Alan Woods, editor of marxist.com, is on a speaking tour of Pakistan and the following article, written by the well-known columnist Munno Bai, appeared in today's (March 18) edition of the Jang. This is the biggest daily paper in Pakistan, published in Lahore, Karachi, Rawalpindi, Quetta and Multan.
Alan Woods, editor of marxist.com, is on a speaking tour of Pakistan and the following article, written by the well-known columnist Munno Bai, appeared in today's (March 18) edition of the Jang. This is the biggest daily paper in Pakistan, published in Lahore, Karachi, Rawalpindi, Quetta and Multan. It is read by millions of people. The paper has also published the In Defence of Marxism Manifesto against the war in seven instalments and has received a very large number of letters from readers, agreeing with the manifesto. (March 19, 2003)
The well-known left wing intellectual, Alan Woods arrived in Lahore from London in the early hours of Sunday morning. Alan is the most prominent leader of the International tendency of The Struggle [Marxist journal in Pakistan]. You will have read the Manifesto on the War written by Alan and Ted Grant in these columns. This Manifesto has played an important ideological and practical role in the organisation and preparation of the Marxists in the great protest demonstrations against the war […]
Apart from participating in the congress of The Struggle in Pakistan, Alan Woods will also be giving lectures on World Perspectives at other meetings, including meetings of Members of Parliament, political activists, writers, artists and journalists. Apart from English, Spanish and Russian, he is able to express his point of view in several other languages […] He has written several books including Bolshevism the Road to Revolution and Reason in Revolt. They have been translated into seven languages, and are also available in Urdu.
Alan was scathing in his characterisations of both the British Prime Minister Tony Blair and American President George Bush […] While Blair is busy committing political suicide, George Bush has succeeded in destroying the UN, and splitting the EU. In so doing, Bush has laid bare the crude reality of the USA as the world's only Superpower.
Nevertheless, they are ultimately pursuing a disastrous course. The attack on Iraq will rebound against them. It will turn out to be the President's biggest blunder. Alan recalled the words of the Frenchman Clemenceau: "It is worse than a crime: it is a mistake". The same mistake that was made by Papa Bush is now being repeated by Bush junior. And to repeat a mistake is certainly a crime! And one from which it will be impossible to extricate themselves. They are both set on the road to destruction. When a man has a rope tied around his neck and the stool is being removed from under his feet he has a good chance of dying.
According to Alan, Bush and Blair have speeded up the course of history. Events are moving fast and they cannot control the outcome. Processes that would normally take place over decades are being compressed into a few months. […]
Alan Woods recalled that President Roosevelt provoked the Japanese to attack Pearl Harbour in order to get the American public to support America's entry into World War Two. But George Bush lacks the political skills of his predecessor. [...] The result is a massive anti-war movement that has broken out even before the war has started. During the Vietnam War there were demonstrations in the USA and Europe. Now we see massive demonstrations all over the world.
More than 30 million have so far participated in these demonstrations even before the war has begun. A protest movement on such a scale cannot be ignored. But Bush and Blair cannot even read what is written so clearly on the wall. And there are none so blind as those who do not want to see.