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It
was a victory of the cowards. They first pulverized Iraq in 1991 with a
brutality far outstripping the needs of ‘countering’ the aggression of Kuwait.
Next they destroyed its economy and people through a decade of sanctions and
periodic bombings. They further disarmed the country of its effective weaponry
through years of UN sponsored "weapon’s inspections". They spied on every detail
of the country’s security during these humiliating weapon’s inspections. And
now, on the eve of the present attack, the few remaining effective missiles were
also destroyed in the name of searching for ‘weapons of mass destruction’. Then,
after having devastated the country and, to a large extent disarmed them, they
bombarded Iraq night and day for three weeks, raining over 30 Hiroshimas over
the populace.
Hundreds of thousands of civilians killed; massacred by bombs with devastating
killing power; and murdered by disease through wanton destruction of water and
electricity supplies and looting of the hospitals. An equal number maimed, and
thousands more affected by the depleted uranium used in the mini atom bombs. And
over the corpses of thousands the ‘victors’ marched in, with the sacking of
Baghdad and every other town in the country. Chenghais Khan would look mild
compared to these bandits of modern day, who claim to be the most advanced in
this so-called ‘clash of civilizations’.
They
claimed to be the ‘liberators’; they were in fact the savages. They claimed to
be their saviours from Saddam’s ‘despotism’; they are in the process of
installing their despotic colonial rule, far more ruthless. They claim to be the
apostles of modern civilization; they were the most uncivilized brutes that
ransacked centuries of treasures of the ancient Mesopotamian civilization from
the museums, libraries and palaces. They acted like the Hitlerian hordes
massacring even innocent women and children. There was no remorse; it was mere
‘collateral damage’.
Not
only has an entire nation been maimed; a major casualty of the war has been, the
truth. Lies and falsehood have been churned out by the monopoly media on a scale
unimaginable. Blatant falsehoods are repeated again and again by the monopoly
medias CNN, BBC, Fox TV, NBC, etc, which then go to feed the rest of the world.
Many independent journalists were consciously killed and Arabic media was sought
to be suppressed. The ‘embedded’ journalists, were nothing but part of the US/UK
war machine. It was Goebbelian propaganda magnified thousand-fold.
The
Bushes, Blairs, Rumsfelds, Cheneys, et al, were spewing their poisonous hatred,
with an arrogance of feudal monarchs. They were threatening, bribing, cajouling,
arm-twisting one and all, following the Bush dictum "those who are not with
us, are against us". Though lakhs, nay millions, poured out onto the streets
in opposition to the war in their own countries, they could not care. Though
crores opposed the war throughout the world in an unprecedented show of
international solidarity with the Iraqi people, these fascist marauders merely
changed their vocabulary from ‘international community’ to ‘coalition of the
willing’, and went about their job with even greater ferocity. They cared little
even for the UN and its pathetic whimperings.
Every country knows, that today it is Iraq, tomorrow it could be us. As long as
servile rulers, like Vajpayee and gang, cringe before US dictates, there is no
need for aggression, as US/imperialist policy is implemented in India willingly.
Only if there is resistance there will be aggression. In Iraq, the US big
corporate houses will take direct control of the oilfields, giving gigantic
profits to their new owners. In India with the government totally prostrating
before imperialist dictates, the US (and other) multinationals have anyway been
allowed free play to make and take away huge profits. What the US achieves
overnight in Iraq, is being achieved piecemeal in India. Vajpayee may not yet be
a Chalabi, but he, or others of his ilk, are well on the road to become one. Did
not the VHP strongly applaud US aggression on Iraq? And did not the Central
government refuse to take any coherent stand on the war till the very end,
indulging in typical doublespeak? And, is there now not talk that the GOI is
prepared to help the US policing of Iraq? Have not India’s compradors received
fat contracts as part of the US’s spoils of war?
Forget Iraq, even after opening up the entire economy for imperialist loot the
Vajpayee government is now aggressively pushing three more major policies, which
will make the US and other imperialists ecstatic, while devastating the people
of the country even more.
First, is the passing of the Contract Labour Bill, to bind the working class and
allow big-business even larger profits. Second, it plans the total dismantling
of the Public Distribution System, and handing it over entirely to private
traders, the major ones being US agri-business. Third, they plan the imposition
of IMF-style conditionalities on state governments to force them to reduce their
fiscal deficits, by massively cutting down on social welfare expenditure and
removing the subsidy on electricity charges.
Vajpayee’s government has, in addition, recently announced a plan to privatize
the coalmines of the country; Chalabi’s gangsters have openly stated their
intention to set the trend for the de-nationalisation of the oil fields in the
region. So, though different, the line of demarcation between the politics of ‘
peaceful’ globalisation and the politics of war globalisation, is indeed thin.
With
such compliant rulers, the US is, to a large extent, in the process of achieving
in India ‘peacefully’ what it will achieve though war in Iraq. War after all is
merely the continuation of politics by other means. So, fighting the policies of
globalisation in India, is part of the fight against US war-mongering and its
aggression and occupation of Iraq. The two are not distinct, but a part of the
common entity of fighting the latest offensive of imperialism, particularly that
of the US.
A
call to boycott all US and British goods, and a mass awakening of the citizens
of our country against imperialist devastation, will act as a landmark in this
forthcoming struggle — for fighting back the offensive of foreign capital in our
country; and for joining the international coalition of democratic and
revolutionary forces to counter the US/British war machine.
With
this war and the occupation of Iraq, a number of questions arise before the
people of the world, and particularly those of the backward countries like
India: Who will be the next target? How much must governments of backward
countries buckle under US dictates to avoid direct intervention? What was the
nature of the European opposition? What are the reasons for the US turning so
aggressive? Why did the massive outpouring of anti-war sentiment throughout the
world have little impact on the course of the war? Finally, how can the US
juggernaught be stopped, or are the peoples of the world entirely helpless
before this superpower monster? These and many more questions arise which we
shall try and answer in the course of the following articles.
But,
let it be remembered, that the Iraqis, inspite of all odds, fought heroically.
Mass demonstrations against the US continue every day. Guerilla warfare, which
created such panic to the aggressor forces during the first two weeks of the
war, continues, and will, no doubt, become a nightmare not only to the
occupation forces, but also to the puppet regime set up by the US. Fedayeen
forces across the Arabian countries are already in Iraq. A few days back mass
demonstrations against US occupation shook all the major cites and towns of
Iraq. Panic-stricken, the US fired into the crowds, killing an unknown number
and injuring hundreds. This is just the beginning of a new resistance.
Worldwide too, and in India, millions have taken to the streets. Everywhere the
call to boycott US/British goods is gaining momentum. Let us, in India,
intensify the seeds of this new awakening against these rapacious monsters and
their local agents, not only to safeguard the interests and rich wealth of our
country, but also for the sake of humanity worldwide.
May
1, 2003
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