Imperialism och motstånd.

Nu börjar det hetta till på riktigt. Det verkar som om USA:s "troop surge" (läs: fullskaliga ockupation) har för ett ögonblick satt locket på det irakiska motståndet. Men det är bara tillfälligt. Gerillans hela strategi är att den försvinner in i folket, vilket bara är möjligt om den är en organisk del av den, och när sedan repressionen följer skapar den än fler gerillakämpar. Sedan fortsätter det så. Det är lugnet före stormen i Falluja och Baghdad nu. Av tiotusentals förnedrade, av miljoner svältande och av varje anhörig med en död i sin familj skapades fröet till aktivt motstånd.

I Afghanistan, som ett tag var landet som fungerade som en fin modell för ockupanterna har nu talibanerna möjlighet att inta Kabul nästa år. Fantastiskt. Jag hatar talibanerna för att de är reaktionära svin, men man kan förstå och respektera att det afghaner stödjer dem när de bekämpar de som förstört och ockuperat deras hem. Vad händer med USA och NATO när strider bryter ut i de större afghanska städerna? Vad gör man då? Och vad sker med antikrigsrörelsen i Sverige då? Personligen hoppas jag att alla svenska officerare sprängs i luften. Synd bara att det inte kommer bli svenska generaler som försöker stoppa tillbaka sina tarmar i magen, utan någon stackare från Västerås som inte har någonting med ockupationen i sig att göra.

Slutligen kan vi kanske syssla med den mest elementära formen av politik. Konsten att dra ett streck på en karta. Mellan Irak och Afghanistan finner vi Iran. I våras skrev jag om min skräck för ett anfall på iran, som då verkade förstundande. Ingenting kom. Kanske håller man helt enkelt på att värma upp, ungefär som man gjorde inför kriget mot Irak. Förhoppningsvis kommer aldrig ett krig där, men om det kommer, då kommer det utlösa krafter som vi inte har förmåga att förutse. Irakkriget, som var bättre uppbyggt och understött än ett eventuellt krig mot Iran, förde rekordmånga människor ut på gatorna i rekordmånga länder. Vad kommer ett krig mot Iran göra?

Irak hade ingen riktig opposition kvar. Den sista, kommunistiska, krossades av Saddam med USA:s hjälp och ledde till IKP:s hat mot Baathisterna (som gör att de nu inte för väpnat motstånd utan faktiskt till och med deltar i låtsasparlamentet i Bagdad). I Iran finns en livaktig, militant arbetarrörelse. Den har vänstern starka band till, både ideologiskt och faktiskt politiskt igenom de många iranska vänstermänniskor som flydde reaktionärernas maktövertagande.

Anti-imperialism är, som jag brukar driva hårt för, en av de viktigaste frågorna för oss arbetare i centrum. Vi måste tänka på vad vi ska göra om kriget blossar upp i Teheran och vad vi ska göra då. Arbetarrörelsen, och speciellt de radikala delarna av den, har konsekvent hållit Sverige utanför krig. Det ska den fortsätta med. Och kanske kan vi i vårt spånande komma på några idéer till anti-imperialistiska aktioner som kommer slå direkt mot den imperialistiska hegemonin i väst.

War against Iran?

In January I wrote about the possible assault on Iran. While I then believed that the attack might come in April or May, I was thankfully wrong. Now the propaganda campaign has been stepped up with attempts from the US government and the CIA to have the Revolutionary Guard listed as a terror organization. Liberal newspapers fire off volley after volley of racist slander against Iran, as against Iraq, echoing the Israeli and American propagandist vanguard.

You might say that there will be no war, that the US war machine is too weak, that the economy is doing badly, that the European Union or the Democrats will stop a war. None of these things are true. The United States possesses the greatest war machine in the world, far outdoing the others in the top ranking list. It also has a war economy which relies on a perverted Keynesian mechanism to allow the government to pump money into the military and stabilize employment, wages and economic structures. The imperialist theft of natural resources and labour power is of course also a major boost for an economy that is built on racism and war.

Furthermore, the European Union and the Democratic Party are contenders only for the prize of being the most pathetic. Brought into power by a sweeping victory, so intent, so obvious and so strong through the simple promise of peace the Democrats managed to throw it all away over a night. Nothing else, nothing more. The Democrats came to power because they said they were for peace and against war. It was a curious thing, then, their ridiculous surrender before the battle had even begun. But it was to be expected. Hillary and the rest of the East Coast aristocracy are part of the burgeoise and so tied in with it that their hands are tied. All they can manage is a muffled protest now and then.

The European Union is much the same with one major difference. While the Democrats attempts to appear to be a party for at least groups of the people, the EU seems to be wanting to soar far, far away from the riotous plebs. Their hands are as tied as the Democrats, and what we can hope from them is simply that they will attempt to build their own imperialist power bloc and to create some form of division of power in the future. That solution is anathema to a socialist, but it could possibly provide some respite for various parts of the world.

We have been at this juncture before. In every colonial war and every territorial dispute, and every time imperialism has appeared and disappeared again it has been the power of the working classes that has judged the outcome of the war. The struggle remains between the proletariat and the burgeoise, split between national lines. When Iraq was invaded, more people than ever demonstrated around the world in solidarity and with the wish for peace. Now, the popular resistance in Iraq has spread and intensified. In country after country governments have won through going to elections in opposition to the war and have subsequently withdrawn their troops.

If Iran is attacked, it will be Iraq all over again. But worse. This time, it won't just be demonstrations - but riots. This time, those Marines stationed inside US embassies might very well be needed. And though I wish no war over Iran whatsoever, the seeds of armed resistance there are far better than in Iraq. Socialist, secular, organized, they might flee into the mountains of Iran and create a popular war that would sweep the theocratic fascists away as well as the imperialists.

The only guarantee for peace is popular resistance abroad and in the occupied nations. We need to make ourselves ready to lead the demonstrations and extend our solidarity in case of an assault against Iran. The parliaments wavering between their support for US imperialism and popular resistance will be swept away. If the environment is one of those socialist renaissance things, the desire for peace is an ingrained part of our heritage that will never leave us as long as we remain internationalists and socialists.

Notes on Iran.

Kurt Nimmo writes about the upcoming invasion of Iran. I'm not convinced that it will happen, myself, but I don't believe that it is impossible either. Anti-imperialism is always important for the Left, that parts of the so-called Social Democrats in various guises and in various governments have abandoned international solidarity only goes to show in a clear light what sort they have become.

If Iran is invaded; what is there to do? It seems like a madman's move. The Iranians will cut off the Persian Gulf and burn their oilfields. Oil prices will skyrocket, creating a massive disruption in the long chains of supply and goods of the world. I'm not certain that the United States would ever take that risk, not when there is so much for them to lose. But who knows? They still have the most powerful military force in the world, and they are still the hegemonic power. More and more countries that carry their prized oil are dropping off the map.

Myself, I wouldn't be surprised if another proxy war happens. Through Israel, possibly, heavily supplied by the US. Not that shit won't hit the fan, of course, but perhaps with the United States less implicated in the West, backed by legions of loyal liberal newspapers.

Solidarity with the people of Iran is the same as always: solidarity with the masses and hatred of their masters. The working class of the Middle East faces the twin problems of internal fascists and external imperialists. The hammer and the anvil. But, as ever, el pueblo unido..