Occupation is a disaster for the warmongers

http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/article.php?article_id=7997

Veteran anti-war campaigner Tariq Ali gave a speech analysing the problems for
the US in Iraq at last weekend?s peace conference.

The war in Iraq is a complete and utter disaster. For the people of Iraq there
is more suffering today than under the previous government. You have unlimited
torture, the use of chemical weapons, limitless killing of civilians by the
occupation forces in Iraq.

That is why it is our duty to build a peace movement that calls for the
withdrawal of all foreign troops from the country. People ask, ?If we leave,
won?t there be a messy civil war?? But what do they think is going on now?

Every one of the colonial occupations of the 20th century has led to a mass
ethnic cleansing. When imperialists find they cannot control the situation they
try to divide the population.

That is what is going on in Iraq today. Having failed to occupy the country,
because of the resistance mounted inside Iraq, they have moved on to Plan B.
They are now trying to divide Iraq into three bits.

But this creates massive contradictions for the US in the region. There?s Turkey
on one side and Iran on the other.

There will be the risk of setting off a new wave of opposition. While most of
the Arab regimes are puppets that are unlikely to open their mouths, the people
of the Middle East are opposed to the occupation of Iraq.

Every opinion poll in Iraq, even ones carried out by pro-imperialists, reports
that 60 to 70 percent of the population are opposed to the occupation. Large
swathes of Shia don?t support the politicians that speak in their name.

I have no doubt that the occupation will get messy. George Bush and Tony Blair
are building military bases in Kurdish areas.

Every time politicians on either side of the Atlantic open their mouths they say
they won?t allow ?terrorists? to change ?our way of life?. But all the Iraqis
are saying is, ?Get out of our country.? It is the governments in the US and
Britain that are changing the Iraqi people?s way of life by creating this ugly
war against them.

We need to stop these absurd laws against terrorism. The 90 day detention
proposal was defeated, and thank heaven for that. But it?s not that 28 days is
much better.

Why do they want to torture prisoners psychologically and physically by holding
them without charge? It?s to soften them up before they appear in court.

That?s why it?s important to keep the peace movement and find different ways of
moving to keep up pressure on our politicians, who only act when they are
pressured from below.

Conferences like this are useful, but we must understand some of the
complexities of the situation in Iraq.

There is no single resistance. But if we had nobody resisting then Bush and
Blair would have claimed victory. If there?s an anti-war movement in the US
today, it?s because large swathes of Iraqi people fought back.

This attempt to write off the resistance as ?terrorists? is as old as
imperialism itself. If they pass laws saying it is no longer legal to support
the resistance we will defy these law.

But it?s not going to be easy for the US. I do not believe it has the troops
necessary to go to war with any other country.

This occupation cannot last. For good or bad, it?s the Iraqi people who will
determine the future. I recently returned from a trip to Cuba and Venezuela. The
officials there had large maps of Iraq pinned on their wall?they pointed to them
and said, ?They?re fighting for us as well.?

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http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/article.php?article_id=7997



Alan

"Can't you see we're still here,
Can't you see we're still here,
Singing loud; Singing clear,
We shall not go under,
We're still here."

Nemesis Peace Centre

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