No War on Iraq!

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London Political Forum Takes the Stand:
No War on Iraq!

Northern Regional Forum on Mass Party Press Plans Its Work up to the End of the Year

In the context of the threat of war on Iraq, the London Political Forum, in the first of a new series of meetings concerned with building the alternative to the party-dominated system of government in Britain today, discussed on October 23 the extremely important task at this time of stopping war against Iraq.

Three panel speakers addressed how to build a movement which can prevent the threat of war and how the people can determine a foreign policy which is against war, aggression and state terrorism.

The first speaker was from London CND. He spoke of the impending war to overthrow the government of Iraq led by the US with Britain in tow. He elaborated how the US is organising for "full spectrum dominance". The US was aiming for a situation where no country could ever challenge it, and the attacks of September 11 had been utilised by the administration to develop this trend. The administration spoke of an "arc of instability" from the Middle East and the South West to NE Asia.

The so-called "axis of evil" can be seen in this context of the US strategy for global dominance, particularly moving from dominance in Europe to dominance over Asia. The speaker pointed out that from December 2001 to August 2002, $120 billion of extra military spending has been authorised by the US Congress, which will put the US military expenditure on a par with the next 15-20 countries put together. A "Unified Command" plan has been implemented as from October 1, dividing the whole world into US military zones.

The Bush doctrine of "pre-emptive" strikes overturns legislation dating from 1837, when the basis of international law laid down that only if the danger was "imminent, clear and no other methods are available" can force be used.

According to Tony Blair, Britain is a "pivotal bridge" between Europe and the US. In pursuit of this doctrine, Gordon Brown has introduced the biggest increase in military spending in 20 years in order to keep up with the US, as well as to encourage European countries to do likewise.

However, the speaker pointed out that Bush and Blair were miscalculating the strength of the people’s mass opposition, as well as from states world-wide. For example, in the debate in the UN Security Council, 110 countries asked to speak, none in favour of the Anglo-US resolution. In his estimation, the prospects of stopping the war are quite real. Although the drive to war is still there, nevertheless the people can seriously contribute to turning the status quo around and bringing about a different world.

The second speaker was from a local Stop the War committee. She spoke of their experience and posed some of the questions which tend to arise.

In her view, in just over a year since the "war against terrorism" had been declared, the movement against it had grown enormously – to stop this war had become a priority in many people’s lives, from different backgrounds, and a focus of discussion in the community and in the workplace.

The warmongers were to some extent relying on the experience of aggression such as the Vietnam War being forgotten by the anti-war movement. This experience is that it was the US who was the aggressor and who actually has the weapons of mass destruction. As in the war in the Balkans, ultimatums are being put forward which, since they mean that Iraq would relinquish its sovereignty, no country could ever accept. In reality, the US is aiming to engineer its dominance over these areas.

A burning question, the speaker suggested, is how the people can get themselves in a position to make a different, to change the course of history, so that it is not possible for the US and Britain to go through with their actions. People need to become political themselves, she said. And this is happening very rapidly. One of the characteristics of the prevailing political culture, that people are reduced merely to spectators while the professional politicians get on with their course of action, is being challenged. People are not satisfied with merely having "dialogue" with the government and its MPs, but themselves having no power. People have a right to make the decisions which are vital for the future of society.

Taking a stand of principle is very important in arming the people against arguments from the government which attempt to confuse matters, for example on the issue of the defence of sovereignty and on rejecting the use of force to resolve conflicts.

A representative of Voices in the Wilderness spoke next. Among other points, he said that Voices visits Iraq and breaks, symbolically, the economic sanctions imposed on Iraq by taking goods without the necessary export licence required under the "Oil for Food" programme. On the list are such items as basic medical goods which are alleged to have "dual use", for example chemotherapy treatment and engineering parts for all aspects of civil infrastructure.

The representative pointed out that Iraq was suffering under the most punitive sanctions regime ever imposed on a country. Iraq was a highly industrialised society of 22 million people, an "emergent First World society". It has been devastated by sanctions. After the 1991 Gulf War, 95% of Iraq’s electricity-generating capacity was destroyed. The speaker emphasised how crucial was electricity, for example to hospitals, schools, orphanages and all aspects of civilian life.

It was important to stress, he said, that the bombings of Iraq had been going on weekly for 10 years over the so-called "no-fly zones".

Against Iraq, he said, sanctions themselves are a weapon of mass destruction, and 500,000 children have been killed as a result. The freedoms from hunger and other scourges have been destroyed in Iraq as its highly advanced welfare state has collapsed. Furthermore, it has been subject, for example, to the effects of DU which was used in the Gulf War, which has resulted in the birth of babies deformed beyond belief. The situation is such that although the food distribution of the Iraqi government is second to none, people are having to sell food to buy other necessities such as clothes. There is absolutely no justification for this continuing punishment, the speaker emphasised.

The representative of Voices said that in his opinion there were many things that people can do, such as non-violent civil disobedience. It is possible to affect things, he emphasised in conclusion.

Following the three presentations, a broad and impassioned discussion took place, with the three panel speakers participating to the full.

The participants in the discussion emphasised, among other points, the contempt with which human beings are being held by the US and British administrations. The question was raised of what is the alternative. It was raised that it is crucial to take a stand. The agenda being pursued by these governments is not in our name. People are being placed on the margins.

The focus was also placed on how it is possible to turn the situation around, how can the movement attain its aims. Human beings must be placed at the centre.

It was also pointed out how a prevailing Eurocentric view is promoted about humaneness. You cannot have human rights where some people are more human than others. In this vein, it was mentioned, millions in Africa have been slaughtered, but Tony Blair dismisses the question of paying reparations for colonialism.

Winding up the discussion, the Chair raised the question of how to move forward. There has been some discussion that the London Political Forum should take responsibility for its meetings, and the meeting concluded with proposals for advancing the work of the LPF, of widening its influence, and, by expressing and getting to the essence of issues that people are concerned with, to strengthen the movement in opposition to the government’s agenda and to build the alternative. In this way, diverse currents in the movement can be further welded into a torrent to bring about a new society.

The Northern Regional Forum on the Mass Party press has restarted its regular meetings after a short break. At its October meeting members of the Forum put forward items for the agenda which will form the main part of the work till the end of the year and after discussion the Forum took some important decisions.

There was a plan to develop its bulletin into a regular four-page regional newspaper as part of the work to build the mass party press in the region. Also, addressed was summing up the stage of the stop the war movement in the North East and the meeting put forward a programme for health workers and students in the ongoing political work among these sections. The conception of this work was also part of the work to develop the workers forums and Marxist-Leninist seminars to organise the workers and students.

In this anti-war movement the meeting discussed that it was very important to oppose those who want to make the issue one of systems, which plays into to the hands of the US and British warmongers who want to use pretexts to justify violence against any system that stood in the way of the US drive for a unipolar world. To make the issue one of systems was to justify violence against sovereign nations and their peoples. The issue, the meeting emphasised, was to call on workers to defend the sovereignty of nations, take a stand in the defence of the rights of all, condemn injustice, and develop the movement against war and to remove the threat of war in the future.

The meeting concluded with discussion on a plan to further encourage worker politicians to come forward and represent the interests of their collectives.