------------------------- Via Workers World News Service Reprinted from the Nov. 28, 2002 issue of Workers World newspaper -------------------------
AT BROAD CONFERENCE IN MADRID: ANTI-WAR FORCES TAKE CLEAR STAND AGAINST U.S. WAR By John Catalinotto Madrid A major international conference held here in Madrid on Nov. 16-17 has condemned the planned U.S. aggression against Iraq. It was the first international gathering to convene after the U.S. elections, the UN Security Council resolution that forced inspectors on Iraq, and the massive anti-war protest in Florence, Italy. This International Meeting Against the War and in Solidarity with the Iraqi People was organized by the Spanish Campaign for Lifting the Sanctions on Iraq. It adopted a declaration sharply condemning U.S. plans to wage war on Iraq and denounced UN Resolution 1441, calling it "a green light" for U.S. aggression. The conference reflected several trends regarding the war: widespread mass anti-war sentiment, especially in Europe and the Middle East; a new and growing anti-war movement in the United States; and opposition within the European ruling class to U.S. hegemony on the world scene, enforced by the Pentagon. A MILLION PROTEST IN EUROPE The demonstration of 750,000 to 1 million people in Florence on Nov. 9 was a point of reference for the speakers and the audience at the conference. Over 600 people took part over the course of one-and-a-half days of discussions. Before Nov. 9, the European anti-globalization movement had taken no clear position on the U.S. war against Iraq. Social democratic parties--which in Europe often lead imperialist governments--have been influential within "social forums" like the one that day in Florence, and had prevented such a clear anti-imperialist position from winning the day. But on Nov. 9, the mass mood was so anti-war that the only demands made were on the U.S. government to desist from launching the war on Iraq. No one was telling the Iraqis to disarm first. This meeting of the European Social Forum also announced Europe-wide plans for another day of anti-war actions in all European capitals on Feb. 15. Speakers from Morocco like Mohammad Basri of the Union of Popular Socialist Forces (USFP)-some of whom had helped organize a march of solidarity with Palestine of 3 million people last spring in Rabat--took apart the U.S. role in the Middle East. British Labor Party Member of Parliament George Galloway, a leader in the movement defending the Iraqi people, hit the Tony Blair government in London for being a toady for Washington. The British anti-war movement rallied 400,000 people last Sept. 28 in London to protest the war and in solidarity with Palestine. Some of the strongest protests in Europe have been in those countries whose governments have prostrated themselves before the U.S. plans: in Britain under Blair, in Italy under media magnate Silvio Berlusconi and more recently in the Spanish state under Juan Maria Aznar. >From Belgium, Michel Collon of the newspaper Solidaire made a specific attack on what he called the "Ni-ni" problem (neither-nor in French) of the European peace movement. When the slogan is "Neither [Yugoslavia's Slobodan] Milosevic nor NATO, neither Washington nor the Taliban, neither Saddam Hussein nor George W. Bush," then the movement becomes paralyzed by the equal sign put between oppressor and oppressed. Collon's argument for a clear position opposing any imperialist intervention got a strong positive response from the audience. Many speakers from different parts of the Spanish state, representing unionists, political activists--mostly from the United Left--intellectuals and others focused their criticism on the U.S. and on the Aznar government. GROWING U.S. ANTI-WAR MOVEMENT Conference organizers showed they believed it was important to invite representatives of the resistance inside the U.S. Former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark, unable to attend, sent a message of solidarity. Clark condemned UN Resolution 1441, described the U.S. as a plutocracy, and pointed to the popular struggle as the only means left now to stop the Bush administration from opening the world to chaos that would impact on future generations. For the International Action Center, John Catalinotto discussed the Bush administration's "National Security Strategy" document as proof that the U.S. war had nothing to do with Saddam Hussein or terrorism, but was aimed at establishing U.S. imperialism's hegemony worldwide, including over its rivals in Europe and Japan. Teresa Gutierrez of International ANSWER discussed racial profiling and other repressive measures since Sept. 11, 2001, and the passage of the USA Patriot Act. She showed how despite this repression, the movement against the war and in solidarity with Palestine has been steadily growing, right in the center of the empire. The anti-war activists from the U.S. were overwhelmed with requests for interviews, both from the progressive media inside Spain and from newspapers from Chile, Peru and Morocco. This reflected the interest all over the world about what is happening inside the United States and how much it has been distorted by the U.S. corporate media. Phyllis Bennis of the Institute for Policy Studies, Washington, spoke of the dangers to the Palestinian people following the unleashing of a war against Iraq. Naim Abu Tair, president of the Union of Health Work Committees in Palestine, also raised these dangers, but added that the Palestinian people would have no choice but to continue their struggle, by whatever means they need to use to end the Israeli occupation. Juan Carretera , president of OSPAAAL Cuba, spoke of Cuba's solidarity with the Palestinian struggle and of its insistence that the sanctions against Iraq be ended and that no war be launched against it. OSPAAAL is the Organization in Solidarity with the Peoples of Asia, Africa and Latin America. SOLIDARITY WITH THE IRAQI PEOPLE Dennis Halliday of Ireland and Hans-Christof von Sponeck of Germany, both coordinators of UN programs in Iraq, have been for the past few years regular spokespeople at conferences like this one in Madrid. They are not lifetime anti-war activists, but individuals in diplomatic service whose outrage at the horrors imposed on the Iraqi population has turned them into important spokespeople. Usually they expose the lies and contradictions of U.S. policy or explain just how the sanctions harm the people of Iraq. This time, asked to speak on "a commitment of solidarity with the Iraqi people," they took a different approach to their talks, showing how their own feelings of solidarity developed with the population and led them to question what they were doing. Von Sponeck, for example, told how years ago delegations from the Spanish movement had come to Iraq with aid for the Iraqis suffering under sanctions, and had also demonstrated before the UN offices. "Little did either the demonstrators or I know at that time," said von Sponeck, "that we would wind up on the same side. It was important that you were there. You won me over." OPPOSITION FROM EUROPE TO U.S. PLANS Another defecting diplomat was present. Fernando Valderrama, former head of the Spanish Legation in Iraq, had resigned from that post after Aznar backed Bush fully in the demand for "regime change" in Iraq. For Valderrama, this demand for "regime change" is a violation of the Spanish constitution, which forbids aggression. It is a legal reason for withdrawing from his assignment there. What is interesting is that the Aznar government has yet to challenge Valderrama in his interpretation of the constitution. The diplomat is confident he is legally correct, and says he has received comments of support not just from the anti-war forces or from his own Socialist Party, but also from members of the right-wing Aznar government. Behind this experience is the attitude of the bulk of the European imperialist ruling class. They see the war on Iraq as something that, even if it goes quickly, benefits only U.S. imperialism. In Germany they are left out completely from the spoils of the war, in France they are better off exploiting the Middle East by doing business as usual. They see Blair, Berlusconi and Aznar as servants of Washington and Wall Street in a dangerous enterprise. This does not mean they will confront U.S. imperialism, nor that they plan to assist the liberation movements. It just means there is a sharp point of contradiction between the U.S. and European rulers. While everyone at the conference acknowledged how important events are within the United States, only those from the U.S. publicly looked to the movement there to stop the war. The others directed their calls to the populations of the Middle East and Europe. Words are insufficient to convince those abroad that a broad, strong and combative anti-war movement is possible inside the U.S. For that they will have to see deeds. - END - (Copyright Workers World Service: Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but changing it is not allowed. For more information contact Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe [EMAIL PROTECTED] Support the voice of resistance http://www.workers.org/orders/donate.php) ------------------ This message is sent to you by Workers World News Service. To subscribe, E-mail to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, E-mail to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To switch to the DIGEST mode, E-mail to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Send administrative queries to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
