There has been a lot of rubbish written about this war. Most of it
qualifying NATO's role in stopping Milosovic. NATO has won.
Yugoslavia is defeated. Now we are getting bullshit from the same
left saying that NATO's war has been stopped by a rising tide of
public opinion pushing for a UNO solution. This echoes Milosovic
attempt to present a defeat as victory. Most of the West left
intelligentsia are saying that this outcome could have been avoided
were it not for bloodyminded US and UK politicians/generals.
Marxists do not indulge themselves in fantasies that paint up
defeats as victories. As we have noted many times on these lists, the
attack on Yugoslavia is a continuation of the Cold War to finish off
what is perceived by the imperialist ruling classes as the threat of
"communism". This war was planned in essence in 1917. It did
not spring from the twisted minds of a few Western politicians,
even social democratic ones. It didnt even flow from the cesspit of
Eurocentric racism. Racism, real as it is, is not a sufficient
explanation for imperialist war for Marxists.
NATO now occupies Kosovo, and there can be no freedom for Kosovo
while that is the case. The social imperialist left acted as left
cover for NATO by demanding that Yugoslavia defend itself against
NATO but not in Kosovo - the very issue over which the civil war was
being fought. This is not unconditional defence of Yugoslavia. This
is a pathetic adaptation to the racist anti-Serb media war which NATO
ran to justify its illegal war. As a result, the mass of workers in
the main imperialist countries went along with this and refused to
mobilise against the war. Only in Greece, and to a lesser extent in
Italy, did we see genuine worker mobilisations and worker defence of
Yugoslavia.
This defeat sets the precedent for NATO to intervene in any civil war
on the pretext of defence of human rights and democracy. Worse than
that, NATO has now got Security Council restrospective legitimacy for
its dirty war. The relative weakness of Russia and China has allowed
the West to bully these oppressed states into ratifying NATO's bloody
war. Imperialism can now plan to use NATO at any time to defeat any
opposition to its imperialist adventures in Eastern Europe and Asia
including Russia and China!
The lessons we need to learn from this defeat is that the Western
so-called Trotskyist left as well as the old Stalinist left has all
but given up the defence of the international working class in
preference for providing moralising cover for their own ruling
classes. We can expect it to go along with a succession of national
wars where imperialism steps in to restore democracy with a few
thousand missiles. Next in their sights must be the breakup of Russia
and China. What is left of the left had better get its act right and
prepare to fight in anti-imperialist military blocs with nationalist
dictators against the main enemy in a number of impending wars.
Imperialism is the epoch of war and revolution!
For anti-imperialist united fronts!
In the imperialist countries them main enemy is always at home!
Dave Bedggood
Communist Workers Group.
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