The current situation in Iraq

national | anti-war / imperialism | opinion/analysis Wednesday December 01, 2004 22:57 by Sean - Organise!

Current situation in Iraq and its future
A talk delivered by Sean (Organise!)
QUB Belfast, 30.11.04

The recent criminal and barbaric re-occupation of Fallujah once again highlighted the levels states are prepared to go in the interests of so-called ‘stability and peace’ to ensure their domination and oppressive control over society. The total destruction and uprooting of innocent people’s homes, infrastructure and means of life, refusing the entry of aid convoys from NGOs not to mention the estimated deaths of up to hundreds if not thousands of people is consistent with all states during some time in their short history.

These same events are perpetrated across Iraq in the interests of allegedly advancing freedom and democracy but we all know real truth behind the ‘propaganda machine’ which is that the invasion and subsequent illegal occupation is the root cause of the problem in that it has bred more violence and instability and replaced one dictatorship with another ensuring the interests of US and British economic, political and military domination.

Essentially Iraq has been turned into a global supermarket for Bush and Cheney’s favourite contractors such as Halliburton etc. Whilst Iraqi oil is the most prized asset and the first they secured it is only part of the spoils of war. Iraqi public services devastated during a decade of war and sanctions have been privatised by colonial decree. For example, in September last year the CPA-headed by US diplomat and pro-Zionist Paul Bremer published Order 39 to permit 100% foreign ownership of businesses. Around the same time, the CPA lowered the wage base for Iraqi public sector employees (the majority of Iraqi workforce) from rates set when the US troops first arrived in Iraq- ranging from 60 to 120 dollars to 40 dollars monthly. Since then housing and food subsidies have been abolished and numerous anti-trade Union laws have been retained as well as the numerous concentration or torture camps. Even in December last year the occupiers and their lackeys attacked and closed down the headquarters of the Iraqi Federation of Trade Unions in Baghdad! Since then this situation has not changed and even got worse, as various estimates suggest. The current unemployment rate is hovering at around 70% which condemns those to a life of misery, hunger and isolation especially since there are no welfare benefits.

The poor wages and safety conditions have led to an upsurge in class struggle labour activity such as strikes and occupations. In Nassiriyah of this year, the workers of the aluminium factory saw off his the Mahdi Army which had attempted to occupy and turn it into a military base, not to mention the numerous wild cat strikes in cities across Iraq mainly in electrical generating stations. The CPA and its appointed director were soon forced to back down in their insistence on wage reductions. In Um Qasr and other ports workers committees have been set despite no recognition from their bosses. Women have joined the Organisation for the Freedom of Women in Iraq in their thousands, raising the slogan ‘No to Occupation and the veil’. More to the point these groups especially the miltant and vibrant unemployed movement were often the first to confront the occupation utilising all forms of collective direct action. This is consistent with Iraq tradition of class struggle, from the widespread popular unrest of 1958 to the widespread mass rebellion in 1991 in which conscripted soldiers, Kurdish rebels and Iraqi civilians participated in. Rebels seized Basra, Kabala, Najaf, Kurkuk and other major cities. Mosques and symbols of the Ba’athist regime were destroyed as riots, insurrection and demonstrations rocked the Iraqi elite. In some areas self-organised workers councils (shoras) were set up to run things.
In calling for the end of the occupation of Iraq, we must not hide our principled opposition to some tactics such as indiscriminate car bombings adapted by groups within the so-called Iraqi resistance, including all the Islamist groups who despite their differences over tactics etc have the same aims, to establish a regime founded on extreme Sharai law, with strict sexual apartheid. They hate atheists and secularists, other religious groups, feminist, organised workers, socialists and communists and they devote columns to denouncing them in their papers. In Basra, the different Islamist parties have set up an “emirate” where women are rarely seen in the street and where alcohol and nightclubs and even picnics are forbidden. While parts of left were beautifying the Fallugadh resistance as ‘freedom fighters’, it is also a place where women dare not step outside their door un-accompanied, No doubt this is taking place in other parts of Iraq where local Islamic groups such as the al-Sadr army have gained a foothold and where the offices of the Unemployed Union of Iraq, the Workers Communist Party and Women’s Movement have frequently been targeted and attacked.
In the short term, we must provide solidarity and assistance to those who are struggling for a genuinely free and equal Iraq. The only solution to the crisis in Iraq is for the Iraqi working class to destroy the power structures that have oppressed them for so long, to resist not just the military occupation but the local fundamentalists, nationalists, Ba’athists and demagogues who wish to carve up Iraq as they see fit.

We have watched and participated in the mass demonstrations across the world against this war to no avail and the war rages on with devastating consequences for all of us.

Instead of grovelling and lobbying politicians and Trade Union bureaucrats, we need to build an aggressive campaign based on self-managed collective direct action, civil-disobedience and solidarity. One that brings the campaign to the doorsteps of those gangsters and profiteers that have benefited from the plunder and raping of Iraq’s resources and labour and those that have ‘legitimised’ the war. In the Republic Shannon War port is actively assisting and aiding the US Death machine by the re-fuelling of lethal weapons of mass destruction and the transportation of troops and arms which must be one of the prime focuses of the anti-war movement in terms of dismantling these weapons of death and destruction. This also needs to be tied in with general anti-militarist agitation to encourage those serving in the occupation forces to resist and dis-obey orders. Fundamentally, we need to learn from history which is that marching from A to B never rocks the boat and that the State never concedes anything without some form of collective struggle or insurrection.

Most importantly, a movement which does not seek to abolish the existing power structures which create wars is a sham! In struggling for the end of the occupation of Iraq we must eradicate the very global structures of capitalism and its protector the state which ensures the dominance and exploitation of the majority by a privileged minority. General Smedley Butler who served in the US army is all too familiar with this when he stated:

“I spent 33 years and four months in active military service as a member of this country’s most agile military force, the Marine Corps. I served in all commissioned ranks from Second Lieutenant to Major General; I spent most of my time being a high class muscle- man for Big Business, for Wall Street and for the Bankers. In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism. During those years, I had, as the boys in the back room would say, a swell racket. Looking back on it, I feel that I could have given Al Capone a few hints. The best he could do was to operate his racket in three districts. I operated on three continents.”

As to the forthcoming elections, rather that marking a shift towards democracy ( if you can categorise democracy as electing careerist rulers every four years at best who are neither legally accountable to their mandate nor recallable at any stage and who ultimately as all Governments protect the interests of wealthy elites) will mean as the Workers Communist Party highlighted in their press release in August of this year,

“ sacrificing ourselves in the marches of the reactionary force for the sake of a bourgeoisie “nation” who are the enemies of basic human and civil standards.
Leaving aside our class objectives and rights is like a boring chapter in bleak comedy, which does not deserve even ridicule. Is it not enough, what happened to us at the hands of “nationalists; from hanging, imprisonment and throwing us into acid pools?”

We would point out that although democracy is an improvement from absolute barbaric dictatorship, real change only comes about through collective direct action without depending on empty promises from our leaders, and a world built in our own interests and founded on mutual aid and co-operation, in self-management and direct democracy from below

The situation in Iraq is inseparable from the current era in which capitalism grinds us further into the dirt! This current era is witness to a global assault on our class and the many gains that have been made by social struggle has been stripped away. The devastating effects of neo-liberalism are their for us all to see and experience which includes job losses, increased casualisation and insecurity, running down of public services and social housing, increased homelessness, racism and not to mention privatisation, cutbacks, and the scourge of low pay. Increased charges, rates, water tax, top up fees, increases in the cost of living, and a bigger gap in earnings are ensuring the rich continue to get rich while the poor get poorer. This has been cushioned by an expansion of state social control, surveillance and criminalization of social dissent, all the hallmarks of a police state.

As anarchists we want all workers to secure a full and equal share of the wealth and social benefits created by the combine labour of our class. This means abolishing the capitalism and the state with a world based on direct democracy and workers self-management of production. Not replacing it with any other centralised or hierarchical political body, but with a system of federation and delegation where delegates are directly elated and immediately recallable. A free and equal classless society based on mutual aid, solidarity and distribution of resources based on need, not profit.



To get in touch: queensanarchistsociety@hotmail.com