{"id":918,"date":"2019-03-09T00:14:08","date_gmt":"2019-03-09T00:14:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wsm.prolerat.org\/?page_id=918"},"modified":"2019-10-21T00:55:51","modified_gmt":"2019-10-20T23:55:51","slug":"world-socialists-comment-on-the-war","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.worldsocialism.org\/wsm\/world-socialists-comment-on-the-war\/","title":{"rendered":"World socialists comment on the war"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Pakistan, U.S.A., Ireland.<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
Diary from Peshawar, Pakistan.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
We reproduce below recent emails sent by a member of the World Socialist Movement living in Peshawar, near the Afghan border<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Well, Pakistan as you might be aware is breathing heavily as the \npressure is mounting on it by the US. The religious parties are furious \nover the government support for the Americans. They are bringing people \nout on the streets and protesting against the government and USA. Things\n could get worse if the attack on Afghanistan actually takes place. The \nplace where I live is indeed very sensitive. There is a religious \nmovement going on for the past six years in the frontier region here. \nThey are armed, rebellious and can defy the government any time. They \nare pro-Taliban and are sending fresh recruits across the border into \nAfghanistan to fight the holy war. The imminent attack is sure to \ntrigger off a far worse situation than can ever be imagined. People \nwould rally around the religious parties as they have the street power \nand are bold enough to defy any ban by the government. Already life is \ntoo tough for the poor and destitute here and inside Afghanistan. \nWatching BBC and CNN it seems war is already here. They are whipping the\n drums of war just for nothing. The impact of this on the lives of the \ncommon people is worse. Thousands of refugees are crossing the border \nfor safety and entering Pakistan for food and shelter. What is going to \nbe their fate is anybody’s guess. We are living at only three hours \ndrive distance from the border. There is a hectic activity on border \nbetween Pakistan and Afghanistan in the frontier region to which I \nbelong. Emotions are very high and even illiterate people are keen to \nknow what is happening on that side. As we all know, Afghanistan is in a\n virtual grip of drought and fighting for the many years. People are \nalready suffering in refugee camps set up in Peshawar. More are coming. \nThere is going to be a huge catastrophe in terms loss to humans lives of\n the innocent and hapless who have nothing to defend themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Well, this is how things are moving, not in the right direction which it never was.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
(3 October)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Blair arrived and said what he had been saying all along since the \nattacks. The generals on this side obviously looked tense and confused. \nYesterday’s dictators are today’s democrats. Blair praised Musharaf’s \nso-called roadmap to democracy and in turn promised large and hefty \neconomic largesse. Obviously the government is happy as it has been \nbailed out of the economic stranglehold that has dogged it for three \nyears. The government economic managers (mismanagers) hired from the IMF\n and World Bank (the finance and foreign ministers were former employees\n of the WB) are now lining up in Washington to thank their boss and to \nbeg for more. Back at home people the majority whom the general terms \nminority are infuriated over the government “unstinted support” in the \nfight for terrorism. The armed religious are waiting for the strikes to \nhappen and then there would be nobody to stop them from carrying out \ntheir agenda. Presently they are a bit silent and cautious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
(6 October)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So the strikes have begun, and so have the demonstrations in every \nnook and corner of Pakistan. The area where I live is considered to be \nvery sensitive as there are many religious groups operating here. The \nschools were closed today for an indefinite period. There were more than\n ten demonstrations today here by students and parties protesting and \nchanting slogans against US. Across the country protestors have damaged \nvehicles and put a cinema on fire in Quetta alone. They were \ntear-gassed. Later in the day shops too were closed down as mark of \nsolidarity with the Afghan brethren. The situation is very volatile and \nopen to violence any time. Now we are living in the midst of war albeit \nfought at a distance from us. The government will soon come under severe\n attack by the religious and non-religious alike, as the strikes have \nparalyzed business here. The president in his press conference here said\n today the strikes would be short and targeted while the Americans say \nit would be sustained and relentless. One thing seems clear the \nAmericans will take it too far no matter what happens to Pakistan and \nAfghanistan in the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
(8 October)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The drive to war<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
A member from Ireland who was in the USA on 11 September records the atmosphere there<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I wasn’t alive during the summer of 1914 but I think I may have got a\n sense of what it felt like as a result of my recent holiday in the \nUnited States. We were staying with a relation in Los Angeles when we \nwere awoken by him on the morning of Tuesday the 11 September to the \ncontinuous coverage on all the TV and radio channels of the terrorist \nbombing in New York or “Attack on America” as the news anchormen quickly\n deemed it. It was shocking to see the footage of those planes crashing \ninto the World Trade Center and to imagine the gruesome deaths that so \nmany on the planes and in the buildings must have suffered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What was particularly upsetting was the sight of people forced to \njump off the building to their deaths rather than tolerate the fireball.\n For me though as a socialist, what was most dispiriting, that in \naddition to the knowledge of so many innocent dead, was the whole way \nthat the media and the establishment in general so quickly took control \nof how the incident should be interpreted. It was a powerful example of \nthe socialist critique of what’s called liberal or parliamentary \ndemocracy; although we elect our leaders by periodical mass voting the \ncontext in which they operate and their agenda somehow seem to be set by\n others beyond our control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Even before President Bush made his first announcement “today we saw \nan attack on freedom”, and only a number of hours after the suicide \nbombings, grief for the victims and hope for the survivors was already \nbeing pushed aside by talk of retribution and revenge. Almost \ninstantaneously an endless series of retired State Department and \nPentagon officials from the Reagan and Bush (Senior) era, together with \ninnumerable academics, (styling themselves as “terrorism experts”) were \nparaded across the screens offering their two-pence worth on who was \nbehind it and what form the military response should take. It was \nevident that a large number of these were aching for a war with \nIraq\/Iran\/Libya etc. and any other ‘rogue state’ that could be tied into\n the conspiracy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The papers were just as bad and the coverage even in supposedly \nliberal papers such as the New York and Los Angeles Times was equally \nstrident. They carried stories on the role that the “Special Forces” \nwould undertake which read like the worst excesses of tabloid jingoism \nthat we’ve come to expect from the Murdoch Sun. It wasn’t just the media\n who were uncritical in their judgements. The Friday after the bombings \nhad been designated as an official “Day of Mourning” for the country. \nThe President and a number of ex-Presidents plus the leaders of Congress\n all gathered in the National Cathedral in Washington for “prayer”. \nRepresentatives of the Protestant, Catholic, Jewish and Muslim faiths \n(in that order!) duly said their piece to be followed immediately by the\n President on the podium. Bush’s warlike comments on the actions that \nthe US would undertake were clearly at variance with the supposedly \nreligious ethos of the service though unsurprisingly provoked no adverse\n comments from the clerics present. Indeed the whole affair ended with a\n stirring rendition of Battle Hymn of the Republic by a Marine choir.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The effect of this on public opinion was quickly apparent. The ‘Stars\n and Stripes’ flew everywhere. Reputable billboards in Shopping Malls \ncarried the slogan “God Bless America” while their more uncouth cousins \n(located close to offices of the National Rifle Association or similar \norganisations) promised all sorts of unprintable vengeance to Osama bin \nLaden. On the radio talk shows people wanted the borders closed, \nimmigration halted, “racial profiling of people of Middle Eastern \nappearance” and a multitude of other measures. For some even this wasn’t\n enough; “it was time this country got serious” and the mass expulsion \nor detention of Arab-Americans was the only solution. This provoked a \nresponse and “helpful” listeners rang in and urged Arab-Americans to \nplace the US flag prominently on their houses to demonstrate to their \nneighbours where their true loyalties lay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Of course Wall Street wasn’t going to take the attack lying down; \nradio and newspaper advertisements, sponsored by the major banks and \ninvestment houses, soon appeared urging Americans to buy shares as it \nwas their patriotic duty to push the Dow Jones index up. In a vague way \nit was suggested that the World Trade Center was singled out because as a\n symbol of capitalism it captured America’s true spirit. Hollywood too \n(where correctly sensing the public mood and identifying with it is a \nkey requirement for success) went to war and a “galaxy” of A-list \ncelebrities hosted a “Tribute to Heroes” television special. Raising \nmoney for the victims of the atrocity is an entirely praiseworthy event \nof course; the irony that some of the big names involved such as \nSylvester Stallone had made films in the 1980s extolling the Mujaheddin \nas freedom fighters will register with some of us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Very importantly though it must be pointed out though that not all \nAmerican workers were taken in by this frenzy; within days after the \nevent I passed small groups of anti-war protestors in different towns \nwho were pointing out the fallacy of equating justice with revenge. It \ntook some courage to do so in that heated environment. Their small stand\n highlighted the complete absence in the mainstream media of any attempt\n to ask the question of why this attack took place and what the suicide \nbombers intended to achieve by their act. The role of the US in the \nMiddle East in terms of its support for Israel in its conflict with the \nPalestinian Authority and its propping up of autocratic, reactionary \nstates in the Gulf was not referred to. While the Taliban regime in \nKabul owe their origin and rise to power to a complex series of events \nin Afghanistan’s recent history, the not-so-covert actions of the CIA in\n supplying the Afghan resistance to Soviet occupation with a plentiful \nsupply of weaponry cannot be glossed over. George Bush now has a 90 \npercent popularity rating in the polls and may find himself in the trap \nthat unless forthcoming US deeds match his rhetoric then his credibility\n and re-election hopes will be damaged. It may be that many more people \nacross South Asia will join the 5,000-plus fatalities in New York and \nWashington as victims of 11 September.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kevin Cronin <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Indictment of capitalism<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The following letter from a member was published in The Belfast Telegraph on 28 September<\/p>\n\n\n\n
George Bush has made it clear that if we do not support his plans to \nuse absolute state terrorism to defeat the more “laissez faire” variety \nof terrorism, we will be marked down as an enemy. This is, we are \nassured, in the interests of the Bush definition of freedom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meanwhile, America’s astronomical “defence” budget must be going \nthrough the roof. Enormous bribes to old enemies and new friends are the\n order of the day and what are obviously staggering amounts of dollars \nare being laid out in the massive movement of men and equipment to \nterrify the enemy and, presumably\u2014unless the Pentagon is absurdly wanton\n with its military resources\u2014take the lives of a great many human \nbeings. As in all wars, most of the latter will be completely innocent \npeople, or, to use that brutal term taken from the lexicon of the US \nmilitary establishment, mere “collateral damage”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While the killing hasn’t yet started, the starving people of \nAfghanistan whose lives have been blighted by the brutality of the \nRussian imperialists and cynical usage by the agents of the West, are \nalready being terrified. The UN, obviously bound hand and foot by the \npurchasing power of the West, has embargoed food aid to these starving \npeople, caught between the religious madmen of the Taliban and the \nthreat of the allegedly sane leaders of what they insist are the Western\n democracies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Conversely, while the miserably poor of Afghanistan are being starved\n and terrified, the US President and the mayor of New York are appealing\n to Americans\u2014obviously excluding the millions of poor in that \ncountry\u2014to go out and spend to help American capitalism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Could there be a more profound indictment of the system of international capitalism?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Richard Montague<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Back to the Politics Index<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Back to the World Socialist Movement home page<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Pakistan, U.S.A., Ireland. Diary from Peshawar, Pakistan. We reproduce below recent emails sent by a member of the World Socialist Movement living in Peshawar, near the Afghan border Well, Pakistan as you might be aware is breathing heavily as the pressure is mounting on it by the US. The religious parties are furious over the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"magazine_newspaper_sidebar_layout":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-918","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.worldsocialism.org\/wsm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/918","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.worldsocialism.org\/wsm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.worldsocialism.org\/wsm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldsocialism.org\/wsm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldsocialism.org\/wsm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=918"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldsocialism.org\/wsm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/918\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2622,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldsocialism.org\/wsm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/918\/revisions\/2622"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.worldsocialism.org\/wsm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=918"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}