First Anniversary of NATO Bombing of
Yugoslavia
Today, March 24, is the first anniversary of the
commencement of NATOs bombing of Yugoslavia.
During the criminal aggression against Yugoslavia and
since, the leaders of the big powers, from Bill Clinton to Tony Blair, have
promoted the Hitlerite lie that they were acting in defence of humanity and
human rights. This was a prexext to justify the unjustifiable. The US, as well
as Britain, demonstrated that for such powers the principles of international
law are there only to be flouted.
These same leaders claim a "moral imperative" to
intervene. This "moral imperative" rests on the big lie that the
peoples of the world are incapable of controlling their own affairs. This
insistence on a "moral imperative" has since been developed by Robin
Cook and others to the extent that they claim that there are "universal
values" which should be imposed globally. Only the deepest reactionaries
and medievalists dare speak of "universal values".
The imperialist powers contention for outright
control of Europe which gave rise to the war in the Balkans is still
intensifying, as a component part of preparing the ground for hegemony over
Asia and other continents of the globe. Troops of the big powers still occupy
Kosova and intervention is being stepped up by these powers throughout the
globe, as with the genocidal sanctions against and the bombing of Iraq, the
enlargement of the EU, the new "scramble for Africa", the claims of
"human rights abuses" in China, the interference in South Asia, the
bellicose threats against North Korea, and so on.
At the same time, it is important to realise that these big
powers have feet of clay, they are not able to impose their dictate just as
they please, but that the people and their struggles are an important factor in
the world situation. The working class and democratic forces in Britain must
step up their opposition to imperialist intervention and to British
interference throughout the globe and to the chauvinism of the English
bourgeoisie which attempts to line up the working class and people behind their
aims. They must do this on the basis of their own strength and with the
conviction that it is the people who are decisive in establishing peace. They
must conduct their own struggles for their rights shoulder to shoulder
internationally with all the peoples fighting in defence of their sovereignty
and for a new society.