Conghaileach
1st September 2002, 14:55
Capitalism is a dangerous society. The competition between rival
economic gangs for markets, trade routes and sources of raw materials
is intense; so intense in fact that from time to time it explodes into
war with the consequent suffering and death that this brings to the
world's working class. We appear to be at this time on the brink of
another war in the Middle East; and although capitalism is in many ways
an unpredictable society it seems fairly certain that sooner or later
the USA might attack Iraq.
Much nonsense is being talked in the world's media about this being a
war against terrorism. It is no such thing, it is a struggle for
control of the vast supplies of oil in the Middle East, and in this
sense a continuation of the Gulf War – a war whose aim was always to
secure oil supplies in the region rather than “topple Saddam”.
It would of course be difficult for the US government to get its
workers to risk their lives in a future war if they were told the
purpose of the conflict was to swell the profits of US oil companies,
so some sort of propaganda story has to be stitched together before the
atrocities start. We will be told that the dictator of Iraq is part of
“The Evil Axis” plotting to manufacture weapons of mass destruction and
must be overthrown.
It will not be mentioned that this dictatorial regime was supported by
the US government in the past as a counter to Islamic fundamentalism in
neighbouring Iran any more than they wanted to tell us that it was the
US that trained many of the Taliban and Al-Qaeda terrorists when they
were fighting the Russian army in Afghanistan. That is the nature of
this crazy society: plots and counter-plots, shifting alliances, pacts
and double-dealing is the norm. It might even be that Bush's
sabre-rattling is just a bluff to extract concessions from the Saddam
regime.
In fact an actual war could lead the Middle East to implode with
unforeseen consequences, leaving the US to have to pick up the bill
which in present circumstances it might not be able to find the money
for, given recessionary pressures, the US national debt and potential
loss of cheap Saudi oil.
Writing in the Observer (11 August) Anthony Sampson, author of The
Seven Sisters , about oil companies and the Middle East, had several
revealing things to say about the present crisis:
“The alarmist briefing to the Pentagon by the Rand Corporation, leaked
last week, talked about Saudi Arabia as the 'kernel of evil' and
proposed that Washington should have a showdown with its former ally,
if necessary seizing its oilfields which have become crucial to
America's energy . . . Western oil interests closely influence military
and diplomatic policies, and it is no accident that while American
companies are competing for access to oil in Central Asia, the US is
building up military bases across the region.”
Let there be no ambiguity about this; the United States acts – because
of its superior political, military and economic power - as the
“gendarme of the world” and the threatening bloodbath is over the
control of Middle East oil, not the freedom or democracy of the
exploited workers in the region, whether they be in Iraq or Saudi
Arabia. If either of these states threaten the US or the US-imposed
“stability of the region” they will be dealt with in the same way the
US deals with all regimes that seriously threaten its interests – in
other words, with a bloodbath.
As in the Gulf War, the last people to gain from the bombing and terror
will be the half-starved men, women and children of states like Iraq.
The real winners will be the US and its allies, the oil barons, and
possibly – as many of the financial papers have been hoping – the
ailing stock markets.
Constant warfare against the innocent victims of entrenched
dictatorships is no way to run a society. Indeed, capitalism itself, as
a competitive system that leads to warfare just as night leads to day,
is no way to run a society. To this end socialists are fundamentally
opposed to the impending warfare and commit ourselves as in the past to
the overthrow of the hellish system that causes so much misery and
heartbreak.
Jan Pole
www.worldsocialism.org
economic gangs for markets, trade routes and sources of raw materials
is intense; so intense in fact that from time to time it explodes into
war with the consequent suffering and death that this brings to the
world's working class. We appear to be at this time on the brink of
another war in the Middle East; and although capitalism is in many ways
an unpredictable society it seems fairly certain that sooner or later
the USA might attack Iraq.
Much nonsense is being talked in the world's media about this being a
war against terrorism. It is no such thing, it is a struggle for
control of the vast supplies of oil in the Middle East, and in this
sense a continuation of the Gulf War – a war whose aim was always to
secure oil supplies in the region rather than “topple Saddam”.
It would of course be difficult for the US government to get its
workers to risk their lives in a future war if they were told the
purpose of the conflict was to swell the profits of US oil companies,
so some sort of propaganda story has to be stitched together before the
atrocities start. We will be told that the dictator of Iraq is part of
“The Evil Axis” plotting to manufacture weapons of mass destruction and
must be overthrown.
It will not be mentioned that this dictatorial regime was supported by
the US government in the past as a counter to Islamic fundamentalism in
neighbouring Iran any more than they wanted to tell us that it was the
US that trained many of the Taliban and Al-Qaeda terrorists when they
were fighting the Russian army in Afghanistan. That is the nature of
this crazy society: plots and counter-plots, shifting alliances, pacts
and double-dealing is the norm. It might even be that Bush's
sabre-rattling is just a bluff to extract concessions from the Saddam
regime.
In fact an actual war could lead the Middle East to implode with
unforeseen consequences, leaving the US to have to pick up the bill
which in present circumstances it might not be able to find the money
for, given recessionary pressures, the US national debt and potential
loss of cheap Saudi oil.
Writing in the Observer (11 August) Anthony Sampson, author of The
Seven Sisters , about oil companies and the Middle East, had several
revealing things to say about the present crisis:
“The alarmist briefing to the Pentagon by the Rand Corporation, leaked
last week, talked about Saudi Arabia as the 'kernel of evil' and
proposed that Washington should have a showdown with its former ally,
if necessary seizing its oilfields which have become crucial to
America's energy . . . Western oil interests closely influence military
and diplomatic policies, and it is no accident that while American
companies are competing for access to oil in Central Asia, the US is
building up military bases across the region.”
Let there be no ambiguity about this; the United States acts – because
of its superior political, military and economic power - as the
“gendarme of the world” and the threatening bloodbath is over the
control of Middle East oil, not the freedom or democracy of the
exploited workers in the region, whether they be in Iraq or Saudi
Arabia. If either of these states threaten the US or the US-imposed
“stability of the region” they will be dealt with in the same way the
US deals with all regimes that seriously threaten its interests – in
other words, with a bloodbath.
As in the Gulf War, the last people to gain from the bombing and terror
will be the half-starved men, women and children of states like Iraq.
The real winners will be the US and its allies, the oil barons, and
possibly – as many of the financial papers have been hoping – the
ailing stock markets.
Constant warfare against the innocent victims of entrenched
dictatorships is no way to run a society. Indeed, capitalism itself, as
a competitive system that leads to warfare just as night leads to day,
is no way to run a society. To this end socialists are fundamentally
opposed to the impending warfare and commit ourselves as in the past to
the overthrow of the hellish system that causes so much misery and
heartbreak.
Jan Pole
www.worldsocialism.org