Since they launched the Gulf War against Iraq in 1990, the U.S. rulers have not come an inch closer to accomplishing their central aims in the Middle East. First, they have failed to bolster the position of U.S. capital in the region by installing a protectorate subservient to Washington in Baghdad. In fact, Washington is even further away from gaining a toehold in Iraq.
Washington has also failed to shut off public discussion on government policies during war. During the bombing of Yugoslavia, open and civil discussion was a feature of the day.
The assault on Iraq, as explained in the Marxist magazine New International no. 7, was the "first war since the close of World War II that grew primarily out of the intensified competition and accelerating instability of the crises-ridden old imperialist world order."
At the start of the U.S.-led assault on Iraq, a brittle coalition of imperialist nations was formed. In Capitalism's World Disorder: Working-Class Politics at the Millennium Jack Barnes, national secretary of the Socialist Workers Party, explains, "The coalition assembled for the murderous assault on Iraq shattered the moment the fighting ended.... Washington will never be able to put such a coalition back together again."
In the battle for the right to plunder the world, military might is the main advantage left to the U.S. rulers over their imperialist rivals and other governments, especially in Paris. The French rulers had lucrative contracts with Baghdad before the 1990-91 U.S.-led Gulf War, which they would like to resume. Paris has therefore opposed U.S. military action in Iraq over the past year and a half, and pressed for lifting sanctions against that country.
Building solidarity with fellow toilers in Iraq and throughout the Middle East strengthens the struggles of working people in United States, from the Newport News shipyard unionists to the locked-out workers at Kaiser Aluminum. Linking protests against Washington's war moves with other working-class battles shows the road forward for humanity. Buying New International no. 7 and Capitalism's World Disorder for yourself and encouraging other workers and farmers to read and study them with you will help put these pieces together.
Working-class fighters should champion the demands: U.S. hands off Iraq! End the sanctions! Imperialist troops get out of the Middle East!