Why Iraq is pivotal in imperialism's schemes
By Sarah Sloan
U.S. policy toward Iraq is not motivated simply by the
narrow economic interests of those who own ExxonMobil, Texaco
and other oil companies. Karl Marx said that the government is
the executive committee of the ruling capitalist class. Its
function is to act in the interest of the capitalist class in
its entirety. And so the U.S. government is currently
considering not just how to make additional profit by gaining
control of billions of additional barrels of oil, but how to
maintain and extend its domination of the entire region.
U.S. imperialism has long held a plan to reshape the Middle
East. And now they hope that with the power they possess in the
post-Sept. 11 period they can return the Middle East to the
colonial status that existed before the 1950s.
The colonial period was ended in the decades after World War
II, when anti-colonial bourgeois-democratic revolutions and
wars of national liberation swept the world. In some
cases--such as Vietnam, Korea, China and Cuba--these
revolutions were led by the proletariat through the communist
party. In others, the leadership was in the hands of
non-proletarian and primarily bourgeois--that is,
capitalist--forces.
In 1958 in Iraq there was a people's revolution led by
communists and radical bourgeois elements, mainly from the
military. In the post-revolutionary government, it was the
bourgeoisie that consolidated power. Before the revolution,
Iraq's oil wealth was 100-percent owned by U.S., British, Dutch
and French oil companies. In 1972, the country's vast oil
fields were nationalized, the foreign profiteers kicked out and
the resources used for development--to build roads, hospitals,
schools and other infrastructure.
Immediately after Iraq nationalized its oil, Iraq was placed
on the U.S. list of terrorist nations.
Many countries where anti-colonial revolutions took place
were able to counter the pressures of imperialism by forging
extensive ties for economic aid and trade with the Soviet Union
and the socialist camp. This was particularly true for
Iraq.
Over the last 44 years, the United States has never
succeeded in rolling back the gains of Iraq's 1958 revolution
and making Iraq a complete puppet as it was before. But that
has been the true objective in the last 12 years of war.
In this sense, a war in Iraq is not simply a redivision of
markets or spheres of influence like World War I and World War
II, when the imperialist countries fought to redivide the world
because they had run out of territory to grab.
The war against Iraq is more like a counter-revolution, a
rollback of the social progress achieved by the
bourgeois-democratic revolution in the formerly colonized
world.
The U.S. government is opposed to the government in Iraq
because Baghdad has maintained that its land, labor and
resources are not the property of the imperialists. Washington
wants to smash any government that seeks to be independent.
Whether it's a bourgeois nationalist government as in Iraq, the
socialist government in Cuba, or the Chavez government in
Venezuela--if you stand up, if you say no, if you serve as an
example to others and offer an alternative, you are deemed an
enemy by imperialism.
The Bush administration would like to undo the verdict of
the national liberation movements that took place in the 20th
century, to roll back all the achievements those countries
attained while they were pursuing their own development free
from their colonial oppressors.
The question that remains is whether the great tide of
history--which is to go from slavery and colonization to
freedom and liberation--can be turned back by the mechanism of
high-tech missiles and precision laser bombs. While we're not
for a moment dismissing the possibility of setbacks and
reverses, the answer we give is a clear and resounding no.
Humanity's social progress is the consequence of deep social
and economic changes that have actually laid the foundation for
the complete emancipation of the oppressed working class of the
world. First and foremost in that struggle is the achievement
of national liberation, independence, self-determination and
equality.
The people of Iraq, Venezuela, Korea--all those who are
struggling and sacrificing for national liberation--need a
resurgence of revolutionary class struggle inside the advanced
capitalist and imperialist countries.
This is the underlying reason why the actions planned by the
ANSWER coalition, which include the national mobilization on
Oct. 26 and other struggles, have gained such worldwide
attention, especially since Sept. 11.
Our party and our movement are waging a huge historical
struggle. We must dedicate ourselves to recognizing that
reality and vigorously working to revive the movement right
here in the belly of the beast.
Reprinted from the Oct. 3, 2002, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyrighted
under a Creative
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