Our Common Cause: June 30 is not a handover
June 30 is supposed to mark the "return of sovereignty" to the Iraqi people. But the make-up of the new government in Iraq makes it clear nothing will change. The new prime minister has been in the pay of the CIA for years. His cabinet are all "yes men" for US interests. In any event, they are only a front for the real master of Iraq — the US, which will maintain a force of 138,000 troops in the country for the foreseeable future.
Real sovereignty for Iraq would require these troops and other foreign forces to leave. But the US is building some 14 permanent bases and plans to stay permanently.
Real sovereignty for Iraq would involve immediate democratic elections to allow Iraqis to determine their own future. But the US, aided by the UN, has blocked that option — it wants to delay elections for as long as possible.
Real sovereignty for Iraq would give the Iraqis full control over their national assets. Instead, many of these assets are being sold off to US and other Western companies.
End the occupation
The violence and instability in Iraq will only end when the occupation ends and the people of Iraq are allowed to decide their own future.
Despite the new UN resolution, the US is in deep trouble, with very little real support from other countries in terms of putting "boots on the ground".
That's why US President George Bush has labeled Labor leader Mark Latham's pledge to withdraw Australian troops from Iraq a "disaster". The US has few friends at the moment, and for an incoming Labor government to pull out Australia's troops would be a huge blow for Bush and for US imperial ambitions.
The Socialist Alliance welcomes Latham's promise, but says the troops should be pulled out now — why wait until Christmas when it's clear most Iraqis want the occupation forces gone?
We also think all Australian troops and military and intelligence personnel should be withdrawn from the Middle East, and Australia should cease participation in future wars of aggression.
'War on terror'?
Bush and John Howard claim that Iraq is the frontline in the "war on terror". But the occupation of Iraq and the wider "war on terror" are a convenient cover for old-fashioned imperialism.
This is a war on behalf of the global corporate elite at the expense of ordinary people around the world. This is why the Socialist Alliance disagrees with Labor's position of opposing the war on Iraq but supporting the "war on terror" and the US alliance.
Participation in the ANZUS alliance locks Australia into US-led military ventures and makes Australia complicit in US crimes. Membership of ANZUS also means maintaining US bases like Pine Gap and comes with an expectation that Australia will join in the Star Wars missile defence program.
The Socialist Alliance says Australia should opt out of ANZUS and drastically slash its $15 billion military budget. The money should be spent on restoring our ailing education and healthcare budgets and providing real humanitarian assistance for poor nations.
March and vote against war
The demonstrations of February 14-16, 2003 were a watershed — the largest protests in human history. They didn't stop the war but their impact is still felt — intense public scrutiny has helped unravel the web of lies woven by Bush, Howard and British PM Tony Blair.
We saw the power of mass protest again this year after the Madrid bombings — millions of Spaniards flooded into the streets and consigned their warmongering government to history.
We think that large numbers of Australians coming into the streets before the federal election can have an impact on the result — by making it clear we haven't forgotten Howard's lies. Socialist Alliance members are helping to organise pre-election rallies in most major cities.
As the radical anti-war party in Australia, the Socialist Alliance has campaigned against the warmongers since 9/11. We urge you to join us, get involved in this important left unity project, and give your first preference vote to the Socialist Alliance on election day in both the Senate and House of Representatives.
Every vote for the Socialist Alliance will send a signal to Mark Latham that we expect him to deliver on his promise to bring all the troops home from Iraq.
[Jarvis Ryan is a co-convenor of the Socialist Alliance anti-war and international solidarity working group.]
From Green Left Weekly, June 30, 2004.
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