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Issue No. 172 | 28 March 2003 |
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Vale: Rule of Law
Poetry: If I Were a Rich Man Interview: League of Nations Industrial: 20/20 Hindsight Organising: On The Buses Unions: National Focus History: The Banner Room International: The Slaughter Continues Legal: A Legal Case For War? Culture: Singing For The People Review: The Hours Poetry: I Wanna Bomb Saddam Satire: Diuretic Makes Warne's Excuses Look Thin
The Soapbox The Locker Room Guest Report Seduction Bosswatch
 Statement on Labor's Response to WarTom's TantieShameless ExtremistsBarbarians at the GateMore War CommentBack-Slapping Bob
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Letters to the Editor Barbarians at the Gate
And so the barbarians have begun their permanent war against the rest of the world. The consequences of this mad adventurism are unknowable, although it is clear to me Iraq is just the first target. Iran, Syria, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Libya and Cuba are some of those on the invasion list. Iran I think will be next, if North Korea can be bought off for a while. Working people around the world have a great responsibility to stop this permanent war. We are strongest in our workplaces where we make profits for the bosses. Now more than ever we need to stop work to stop permanent war. There has been an upsurge in support for war among the people in the three invading nations. When the first world war broke out many workers in capitals around Europe celebrated the coming slaughter. They celebrated an alternative to the humdrum of their lives under capitalism. The war was excitement; the war was difference. The reality of war - the slaughter - was very different. A few years after war broke out these same workers led revolutions in Russia and Germany that ended the war and challenged the rule of the warmongers. Some may say that the first world war is not the same as the situation today. That is partly true. Then there were competing imperialisms resolving their economic competition militarily. Today it is the one super imperialist power defending its declining economic position militarily. The war in Iraq is part of the attempt by US imperialism to prevent Europe and China strengthening their economic positions. But that is producing a response - some sections of European capital and possibly China may now form their own imperialist bloc against the US. There are other similarities with the situation during the first world war. People under capitalism even today still lead alienated lives - alientated from ourselves and from others. In addition, nationalism in the three invading countries has not seriously been challenged by the working class movement. Indeed nationalism infects the movement. This combination of our alienation and the influence of nationalism meant that when the Iraqi war broke out support for it went up in Australia (and the UK and USA). However, a couple of things also need to be emphasised. First, there is still a sizeable group in Australia and the UK which opposes the war on Iraq - perhaps a majority. Second we need to look at the situation internationally. Massive demonstrations against the war have been going on in the Middle East, possibly threatening the regimes in Egypt, Bahrain, Jordan and elsehwere. It is not possible to say more since the censorship prevents us finding out the real situation in these countries. Finally, even if the invasion of Iraq is over quickly, the war will go on. Like the first world war, the reality of this permanent imperialist war - an attack on Iran for example - will produce a reaction against its horrors. It is possible this could produce a large majority in Australia and around the world against war. A better world - a world without war - will then be possible. Leonie Bronstein
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