By Derek Atkinson
The war in Iraq represents a dangerous path the world is going down. The euphoria of Iraqis witnessing the demise of Saddam Hussein was too brief and met with a hangover to be measured in depleted uranium, cluster bombs, and mass graves brought to them by the liberators. Ballot boxes and bullets do not make a democracy. Though Canada never officially �helped�, their assistance is remarkable and against the wishes of Canadians. Unfortunately, massive protest and resistance against the capitalist war machines built by the Christian-right has not stopped this black eye of humanity. Meanwhile, the US and it�s allies possess the most dangerous weapons and most ruthlessly carrying out crimes against humanity. The nearly unilateral and totally unjust occupation of Iraq must seize to the massive outcry of dissent here in Canada and elsewhere.
The reason Canada supposedly backed out of the war on Iraq was because it was not cleared by the United Nations, the greatest of all multilateral institutions. Instead, now that the US has laid waste to the UN as a credible force in international law, Canada undermines it and helps with the imperial war machine anyways, under the table, behind the backs and against the will of Canadians and citizens worldwide.
But, isn't it amazing how Canada can contribute so much America's imperialist war without even being involved? Canada is more willing to have a role that is far more significant than having a few soldiers on the ground. For instance, we have 25 war planners working with US Central Command, where we are part of the strategic efforts in the war. We have 1300 troops protecting America's warships serving as platforms to launch air attacks against Iraq. We are selling billions of dollars worth of military equipment to US, while Newfoundland is a refuelling station for US military aircraft flying to the Middle East. Jean Chretien, after saying we would not be involved, has on a number of occasions served as a cheerleader for America's imperial quest. The extent of our involvement is larger than this, but attention will now turn to Iraq.
While Iraq�s infrastructure and heritage was looted and destroyed, US occupation troops watched, and at the same time protected the ministries of oil and foreign affairs. The Bush administration had been soliciting proposals to reconstruct Iraq since before dropping the first bomb and before asking the UN to authorize military action.
The list of defence contractors preying on Iraq is haunting especially combined with America�s pseudo-democracy. The ten largest weapons manufacturers contributed about 140 million dollars in campaign and lobbying expenditures between 2000 and 2002. During this period, about 60 revolving door executives (that's high level government officials using the connections to move into high level positions in the industries they've interacted with and vice versa) for the same corporations. This conflict of interest puts just a handful of men in control of the largest military arsenal ever.
The marionette, of which George Bush is a beleaguered puppet and puppeteer, is a system of neo-liberalism and Christian fundamentalism. This war is about US global hegemony, definitely not against terrorism. The war on terrorism is white wash and really means that there is no limitation, no border, no law and no moral obligation against the US because what they do is in the name of fighting terror. Anti-terror laws worldwide are implemented to be used against demonstrations, strikes and general unrest to the social, economic and military wars made by capitalists in the name of free markets and power in the hands of the few. State and military forces defend the interests of big business. Capitalists have long been destroying humanity in the name of saving it: from the colonial genocide of indigenous peoples and slavery, to the imperial struggles that caused millions of deaths in two world wars. Neo-liberalism is imposing �collective economic sacrifice� on those at the periphery(developing countries). Today, since the "end" of the cold war, the illusion is widespread that there is no alternatives to a capitalist design of society and the economy. There is a mirage that problems only exist because the logic of those systems are not applied with sufficient rigour. Neo-liberalism's logic of the insuperable market has trivialized democracy, disarming it and using privatization to put into servitude state and international institutions.
In preserving it's postwar imperial position, rather than with creating a stable and democratic Iraq, the US spends about $3.9 billion a month in military costs alone. Iraqi blood is seen as expendable, cheapened to sale in dollars per barrel. What happens now? Will the arms industry and military violence abroad keep perpetuating rather than eliminating terrorist strikes around the world. What about the prevailing atmosphere of fear, gun culture, and violence in the media? Right now, with a sober and bleak outlook, these apocalyptic scenarios seem ever growing. Where is the hope to come from?
The Christian right, by the 1990's controlled a $2.5 billion a year religious broadcasting industry, a slew of newspapers, several dozen state based think tanks doing legislative lobbying, as well as an array of legal firms exclusively devoted to Christian right causes. The Christian right has a vast media empire that is connected throughout American political, corporate and military establishments.
This occupation is not just about Iraq, oil profits, and terrorism or weapons of mass destruction. The vast arsenals of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons belong America and its allies. The shock and awe tactic, overwhelming force parallel to Hitler�s lightning attacks, are like the nuclear bombing of Japan in 1945. The US possesses the by far the largest arsenal of nuclear weapons, is responsible for building the first atomic bomb, has been the only country to use them, and has recently made the only credible threat of using them (again). So who is the real enemy? A recent Time magazine poll in Europe shows that 84% think that the US poses the greatest risk to world peace. In fact, in other industrialized, America-friendly countries, strong majorities declare George Bush a greater threat to peace than Saddam Hussein. To lose a popularity contest against Saddam Hussein, George dubya has certainly impressed a handful of corporate cronies, but abandoned the rest of the world.
We must defend Iraq and defeat US imperialism. The key is to build revolutionary parties and bands of radical youth to fight against imperial aggression and rid the world of the capitalism. We are in a struggle to mobilize the tremendous power of the working class against the bloody war criminals� drive for world domination. The mobilization of the international proletariat has the strength and social position to bring the war machine to a grinding halt.