Contention Between the Big Powers Already Evident over Post-War Iraq

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Contention Between the Big Powers Already Evident over Post-War Iraq

YOUTH TAKE CENTRE STAGE AGAINST WAR

As the Anglo-American invasion of Iraq is about to enter its second week, the Prime Minister, Tony Blair, has announced that he is to travel to the US to meet with George W. Bush at Camp David. According to Tony Blair’s remarks in a press conference, their meeting will not only focus on the current military conflict and what he referred to as “the Middle East peace process” but also on post-war Iraq. The Prime Minister made it clear that one of the most important areas for discussion would be how “ get America and Europe working again together as partners, and not as rivals.” The Prime Minster also announced that he would be meeting with UN secretary-general Kofi Annan.

Tony Blair made it clear last week, following the EU summit meeting that he envisaged an important role for the UN and the EU in post-war, but already differences have emerged between the big powers as to exactly who should play the dominant role. The British government has already made proposals for two UN resolutions, one that would deal with humanitarian issues, including giving the UN control over the so-called “oil for food” programme. The other would provide authority for the reconstruction and development of Iraq and provide a UN mandate for any interim administration following the war. According to some reports, Claire Short, the Minister for International Development was rebuffed in the US last week when she sought to get backing for a UN resolution on reconstructing Iraq. While the President of France, Jacques Chirac, has already made it clear that France would oppose any UN resolution “justifying the war after the event”. He stressed that “France will not accept a resolution tending to legitimise the military intervention and giving the American and English belligerents powers over the administration of Iraq.” It is reported that Russia and Germany are likely to adopt a similar position.

At the same time, it has been reported in the Wall Street Journal that the US government, although it may assign the UN a humanitarian role will attempt to install a US military regime in Iraq for up to a year headed by a retired American general.  It has also been widely reported that the US Agency for International Development (USAID) has already asked American companies to bid for more than $1 billion worth of contracts for the reconstruction of Iraq. A US company, had already been given the contract to operate the Iraqi port of Umm Qasr even before Anglo-American forces had captured it. This situation has even given rise to complaints from British monopolies.  What is clear is that should the present government of Iraq be overthrown by the Anglo-American invasion, the political and economic future of the country will be decided not by the Iraqi people but by their self-appointed “liberators”. Iraq will again become a state that is governed as a colony of the big powers led by the US, possibly without even a UN mandate.

Tony Blair may well issue warnings about the need for a partnership between Europe and the US, but the reality is that the contention between the big powers is creating a multi-polar world, in which increasingly there s opposition to the dominance assumed by the US and “rival poles of power in the world”. Tony Blair’s veiled threat that the prospective new members of the EU will in time once again establish a European majority in favour of the British government’s pro-US stance will do nothing to resolve the struggle that has broken out. The warmongering actions of the US and British governments in Iraq, as well as the increasing rivalry between all the big powers are creating an increasingly dangerous and unstable situation in the world that shows no sign of ending.

School, college and university students across Britain walked out of lessons and lectures last week to demonstrate against the beginning of the war on Iraq. They have been in the forefront of the anti-war movement in the weeks leading up to war and are remaining so as the war continues.

On 6th March, school students aged between 11 and 16 organised a walkout and mass rally in Victoria Square, Birmingham. Over 350 walked out of Queensbridge School in Kings Heath.

Emily Churchill, aged 16 from Queensbridge, said: "The point of walking out of school is to make an act of civil disobedience. If they won't do what we want, we won't do what they want."

Jaswinder Pal, aged 13, said: "We believe innocent people shouldn't die so George Bush and Tony Blair get their oil."

On the day the war started, Thursday 20th March, student leaders urged students to join the protests across the country.

Mandy Telford, president of the National Union of Students (NUS) said: "The NUS is strongly opposed to a war on Iraq.

"We do not believe that destroying one of the oldest civilisations in the world with bombs and killing thousands of innocent people is the best way to effect change."

B*U*S*T the War, Birmingham University againST the War, organised a walkout. Among the actions planned were speeches, discussions and a vigil.

About 40 school and university students gathered on the Northumbria University campus on the same day. Similar actions occurred in universities all over the country, such as Stirling University, which was closed due to protest action.

Hundreds of children were among the crowds protesting at Westminster. Henna, 18, is part of a network of school students from south London who protested in Westminster. "I'm here to get my message across. Two million people walked through London against this but war is still going on," she said.

A Stop the War demonstration in Edinburgh, involving mainly school-age youth, caused extensive disruption in the city centre. They assembled close to the Scottish Parliament before dividing into groups to stopped traffic at various locations.

Around the world, similar demonstrations involving many students and other youth took place on 20th March.

Over 1,000 students and schoolchildren staged a sit-down protest, blocking the road outside Queen's University in two separate demonstrations in Belfast.

"We left class and asked our professors to join us," said Lefteris Faniotakis, a 15-year old student leading a group of 100 schoolmates as part of a huge demonstration in Athens.

Tens of thousands of school and university students in Italy staged spontaneous rallies in towns and cities all over the country. More students staged a sit-in outside NATO headquarters in Naples.

Germany and France also saw big demonstrations, involving many school and university students.

Thousands of protesters gathered at university campuses around the USA. Hundreds of students at students at Harvard University walked out of classes at noon, and at least 1,500 people took part in a rally.

Criminalising Dissent

Along with youth coming to the fore, attempts are being made to criminalise their activity.

For the 6th March protests in Birmingham, education officials immediately criticised the youth who took part and initiated an investigation into the mass walk-out amid fear of the protest repeating itself elsewhere. They also threatened parents of children who took part. The warning came as two sixth formers at Prince Henry's Grammar School in Otley, near Leeds, were suspended for trying to lead a similar protest.

Cabinet member for education and lifelong learning Roy Pinney (Labour Brandwood) used the false pretext for legal action against parents in order to stifle dissent. He said: "It is a parental obligation to make sure children are educated, Action can be bought against them for failing to do so."

On 20th March, school children decided to picket many schools across London in the morning to gather protest supporters, because they thought their teachers would stop them leaving if they went inside.

In Carlisle, the police were called to a school after hundreds of pupils staged an anti-war demonstration.

At a secondary school in Hackney, the school was locked last Thursday so that none of the children could leave to protest. It is reported that some of the children scaled the school walls nevertheless to go and demonstrate.

When war was announced on Thursday, a number of children from Dulwich College, South East London, decided to go on the march, and all congregated at the school. When they were ready to go off, senior staff of the school, including the headmaster, when they heard that this is what the boys were organising, went and stood at the end of the exit of the school and blockaded the children to stop them going. At this point a kafuffle broke out and some of the students pushed the headmaster out of the way to go on the march. The school is now carrying out suspension procedures against two of the boys as a result.

However, because of the strength of feeling, the boys pursued this and wanted to have another demonstration on Monday. So the school compromised with the boys and allowed them to hold a demonstration at the school war memorial at lunchtime. As a result only half of the boys turned up to lunchtime activities, because so many wanted to go to this demonstration.

Police in San Francisco arrested 1,025 people during violence at an anti-war demonstration.

Spanish police fired rubber bullets at protesters in Madrid a demonstration involving well-known actors and other celebrities.

Swiss police used tear gas against hundreds of protesters, also mainly students, who marched on the US diplomatic mission in Geneva.