------------------------- Via Workers World News Service Reprinted from the Feb. 27, 2003 issue of Workers World newspaper -------------------------
A BODY BLOW TO BUSH'S PLAN FOR WORLD CONQUEST By Fred Goldstein The massive, worldwide wave of anti-war demonstrations over the weekend of Feb.15-16 has dealt a major political setback to the Bush administration in its drive to war with Iraq and a body blow to its strategy for world domination. Well more than 10 million people in thousands of cities around the globe, including at least a million in North America, participated in the latest of a steadily swelling wave of anti-war protests. This anti-war earthquake exceeded the expectations of organizers everywhere. It caused escalated political anxiety and hesitation among the rulers in capitals across the globe. The weekend of coordinated demonstrations surpassed in number even the largest day of worldwide protests against the war in Vietnam and caused political ripples throughout the globe. While the White House and the Pentagon are as determined as ever to move into battle, the political fallout is still settling. The nearly 2 million people who took to the streets of London, and the announcement by the anti-war movement and the labor movement there that they intend to open up a campaign of resistance, have caused Prime Minister Tony Blair and Foreign Secretary Jack Straw to reinforce their demand of Bush that he come up with a United Nations Security Council resolution blessing the war. BLAIR, UNDER FIRE, PUSHES BUSH TO UN Fearing a weakening or even a defection of their servants in London has further enmeshed the Bush administration in Security Council politics, which it wanted to avoid altogether. It has forced Wash ington to deal politically with its chief European rivals, France and Germany, who are playing an obstructionist role right now in a campaign of maneuver against the U.S. overlord. Both imperialist governments, with a long history of plunder of oppressed peoples, are giving signs that they will unite against Iraq when push comes to shove. But the so-called "anti-war" maneuvers of Berlin and Paris in the UN, NATO and the European Union are causing political problems for Washington. This split, which has been immeasurably deepened by the powerful turnouts around the globe, is giving time and momentum to the anti-war movement. The demonstrations have caused the Turkish regime to hesitate, at least for the moment, over committing its territory and troops to a U.S. invasion of Iraq from the north-a vital part of the Pentagon's war plan. In Cairo, the Arab League foreign ministers met to plan a summit meeting. But the ministers were split when Syria demanded that any summit meeting should warn the U.S. against war with Iraq. Egypt, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia had wanted to exert pressure on Iraq. Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal gave a special interview to the BBC warning the U.S. against going to war without UN support, saying it would be viewed as "a war of aggression" and calling it a "dangerous thing to do." (Reuters, Feb. 18) The reactionary feudal oil monarchy saw the demonstrations throughout the Middle East, including 100,000 in Syria, and felt the ground quaking under it. The biggest demonstrations took place in the countries that have given the strongest backing to Washington. In addition to London, from 4 to 7 million people demonstrated in Spain, 1.3 million people in Barcelona alone. In Italy at least 3 million people demonstrated, including over 2 million in Rome. COLLAPSE OF THE "PREEMPTIVE WAR" DOCTRINE But while the political setback for the Bush administration may further isolate it, perhaps the more fundamental blow is to a vital pillar of its strategy for world domination-the doctrine of preemptive war. The National Security Strategy document issued by the Bush administration on Sept. 20, 2002, spelled out Washing ton's plan for world domination. Its fundamental premise was that no power or combination of powers, friend or foe, would be allowed to equal the power of the Pentagon. But the doctrine of preemption is the tenet that proclaims Washington's right to declare as an "enemy" any government that stands in its way, any oppressed country that tries to maintain its sovereignty and independence and its rights of self-determination and self-defense against imperialist aggression. This was first set out in the National Security Strategy document as follows: "The greater the threat, the greater the risk of inaction and the more compelling the case for taking anticipatory action to defend ourselves, even if uncertainty remains as to the time and place of the enemy's attack. To forestall or prevent such hostile acts by our adversaries, the United States will, if necessary, act preemptively." (Reprinted in the New York Times of Sept. 21, 2002) Bush had given a preview of this doctrine of preemption in a speech at West Point on June 1, 2002. In it he tried to capitalize on the post- Sept.11 atmosphere and use the fear generated by the World Trade Center disaster to promote a new era of "endless war" and aggression. "Our security," Bush told the future officers, "will require transforming the military you will lead-a military that must be ready to strike at a moment's notice in any dark corner of the world. And our security will require all Americans to be forward-looking and resolute, to be ready for preemptive action when necessary to defend our liberty and to defend our lives." (www.newsmax.com) This doctrine was included in a general plan for world domination, which first surfaced in March 1992 in a document entitled "Defense Planning Guide." It was the work of present-day Vice President Dick Cheney, then secretary of defense, and present-day Assistant Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, among others. It was so shockingly aggressive that it was disavowed by the first Bush administration when it came to light. The grouping that originated that strategy is now in control of the capitalist government. They brought this new strategy to Washington and made it a primary objective to overthrow the government of Saddam Hussein and reconquer Iraq in pursuit of U.S. imperialist strategic interests in the Middle East. One of the first foreign policy acts of the present Bush administration was to bomb Iraq. Seizing upon Sept. 11 as a pretext, Bush, Rumsfeld, Cheney, Wolfowitz and company decided to implement the doctrine of preemptive war against Iraq. They began to prepare for a war of unprovoked aggression, a war which would openly override Iraq's sovereignty, independence and right of self-determination in the name of "taking anticipatory action," as Bush put it at West Point. Hence the relentless, ubiquitous campaign of demonization against Iraq and Saddam Hussein from every platform of government and in the entire capitalist media. All this was meant to lay the basis for a preemptive war to overthrow the Iraqi government. Washington declared Iraq to be the "enemy," part of the "axis of evil," and an imminent threat requiring "regime change." The war against Iraq is the first test case, the first open implementation of this colonialist, empire-building strategy of the group now leading U.S. imperialism. The millions of demonstrators on the weekend of Feb. 15-16 have profoundly rejected this war of conquest. They have seen through the arguments justifying it on the grounds of "eliminating a threat of weapons of mass destruction." Even though the all-out attack has not yet started, the people of the world, and most importantly, of the U.S., have seen through this fraudulent scheme to grab oil-rich territory. The doctrine of "preemption" in any "dark corner of the world"--a racist allusion to the oppressed countries--is meant to lay the basis for a new era of open colonialism. It is an essential part of Wash ington's plan to restructure the world in the post-Soviet era. It envisions a vast range of operations for the U.S. military, which could be directed at Syria, Iran, Libya, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, or any other regime that does not open up its doors to Wall Street and bow to the Pentagon. It is a great step forward for the anti-war movement and a blow to the long-term strategy of the Bush administration that the masses of the people have seen through it and are resisting the war in ever greater numbers. It bodes ill for Washington's strategy of recolonization. RULING CLASS VERSUS THE PEOPLE The ruling class in this country, however, has had its appetite so whetted by the hawks in Washington and is now so fixated on taking over Iraq, as well as overcoming its imperialist rivals in Europe, that it is turning a deaf ear to the rising resistance. In a press conference on Feb. 18, Bush addressed the question of the huge numbers that demonstrated all over the world by saying, "Numbers, if you go by numbers then you are making policy by focus groups." More than 10 million people worldwide are reduced to the status of a focus group. Every television network and major capitalist newspaper is promoting the war, only leaving open the question of whether or not to give inspections a bit more time before the war begins. Their correspondents and even their anchors--Dan Rather of CBS, Tom Brokaw of NBC, Bill Hemmer of CNN, among others--are over in Kuwait trying to create an imminent pre-war psychology. Reporters are being trained by the Pentagon for coverage under conditions of chemical and biological warfare. The media has turned into a government-orchestrated war propaganda machine that would truly make the most authoritarian regimes envious. At this moment in the history of the struggle, however, the imperialist government is moving in the direction of war while the masses of people are moving in the opposite direction. In spite of all the demonization of Saddam Hussein, in spite of all the attempts to terrorize people into submitting to war on the pretext of protecting them from weapons of mass destruction, in spite of the attempts to link Iraq to Osama bin Laden and the attacks on Sept. 11, the opposition to the war is spreading farther and wider. The experiment in winning the masses over to the idea of "preemptive war" has totally collapsed in the case of Iraq. The war is seen for what it is-an unprovoked war of aggression that will endanger millions of Iraqis and force U.S. troops to kill or be killed for oil. Pat Tyler wrote in the New York Times of Feb. 17 that "the fracturing of the Western alliance over Iraq and the huge anti-war demonstrations around the world this weekend are reminders that there may still be two superpowers on the planet: the United States and world public opinion." This was a journalistic appreciation of the growing crisis of the Bush administration, even if it has not reached the consciousness of the White House yet. It was a grudging tribute to the volcanic surfacing of the anti-war movement. But in one respect it needs correction. World public opinion, meaning the mass turnout and the even broader popular sentiment that it represents, speaks only to the potential of creating a power that can match the might of the U.S. ruling class. The imperialist ruling class will never give way to mere "opinion" in matters of a predatory war for untold loot and to further its world- dominating ambitions. The only thing it understands is resistance. The massive turnout this past weekend shows how much the people hate the war. When fervent protest grows so great, militant resistance is sure to follow. - 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 wwnews- [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. 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