The following Editorial was published in "The Guardian", newspaper of the Communist Party of Australia in its issue of Wednesday, March 5th, 2003. Contact address: 65 Campbell Street, Surry Hills. Sydney. 2010 Australia. Phone: (612) 9212 6855 Fax: (612) 9281 5795. CPA Central Committee: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> "The Guardian": <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Webpage: http://www.cpa.org.au> Subscription rates on request.
*********************************************************** Editorial - New dimension of internationalism It has never happened before in history. An unprecedented unity has arisen against the threatened war against Iraq -not because people are supporters of Saddam Hussein or even particularly of Iraq, but because they are opposed to an aggressive and unnecessary war. The protective slogan, "NO WAR", has encircled the earth. The people's demonstrations are remarkable for their size, for the wide diversity of those taking part and for the fact that they have taken place before a war has started. That is also new. The people of many countries that have not taken part in such actions before are now taking to the streets in their millions. They have become so powerful that they can influence or even change the decisions of governments. The failure of the Turkish parliament to agree to the use of Turkish territory by the US military to launch an invasion of Iraq from that country is an important win for the huge anti-war demonstrations there. The people's voice is not yet strong enough to force a change in the warmongering governments of Britain, Australia and the US but that may come. If they do not change they must be thrown out! Some issues ago The Guardian ran a headline "People's Power can stop the war" and this may yet prove to be prophetic. Of course, this worldwide movement did not come out of the blue. There have been working class solidarity actions for many years. International trade union support during the maritime dispute of 1998 is one example. There were the movements to "Ban the Bomb" and to force the abandonment of nuclear weapons. People in many countries opposed the dirty US invasion of Vietnam. Demonstrators took to the streets to protest the illegal bombing of Yugoslavia and the invasion of Afghanistan. The OECD was forced to abandon its Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI), and the World Trade Organisation and the International Monetary Fund are feeling the pressure of the many actions against their policies. But the present actions surpass all of these in their breadth and in the numbers taking part. One weakness of the peace actions in Australia remains the limited involvement of the trade union movement. Although the slogan, "Peace is Union Business" was adopted during the Vietnam War, it still remains an empty and meaningless slogan for many trade unions. This comes about because the policies of the ALP remain dominant in the trade union movement and ALP leaders (with some notable exceptions and widespread rank and file opposition) are equivocal in their opposition to the war. One is left with the impression that their marginal disagreements with the Howard Government are more about point-scoring than genuine opposition to the Government's war policies. Their leadership does not strengthen the trade union movement as the rapid decline in trade union membership shows. It weakens and even strangles the union movement. It often channels the justified anger of workers into the sand. This was the case when the campaign against the NSW State Labor Government's workers' compensation legislation was called off. The strong opposition of some trade union and ALP leaders to those trade unions considering industrial action if Australia becomes involved in an illegal war against Iraq is the latest example of their misleadership. Why shouldn't the working people who will suffer the consequences of war in many countries and will do the dying take action against the policies of governments? They claim that "we have to support our boys". Yes, support them by stopping the war and bringing them home. There is an appeal by the US veterans of the first Gulf War that says: "As troops we were ordered to murder from a safe distance. We bulldozed trenches, burying people alive. The use of depleted uranium weapons left the battlefield radioactive. Massive use of pesticides, experimental drugs, burning chemical weapons depots and oil fires combined to create a toxic cocktail affecting both the Iraqi people and Gulf War veterans today. "Now we see our REAL duty is to encourage you as members of the US armed forces to find out what you are being sent to fight and die for." (Go to http://www.citizen-soldier.org/C507-IraqWarResistance.html) Is this treachery? No, it is real patriotism. **************************************************************************** -- -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Sub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
