WHAT IS WAR WITH IRAQ REALLY ABOUT?
A New Democracy Flyer
www.newdemocracyworld.org
Many Americans are confused by the Bush Administration's calls for war on
Iraq. The President calls Saddam Hussein, dictator of a country whose army
was destroyed in four days by the U.S. in 1991, a major threat, but refuses
to present evidence that Iraq has any "weapons of mass destruction" or the
means to deliver them. Bush calls Hussein a thug who used poisoned gas
against Iran and his own people, but neglects to mention that Hussein was an
ally of the U.S. at the time (1988) and had U.S. support for his actions.
Besides, the U.S. has never been shy about supporting thugs and dictators.
Why would the U.S. government invent reasons for a war in which many
thousands of Iraqis and hundreds or thousands of Americans may die?
THE LURE OF OIL
Greed is the most obvious motivating factor. Iraq sits atop 112 billion
barrels of oil, the second largest reserves in the world. U.S. oil companies
have been cut out of exploiting Iraqi oil since 1990. According to the
Washington Post, "A U.S. ouster of Hussein could result in a bonanza for
American oil companies long banished from Iraq." The State Department is
already using rights to Iraqi oil as bargaining chips to win endorsement of
U.S. military action from UN Security Council members. (9/15/02)
WAR AS SOCIAL CONTROL
But there is much more to this war than the greed of oil companies. War is
the next, most dangerous step in a thirty-year corporate strategy of social
control.Ever since the world revolutionary upsurge of the 1960s and 70s
challenged elite power, the government and corporations have been on the
counterattack against ordinary people, to strengthen elite control of
society. Government and business leaders have colluded to make good jobs
scarce and decimate social programs like housing and unemployment insurance.
They have priced health care out of the reach of 42 million Americans. They
have stolen our retirement and left many to work into old age, while CEOs
make off with hundreds of millions; all to make people more insecure and
controllable.
War with Iraq is an enormous diversion from these problems.
Instead of fighting speed-up or lousy jobs or expensive health care, we are
told to rally behind our Leader to fight the "axis of Evil." Instead of
fighting corporate dictators, we're supposed to fight a petty thug 6,000
miles away.
WORKING PEOPLE ARE THE TARGET
In the last few years a world anti-capitalist movement has burst onto the
stage, with general strikes in Italy and Spain, factory occupations and
uprisings in Argentina, widespread strikes in Uruguay, historic labor
upheavals in China, economic crisis in Brazil. Millions, perhaps billions
worldwide, are convinced that capitalism holds no future for them.
War is the ultimate tool for whipping working people into line. When
threatened by a rising international labor movement in the early 1900s,
governments set worker against worker in WWI. When threatened with a
revolutionary tide in the 1930s, governments brought us WWII. Now Bush
threatens us with "endless war" against perhaps 60 countries.
This war is aimed at all working people, to divide and intimidate us
with U.S. military strength. In fact the strategy of endless war and the
curtailment of American freedoms at home are signs of profound weakness by a
ruling elite convinced that it cannot continue to rule without taking extreme
measures.
HOW CAN WE FIGHT BACK?
The more they know the facts, the more people oppose this war. Our real
enemies are not workers of other lands but dictators everywhere, including our own corporate dictators. Let's reach out and build a revolutionary
movement of ordinary people everywhere to build a humane and democratic society.
Please copy this flyer and pass it on. New Democracy works for democratic revolution. For info or further discussion, call Doug Fuda (617-323-7213), write Newdem@aol.com, or visit our web site at www.newdemocracyworld.org.