Intervention of the Workers’ Party of Ireland

We live in a time of great danger. The increased aggressiveness of imperialism, particularly US imperialism, poses a real and urgent threat to the interests of all humanity. There has been a huge increase in the militarization of capitalist society since the Second World War. The sustained development of military processes, the maintenance of multi-million strong armies and vast munitions industries in peacetime are a permanent feature of life under capitalism. The latest scientific and technological achievements are used on an unprecedented scale for the development and creation of awesome weapons of mass destruction. The expansion of the military industrial complexes, the partnerships between government, huge corporations and senior military personnel and the deep penetration of militarism into the state apparatus of the NATO countries has led to increased bellicosity on the part of capitalist states and unprecedented profits for private capital through military production and war.

In general terms global military spending in 2005 reached $1.12 trillion, a new world record. The research, conducted by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, revealed that global arms spending indicated a decline in most regions with two notable exceptions – the US and the Middle East. The US remained the biggest spender on arms, accounting for 48% of the $1.2 trillion spent or 80% of the $33 billion increase in global spending.

The last 12 months have witnessed a sharp intensification in the aggression of the Bush administration directed at Cuba and Venezuela, Afghanistan and Iraq, the Democratic Peoples’ Republic of Korea, Syria and Iran and through its open support for the belligerent criminal acts of Israel in Gaza and Lebanon.

One might expect that events in the Middle East in the last few months would have the effect of laying bare the rank hypocrisy of the United States. The superpower which supposedly values freedom, democracy and human rights and which has sponsored aggression against nation states in violation of their sovereignty and territorial integrity, subjected peoples to sanctions and called for their leaders to be brought before international tribunals under the spurious pretext of “humanitarian intervention” has colluded, and continues to collude, in the war crimes of the Israeli state against the Lebanese and Palestinian peoples.

Instead, Israel and the US, have been let off the hook by a largely compliant media ever ready to serve the interests of the rich and powerful. A few honourable sections of the media have exposed the brutality of the Israeli actions. In addition to the massive loss of life and injuries inflicted Israel, backed by the US and Britain, created a humanitarian disaster in Lebanon. The Israelis have reduced much of southern Beirut, the Beka’a valley and southern Lebanon to rubble. Hundreds of thousands were displaced. Roads, electricity stations, fuel depots, ports, bridges, hospitals and Beirut International Airport were destroyed. The Israeli navy imposed a complete and illegal blockade of Lebanon and Israel continues to send its warplanes to over fly Beirut in a flagrant violation of the United Nations Resolution 1701. An Israeli air strike on the southern village of Qana killed 60 people, almost all of them women and children. Israeli forces ordered civilians to leave villages in southern Lebanon and then bombed their vehicles as they left.

There has been no call for sanctions, or reparations, or war crimes tribunals. Instead the victims are to blame. This is America’s “war on terror”.

On 29 June 2006 the Israeli state forces arrested and detained 8 Cabinet Ministers and 21 members of the Palestinian Legislative Council.  Subsequently, the Speaker of the PLC was detained. These actions are a form of reprisal and collective punishment imposed on Palestinians and are a direct attempt to undermine the democratically elected government. Meanwhile the Israeli Occupation Forces have continued their offensive against Palestinian civilians, property and infrastructure in the Gaza Strip. During the aggression against Lebanon Gaza was bombed by the Israelis on a daily basis. Palestinian government ministries were targeted and destroyed. Civilians, including children, were killed and injured, homes have been deliberately targeted and destroyed and agricultural land has been levelled. The Israelis deliberately attacked electricity networks and transformers, causing people to evacuate their homes as there was no electricity to operate lifts, domestic equipment and water pumps. Electrical supplies have been cut and the Israelis have prevented repairs. Gaza International Airport is occupied by the Israeli military as a surveillance point. Medical supplies and food were held up at the border for “security reasons”. The free movement of civilians is not permitted. On 9 June 2006 eight Palestinians having a picnic on a beach in Gaza were deliberately targeted and murdered by the Israelis. The killing of civilians in Gaza, as evidenced by the recent Israeli atrocities at Beit Hanoun, continues unabated.

The actions of the Israeli Occupation Forces constitute a grave breach of international humanitarian law, particularly the Fourth Geneva Convention concerning the protection of Civilian Persons in Times of War, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Political and Civil Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Again there has been no call for sanctions, or reparations, or war crimes tribunals. Instead the victims are again to blame. This is also part of America’s “war on terror” and the US has given Israel an unconditional licence to kill.

However, the Israelis have seriously miscalculated. They clearly expected a swift and decisive victory over Hizbollah but that has not happened. The Lebanese Resistance scored significant military hits on the Israelis. The number of Israeli military casualities and the damage done to Israel was greater than expected. The Hizbollah missile capacity still exists despite the Israeli aim of destroying Hizbollah as a military organisation. 

Lebanon, recovering from 15 years of civil war has been bombed back to devastation. The Palestinians in the Occupied Territories have been subjected to lives of misery and deprivation and have been treated with contempt. And for all of this Israel is not one jot more secure. Instead, the region has been brought closer to the brink of conflagration and fundamentalists on all sides have had their positions strengthened and secured. Israel adopts the same policy as its mentor, the US, unilateral “pre-emptive” action, the use of massive and disproportionate military force, total disregard for the civilian population and the deliberate and pointed collective punishment of civilians, hostility to diplomacy, negotiation, multilateralism and a callous disregard of the United Nations and international law. The capture of two Israeli soldiers was not the reason for Israeli aggression. Israel frequently violates Lebanese sovereignty to illegally arrest and detain Lebanese citizens. The capture of the soldiers was a mere pretext for a process which had been long in the planning. In a joint press conference in Washington with Tony Blair on 28 July 2006 George Bush stated: “our objective is to convert this conflict into an opportunity and an effort to make extensive changes in the region”.

Israel, in collusion with the US, had planned and prepared for this aggression. The massively disproportionate attack on Gaza and then on Lebanon within two weeks was a deliberate attempt to destroy the Palestine Authority and the independent state of Lebanon. Freedom and democracy is not applicable to the Palestinians or the Lebanese according to imperialist designs. The erection of the so called “security” wall, the evacuation of the Gaza Strip and the organisation and expansion of Jewish settlements on the West Bank are designed to mark the occupation of Palestine as permanent. Imperialism is also anxious to establish a permanent military presence in southern Lebanon.   

That picture is replicated in Iraq and Afghanistan. Bush and Blair are in denial, refusing to acknowledge that the current crisis in Iraq has resulted from the invasion and occupation of Iraq. There have been some 600,000 deaths and the civilian death toll continues to grow. In 2006 the daily average has been fifty deaths. Even this statistic does not paint the true picture. The media tends to report “spectacular” incidents. Many deaths are unreported and go unrecorded and the full extent of the misery is not portrayed.

Imperialism continues to argue that the invasion and occupation has been to the benefit of ordinary Iraqis despite the mounting evidence to the contrary. The occupying forces live in bunkers, there is no sense of security for ordinary Iraqis, assassination and kidnapping is commonplace, essential infrastructure is still in ruins, armed militias are seizing control of state bodies, elections were marked by widespread violence and malpractice, the country is deeply divided along sectarian grounds and is in a state of civil war. Iraq is in the grip of a major economic crisis. A fifth of the population is living in absolute poverty, between 30% to 50% of the workforce is unemployed, inflation has risen over 30% and there has been a serious deterioration in public services and the supply of electricity, water and petrol. Decree 8750 issued by the transitional government in August 2005 enables the government to exercise control over non-governmental organisations, including trade unions. This includes the power to disband organisations and freeze their assets. During the summer striking dock workers were arrested in Basra. This is the legacy of imperialism to Iraq.

In Afghanistan, the Taliban and Al Qaeda have re-emerged and regrouped. These forces which, with the co-operation and support of the United States, destroyed the secular and progressive government and movement in Afghanistan and drove it back to the Middle Ages subsequently failed to comply with the demands of their creators and masters and were attacked after the events of September 2001 in the US. Despite assurances that the so-called “war on terror” was being won the facts on the ground tell a different story. The British and US military continue to suffer losses. NATO forces are fighting their way out of an unprecedented Taliban offensive. Schools and other public services are regularly closed due to fear of attack. The Taliban operational commander claims to control 20 districts of southern Afghanistan. Outside many town centres the Taliban operates with impunity. As in Iraq, the conduct of the US military serves to cause fear and hostility among civilians. In May a US air strike killed some 34 Afghan civilians. On 29 May 2006 a road traffic accident in Kabul caused by a US military truck killed at least five people and the concern over this led to a riot where the US military fired on unarmed civilians in “self defence” killing another seven people. As the rioting spread even the Afghan President, Hamid Karzai, condemned the US military.

In addition to the increased Taliban activity and US brutality promises of western aid, funding and reconstruction were not fulfilled. When US and British imperialism destroy a country they loudly promise reconstruction but they never deliver. Observers fear that Afghanistan is about to slide into civil war. Many Afghans have reverted to opium production as a means of survival. New alliances have been forged with fundamentalist groups in Pakistan, Central Asia, the Caucasus and Iraq. There is now co-operation between these groups on a scale unimagined before the so-called “war on terror”. Imperialism has once again blighted the lives of millions of people in its pursuit of global hegemony.

But imperialism is never content. The recent developments in the Middle East have been characterised by an attempt by the US and Israel to expand the current conflict into Syria and Iran. Both the US and Israel are desperately seeking any pretext to confront Iran and Syria politically and militarily. This is a further attempt by imperialism to destabilise the region and confront two countries which it regards as hostile to its designs in the Middle East.

When the DPRK announced that it had tested a nuclear device there was a predictable response from the US. The first brazen piece of hypocrisy is that it is the US and its allies that have the greatest number of those weapons. The US has a massive military expenditure and Britain is talking of renewing Trident. Israel and Pakistan (US allies) have nuclear weapons but are beyond criticism because of their relationship with the US. It is sheer hypocrisy for the US and Britain to condemn the DPRK while reserving the right to maintain and develop their own nuclear weapons capacity and to keep silent about proliferation by their allies.

In 1994 under the Agreed Framework Agreement the DPRK ceased construction of two reactors being constructed for domestic energy use. Under this agreement the US was to assist with the DPRK’s energy needs. It appeared that the “nuclear issue” had been resolved. It was also part of this agreement that both sides would move to a normalisation of relations and that the US would provide formal assurances to the DPRK against the threat or use of nuclear weapons by the US. Contrary to this agreement the United States maintained its threat against the DPRK, retained a commitment to the first use of nuclear weapons and developed plans to attack the DPRK with nuclear weapons. While the DPRK abided strictly by the terms of the agreement the US were in flagrant breach of the agreement and failed to adhere to its side of the bargain.

Despite this, a representative of the US National Security Council had indicated at least two years before the recent nuclear test that the US had to have these multilateral negotiations in Beijing for the purpose of mobilising a “coalition for punishment”, that is, a consensus for economic sanctions or military action against the DPRK.

In early 2003 Bush prepared to order an attack on the DPRK and the US moved a fleet of ships to the region. In preparation for the attack 6 Stealth bombers were sent to south Korea and 25 F-15 fighters, 24 B-1 and B-52 bombers were stationed in Guam.

Throughout the multilateral negotiations other delegations expressed their frustration at the refusal of the US to engage in real negotiations. The DPRK again asked the US for bilateral negotiations to resolve these issues. The US refused. The DPRK has never threatened to attack the United States. The US, however, has repeatedly threatened the DPRK and has actively planned such an attack. Every year the US engages in provocative military exercises close to the DPRK.

In a statement to the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee in July 2004, James Kelly, Head of the US delegation in the first two six-party talks, made clear that even an agreement on, and full implementation of, denuclearisation by the DPRK would not lead to a normalisation of relations. The US, with all its might and massive military expenditure, also wants the DPRK to limit its general missile technology and to limit its conventional military forces – that is, to agree to leave itself defenceless in the face of attack. No sovereign nation could agree to such a proposal, much less a nation which suffered greatly at the hands of the US in the Korean War and in circumstances where the US has refused to withdraw its forces from the Korean peninsula since the armistice was signed on 27 July 1953.

Given the aggressive posturing by the US and given the propensity of the US to attack other countries, for example, Yugoslavia and Iraq, it is easy to understand why the DPRK must resist US aggression. The DPRK has, however, left open the door to direct negotiations and to a peaceful solution. The world must not be fooled again by US duplicity and lies – the aggressive nature of imperialism must be exposed.

The energy crisis continues to assume immense importance. The US, in particular, has experienced severe oil and gas shortages. While the solution of energy problems requires significant effort on the part of the peoples of the world capitalism seeks to overcome its crises by maintaining a neo-colonialist position towards the developing world. Capitalism has been, and remains, willing to use force and the forcible seizure of natural resources to ensure its energy supplies.

In 1951 the Iranian National Assembly and Senate approved legislation which nationalised the oil industry and assumed control of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company. In 1953 the US overthrew Prime Minister Mossadegh and installed a brutal puppet regime. It is now well documented that the US seriously considered the option of military intervention during the energy crisis of 1973. In the 1980’s what became known as the Carter doctrine made clear that the US would use whatever means necessary to ensure the continued flow of oil. When George W Bush assumed office in 2001 his foreign policy priority was to increase the flow of petroleum from foreign suppliers to the US market. To that end a report was commissioned by James Baker and submitted to Dick Cheney, the US Vice-President, which advocated a policy of using military force against an enemy such as Iraq to secure US access to, and control over, the oilfields of the Middle East. The report suggested that Iraq remained “a destabilising influence to … the flow of oil to international markets from the Middle East”. It is equally clear that the US military had made plans to seize Iraqi oilfields during the war and that this was a priority for the US administration.

The US has also expressed an inordinate interest in the oil of the Caspian Sea Basin. It has employed tens of thousands of combat troops in the region and established military bases in Kyrgystan and Uzbekistan. In Latin America too, where Bolivia has vast gas reserves, the US is developing a military base in Paraguay, close to the border with Bolivia. The US also continues its aggression against Venezuela (a state which uses its oil revenue for the benefit of the people) and is involved in continued attempts to overthrow the government of President Hugo Chavez. As the government of Venezuela consolidates its links with Cuba (which continues despite a criminal blockade to provide  revolutionary inspiration across the world), with progressive forces throughout Latin America and with nation states which are actively resisting imperialist domination and aggression, the US attacks continue and increase. The US efforts to block Venezuela’s bid for a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council and to prevent Venezuelan delegates attending the United Nations are further examples of this aggression.

The free trade agreements which the US is attempting to impose across Latin America also represents a continuing effort to undermine national sovereignty and to open up the region to further exploitation by private capital. The US has also embarked on a series of plans across the region involving the intensive exploitation of natural resources and to guarantee access to these it has attempted to establish a regional market guaranteeing US corporations privileged and unrestricted rights to those resources through the Free Trade Area of the Americas. Capitalism, by its very nature, is an expansionary economic system. It creates and reproduces an uneven development within and among nations.

Imperialism, with its hegemonic aspirations, has always been prepared to intrude into the affairs of sovereign states, whether openly or covertly, in pursuit of its own interests. The predatory pursuit of cheap resources, cheap labour and fresh markets increases the economic and political dependence of lesser developed nations and the imbalance of trade increases and maintains the ever-widening gulf between rich and poor.  

History, including recent history, has shown that imperialism and its agents will use any means to advance its objectives and will ruthlessly destroy nations and peoples without qualm. The object is to obtain power and dominion over nations and their resources, to steal the wealth and natural resources of those nations and to prevent and obstruct the free political, social, economic, cultural development of peoples.

And yet there are causes for optimism. In a year when we commemorate the battle for Spain and the defence of the Spanish Republic in the struggle for freedom and democracy against fascism, which inspired many brave volunteers from across the world to answer the call of the Spanish Republic and to join the International Brigades, we should remember, and take heart from, the principles of international solidarity and socialist internationalism.

We know from historical experience that the path to socialism is beset with difficulties, setbacks and, from time to time, defeats. But for all its power imperialism has been unable to destroy the world revolutionary movement or to discredit the socialist vision. Progressive forces have made progress in Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, Venezuela, Nicaragua and Brazil. The peoples of Latin America have learned that change is possible and this has been a blow to imperialist designs in the region. Similarly, the imperialists’ war strategy has not been the easy task they expected.

The revolutionary march towards socialism is an indivisible march. The struggle against capital cannot be waged in isolation. It is a common struggle. International capitalism is organised on a global scale. The struggle for socialism involves a worldwide confrontation with imperialism – the international struggle of class against class. It is the duty of the world revolutionary movement to approach that task with optimism, acknowledging that there have been progressive developments in the alignment of forces in favour of peace, democracy and socialism.

The modern stage of social development confronts humankind with a myriad of urgent social, economic and political problems which can be solved only in the course of the radical transformation of society by the working class and its allies in the construction of a socialist society. The prospects for that vision remain bright.

By Gerry Grainger

 

 

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