[Marxism] Warrant for Sudan pres a pretext for imperialist intervention

["Fred Feldman" <ffeldman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I haven't had time to write on this subject, but if I had, I would have said
essentially what is presented here.

They are right on this, I think, despite their evolving position that
anti-Zionism equals anti-Semitism, and their view that the idea that AIPAC
influences US policies re Israel is a "conspiracy theory." AIPAC is a
public, legal organization that was formed by the Israeli state and its
allies in the top reaches of the ruling class and two-party system precisely
to influence US policy, and to silence dissent around this. It campaigns
quite publicly to accomplish this, and boasts of its real and alleged
successes.

But the Militant's tendency to suggest that anyone who believes  that
AIPAC's public boasts are true in whole or part is spreading "conspiracy
theory" and expressing "Jew-hatred" is completely beyond me. Occult
"conspiracy" was never like this. The Militant's tendency to see evrybody
but themselves who opposes the Israeli state as driven by Jew-hatred seems
more like a "conspiracy theory" to me.

But this article on Sudan seems quite on point.
Fred Feldman





http://www.themilitant.com/2009/7311/731106.html
  
The Militant
Vol. 73/No. 11      March 23, 2009 

 
Order to arrest Sudan president is
pretext for imperialist intervention 
(front page)
 
BY BEN JOYCE  
Tensions between imperialist powers and the Sudanese government sharpened
March 4 afte the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant
for Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir. The warrant accuses al-Bashir of
several counts of "war crimes" and "crimes against humanity" for the
Sudanese government's military operations to suppress various national
minorities in the country's Darfur region. 
According to the UN, some 300,000 people have been killed and some 2.5
million displaced in the armed conflict in the Darfur region of western
Sudan since 2003. That year insurgent groups began a revolt against
government oppression of national minorities in the south and demanded
autonomy. In retaliation, Arab-speaking militias that the rebels say are
backed by the government have waged an extermination campaign there against
minority groups. These divisions, created by colonial domination and
fostered by imperialism, continue to have a devastating toll on working
people in the region. 

The UN currently has about 15,000 troops in Darfur, but has approved sending
a force of up to 26,000. 

The warrant by the ICC, a court established by the United Nations, is the
latest step in campaigns by imperialist powers to strengthen their
domination of the region. Washington, which has targeted the Sudanese
government going back to the 1980s, supports the prosecution. 

The warrant charges al-Bashir with "attacks against a civilian population,"
pillage as a war crime, as well as murder, extermination, forcible transfer,
torture, and rape as crimes against humanity. 

This is the first time the ICC has charged a sitting head of state since it
was established in 2002. The warrant was issued by judges Akua Kuenyehia
from Ghana, Sylvia Steiner from Brazil, and Anita Usacka from Latvia.
According to the court's founding treaty, signatory nations are required to
detain al-Bashir if he enters their jurisdiction. Neither Sudan nor the
United States have signed the ICC treaty. 

Divisions among imperialist rivals were reflected around the charge of
genocide, which was argued by the prosecution but rejected by the court in a
two-to-one decision. Washington has previously sought that charge in the UN,
as it would open up more options for direct imperialist intervention. Some
European powers, however, reject this course, fearing that U.S. dominance in
the region would cut across their own national interests. Statements by top
U.S. government officials and a resolution passed by the U.S. Congress have
labeled the situation in Darfur as genocide, while the European Union and UN
have both refused to use that term. 

The governments of China, Russia, and Libya were among those on the UN
Security Council who want the council to use its powers to suspend the ICC
warrant. Beijing and Moscow both supply the Sudanese government with
military hardware and hold lucrative oil contracts with Sudan. 

Washington's hostility towards Sudan goes back to when al-Bashir took power
in a 1989 coup and refused to bow to the dictates of U.S. imperialism. It
sided with Baghdad during the 1991 Gulf war, pursued closer ties with Libya,
and joined in voting at the United Nations to condemn Israeli repression
against the Palestinian people. 

In 1998, after the car bombings of U.S. embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar
es Salaam, Tanzania, Washington ordered unannounced military attacks on both
Sudan and Afghanistan. U.S. warplanes launched 79 cruise missiles on
Khartoum, the Sudanese capital. The White House claimed these bombings were
in "self-defense" against a Bin Laden "terrorist network." The target, which
Washington claimed was a chemical weapons factory, was later proved to be a
plant used to produce medicines. 

As part of its "war on terror," the U.S. government has placed Sudan on its
list of "failed states" and has imposed economic sanctions. Secretary of
State Hillary Clinton has called for a NATO-enforced no-fly zone to
"blanket" Darfur. Washington's ambassador to the UN, Susan Rice, has pushed
for U.S. or NATO airstrikes and a naval blockade of Sudan's major port to
prevent lucrative oil exports. However, the Obama administration has yet to
make clear what its course of action will be. Defense Secretary Robert Gates
has advised against direct intervention because it would draw resources away
from the other fronts in Washington's "war on terror." 
 



________________________________________________
YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message.
Send list submissions to: Marxism@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Set your options at: 
http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40archives.econ.utah.edu