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Operation Iraqi Freedom: ‘War on terrorism’ or War of terror?

The invasion of Iraq by US-UK axis calls for analysis of its real objectives. It is now an internationally accepted fact that the main goal of this aggression is control of Iraqi oil. At the same time it has deeper meanings. It is the internal dynamics of US imperialism which has driven the Bush administration towards the aggression on Iraq and all round drive for global domination. This internal dynamics has led to the inevitability of extending imperialist globalization beyond economic and political fields to military field also. This is reflected in the demand for a war economy intersecting with the petro dollar economy.

It is a recognised fact that there is no impenetrable barrier that separates domestic and foreign policies. They are interdependent components of the class policy of the dominant strata of ruling elite. Once the economic boom of post-War decades crashed with the dollar-gold convertibility and the world economic order established under Bretton Woods system coming to an end by beginning of 1970s, the imperialist economic order faced unprecedented inflation and a long term decline of corporate profitability. This was followed by introduction of Reaganomics in 1980s, the policy of imperialist globalisation with major reductions in tax rates for the wealthiest classes on the one hand, and massive cuts in social spending for the masses on the other. A speculative boom followed in 1980s and 1990s. But during last few years the situation changed with the US imperialism confronting stagflation. Crisis faced by US imperialism assumed gigantic proportions. Most of the 50 states in the Union are on the verge of bankruptcy. In spite of severe cuts in social welfare policies, entire industries face collapse and the dominance of dollar was being challenged. It is at this moment the September 11, 2001 happened. It became a very convenient cover for Bush administration to declare ‘war on terrorism’ to use it as a proxy to extend imperialist globalisation at economic and political level to military level also. What was started in Balkans earlier reached more serious proportions in the invasion of Afghanistan under ‘war on terrorism’. Operation Iraqi Freedom means its further extension and escalation to establish absolute US hegemony to dominate the world in all respects, with free access to all countries and their resources under the doctrine of pre-emptive war.

Restructuring to make US the supreme power

Various analyses, including those of US think tanks, show that US imperialism was planning a restructuring of international relations during the last decade, after the disintegration of Soviet Union, in order to crown itself as the only superpower, the supreme power. If a multilateral arrangement was maintained through G-8, NATO and other mechanisms, of course, with US leading the imperialist camp for more than last five decades, during the period of anti-communist ‘crusade’, now Bush administration is seeking to change it. The underlying doctrine is to make the world serve the US corporate system. Use military means to make globalisation serve primarily US interests under its absolute hegemony. It is in this context the present creation of petrodollars-weapon-dollar complex should be seen.

Invasion of Afghanistan and building 13 new US military bases in the Caspian region was primarily not for overthrowing Taliban. After all it was CIA which created Bin Laden and Taliban, and US had good relations with Taliban for long. The invasion was primarily for absolute control of the Caspian Sea Basin estimated to be worth $5 trillion. It has undeveloped resources of 6.6 trillion cubic meters of natural gas and 10 billion barrels of oil.

The next target was bound to be securing control of Iraqi oil, which constitute the second largest reserves in the world on which unlike Saudi Arabia and Kuwait US had no control for 35 years. As US has only 3% of known oil reserves, as it consumes 25% of world’s oil production and is importing 60% of its daily consumption, both for domestic market and to impose hegemony over the world, restructuring relations in West Asia and controlling Iraqi oil have great significance.

Along with this objective, a long term solution to the weakening of the US economy from the crisis of stagnation, over production and huge unutilised facilities and liquid assets is also linked. By pumping $200 billion into war economy and launching the invasion, Bush administration hopes, can rejuvenate the economy through military Keynisianism and make US the supreme ruler of the region as well as the unquestioned hegemonic power in the world.

Inter-imperialist contradiction to the forefront

US invasion of Iraq bypassing even a pliant UN and its Security Council has brought the inter-imperialist contradictions to the forefront. As control of Iraqi oil and imposing itself as the supreme power are the goals before Bush administration, France, Germany and Russia who have already signed agreements with Saddam Hussain regime to share Iraqi oil are naturally opposed to this US move. These European governments have come to the conclusion that a profound split is inevitable in the imperialist world order that continued during last 50 years. Thus among the European Union (EU) powers while UK and Spain have joined forces with the ‘supreme’ power, something like a Paris-Berlin-Moscow alliance has emerged against the US-UK axis.

As far as the question of deploying strict weapon inspections or trampling Iraq’s national sovereignty is concerned, these powers have no basic differences with US. Neither they are opposed to the reorganisation of the region, nor are they in principle opposed to the use of military power. Even in the case of dismantling welfare policies and democratic rights and strengthening the state apparatus is concerned, these governments have already proved that they have no differences with US. Their differences are about US imposing total control over West Asia and its oil reserves, as each of them have its own global interests.

As US is undertaking a ‘morally inspired policy of hegemony’, as it is going to impose its unimpeded access to oil and also going to determine unilaterally how much of this diminishing natural resource is available to other countries, with the US invasion of Iraq ‘a profound split has taken place in the old world order’. US has created internal strife in EU and NATO also. The old Europe, as taunted by Bush administration, is now aware that it cannot have a convincing deterrent against US without increasing military strength. "Europe must devote itself to a policy based on strength in order to put an end to the imbalance which has prevailed since the end of Cold War."

So, one of the serious consequences of US invasion is the weakening or even possible breaking up of the US led imperialist alliance built up against socialist forces in the post-War years and which continued for more than 50 years. Inter-imperialist contradictions are coming to the fore front. Militarisation is going to get a boost. War economy is going to play dominant role. The post-Second World War equilibrium that lasted about 60 years is seriously challenged.

Not only US will decide on its own way the production and flow of oil from West Asia, but will ensure that dollar remains the exclusive currency for transacting the oil trade. Ensuring supremacy of dollar as the primary currency in the world is crucial to maintain US hegemony in all fields globally. So the invasion on Iraq is also a currency war of dollar against euro.

According to some analysts the cardinal sin of Saddam Hussain is neither production of weapons of mass destruction nor promotion of terrorism but, exasperated by 10 years of US imposed UN sanctions and Anglo-American bombings of large part of his country, he made Iraq on November 6, 2000, the first oil producing country to shift from the dollar to the euro as the currency for trade in oil and hence the primary currency for its foreign trade in general, showing to the other OPEC countries that they could break the dollar dominance by shifting to euro or at least diversifying their reserve currencies. At the time Iraq made the shift, the euro was worth 82 cents to a US dollar; today it stands at $1.5. Iraq’s decision was a key element in making the euro a competitive currency for the first time. If the other oil producing countries were to shift accordingly, the US economy would collapse.

Capital against labour

Already two decades of neo-liberal policies imposed through imperialist globalisation regime had devastated the bargaining capacity of organised working class, depriving them of the rights won through two centuries of struggles. The economic stability of US imperialism and the safety of the vast fortunes accumulated by its ruling elite in the course of the speculative boom of 1980s and 1990s could be maintained only through depressed wage scales, hire and fire system, low-cost overseas labour and continuing supply of cheap raw materials (especially oil) from overseas. According to some, many millions of premature poverty-induced deaths were collectively required on Afro-Asian-Latin American countries in order to harvest a new Wall Street billionaire. The biggest winner in the conflict will be the investors who are willing and able to scoop up cheap assets. Foreigners familiar with the region and its business practices, who have contracts there and an ability to tolerate risk, will find a host of investment opportunities in everything from telecommunication to manufacturing. For savvy investors who can take risk, opportunities will be a plenty.

Already unemployment is soaring in US with living standard of working class either stagnated or declined. With severe cuts in social welfare sector the school system for the poor are in shambles. The healthcare system is starved of funds and services are being cut drastically. As tens of billions of dollar, if not hundreds, are further diverted for the Pentagon, for the invasion and for creating more military bases including the proposed stationing of 1,00,000 US troops in post-Saddam Iraq, the wealthiest 2% of US population, the corporate majors and speculators along with the small cabal of political-military conspirators at the top will be getting immensely benefitted. But the working class along with vast majority of the people will be further impoverished. The ever-intensifying anti-war movement linking with the anti-globalisation movement in US and other imperialist countries reflect the intensifying levels of social tensions there. The contradiction between capital and labour is reaching almost explosive conditions.

Imperialism against oppressed nations and people

Under imperialist globalisation not only there is a horrifying deterioration in the living conditions of hundreds of millions in the ‘third world’. The economic and political offensive of globalisation has made the ruling elite and dominant strata of ruling classes in these countries more subservient to imperialist system and has further integrated them to it. Under IMF-World Bank-WTO regime whatever sovereignty was there is also getting eroded in these countries. In spite of all these the imperialist system could not overcome the perennial general crisis. In order to overcome it, Bush administration has come out, like the German-Italy-Japan fascist axis of 1930s earlier, in true imperialist colours, that imperialism, especially in its most decadent and speculative phase, has the only path of salvation by resorting to war. So war is launched under the cover of ‘war on terrorism’. US imperialist ruling elite hope to resolve its crisis by ditching erstwhile imperialist allies and establishing itself as the supreme power.

The reorganisation imposed by way of military solutions in Balkans earlier was a prelude to it. Under the banner of ‘war on terrorism’ Afghanistan was occupied and a puppet regime is installed there along with establishing military bases in a number of countries in Central Asia and Pakistan. Now the invasion of Iraq is started for restructuring entire West Asia.

When imperialist globalisation was launched it was clear that it is going to intensify neo-colonisation. It was bound to proceed from economic and political spheres to military sphere and occupation of many countries in new forms. It will be foolish to analyse that Iraq is an exception, a ‘democratic venture’, ‘an operation freedom’ to replace dictator Saddam with a civil society. What is taking place in Iraq is taking place in other forms in Venezuela, Nigeria and in all other oil producing regions. It is going to be practiced all over the ‘third world’. Bush administration is eager to establish a hundred times more powerful and oppressive Pax America than Pax Britanica, with Blair in attendance. Thus invasion of Iraq is not only for enslaving this oil rich nation, but is also intended as a challenge to the entire world. It reveals the emergence of US imperialism in its most decadent, aggressive, predatory and fascist form.

Imperialism means war

Though in a different context what the Seventh Congress of Comintern stated is very relevant today : "The world economic crisis and the shattering of capitalist stabilisation have given rise to the extreme instability of all international relations. The intensified struggle on the world market, which has shrunk extremely as a result of the economic crisis, has passed into fierce economic war. A new re-partition of the world has infact already begun."

Whether the US imperialist ruling clique can be called fascist may be a debatable point now. But calling what they are doing as fascistic will not be out of place. It had September 11, 2001 as a fig leaf to cover the cutting down of democratic rights in US and for launching aggression against Afghanistan charging Taliban-Al Queda complicity in the attack. But what justification is there for the invasion of Iraq defying unprecedented world public opinion and bypassing UN and Security Council ? Since fascist Italy’s invasion of Ethiopia and Albania and the Nazi seizure of Czechoslovakia and invasion of Poland such a naked invasion by a militaristic government in the interest of financial and corporate elite has not taken place. If Nazis used blitzkrieg, Bush administration is utilising ‘Shock and Awe’ designed to create terror among the civilian population. Emulating the Nazis and fascists the invasion is justified using a new policy, the doctrine of preventive war. The Nazi leaders were put on trial at Nuremburg, prosecuted and hung for planning and executing a war of aggression. Is Bush’s invasion of Iraq any way different from the acts of Nazi leaders for which they were tried and hung ? Like the Axis powers of 1930s once again Bush is working for a restructuring of international relations so that 21st century become the century of total domination of US imperialism. In order to achieve this the present invasion will be extended to other countries like North Korea, Iran, Syria also. A new US led axis including UK and Israel is also taking shape to implement this plan to establish the doctrine of Pax America.

This is the culmination of the protracted and deep rooted crisis which had been maturing and gathering force for decades. It has found its most concentrated expression through US imperialism, the centre of world imperialism since Second World War. The fundamental contradiction between globalisation of production which has reached unprecedented levels through neo-liberal policies executed through IMF-World Bank-WTO trio on the one hand and the shackling of human development through the private ownership of the means of production which has also reached unprecedented levels with a few hundreds of corporate giants deciding the destiny of the world with super profit motive on the other has caused these developments. Bush administration represents those sections of US imperialist ruling elite who came to the forefront during the speculative bubble of last two decades, especially of 1990s. The bursting of this speculative bubble and the protracted slide in share prices in Wall Street have thrown global imperialist system, particularly US imperialism, to a deep crisis. "In this situation, the ruling bourgeoisie is increasingly seeking salvation in fascism, in the establishment of the open, terrorist dictatorship of the most reactionary, the most chauvinist and the most imperialist elements of finance capital, with the aim of putting into effect extra ordinary measures of despoiling the toilers, of preparing a predatory, imperialist war....." This analysis of Comintern regarding the developments in 1930s is very much applicable in the present situation also. The emergence of Bush clique as the representative of US imperialist ruling elite, its utilisation of September 11 declaring a ‘war on terrorism’ and execution of its domestic agenda by launching invasion of Iraq for restructuring the world in order to impose total hegemony, all these developments should be seen in this context.

Political and tactical tasks before the Communists

As already noted world witnessed during the last few months the linking of anti-globalisation movement gaining momentum for last few years with the anti-war movement and emerging as a mighty storm of world public opinion involving hundreds of millions of people against US-UK axis. As a reflection of the fundamental contradiction in present era, the contradiction between imperialism and proletarian revolution, imperialism especially US imperialism is increasingly challenged by this unprecedentedly strong world public opinion, anti-imperialist rallies and other protest actions by hundreds of millions of people.

This shows how the objective situation has changed dramatically from what it was in the beginning of 1990s, to one most favourable for opposing, resisting and defeating the imperialist system. The working class and oppressed masses are coming forward to centre-stage of struggle in an ever-intensifying manner, at an unprecedented scale. If the international anti-war movement could not succeed in preventing the invasion of Iraq by US-UK axis, the way it is sweeping across the continents and getting further strengthened after the invasion started indicate the bright possibilities for developing this movement to the level of settling accounts with the imperialist system nationally and internationally.

In leading the anti-globalisation, anti-war movement to qualitatively higher level at this critical stage the international proletariat, and its vanguard force, the communists have a historic role to play. The first task is to build up broadest possible anti-imperialist people’s fronts in all countries according to concrete conditions and link them up internationally. That the organised working class has already come to the forefront of the anti-globalisation, anti-war movement in a number of countries, especially in the imperialist countries, has increased the possibilities for building this front nationally and internationally. Taking into consideration the concrete situation and alignment of class forces, and applying correct flexible tactics the communist parties and organisations and their international groupings and conferences should take initiative for this without delay. It will help to broaden, strengthen and consolidate the present movement, which may be spontaneous presently in many cases.

The communists should continuously fight all forms of illusion that war can be eliminated while the capitalist imperialist system exists and that alternatives can be sought for imperialist globalisation within this system. As Comintern pointed out : "the communists will strive to lead the opponents of war, organised in the struggle for peace, to the struggle for the transformation of the imperialist war into civil war against the fascist instigators of war, against the bourgeoisie, for the overthrow of capitalism......"

Dealing with the question of strengthening of the communist parties and the struggle for the political unity of the working class, the Seventh Congress of Comintern pointed out : "The Congress emphasised with particular stress that only the further all-round consolidation of the communist parties themselves, the development of their initiative, the carrying out of a policy based on Marxist-Leninist principles, and the application of correct flexible tactics, which take into account the concrete situation and the alignment of class forces, can ensure the mobilisation of the widest masses of toilers for the united struggle against fascism, against capitalism." Stressing that the interests of the class struggle of the proletariat and the success of the proletarian revolution make it imperative that a single mass political party of the working class exist in each country, the Comintern also called for uniting all communist forces to achieve this task which is a pre-condition for leading national liberation and socialist revolutions to overthrow imperialist system and to usher in a socialist future.

These lessons of Comintern are still valid and should guide our politics and practice according to the concrete conditions of present times. It is not going to be an easy task after a series of setbacks suffered by the international communist movement during last five decades. All the socialist countries degenerated to capitalist path along with most of the communist parties formed during Comintern period getting degenerated to social democratic positions during this period. The Marxist-Leninist forces who emerged fighting Krushchovite line and other alien trends also suffered severe setbacks due to powerful sectarian influence. Social democratic and sectarian trends are still powerful along with numerous alien trends obstructing the reorganisation of the communist parties in continuation to the teachings of Comintern and according to concrete conditions. The absence of Communist International for last six decades has aggravated this situation.

But the objective conditions are once again most favourable for the reorganisation of the communist movement nationally and internationally uniting all genuine communist forces based on proletarian class line, on concrete analysis of present situation applying Marxist-Leninist theory and lessons of Comintern, and on the experiences of new democratic and socialist revolutions. While wholeheartedly involving in strengthening the anti-globalisation, anti-war movement uniting broadest possible sections, while actively working for building powerful anti-imperialist people’s fronts in each country and at international level, communists should give stress to reorganise the subjective forces, the communist parties surrounded by class/mass organisations, in order to qualitatively develop present excellent situation to that of overthrowing imperialism and its lackeys nationally and internationally once for all.

The invasion of Iraq by the US-UK axis and the various doctrines put forward by Bush administration to impose total hegemony of US imperialism globally and to make it the supreme power, ‘one so powerful that the world has never seen’, have thrown up unprecedentedly grave challenges before the world proletariat, oppressed peoples and their vanguard forces, the communist parties and organisations. The present excellent situation of mighty upsurge of world public opinion against US-UK invasion of Iraq and unprecedented sharpening of all basic contradictions at all levels provide favourable conditions for the communists to take up this challenge and go forward. Let us seize the opportunity and dare to go forward.