re: AUT: Multitude and Empire, Civil War Everywhere: Towards a Communist Response

[andrew robinson <ldxar1@xxxxxxxxx>]

Actually, I think any analysis of the Iraqi resistance
which reduces it to political factions (Islamist,
Ba'athist or whatever) misunderstands its dynamics...
Ewa Jasciewicz (of Voices in the Wilderness) wrote a
critique of this kind of analysis a while back which
I'll dig out if people are interested... Basically,
the point is that, because of the immediacy of the
experience of occupation and various desires to
resist, to fight back, to be free of the current
situation, sometimes to get revenge for particular
losses, drive people to get arms wherever they can and
to engage in resistance actions - without necessarily
aligning politically with whichever faction (if any)
is actually giving out the arms.

In any case, there's something very concrete we can
do, which is to support the growing trade union
movement in Iraq, especially the independent unions
which take a strong line against both occupation and
fundamentalism (some of them influenced by the
Worker-Communist Party of Iraq which is
Marxist-humanist I think).  In Britain, various
activities are being organised by the Campaign in
Solidarity with the Workers in Iraq, which is linked
to the No Sweat campaign.  By supporting the
construction of autonomous working-class organisations
in Iraq, one can contribute both to resisting the
occupation, and to constructing a progressive "people"
which could be a force in an independent Iraq,
potentially against the fundamentalists and Ba'athists
if they grab power.

Andy


		
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