The Workers International League declares itself in total opposition to US imperialism’s war on Iraq. This is nothing short of an imperialist war, the objective of which is to gain direct control of the Iraqi oil fields in the interests of the US oil corporations as well as being an attempt of the strategists in Washington D.C. to cement their control of the entire region. They are attempting to solidify their domination in the Middle East with the blood of the American and British workers in uniform and the people of Iraq. The pleas of the Bush Administration about the evil of the Iraqi regime and the plight of the Iraqi people aside, this conflict is being waged with nothing other than the geopolitical interests of the American ruling class in mind. This is an imperialist war which in reality is being fought against the interests of working class at home and abroad.
It is now up to the students and the Labor Movement worldwide to fight back against Bush’s aims in the Middle East. Every trade union, every student body, every School and University must mobilize and put a stop to this conflict, which for the working class means nothing but dead and maimed sons, brothers and friends. As well as the human costs for this imperialist war, there are also the political and economic costs – the deepest recession seen since the 1930s will be aggravated, and they are using it to attack the democratic rights in our country and internationally.
In response to the terrorist attack on September 11 2001, the Bush Administration has initiated an unprecedented aggression in furthering its interests around the world. From Colombia to Afghanistan, the Philippines to Central Asia, US imperialism has not only stepped up military interventions in foreign countries, but it has broken nearly all of the long established norms of diplomacy as well. This has greatly isolated the United States as well as added tremendous instability to an already crisis-ridden world. The era we have inherited, far from being one of peace and prosperity under the American aegis as promised by George the First, is instead one of crises, wars, revolutions and counterrevolutions. At a rapid pace, the government has been dismantling many of the gains won by the working class over the decades: social welfare, Medicare / Medicaid, workplace safety regulations, and most importantly, the steady slide of wages and benefits downwards and job security. Now, in the post-9/11 world our democratic rights are being threatened, the economy is stagnating, and our government has plunged the world into war and crisis. All of these added together are an assault by the rich elite and their state against the working class and the youth.
For years, working people have had to keep their heads down and waited for the situation to improve. But now, as was shown in recent months, the working class and the youth are beginning to fight back. We believe that this is absolutely necessary, and that if the gains we have lost are to be won back, a mass movement of the working class is needed, in order then to take the struggle even further. We must begin our counter-offensive with the anti-war movement. Armed with a class perspective and the ideas of Marxism, we will extend the struggle against capitalist wars into a struggle to end the miserable system of capitalism once and for all
No to the War on Workers at Home and Abroad!
Regime Change Starts at Home!
No War but the Class War!