[Marxism] Saddam Hussein's Arrest and the Peace Movement

["jacdon@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <jacdon@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

The following article appears in the Dec. 15 issue of the Hudson Valley
Activist Newsletter, published in New Paltz, N.Y., and distributed by
jacdon@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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THE CAPTURE OF SADDAM HUSSEIN
 
The U.S. government and mass media are beating the war drums of joy and
victory over the capture of former President Saddam Hussein of Iraq, but the
U.S. peace movement certainly has no cause to celebrate.  Politically, the
apprehension only strengthens the White House and associated warmakers.
 
The Bush administration's preemptive war against Iraq is unjust by all
credible standards of ethics and morality, and illegal by all definitions of
international law. The capture of Saddam Hussein cannot change these facts.
 
President Bush declared war against Iraq on the pretext that the Baghdad
government possessed weapons of mass destruction that constituted an immense
threat to the United States. He also alleged that Iraq was implicated with
Al-Qaeda and the 9/11 terror raids.  Both charges were lies that Washington
will now seek to conceal behind the carnival atmosphere of Hussein's
imprisonment." 
 
So far, the U.S. war and occupation have resulted in the deaths of many
thousands of Iraqi civilians and millions more are experiencing deep
poverty, joblessness, and the horrendous consequences of massive social
dislocation. The war has also been costly for the American people. The
multi-billions of dollars invested in the seizure of Iraq are coming out of
the pockets of working people who will receive in return only a further
reduction in social services and a debt burden for decades to come.
 
Hundreds of GIs have been killed and thousands wounded by the Iraqi
resistance in the last few months.  The objective of this guerrilla struggle
is to liberate the country from foreign domination in the name of national
independence and sovereignty, not the restoration of Saddam Hussein to
power. The former president, constantly on the run from the invading army,
obviously was in no position to direct this fight.  His capture will have no
decisive impact on the continuing resistance.
 
The Bush administration is now seeking to exploit Hussein's capture to
justify its aggression against Iraq, but this cannot conceivably stand up in
any court of informed opinion. The U.S. had no right to invade Iraq and
install a puppet administration on the grounds of "regime change,"
regardless of the character of the toppled government. This is an
imperialist rationale to promote the expansion of U.S. hegemony throughout
the Middle East. The matter of who shall or shall not govern Iraq was and
remains  exclusively the responsibility of the Iraqi people, to carry out by
any means they choose.
 
The White House will now orchestrate the circus of a show trial for the
former Iraqi leader throughout the election year in hopes of diverting
public opinion from the body bags and setbacks of the occupation.  In our
view, the arrest of Hussein necessitates an intensification of the antiwar
struggle in the U.S. and underscores the importance of the demand to end the
occupation and bring the troops home immediately.


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