RESISTANCE
ISSUE 20 ANTI WAR SPECIAL
WAR AGAINST WAR
WHAT CAN WE DO?
ON THE FRONTLINE
ON THE ATTACK
MESSAGE TO THE SOLDIERS
WHATEVER HAPPENED TO AFGHANISTAN?
TIME BOMB: MUTINY
PRISON RESISTANCE
CLASS WAR NOT RACE WAR
WAR AGAINST WAR
Since the 1950s,
North American warlords, usually accompanied by their
pet poodles in Westminster and Whitehall, have intervened
against various factions of the ruling elite in the Middle
East. Squabbling over the oil that lies under the desert
sands.
Not that “America” needs the oil, most petrol consumed
in the United States does not come from the Middle East,
and most of America - the ordinary working people, have
about as much say in U.S. foreign policy as the ordinary
working people of Iraq have in policies of their government.
A big chunk of the profits of oil corporations is, however,
dependent on relations with the oil-producing states.
The Billion
Dollar Question
The question isn’t what happens to the oil, it’s what
happens to the profits?
For the ruling Western elite this is an important issue.
If they circulate back into the Western-dominated world
economic system, then all well and good for Bush, Blair
and the capitalists they represent. This usualy happens.
The non-Western oil producing states fill the coffers
of the multinationals by buying fighter planes and other
armaments. However, if it is used to develop native industrial
capitalism, as Hussein, Nasser, Bin Laden, Khomeni and
the like aimed at, beneath the cloak of nationalism or
religion, the problems start for “our” rulers.
Not only does this lead to lost profits for them but it
also leads to the development of a new rival to their
monopoly of economic and state power.
So what they are fighting for is the right to exploit
and we should only support the war effort if we want to
support our own exploitation and if we want to continue
to see but a fraction of the wealth we create return to
us in wages.
It’s not a
million miles away
The British government’s own estimate is that the war
will cost £5 billion. Every pound of tax payers’ money
that is spent on obliterating the people of Iraq, every
pound that has been spent over the course of the last
12 years doing just that, could have been spent on the
health service, could have been spent on the fire service,
could have be spent on social welfare. And this is not
just a minor thing. Poor public services KILL.
Nor is the battlefield confined to far off deserts. It
stretches across the world, from New York, to Moscow,
to Bali. While the Al Qaida - Iraq link has no substance
outside the day dreams of Dubya’s scriptwriters, we have
no doubt they will use the opportunity presented to them
by the invasion of Iraq to build their organisation.
All the deaths and injuries inflicted in this war are
the responsibility of all sides. We don’t think the planes
on S11 just popped out of the sky with no relationship
to the previous 50 odd years of American military intervention
in the Middle East, nor do we think the people of Iraq
have much to thank Hussein for other than 22 years of
war.
We think anyone who blames “Americans” needs to wise up,
we’ll start blaming the cleaners in American office blocks
the day they start sending armies to Saudi Arabia, likewise
with anyone who thinks Bin Laden represents some kind
of uprising of the poor and oppressed. If we were as poor
as Bin Laden we would be doing well.
The truth is there are two sides – the working class,
the soldiers in all armies, builders in Baghdad or office
workers in London, against the ruling class consisting
of officers in all armies, war mongering multi-millionaire
scum bags like Bin Laden or Bush.
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WHAT
CAN WE DO?
An
unnamed US defence official recently admitted to USA Today
newspaper that the timing of an invasion had slipped from
mid-February to the end of February or early March due
to logistical problems in shifting a huge land, sea and
air force.
Bases across Europe are the lines of supply to feed the
war machine in the Middle East. Demilitarise them and
the capacity of that war machine to go to work is seriously
impaired.
See the back page for upcoming direct actions and demonstrations
against military bases. Nothing going on in your area?
Then form your own anti-war group and get organising.
Read the reports of anti-war actions inside this paper.
There are no limits to what can be done!
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ON
THE FRONTLINE
We’re happy
to report that 2003 has picked up where 2002 left off
with continuing worker resistance, including the possibility
of a new wave of strikes in the car industry – which has
long been claimed as a ‘strike-free’ area by the bosses.
The Fire-fighters have gone back on the offensive after
the cooling-off period over the holidays. 55,000 workers
held another 24-work stoppage on 21 January and are now
threatening to hold further 48-hour strikes over the coming
weeks – unless the FBU manages to pull the rug from under
them – the “leaders” are showing clear signs of wavering,
happy to use ACAS to discuss an 11% offer previously rejected.
The strike has noticeably developed from being over a
wage increase to one that is essentially about jobs –
the modernisation plans that the fire-fighters have rejected
would mean a loss of 4,500 jobs – the union officials
should be pushing this, not back-pedalling.
Workers at the Peugeot and Nissan car factories in Coventry
and Sunderland are close to striking. Both are pay disputes,
the companies making annual offers below what is average
in the industry, as the factories are in high-unemployment
areas. The return of industrial action in an industry
which was once a hotbed of working class resistance is
a welcome sign that people are increasingly not going
to let the bosses walk all over them anymore.
Bus drivers in Norwich held a weeklong strike early in
January over unacceptable changes in working practices,
In Ireland, construction workers have taken part in a
series of wildcat strikes in response to attempts to undermine
their safety conditions and wages through the use of “black-market”
workers. At the minute, the action is mainly limited to
Limerick but there are signs that the trouble could spread
to other counties.
In Italy recently, a similar dispute occurred on the railways,
and the “black -market” workers also went out on strike
– something to bear in mind.
In Europe, dockworkers blocked a number of ports in Belgium
and Finland in protest at EU proposals that threaten jobs
– potentially this could be a very important struggle
in the coming months. Italian pilots and flight attendants
also struck in a dispute over safety.
Finally a success story: the workers at Friction Dynamex
who had held a two-year long picket outside their factory
won their case against the company, holding a victory
parade through Caernarfon and were cheered on by 1,500
locals.
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ON
THE ATTACK
From the Autumn
of 2001 to the Autumn of 2002 there have been at least
half a dozen massive anti-war demonstrations in central
London, not to mention protests marches where there have
never been protest marches before, the largest anti-war
demonstration in Glasgow ever. Are you listening Tony
Blair? Well is he? It is time to go on the offensive,
it is time to start inflicting a cost, it is time to stop
asking nicely, it is time to stop playing by their rules.
The following are some beginnings:
October, 02:
Over 100 anti-war demonstrators took part in a mass trespass
in the runway grounds of Shannon airport, a civilian airport
in the West of Ireland which is being used for re-fuelling
by the U.S. military.
November, 02: Walthamstow anarchists re-decorated their
local Territorial Army base, and an anti-war mob invaded
the Confederation of British Industry Conference in Manchester.
Night time, 8/12/02: “The Armed Forces recruitment office
in central Bristol was attacked. All windows were smashed,
locks glued and walls splattered with blood-red paint.
“NO WAR” was the spray-paint message...This is direct
action against state terrorism and social control...Pick
your targets and fight back. Anyone can take direct action...”
Women with bolt croppers, 14/12/02: “We, the Women with
Bolt Croppers claim responsibility for breaking into US
spy base Menwith Hill in Yorkshire and destroying their
devices for intercepting radio communications...we made
our way through fields and fog and rain to the fence of
the base...No alarms sounded, no-one came to challenge
us...We walked to our target unhindered. Armed with just
a pair of bolt croppers and a hammer we set about our
task of causing hundreds of thousands of pounds worth
of damage to the US listening devices...It was easy! ...
Imagine the power we would have if just 1% of the people
on the last anti-war demo decided to take their opposition
to the war a step further...”
RAF Fairford, 8/12/02: Over 500 anti-war demonstrators
went to Fairford in Gloucestershire. RAF Fairford is one
of only three B-2 Stealth bomber forward bases in the
world. The first wave of attacks on Iraq will most likely
be carried out by Stealth bombers flying from Fairford
and Diego Garcia. Some people entered the base …
8/01/03: Scottish train drivers refuse to carry ammunition
for the war.
11/01/03: Anti-War demonstrations disrupt US Air Force-run
military base in Norfolk, same day, blockade of Naval
base at Portsmouth.
Actions on January 18/19: In Northwood Strategic Command
Military Base north west of London. 150 demonstrators
took photos of the British military HQ – illegal under
the official secrets act, and the next day the base was
blockaded by hundreds. There was a wide cross-section
of people showing the widespread resistance to war.
At U.S. Airbase
at Mildenhall fifteen anti-war protesters got on to on
the base’s main runway after breaking through a perimeter
fence. Together with nearby Lakenheath, it is among the
biggest U.S. airbases outside the United States mainland.
Aviators from both bases have seen action in most major
conflicts involving the US in recent years.
A group of
activists from the Cardiff Anarchist Network chained themselves
together to block one of the busiest roads in Cardiff,
as part of the global protests against war in Iraq. The
blockade took place during an anti-war march through the
city centre bringing the march to an abrupt halt and causing
traffic chaos. Other marchers responded by holding an
unplanned sit-down protest in support.
The Anarchists said that they resorted to direct action
because the government finds it so easy to ignore traditional
marches and protests. “400,000 people marched through
London and no-one took the slightest bit of notice. The
government doesn’t give a damn about the views of the
ordinary person in the street. If the anti-war movement
is going to have any impact whatsoever it has to move
to direct action and civil disobedience, it has to involve
people in active opposition to the war and government
machine, it has to get people to take back control of
what’s being done in their name.”
In
San Francisco an anarchist bloc of two thousand broke
away from a permitted march of 200,000. The British Consulate
and the Immigration and Naturalisation Service offices
were re-decorated, and the police constantly outwitted.
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MESSAGE
TO THE SOLDIERS
So
what is to be made of the discovery dozens of phials of
anthrax vaccine found washed up on a south coast beach
a few days after the departure of a Royal Navy Task Force
bound for the Gulf from a nearby port? Gulf War Syndrome,
according to the US and UK governments and military, does
not exist. This is especially so when it is claimed to
be caused by military vaccines. Seems that some troops
bound for the Gulf beg to differ. For those still in doubt
of the reality of Gulf War Syndrome and as a way of showing
just how much the state cares about “our boys”, the following
words which are all from British and US military personnel
who served in the first Gulf War serve as a stark warning.
M Morris – “We were given all kinds of shots, exposed
to depleted uranium, oil well fire smoke, etc... One day
in January 1991 the entire company was lined up. We were
ordered to take “secret” shots, we signed non-disclosure
forms, and the corpsmen were ordered NOT to enter the
shots in our record books. I started experiencing a lot
of the symptoms of “Gulf War Syndrome” within a year or
so of returning to the states…The VA denied my claim for
muscle and joint pain, shortness of breath and problems
walking. They did however approve me for a 10% disability
on the basis of the brain damage they found in an MRI.
Funny, I didn’t have it before the war…Couldn’t have been
the “secret shots” or anything, you think?”
Andy Vincent - “...after the fighting was over I was responsible
for preparing this equipment for its return back to the
UK...Many of them that had been used in the field came
back to me filled with dust from all over Kuwait and Iraq...I
left the RAF in 1994, it wasn’t until 1996 that I had
my first emergency trip into hospital…I wake in the mornings
feeling like I’m 75 not 42. All this and a memory that
don’t work properly…I think the worse part of being a
victim of Gulf War Syndrome is the not knowing, not knowing
what the cause is, not knowing what’s yet to come, and
being powerless to do anything about it.”
Aaron Kidwell – “Two months [after the war] it started.
I had noticed that since I had returned, it was difficult
for me to breathe when we would do PT (physical training)…I
was 19 years old. These “attacks” became more and more
frequent and their intensity was frightening. My joints
also became tender. I became quite irritable, and later
angry. In the years since, I’ve been diagnosed with PTSD,
depressive disorder with paranoid traits, fibromyalgia,
anxiety disorder, irritable bowel syndrome, alcoholism,
and simply accused of lying…I now have little faith in
our government, no faith in the institution that is our
military, and am deeply suspicious of military doctors.
I will trust them only as far as I can throw them…I do
think that there is a Gulf War Syndrome. I do think that
thousands have gone through similar experiences and have
suffered for it. I do think that most, like myself, have
given up hope that anything will ever be done to help
us. The government knows what happened, but those that
are willing to help are outnumbered and their voices silenced.”
William Cotton – “I was given a couple of “vaccinations”
during the lead-up to the air war…Since leaving the military
my memory problems have increased and that frightens me…I
once held the American military in high regard and was
the most gung-ho of my colleagues in uniform. Today I’m
angry and bitter with those who once called me their friends
who have now deserted me…I’ve since found that I’m not
alone in that sort of treatment either…We should all stand
together, because no one else will help us. We are on
our own.”
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WHATEVER HAPPENED TO AFGHANISTAN?
A year ago
the war camp talked about defeating terrorism and liberating
the women of Afghanistan while the anti-war camp talked
about pipelines through Afghanistan for oil and gas fields.
Well leaving “defeating terrorism” to one side (nobody
seriously argues it did that!), according to a recent
Human Rights Watch report: “As of December 2002, the U.S.
and coalition military forces in Afghanistan are continuing
to pursue a strategy of entrusting general security and
policing to local forces with terrible records on women’s
rights.”
Meanwhile PakNews.com
reports on December 28, 2002: “Pakistan, Afghanistan and
Turkmenistan on Friday signed here a framework agreement
for a US $ 3.2 billion gas pipeline project passing through
the three countries.
“According to a study by Asian Development Bank (ADB),
the 1460 km pipeline would use gas reserves at Dauletabad
fields in Turkmenistan, which has world’s fifth largest
reserves, while passing through Afghanistan into Pakistan.”
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TIME
BOMB
Continuing
our regular look at history:
Mutiny: A Noble
Tradition
In January
1991 the Iraqi army fought well against the enemy, by
refusing to fight the Allies (not one Allied soldier was
killed by Iraqi fire), by deserting the front line in
droves, and by returning home and turning their guns on
their government.
Soon Iraq was in the grip of revolution, and the effective
authority of the state reduced to the central region around
Baghdad.
The reaction of the U.S. Government and it’s allies:
• Thousands
of deserting troops were massacred on the road to Basra
by the USAF and RAF.
• A ceasefire was then made with the Iraqi regime, all
thoughts of overthrowing Saddam forgotten, and crucially
the elite Republican Guard left intact to crush the uprising.
• As part of the truce Iraqi counter-insurgency helicopters
were allowed into the ‘no fly zones’ controlled by the
American and British airforces.
In 1917 and
1918 the Russian, German and Austro-Hungarian Empires
crumbled and the First World War was brought to an end
as the common soldiers refused to fight. Also in 1917
massive mutiny made the French Army unable to take offensive
action.
After both the First and Second World Wars mutiny and
demands for demobilisation in the armed forces left the
British Empire unable to effectively combat internal rebellions.
Following W.W.1 demob. unemployed ex-soldiers rioted across
Britain, after W.W. 2 they forged a powerful squatting
movement in the face of chronic homelessness.
During the later stages of the Vietnam war, as a U.S.
Officer wrote at the time, “By every conceivable indicator,
our army that now remains in Vietnam is in a state approaching
collapse, with individual units avoiding or having refused
combat, murdering their officers and non commissioned
officers, drug-ridden, and dispirited where not near mutinous.”
Today, over 500 Israeli soldiers are refusing to serve
in the occupied territories.
---
Anarchist Federation
online:
British site: www.afed.org.uk
Irish site: www.afireland.cjb.net
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PRISON RESISTANCE
About 80 prisoners
fought back against the regime at Shotts maximum-security
prison in Lanarkshire, Scotland. The 19-hour rebellion
began on the 2 of January when prisoners refused to return
to the cells. A number of small fires were started and
three screws were hospitalised. The prison authorities
have used drug sniffer dogs, drug detecting equipment,
monitoring of phone calls and CCTV as part of a crackdown.
Some prisoners succeeded in getting onto the roof and
shouting could be heard inside the jail. Flags were waved
from the windows and a banner demanding ‘leave our visitors
alone’ was also visible. The revolt was suppressed when
van loads of riot cops and screws stormed the jail. Prisoners
in Shotts jail have fought back several times in the recent
past.
Prison
Labour Conference: To establish a campaign against prison
labour. Leeds, starts 12 noon. Tel: 07944 522 001
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CLASS WAR NOT RACE WAR
With
the news that two of the six suspected Algerian terrorists
caught up in the “ricin plot” were asylum seekers, the
press wasted no time in spinning into nationalist, anti-asylum
seeker propaganda overdrive. But what the government and
“their” media seem to be forgetting is that the only myth
is the “bogus” asylum seeker.
The main sources of refugees are Palestine, Somalia, Afghanistan,
Ethiopia and Eastern Europe with people making potentially
tragic journeys to Britain. Not because Britain gives
the most benefits, but because life in their “home” country
is simply intolerable. What the media fail to mention
is the conditions endured by the refugees that try and
get here – they die from suffocation in trucks; from minefields;
from stowing away in undercarriages and freezing or falling;
or from drowning in shark infested seas. Without a doubt,
all would have preferred not to have had to leave home
and familiar surroundings in the first place.
It is estimated that some four million annually are smuggled
world-wide by ruthless entrepreneurs who have developed
sophisticated methods of relieving desperate people of
the little money they have. If “customers” arrive alive
at their hoped for destinations, in order to clear debts
to the traffickers, they risk being forced into prostitution,
organ donation, slavery or forced marriage.
What is needed is for people to recognise that it is the
ruling classes, whatever their nationality, that take
from society and leave us, the working classes, whatever
our colour, with nothing but destruction. The only way
out of this mess is for the working classes to unite and
fight for a decent life for all – to smash the state and
capitalism and to organise our lives and communities according
to everyone’s needs. Don’t let the authorities divide
and rule us
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