This pro-war campaign calls for a strong response by working people - a concerted effort to explain the truth about imperialism and to protest the U.S.-led bombing of Iraq.
"Wag the dog" arguments to the contrary, the U.S. government is not assaulting Iraq as a slick maneuver to deflect public attention from the domestic crisis engulfing the Clinton administration. While the government crisis can be a factor in the timing of tactical decisions by the White House, such as when to unleash a new bombing, much bigger forces are at work. Washington's drive to war is fueled by the class interests of the U.S. ruling families and their Democratic and Republican servants: the need to use military might to try to shift the relationship of class forces in favor of U.S. imperialism at the expense of working people as well as Washington's imperialist rivals. As a faithful representative of the U.S. billionaires, Clinton has been a war president from the start.
The U.S. rulers' goal is to undermine and ultimately overthrow the regime in Iraq as a way to establish stronger U.S. domination of the Middle East, deal a blow to the Palestinian struggle for self-determination, further their military encirclement of the workers state in Russia, and strengthen their hand against their imperialist rivals.
In the 1990-91 Gulf War, Washington cold-bloodedly slaughtered 150,000 Iraqi farmers and workers - one of the worst crimes of the 20th century. But even with that barbarity, the U.S. imperialist rulers were unable to achieve their fundamental goals, revealing their weakness.
Instead, the result has been increased social turmoil and struggle throughout the Middle East. The imperialist powers have failed to suppress the fighting Palestinians. And Washington has been unable to break the spirit of dignity of the Iraqi people who, despite facing a capitalist regime that does not represent their interests, have only hatred for U.S. and British brutality and refuse to be starved into submission to imperialism.
Meanwhile, the imperialist powers are plagued by rivalry between them, as Paris in particular pushes for ending the embargo to advance its own interests in the Middle East. Moscow correctly views the U.S.-led military drive against Iraq as a dagger aimed against Russia, which Washington is seeking to encircle in an inexorably advancing confrontation with the workers and farmers of that country, where capitalism was overthrown 80 years ago.
This conflict is unfolding in an increasingly volatile world, where the capitalist economy is wracked by a growing crisis of overproduction. From the ruinous financial crisis in Brazil to the battle by Romanian miners against layoffs and mine closings, this is a world of increasing social dislocation and struggle.
In face of this capitalist disorder, the U.S. rulers are cranking up their economic nationalism, as in the virulent "banana war" between U.S. and European competitors. At the same time, they are driven to resort more and more to force to bolster their interests. This situation - stemming from U.S. imperialism's weakness - makes Washington increasingly dangerous.
So far, the U.S. rulers have paid a small price for their latest aggression against Iraq. At loggerheads with Washington, Paris and Moscow have issued sometimes loud, but weak, protests. The lack of response emboldens Washington to escalate its provocations and to set a precedent for carrying out further aggression around the world.
Only the workers and farmers government of Cuba has spoken out clearly against the imperialist assault on Iraq, setting an example of dignity for all working people.
What is needed now is a campaign by workers and farmers who are opposed to Washington's war drive to get these facts into the hands of other working people and encourage discussion as well as action. That action includes joining and reinforcing struggles by workers who are resisting the employers' attacks and by working farmers who are resisting the attempts by the owners of capital, with government complicity, to expropriate their land and livelihood. This campaign means stepping up efforts every day to get the Militant, Perspectiva Mundial, and Pathfinder books to picket lines, on the job, to farming communities, on campuses, and seeking out others to organize public protests against the U.S. bombing of Iraq.