperialist America, truly 'a crime against humanity', however, has been tolerated by 'international opinion' as if it were an act of 'justice'. Such an absurd 'international opinion' has been produced because social-democratic and Stalinist leaderships have degraded themselves to promoters of, or assistants in, the war. Essentially, however, this has been permitted because of the decisive weakness of antiwar peace movements as a whole, which have yet to liberate themselves from the influence of their degenerate leaderships. We must not allow this absurdity to continue! No longer! (3) A year on from the start of the bombings in Afghanistan, we appeal to people all over the world. Don't be a shameful collaborator with those warmongers in Washington! Never again! We must never tolerate Anglo-American imperialism plotting the same crimes as those they committed in Afghanistan. Worse, they are preparing to thrust the Iraqi people into a hell even more cruel. Donald Rumsfeld and the other jingoist hawks have openly declared that, to defeat the Hussein regime, they will 'not hesitate to use nuclear weapons'. People in Iraq are suffering serious radiation diseases from massive depleted uranium munitions the US forces used in the Persian Gulf War of 1991. Onto these tormented people, those warmongers are now preparing to unleash a true nuclear bomb! Hundreds of thousands of people were burnt in the nuclear blazes by American imperialism half a century ago (Hiroshima and Nagasaki) ― these disasters are still fresh in our memories in Japan. We, the workers and people of Japan, will not allow the same atrocities to be committed again! Never! We appeal to toiling people all over the world! Say 'NO' to the military attack on Iraq plotted by the Bush administration and its followers! (4) We appeal, particularly, to people in the US! Stop the crazy wild run of your government at home! Your government holds tremendous quantities of 'weapons of mass destruction' and is really using them on those who are rebellious against it. This is truly atrocious state terrorism! It's your government, brandishing nuclear weapons that can kill the whole world population thousands of times and intimidating people in other countries. Do not be tricked by George Bush stirring up fears for Saddam's 'mass destruction weapons'! Do your utmost to stop your government strengthening its nuclear forces and using them on other nations! Denounce the majority of the Democratic Party and trade union bureaucrats in the AFL-CIO! Swallowed up in the tidal wave of USA nationalism, they have turned into a shameless cheer band for Bush. Never be obedient to their 'leadership' for allowing Bush to attack Iraq! Otherwise, the Islamic people of the world will judge you to be their 'enemy' and explode their fights for jihad against 'the American Empire' as 'the Great Satan'. And bear this in mind! It is you who strangle yourself, trapped by the propaganda for 'eradicating terrorism' into supporting attacks on Iraq or tolerating warrantless detentions of Arab people (based on the Patriot Act). People in the US! Now is the time to stand up with indignation! Rise in struggles to overthrow the jingoist Bush administration in solidarity with fighting people all over the world! We appeal to people in Europe! The social-democratic Schroder government in Germany survived a general election by raising the banner 'No to attacks on Iraq'. This was an expression of anti-war voices for peace expanding among the working class. In France, the Chirac government is also raising its objection to the cowboy-like wild run of the Bush administration, out of pride in being the 'motherland of freedom and democracy'. But remember! It is your rulers in EU countries, including social democratic ones, that have perpetrated an aggressive war in Afghanistan for a year, and that committed the bloody bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999. People in Europe must never overlook the fact that, while pressing Iraq to accept 'UN inspections for weapons of mass destruction', the UK, France and other states are the holders of nuclear arms precisely as 'weapons of mass destruction', next to those of the US. These Euro imperialist powers are objecting to world domination by the US as the 'sole superpower' only on the basis of the national interests of each and the regional interest common to EU members. Once they calculate that their disobedience will cost their national interests, they will facilely change their position to support armed attacks on Iraq. Power holders in the EU are all guardians for monopoly capitalist class interests and are connected with military-industrial complexes. Under a 'democratic' mask they conceal their true face, no different to that of Bush. People in Europe! Fight in solidarity to stop your EU rulers from supporting or participating in the war! And be watchful! Chauvinists are emerging throughout Europe, stirring up hatred against immigrants and refugees from the Arab world! People in Europe! Now is the time to organize massive antiwar struggles, by transcending the remnants of Stalinist parties that have been degraded to complements of declining social-democratic governments and revisionist factions of Trotskyism, moving about in confusion! People in Russia! Denounce the Putin government! Seeking economic aid, your government is pragmatically cooperating with Bush in his war policies. We appeal to all people in Asia, Africa, and Latin America! The so-called 'globalization' led by IMF and WTO has caused unbearable income differentials and environmental destruction all over the world. A handful of US monopoly capitalists have imposed their 'globalization' and 'marketization' upon developing countries for intensified expropriation from the toiling masses. The Bush administration is now scheming to 'eradicate' those who are rebellious to American globalization, branding them as 'terrorists' (whether regimes or groups). All people in Asia, Africa, and Latin America! Let us fight against 'globalization', 'marketization' and 'dollarization' for the state interests of imperialist America! It is imperative for people in Latin America to smash every conspiratorial intervention engineered by the CIA for 'overthrowing' an anti-American regime. Remember the September 11th tragedy in Chile, the CIA-supported coup through which Pinochet overthrew the Allende government! Denounce the Argentine government for its brutal repression of the fighting people! Let us fight US / UK aggression against Iraq! We appeal to Muslim people in the Arab world and throughout the Middle East! Ariel Sharon's brutal attempt at genocide against the Palestinian people can only be possible with continuous backing from the Bush administration. Rise in struggles to defend the Palestinian people, who aspire for an independent Palestinian state, from the Hitler-like atrocities of the Zionist Sharon! Muslim people all over the world! Immediately start an all-out fightback against the impending US / UK aggression against Iraq on the basis of Islamic inter-nationalism! Some Islamic governments are showing cooperative attitudes to the vicious scheme against Iraq, overtly and covertly. Overthrow such degenerated, false Islamic governments through militant fighting by the toiling masses! Workers and people who struggle in Iraq under the oppression of Saddam Hussein's tyrannical rule! Fight against a US-plotted military overthrow of the Hussein government as well! Never allow the US government to attack Iraq! Otherwise, you will find a US puppet emerging as a new tyrant, as seen in Afghanistan. All Arab / Muslim people! Remember the message Ayat Akhras left before her act of self-martyrdom! 'Sleeping Arab fighters! Wake up!' In response to her message, burn flames of 'anti-American, anti-Zionist' struggles all over the world! Fight in international solidarity with the 'antiwar' struggles of working people in advanced countries! (5) We appeal to working people in Japan! Koizumi's government has started to take a noncommittal stance towards the US-planned attack on Iraq, in order to evade his bad reputation of being 'Bush's poodle'. The new stance is based on suggestions from former Prime Minister Nakasone Yasuhiro, known as the 'timeserver'. Nakasone thinks that Japan must keep a wary attitude to protect its own interests in the Middle East. Neo-statists, or Japanese nationalists, including Nakasone, have insisted that Japan should assume a 'subjective' involvement in America's war. Following suggestions from such coelacanths, Koizumi appointed, as Chief of the Defence Agency, the ultra-hawk Ishiba Shigeru (known to be gung-ho on military matters). The Koizumi government is now attempting to enact laws that would enable the state of Japan 'to use force' ― on the basis of the US-Japan military alliance ― if 'a situation arises in which an armed attack is anticipated'. This reactionary offensive means the final discarding of the war-renouncing Article 9 of the Constitution, which has restrained the imperialist power holders of Japan since its defeat in the war. Now taking advantage of the confession by Kim Jong Il's North Korean government about its past crimes ('abductions of Japanese citizens'), chauvinistic Japanese nationalism is being stirred up throughout the country by neo-statists. This chauvinistic nationalism is being consciously propagandized to induce the public to support the enactment of the Emergency Laws mentioned above, by emphasizing the need to take 'all possible measures' against the 'terror and spy ships' of a 'terrorist state'. This propaganda is being promoted for the state of Japan to justify its refusal to apologize for the Empire of Japan's notorious war crimes in Korea and China (including the Nanking Massacre, the comfort women and the forced emigration of hundreds of thousands of Koreans). Although the power holders in Japan pretend to be perfectly innocent about Japan's past crimes, as soon as North Korea confessed its past acts of abduction, they triumphantly condemned the acts as 'criminal state terrorism'. At the sight of this attitude, we, the working class in Japan, cannot repress our indignation, nor hardly bear the shame. We cannot denounce the North Korean Stalinist regime for its state crimes unless we resolutely reveal the numerous deceptions and crimes that Japanese governments have historically committed against the Korean people. The leadership of the Japanese Communist Party has oppressed antiwar struggles against the war on Afghanistan, joining in the imperialist chorus for the 'eradication of terrorism'; now, around the issue of North Korea, this party strongly supports the Koizumi government, like a ruling party. The JCP is also attempting to propose 'better alternatives' for 'defending the national interests of Japan'. This limitless degeneration of the Japanese Stalinist party has resulted from its falling into a 'defence of the fatherland' position, like the Second International. Working people in Japan! Fight it out despite the unprecedented propaganda of chauvinistic nationalism! Overcoming the degenerated official peace movement, let us create antiwar struggles more strongly than ever in solidarity with toiling masses all over the world! Raise the banner: Don't attack Iraq! No to the Emergency Laws! (6) We appeal to toiling people all over the world! 'War! War! War!' ― This is the only word sounding in the brains of leading politicians in Washington. Will we tolerate the crazy jingoists devastating the world? Will we let them repeat their dreadful atrocities? No! Definitely No! Now is the time for toiling masses all over the world to unite to stop Anglo-American imperialism launching a military attack on Iraq! Stop your government joining in, cooperating in, or giving support to the war! Freeze warmonger Bush's blood before a great explosion of international antiwar struggles! |
|
We denounce the UN Security Council resolution
on Iraq! On November 8th, the 15 member states of
the UN Security Council unanimously
adopted
a new resolution to approve the use
of force
against Iraq, which was jointly drafted
by
the US and the UK (in Tokyo Time, November
9th, before dawn). The adopted Resolution
1441 forces Iraq to disarm or face
'serious
consequences'. This means the UN has
authorized
the imperialist US / UK rulers to start
an
aggressive war on Iraq under the cover
of
the 'consent of the international community'.
This decision is truly a criminal act,
which
triggers the use of force against Iraq.
In
grave indignation, we, the Japanese
Zengakuren,
strongly denounce the UN Security Council!
We resolutely fight to stop US / UK
imperialism
launching an aggressive war on Iraq! Zengakuren [All-Japan Federation of Students'
Self-Governing Associations] |
top