On April 10, John Howard announced that another three hundred Australian troops will be fighting in Afghanistan. Well, from an imperialist point of view, more troops are needed. The operation is being bogged down. Neither Australia nor its imperialist mentors, the United States of America have an exit strategy. How many more years will pass until victory is a question they cannot answer.
This is an extremely important war for the imperialists. A defeat will mean a loss of face. This will spur on liberation forces throughout the Middle East and across the world. It is this loss of face that we communists want. For this reason we give military support to the resistance, no matter how reactionary. Of course to rationalize their invasion the imperialists point to the reactionary positions of the Taliban who are fundamentalist Moslems with reactionary positions on many issues, notably women�s rights. But it was the imperialists who imposed the reactionary Taliban on the Afghan people in the first place.
This war began because Osama Bin Laden was on Afghanistan soil and the US wanted him to be handed over as they claimed he was responsible for the September 11 atrocities against the World Trade Cente.r Understandably and justifiably the Afghan government wanted proof. But Bush didn�t choose to negotiate. Instead he sent the troops in. There has been a war ever since. A puppet government has been established in Kabul. Like the one in Baghdad, it is doubtful whether it has the support of the majority of Afghanis. However, it gives the appearance that America and allies are concerned about democracy. In reality they are concerned about imperialist control. The American intervention in Afghanistan is thoroughly and utterly reactionary. So is Australia�s!
A full supporter of this imperialist aggression is �Opposition� leader Kevin Rudd. Rudd is not an opponent of imperialism, rather he counsels the imperialists on how to do their job better. He opposes the war in Iraq because he correctly perceives that it has nothing to do with fighting the war on terror. But he wants them to fight the war in Afghanistan even harder.
George Bush would clearly prefer Rudd Labor to be as gung-ho as Bush and go all the way with the USA .But he could tolerate a pro-imperialist Labor Government in Australia with tactical differences. Rupert Murdoch has expressed his approval for Rudd Labor. We, the workers movement in Australia, must not buy the Rudd agenda
The war in Afghanistan is an imperialist war and we must not be a party to it. The victims of this war will not only be the Afghan people but the people of the whole Middle East. The imperialists will use their friendly government to pressure the whole Middle East, to hand over oil at bargain basement rates and to defend their loyal ally�the state of Israel.
They could use this state as a springboard to attack Iran. Iran has been declared by Bush as part of his proclaimed �axis of evil�. It is part of the axis even though the only thing it has in common with Saddam�s Iraq and North Korea is that it hates the USA. The imperialists demand that Iran stop producing nuclear fuel which can be potentially used for weapons. America doesn�t oppose nuclear weapons. It only opposes them in the hands of countries not under its control.
We must be for Australia's and America�s defeat � unconditionally. For us in Australia our opposition must be linked to action. The only effective way to defeat imperialism is workers' action. We must demand working class direct action to smash Australia�s participation in the war drive now! This means demonstrations! This means strike action!
Communist Left has no faith in the existing leaderships of the trade union movement to carry out such action. This is especially true now that are on their knees to Rudd. Whilst they are on their knees Rudd promises more attacks on workers' rights. Revolutionary leadership is urgently needed.