[Marxism] Worker-communism and the Armed Struggle in Iraq: guerrilla war or mass armed resistance?

[Ben C <minnows@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

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Ben C



Worker-communism and the Armed Struggle in Iraq: guerrilla war or mass armed 
resistance?


We said well before the USA-UK war on Iraq began that it would have
disastrous
consequences for the people of Iraq and that it would affect every aspect of
their lives. We said that none of the announced promises made to the Iraqi
people by the invading forces would come true.

There would be no peace, freedom, stability, prosperity or reconstruction.
We were the only political group in Iraq which opposed both the US led
invasion
and Saddam's regime.

Many saw our views on this war as overly pessimistic and emanating from
"the inherited
antagonism" of the left to the USA and its policies and actions.

Apologists for this war and supporters of the occupation were celebrating
after April 9, 2003 the day Baghdad fell to US forces. Why? Because
(according to them) causalities were well below our estimation.

However the war did not end the day George Bush Jnr. declared that major
combat
operations had finished. The war has continued and many innocent people kept
losing their lives on a daily basis.

Today, nobody can deny the enormous price that the population of Iraq
has paid
for this war.  The announcement that 100,000 Iraqi people have been killed
since this war first began is no surprise.

Day by day the vicious cycle of violence is intensifying. More people
are dying and we are starting to see acts of genocide like the one committed
in Falluja.

The results of military operations by the occupation forces, widespread
looting
in the immediate aftermath of the war and operations perpetrated by the "
"armed resistance" in the name of "liberating the nation" have
all caused incalculable material damage.

The "reconstruction" promised by Bush is nothing but a joke. 18 months
later,
basic services including electricity, water supply and health services
are worse than before the war.

In terms of culture and morale, Iraqi society has regressed.
The most reactionary values and traditions have been revived. Extreme
reactionary
forces have gained a foothold and are increasing in influence.  Ordinary
people are
less secure than at any other period in the history of present day Iraq.

The USA and its local bourgeois supporters have not only failed to build any
sort of Western-style democracy, they have also failed to create
a stable regime.

In the current circumstances, talking about civil and individual rights
and freedoms is not the priority, because in reality criminal gangs,
Islamic terrorists and forces of obscurantism are today
the de facto rulers of Iraqi society.

There is no government or state apparatus in the usual sense of the word,
which people can direct their protests towards and pressure to get their
demands met.

The current horrifying circumstances in Iraq have not come out of
the blue. Our predictions were not based on speculation but on the
reactionary nature of the US administration, its "New World Order" and
its policies. The USA and its allies cannot achieve anything better in a
country like Iraq.

In the case of Iraq, the only way to build a civil and modern society
where minimum freedoms and rights are respected and people's basic
needs are met is by curbing the reactionary sectarian, ethnocentric
and clan forces and their values and traditions. The alternative is
to build a secular, non-ethnocentric government.

However The US administration is a reactionary bourgeois force which
seeks to assert and sustain its hegemony in the world. It is afraid of
progressive ideas and forces. Encouraging secularism and building a
secular,
non-ethnocentric government may strength the left and progressive forces.
The US administration   will do what it can to prevent
a revolutionary communist movement like the Worker-communist Party of Iraq
from becoming a significant force in Iraqi society. If this happened
it would upset the plans of America and its allies, not only in Iraq
but also in the whole region.

Therefore the USA has only one option: to try and cut deals
with reactionary, sectarian, ethnocentric and clan forces and
individuals and to fight against any secular and progressive ideas and
forces. This will plunge Iraq deeper into economic, political
and social crises.

We can find this reality by studying the structure of the US-appointed
Governing council, the interim Iraqi government and the groups and
individuals pushed forward to stand in the proposed elections to be held
in January 2005. Over last 18 months, the most consistent feature of
the occupation is its direct and indirect support for reactionaries
and its opposition to progressive people.

The occupation is the main cause behind the current impasse facing Iraqi
society. As long as the occupation forces are in Iraq there will be no
real solution to any of these crises. And since the US is extremely
unpopular, it needs to use excessive force to maintain its authority and
to protect itself. Because of this, it indirectly strength reactionary
forces who
pose as defenders of people and their dignity and provide an excuse for
political Islamic and
the ethnocentric groups to perpetrate their military operations,
which cause more damage to the civilian population than to the
occupation forces.

This vicious cycle will continue, the society will remain unstable and
living
conditions will deteriorate.

There is no question: the occupation forces must leave.
HOW they are made to leave is the issue.

In our opinion, the way to force the occupation forces to leave is
through civil resistance. This can show the general resentment toward the
occupation forces, expose their crimes and gain the support of
progressive people worldwide.

Inside Iraq this is the task of the Worker-communist Party of Iraq
and progressive, mass organizations like the Organization of Women's Freedom
in Iraq, the Union of Unemployed in Iraq and the Federation of Workers'
Councils and Unions in Iraq.

This movement has to grow and show it is able to run society and
provide an alternative to the rule of the occupation forces and their
puppet government.

What we need to do to achieve this goal needs further discussion and study.

Overseas, social movements which can exert pressure on the occupation
forces to
withdraw will come to the fore if their members can see a progressive
alternative
which can run Iraqi society.

The demonstrations of February 2004 where tens of millions took to the
streets
around the world have show that this movement is gigantic. Although it is
now dormant, it could be re-mobilized quickly and grow fast.


The second form of resistance is armed resistance. In the
current circumstances we believe communists and progressive forces
should avoid
the traditional guerrilla-style of armed resistance because:

1. It would play into the hands of the terrorist Islamo-ethnocentric
"resistance".
Distinguishing the progressive resistance from the terrorist
operations perpetrated by these backward forces would be difficult. As the
Islamic and ethnocentric groups are dominant at the moment,
guerrilla-style armed resistance by other forces would only play
into the hands of these groups. It would encourage them to
commit more crimes against the population under the rubric of
fighting the occupation.

Becoming allies with the Islamo-ethnocentric resistance would undermine
our struggle against them.

2. Purely armed resistance at this point would only serve the US forces.
The USA prefers to turn confrontation with its opponents into armed
confrontation. As it has superior military capabilities
the US can be fairly sure of winning such battles. Force is its strength.

Its weakness is its inhumane and contradictory policies. It will be
very difficult for the US to win in a political confrontation,
especially if it is up against a just and progressive movement.

3. A guerrilla war in Iraq would cause huge loss of life and massive
destruction
of property.  Due to the geographical nature of Iraq, the level of
infrastructure development and the brutal nature of the US forces,
this is a foregone conclusion.

In the current circumstances, the armed resistance strategy adopted by the
Worker-communist party of Iraq is the best method. This resistance
focuses on
mobilizing and leading the population to reclaim various suburbs,
villages, towns and cities and bans both US forces and Islamo-ethnocentric
militia from entry.

This form of resistance has the following positive features:
a.  It opposes both poles of terrorism; the USA and its
allies on the one hand and Islamic and ethnocentric groups on the
other. It maintains its independent from both these two poles.
b.  It reduces the damage inflicted on the population.

c. It encourages the population to intervene in running their own
affairs. It will embroil the masses in a process, which will raise
their awareness. One of the negative features of the current circumstances
(which we call the "dark scenario") is that many feel alienated.
This form of armed resistance will re-energise people and negate the
effect of the dark scenario.

For the Worker-communist Party of Iraq and other progressive
organizations to success in this task, they need the support of
progressive people worldwide.

As we have said before, the struggle in Iraq is not strictly a local
issue. The forces involved in it: the occupation forces, the
Islamo-ethnocentric forces and the Worker-communism are international
forces.

The USA is getting the support of a number of governments, especially
those who have sent
military forces to Iraq like the UK and Australian governments.
Political Islam and the Pan-Arabism movements are getting support from
reactionary
regimes in the region like the Saudi feudalists and the mullahs who
control Iran.

However, Worker-communism and the progressive front in Iraq has so far
received little help from elsewhere. We are hoping that
exceptions like the support lent by the Japanese progressive movement,
by US Labor Against the War, by Australia/Iraq Trade Union Solidarity and
UK/Iraq trade union solidarity grow in size and depth.

Helping to build this international support is a key task of the
Worker-communist Party of Iraq.



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