Britain is an imperialist power and will never hesitate to go to war to defend its interests. The British state has been almost permanently at war since 1945, with 1968 the only year since the end of the Second World War when no British military personnel were killed on active service. In representing a section of the working class whose privileged position depends on the defence of British imperialist interests, Labour has proved as warmongering a party as the Tories.
In 1997 then Foreign Secretary Robin Cook proclaimed ‘an ethical foreign policy’; five years later the RAF had dropped more bombs than in the previous 18 years of Tory rule. Iraq, former Yugoslavia and Afghanistan had been bombed, British soldiers were deployed in:
- Congo (1997-98)
- Yugoslavia (1999 onwards)
- East Timor (1999-2000)
- Sierra Leone (2000/2003)
- Afghanistan (2001 onwards)
- Iraq (2003 onwards)
- Cote d’Ivoire (2004)
- the North of Ireland (throughout)
As Cook put it, ‘nowhere in the world is so far away that it is not relevant to our security interests’.
After the Soviet Union and socialist bloc collapsed between 1989 and 1991, the US made a bid for global hegemony, seeking to expand its sphere of influence into former socialist countries, Central Asia, the Balkans and the Caucasus, while ensuring the Middle East and its oil was under US control. British imperialism has allied itself with US military strength to protect its worldwide assets and to elevate its influence relative to those of its German, French and Japanese counterparts.
Yugoslavia
Labour government ministers have been the most belligerent of the imperialists. Prime Minister Blair said of bombing former Yugoslavia in 1999: ‘We will redouble and intensify our campaign. We will carry on pounding day after day.’ Not for nothing Noam Chomsky described Britain as ‘the US attack dog’. The Labour government was the first to propose a ground invasion of Serbia and turning Kosovo into a protectorate. Clare Short, then Secretary of State for International Development, described anyone who opposed the war on Yugoslavia as ‘fascist sympathisers’.
Afghanistan
When NATO troops invaded Afghanistan the British contingent was the largest. Between October 2001 and April 2002 over 22,000 bombs and missiles were dropped on Afghanistan. Aid agencies estimated at least 8,000 civilians killed and a further 20,000 dead from starvation and cold at the time. Clare ‘Bomber’ Short opposed any break in the bombardment to allow in humanitarian supplies. In July 2009, Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth said there were ‘compelling reasons’ for Britain’s war in Afghanistan adding that: ‘It goes to the heart of this country’s national security and to the core of our national interests … The entire region in which Afghanistan sits is of vital strategic importance to the United Kingdom.’ There are now 9,500 British military personnel in Afghanistan. By mid-March 2010, the death toll for British forces in Afghanistan was 275.
Iraq
The US and British governments secretly agreed to attack Iraq in 2001. The Labour government connived in promoting the myth of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction that could hit British targets in 45 minutes. In March 2002, Labour Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon said, ‘I am absolutely confident, in the right conditions, we would be willing to use nuclear weapons.’ Prior to the March 2003 attack on Iraq the Labour government succeeded in pulling part of the EU away from French and German government opposition to the war, easing the way for the US-led assault. Then Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said that Iraq was in breach of existing UN resolutions and that no further resolutions were necessary for the war to be started.
By the end of 2009 the total cost of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars to the British government was £20.5 billion. The human cost for the people of Iraq and Afghanistan, meanwhile, is appalling: the United Nations estimates over 5,000 Afghanistan civilians killed in the three years to 2010. Iraq’s dead since the invasion number approximately one million.
Palestine
Labour has given continual support to the Zionists’ barbaric occupation of Palestine:
- In the days that followed the start of the Intifada on 28 September 2000 Britain, along with the US, abstained when the UN General Council condemned the Zionists’ excessive use of force.
- In February 2002, during the massacre at Jenin, Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said: ‘It is necessary to understand why Israelis have been reluctant to demand their government’s serious engagement in peace negotiations while on their own streets they are continually subjected to appalling terrorism.’
- In July 2006 Labour offered tacit support to the Israeli blitzkrieg on Lebanon, supporting the US in blocking calls for a ceasefire at both the G8 summit in Russia and the UN Security Council.
- At the beginning of 2009 as Israel launched its savage onslaught on Gaza, Britain once again blocked attempts in the UN to call for an immediate ceasefire.
This is the warmongering Labour Party that declares civilisation from atop a mountain of corpses. Those who argue that ‘good Labour MPs’ can change anything should consider the facts: just 13 voted against the war on former Yugoslavia; 11 voted against attacking Afghanistan and 11 voted for an inquiry into the war on Iraq. A vote for Labour in any shape or form is a vote for relentless war in the service of the ruling class.
FRFI 214 April / May 2010
