‘There are two types of nations similar to ours today. Those who do war fighting and peacekeeping and those who have, effectively, except in the most exceptional circumstances, retreated to the peacekeeping alone. Britain does both. We should stay that way. But how do we gain the consent to do it?
‘What we face is not a criminal conspiracy or even a fanatical but fringe terrorist organisation. We face something more akin to revolutionary communism in its early and most militant phase. It is global…So from the perspective of our Armed Forces, how do we define this new situation? The battle will be long. It has taken a generation for the enemy to grow. It will, in all probability take a generation to defeat…
‘The frontiers of our security no longer stop at the Channel. What happens in the Middle East affects us. What happens in Pakistan; or Indonesia; or in the attenuated struggles for territory and supremacy in Africa for example, in Sudan or Somalia. The new frontiers for our security are global. Our Armed Forces will be deployed in the lands of other nations far from home, with no immediate threat to our territory, in environments and in ways unfamiliar to them… They will usually fight alongside other nations, in alliance with them; notably, but probably not exclusively with the USA… There is a case for Britain in the early 21st century, with its imperial strength behind it, to slip quietly, even graciously into a different role. I do not share that case…’ Tony Blair, 12 January 2007
Blair’s speech spells out the position of the British state – a continuation into the new century of war, plunder and brutality. The veil of democracy, freedom and winning ‘hearts and minds’ is now almost worn away as the US/British war machine goes into overdrive. The resistance in Iraq has dealt an almost knock-out punch to imperialism’s plans in the Middle East. As a result the occupation armies are lashing out, with 22,000 new US troops planned to join the fold. The atrocities committed against the Iraqi people are set to escalate further in a last ditch battle as US/British imperialism attempt to salvage the situation (see pp1, 6 and 7).
The Bush administration is like a defeated gambler, losing and losing but putting more and more in, desperately hoping to recoup losses and win the jackpot. But many in the US ruling class are divided and angry about the ongoing Iraqi quagmire. They see other imperialist powers threatening their hegemony and need the freedom to move and act around the globe.
The main goal of imperialist countries is to plunder new resources and dominate new markets in order to sustain their wealth. Within each imperialist nation, the ruling class uses a small part of the super-profits it extracts from oppressed nations to buy off a section of the working class. By creating a privileged upper layer in the working class and giving it a stake in the system the ruling class is better able to achieve social peace. Lenin developed this theory from Marx and Engels to explain why the leaders of social democracy ended up supporting their own ruling class on the outbreak of the First Imperialist War in 1914. The consequences of this division for the US working class today are addressed in the article Labour Aristocracy: mythmakers and their mistakes (pp8-9).
Meanwhile the Zionist regime continues its brutal treatment of the Palestinian people. Imperialism’s strategy is to create conditions of civil war by arming Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah movement so that it can take on the democratically-elected Hamas government that represents the interests of the majority of Palestinians (p5). In Abbas imperialism has found a willing ally in its drive to defeat the liberation struggle.
‘Five Minutes to Midnight’ (p10) deals with imperialism’s need to maintain its nuclear hegemony and the terrible dangers this brings for humanity. If necessary imperialism will use its weapons of mass destruction to maintain global domination – this is the lesson of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It is not just the possibility of nuclear warfare that raises the spectre of Doomsday but the systematic and ongoing destruction of the environment. Carbon offset schemes are the latest pretence invented by capitalism to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. But rather than help save the planet they are just another means for a few to make some money and a few more to appease their conscience (p3).
The only way to save the environment and the planet is to build socialism. The masses in Latin America are leading the way. The re-election of Hugo Chavez’s government in Venezuela is accelerating the revolutionary process, bringing greater gains for the majority of the Venezuelan people (p11). This drive towards socialism in Latin America is inspired by the Cuban revolution which continues to go from strength to strength (p12).
In Britain too the oppressed are fighting back. Detainees at the notorious Harmondsworth Detention Centre rose up in protest against the inhuman conditions of their incarceration (p13). Asylum seekers, who live in constant fear of being snatched in the middle of the night, detained and deported to despotic regimes where they face possible torture and death, have begun to organise and resist (p16).
It is our duty to take a stand with all those fighting against imperialism, both at home and abroad. On page 14 of this paper you will find our forthcoming events around the country. Have a read, get informed, get angry and then come and join us in action.
FRFI 195 February / March 2007
