RW ONLINE: A Time for Resistance!\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nU.S. Rush Towards War\r\nA Time for Resistance!\r\n<\/p>
Revolutionary Worker #1191, March 16, 2003, <\/i>posted at rwor.org<\/p>\r\n
On the ground in the Middle East and at the conference tables of the United \r\nNations, the U.S. and British spokesmen left little doubt that they intend to \r\nstart the bombing and invasion of Iraq. British troops were reportedly told to \r\nexpect attack orders in mid-March. Even as millions of people all over the world \r\nurgently took to the streets to stop this unjust war--the U.S. continued to zero \r\nin on Iraq.<\/p>\r\n
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Pentagon officials revealed their monstrous plans: A massive aerial attack of \r\nover 3,000 massive bombs and cruise missiles called \"Shock and Awe,\" planned for \r\nthe first 48 hours of war. Pentagon General Richard Meyers warned that the \r\nintense bombardment of Baghdad would make it too dangerous for journalists to \r\nstay and report what happens to the people. Meyers added that people in the U.S. \r\nmust accept the suffering of Iraqi people. \"We can't forget that war is \r\ninherently violent. People are going to die,\" he said. \"We need to condition \r\npeople that that is war.\"<\/p>\r\n
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Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld has tried to claim, repeatedly, that the U.S. \r\nis working to avoid civilian casualties. He argues that destruction of Iraq's \r\nmassive dams or its oil facilities during the U.S. bombardment should be blamed \r\non Iraqi government agents.<\/p>\r\n
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In a call for media self-censorship, Bush spokesman Ari Fleischer argued that \r\nthe U.S. media should not publish reports accusing the U.S. of causing civilian \r\ncasualties. According to him, the U.S. media should simply assume that deaths of \r\ncivilians were caused by the Iraqi government--and report them that way.<\/p>\r\n
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These are the grim political preparations for a major war of injustice. As \r\nthe bombs are prepared, so are the official lies.<\/p>\r\n
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The Real Motives of a Conquest<\/p>\r\n
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\"What they are doing is not primarily or essentially in response to September \r\n11 but is part of a whole program they have--what we call their wild ambitions \r\nfor recasting the whole world and taking down the Iraqi regime as one part of \r\nthat.\"<\/p>\r\n
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Bob Avakian, \"The New Situation and the `War on Terrorism' \"<\/p>\r\n
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In the last few months, the leaders of the U.S. government have practically \r\ngloried <\/i>in their willingness to pursue this war on Iraq-- regardless \r\n<\/i><\/i>of what anyone else thinks or does.<\/p>\r\n
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Iraq allows in inspectors. Inspectors can't find banned weapons. Millions of \r\npeople all over the world oppose the war. Other major powers, France, Germany, \r\nRussia, China, oppose the attack. The UN Security Council is deeply split on \r\napproving a war. Iraq publicly destroys missiles. None of this matters--the \r\nU.S. government insists over and over that it is going to war anyway.<\/i><\/p>\r\n
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U.S. Secretary of State Powell threatened that countries who don't support \r\nthe war (like France) may not get oil from Iraq after the war. Russia is \r\nthreatened with rejection from the World Trade Organization. A top Rumsfeld \r\nadviser calls for the removal of Germany's chancellor for opposing the U.S. \r\nwar.<\/p>\r\n
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All this relentless war-mongering makes people all over the world wonder \r\n\"Why?\" Is it the simple-minded macho of a reckless cowboy? Is it a reckless \r\nrevenge trip against \"the man who tried to kill my daddy\"? These theories all \r\nmiss the real method-to-the-madness here.<\/p>\r\n
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For the ruling clique in Washington, the goal is to impose the U.S. will on \r\neveryone <\/i>in the world--on the masses of people and <\/i>on their \r\nallies. Conquering Iraq is openly called \"Phase 2\" of a larger campaign to \r\nensure U.S. domination far into the future.<\/p>\r\n
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The rulers of France and Germany oppose this war precisely <\/i>because \r\ndirect U.S. control over the Persian Gulf would give the U.S. a stranglehold \r\nover them <\/i>and their economies--and a much tighter grip on third world \r\neconomies.<\/p>\r\n
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This war for domination over Iraq was conceived and planned years ago \r\n<\/i>in the mid-1990s by Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld and their top war-planner \r\nPaul Wolfowitz--years before September 11 gave them an excuse. In their view, \r\n\"junior partners\" like France and Germany were useful against the Soviet Union \r\nin the 1980s--but don't \"deserve\" a veto power over the U.S. today. They think \r\n\"old Europe\" needs a historic demotion in this new \"unipolar\" world.<\/p>\r\n
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This explains why all the U.S. talk about \"weapons of mass destruction\" and \r\n\"links to terrorism\" is so unconvincing: These public justifications for this \r\nwar are not the real deal.<\/p>\r\n
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The U.S. \"sole superpower\" intends to use its \"military superiority\" to \r\nradically recast world relations, with itself on top. \"With us or against us\" \r\n<\/i>is their motto for imposing long-lasting world domination.<\/p>\r\n
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Powerful Resistance, Great Potential<\/p>\r\n
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The U.S. finds itself opposing and defying the people of the world because \r\nthis war is fundamentally not in their interests. <\/i>It finds itself \r\nisolated from its own allies because this war would strengthen U.S. \r\ndomination even over other major powers.<\/i><\/p>\r\n<\/i>
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<\/i>In the face of the intensifying threat of war, millions and millions \r\nof people around the world have stood together, determined to stop the bombing \r\nof Iraq.<\/p>\r\n
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Months of international protest have helped isolate the U.S. and its \r\n\"coalition of the bought and bullied.\" The protests have exposed the total \r\nillegitimacy <\/i>of the U.S. war plans and exposed the endless lies used to \r\njustify the attack.<\/p>\r\n
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The U.S. warmakers hope their naked determination will drive everyone to \r\nresignation and collaboration. But in fact, as the U.S. has become more exposed, \r\nthe anti-war movement has grown by leaps and bounds.<\/p>\r\n
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The people have been determined, knowing that continuing resistance makes it \r\nharder for the U.S. to launch war. The anti-war movement has been building \r\nmuscles--so that if <\/i>the U.S. ruthlessly presses ahead with their war \r\nplans, resistance can be intensified and spread even more--to make it harder for \r\nthe U.S. to carry out whatever next <\/i>\"phase\" of bullying and intervention \r\nthey are already planning.<\/p>\r\n
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The U.S. warmakers say they are acting because they are responsible for the \r\n\"safety of the American <\/i>people.\" They want us to shut up and \"support the \r\ntroops\" because their armies are supposedly fighting for our defense. This makes \r\nit all the more urgent for more and more people here in the U.S. to cut through \r\nthese lies--and say \"NO! Not in our name!\"<\/i><\/p>\r\n<\/i>
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<\/i>It will have a huge impact on this war -- if millions in the U.S. \r\nstand up against this war, in solidarity with the Iraqi people, and with \r\nmillions more worldwide.<\/p>\r\n
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It is a time for consciousness, firmness, and a courageous wave of \r\nresistance.<\/p>\r\n
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It is a time to go all out, to burst our hearts for the people and for a \r\nradically different future.<\/p>\r\n
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Apparently Bush has not gotten the \r\nmessage...<\/b><\/p>\r\n
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We do \r\nnot want this war...<\/b><\/p>\r\n
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And we \r\nmean <\/u>it.<\/b> <\/b><\/p>\r\n
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This article is posted in English and Spanish on Revolutionary Worker \r\nOnline
rwor.org
Write: Box 3486, \r\nMerchandise Mart, Chicago, IL 60654
Phone: 773-227-4066 Fax: \r\n773-227-4497
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