WWP candidates: Indict Bush for war crimes
Support Iraqi resistance against U.S. assault on Najaf
The Workers World Party election campaign and
our candidates, John Parker for president, Teresa Gutierrez for
vice president, and LeiLani Dowell for Congress, condemn the
monstrous U.S. assault on the Iraqi city of Najaf and demand an
immediate end to the siege that began Aug. 5.
We demand an end to the U.S. offensive and the immediate,
unconditional withdrawal of all U.S., British and other
occupation troops from Iraq. And we join the Iraqi people in
demanding the resignation of the puppet regime headed by
Interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi.
U.S. forces are besieging Najaf in an attempt to crush the
wing of the Iraqi resistance headed by Moqtada al-Sadr. Shiite
Muslims and all Iraqis are justly outraged at the siege of the
historic Imam Ali Mosque where Sadr has taken refuge.
The offensive, which has already resulted in many civilian
casualties, displays the same ruthless character as the siege
of Falluja earlier this year. Many see it as a punishment of
Sadr's forces for refusing to support the conference called by
the Allawi regime to select an interim national assembly.
On Aug. 15, John F. Burns of the New York Times, reporting
from the Baghdad conference, admitted that "the rebel attacks
... have spread to virtually every Sunni and Shiite town." The
meeting itself, held under "siege-like conditions" in the
U.S.-controlled Green Zone, was "thrown into disorder by
delegates staging angry protests against the American-led
military operation in the Shiite holy city of Najaf." Knight
Ridder reported that 100 delegates walked out in protest.
Allawi's government, handpicked by Washington, has no
legitimacy with the Iraqi people. Instead, the population is
responding to the U.S. offensive with acts of solidarity for
the besieged residents of Najaf and the resistance fighters.
This sentiment cuts across all layers of the population,
including all religious and secular groups, which are united in
opposing the colonial occupation of their country.
Mass protests were held in five cities Aug. 13. This
included Falluja, the majority-Sunni city that Reuters calls "a
hotbed of resistance." There, crowds chanted, "Long live Sadr,
Falluja stands by Najaf against America."
Tens of thousands poured into Najaf during a brief
cease-fire to hold a mass demonstration. Thousands more have
gone to form a defense shield around the Imam Ali Mosque.
"We are a group of 500 women, many of whom are young
students, and we plan to go tonight to Najaf to be part of a
large human chain that we will form surrounding the shrine and
also Sadr," said Rajaa Khayum of Baghdad. (AFP, Aug. 13)
Al Jazeera reported that 16 of Najaf's 30-member provincial
council and a deputy governor resigned in protest over the U.S.
attack.
After the U.S. offensive resumed Aug. 15, Iraqi defense
ministry officials told Knight Ridder that an entire battalion
of Iraqi soldiers and over 100 national guards had thrown down
their rifles and quit, refusing to attack fellow Iraqis.
Armed resistance is growing throughout the country. In the
second week of Aug ust, clashes were reported in Sadr City,
Baghdad, Balad Ruz, Diwaniya, Hillah, Samarra and Amarah, to
name a few.
What all of this amounts to is a genuine people's war for
the liberation of Iraq from those who would conquer, occupy and
rob the country of its resources for profit.
Although the resistance does not yet show the same kind of
unified national leadership as the Vietnamese National Lib er
ation Front, it is nonetheless a genuine liberation movement
and deserves the support of all anti-war forces, workers and
progressive people in the United States.
We declare our unconditional support for the Iraqi people's
right to resist the murderous U.S. occupation by any means
necessary.
Indict war criminal Bush
The brutal assault on Najaf is but the latest atrocity
committed by the Bush administration, in collaboration with
Republican and Democratic party leaders, on behalf of Wall
Street, Big Oil and other sectors of the capitalist ruling
class.
We urge the Iraq War Crimes Tribunal, convening in New York
City Aug. 26, to hand down a strong indictment of Bush and his
collaborators for war crimes--including crimes against peace,
targeting civilians, destroying a sovereign regime, sending
U.S. soldiers into battle under false pretenses, torturing
prisoners, robbing U.S. workers to pay war profiteers, and much
more.
The Iraq War Crimes Tribunal kicks off a week of resistance
against the Repub lican National Convention. Tens of thousands
of protesters from across the United States will join New
Yorkers to protest this celebration of racist warmongers. Bush
and his backers must have their feet put to the fire for all
their crimes against poor and working people at home and
abroad, and especially for the criminal war and occupation of
Iraq.
We caution those burning with righteous anger against Bush
not to fall into the trap of supporting the "lesser evil"
presidential candidate, Democratic Sen. John Kerry. He recently
declared that he too would have gone to war against Iraq, even
though the fraud of "weapons of mass destruction" has been long
exposed.
Kerry has vowed to continue the occupation. Like Richard
Nixon before him, Kerry's claim to legitimacy with the ruling
class is that he could do a better job of conducting their
criminal war than the current president.
The Iraqi people are waging an independent mass struggle to
drive out the occupation forces. We must follow their example
by building the anti-war movement, reaching out to the working
class and oppressed people who are increasingly turning against
the war, organizing among disaffected military personnel, and
building an independent, anti-imperialist struggle to challenge
whoever next occupies the White House.
Reprinted from the Aug. 26, 2004, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011
Email: ww@workers.org
Subscribe wwnews-subscribe@workersworld.net
Support independent news http://www.workers.org/orders/donate.php)
HOME
:: U.S. NEWS ::
WORLD NEWS ::
EDITORIALS ::
SUBSCRIBE ::
DONATE
Email
this article
Printable
page