[Marxism] National Assembly call for March 21 is important positive step

["Fred Feldman" <ffeldman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

An excellent call! I like the bravery and wisdom of not mentioning either the 
incoming president or the last one.  Foaming at Bush became a legitimized form 
of protest, without however very many achievements, either in terms of reaching 
out or in terms of clarifying the political situation for the masses of people, 
 to its credit. 

Foaming at Obama at this point would be satisfyingly suicidal. I congratulate 
the organizers for having the cold nerve to order temptation to get behind 
them. Some on the list think it takes colossal courage to denounce Obama in 
unbridled terms today. But no left critics of Obama are hanging from lampposts. 
None are being outlawed or jailed or suppressed in any way. Obamaism is not the 
new McCarthyism.

This protest deserves strong support and realistic expectations. It will not be 
a march of hundreds of thousands, and this is not simply because of crazed 
Obama cultism in the masses or sections of the vanguard. It will be more 
difficult if the US actually begins to withdraw forces from Iraq. 

A big part of the problem is that it is impossible today to ignore the 
centrality of Afghanistan in the situation. We have to start from scratch in 
explaining this in my opinion. The wider US public (including working people) 
has only begun to really notice it. It is the "good war." The leaderships the 
US fights have absolutely nothing in common with the historical goals of 
oppressed humanity. It is hard to explain why people should oppose Afghanistan 
without either explaining imperialism (which can be done without using the 
word) or slipping toward isolationist myths of an "America" that does not need 
to care about what happens in far-off countries.

This was the "anti-neocon" philosophy which gained a lot of ground on the left 
(conquering Counterpunch, for instance, and forming the basis for the  far 
libertarian right-far left liberal coalition that drives all of the magazine's 
core political positions.

At any rate this is a great statement and the resulting demonstration, if 
managed on this basis and not turned into simply an excuse for crude anti-Obama 
exposes (and the leaders seem to have the willpower to avoid this),

This will be a propaganda action, and many such will be needed, I think, before 
we come out on the other end of the tube we have been passing through.
Fred Feldman

March on the Pentagon!

March 21, 2009

The National Assembly to End the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars and Occupations is 
joining with other coalitions, organizations, and networks to organize a united 
MARCH 21 NATIONAL COALITION to mobilize people across the United States to take 
part in a March on the Pentagon on Saturday, March 21, marking six years of war 
and occupation of Iraq.

Demonstrations will also be held on that date in San Francisco, Los Angeles, 
and other cities across the U.S.

These actions will remind the nation that all U.S. military forces must be 
brought home from Afghanistan and Iraq, and that the U.S. antiwar movement 
Ãââ marching behind a banner demanding ÃâÅOut Now!Ãâ -- will 
intensify its struggle to make it happen.

The actions are needed to assure the people of Iraq, Afghanistan, and other 
countries threatened by WashingtonÃââs expansionist policies that tens of 
millions of people in this country support their right to settle their own 
destinies without U.S. interventions, occupations and murderous wars. 
International law recognizes and we demand that the U.S. respect the right to 
self-determination. We reject any notion that the U.S. is the worldÃââs 
self-appointed cop. 

The March 21 united mass actions are also needed at this time of economic 
meltdown to demand jobs for all; a moratorium on foreclosures; rebuilding the 
crumbling infrastructure; guaranteed quality education and health care for all; 
an end to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids and 
deportations; and funding for sorely needed social programs. So long as 
trillions of dollars continue to be spent on wars, occupations, and bailouts to 
the banks and corporate elite, the domestic needs of people in the U.S. can 
never be met.

The So-called Status of Forces Agreement

As for Iraq, regardless of what is in the so-called ÃâÅStatus of Forces 
Agreement,Ãâ the war makers in Washington plan to continue the occupation 
indefinitely. Tens of thousands of U.S. troops and mercenary soldiers will be 
maintained to carry out a number of missions that are listed, but in reality 
their aim is to carry out the one mission that is not mentioned: ensure the 
U.S. subjugation of Iraq to exploit its oil resources and dominate the Middle 
East.

Any doubt about WashingtonÃââs intentions should be dispelled by the 
statement by Gen. Raymond Odierno, who said on December 13, 2008 that U.S. 
forces would remain indefinitely in dozens of bases in Iraq cities, despite 
language in the Status of Forces Agreement that appeared to require a 
withdrawal from urban areas by next summer. (Wall Street Journal 12/15/08)

As for Afghanistan, it is not the ÃâÅgood warÃâ claimed by the Obama 
administration and the power structure, which plans to increase the number of 
U.S. troops in that country by 20,000. Afghanistan will prove to be another 
U.S. Vietnam. The U.S. war will only result in a continuation of the slaughter 
that has been the hallmark of all previous occupations by foreign powers.

The daily U.S. bombing and killing of Afghanis attending weddings, classes, 
funerals, or simply trying to survive shows how cruel and deadly this war is. 
It is directed against the same forces that the U.S. armed, financed, and 
helped bring to power.

Why is the U.S. at war against Afghanistan? Its primary purpose is to secure 
control of a pipeline across that country. (See the 1998 statement submitted to 
Congress by the Union Oil Company of California, which later merged with 
Chevron, stressing the need to build a natural gas pipeline across Afghanistan. 
And note Dick CheneyÃââs 1998 statement made when he was chief executive 
of a major oil services company: ÃâÅI cannot think of a time when we have 
had a region emerge suddenly to become as strategically significant as the 
Caspian,Ãâ which led the Guardian newspaper to remark, ÃâÅBut the oil 
and gas there is worthless until it is moved. The only route that would make 
both political and economic sense is through Afghanistan.ÃâÂ) 

The March 21 demonstration will also denounce the expansion of the war into 
Pakistan and the sanctions and threats of military action against Iran. It will 
also call for the end to U.S. support for the continued occupation of Palestine.

The National Assembly

From its inception, the National Assembly to End the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars 
and Occupations has called for united antiwar demonstrations this spring. We 
urge the entire movement to unite now around the March 21 actions and we will 
do everything possible to make this unity a reality. The civil rights, union, 
anti-Vietnam War, womenÃââs liberation and gay rights movements would not 
have achieved victories without having built truly massive movements that were 
able to organize repeated and powerful independent mobilizations in the streets.

Why the demonstration in Washington? Because it is the seat of power, where 
foreign and domestic policies are decided, where money for war is allocated, 
and bailouts of the banking industry and corporate rich are given away.

Join us in mobilizing the largest possible outpouring of antiwar opposition 
built by a united movement on March 21. LetÃââs march and continue to 
march until all U.S. forces come home, U.S. bases are dismantled, and the 
sovereign people of the world have the right to control their own resources and 
determine their own futures.

To endorse the March 21 March on the Pentagon, please click here.
To send a contribution to support the National AssemblyÃââs work, please 
click here.

For more information, please visit the National AssemblyÃââs website at 
www.natassembly.org or write natassembly@xxxxxxx or call 216-736-4704.


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