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Resisting the global war (Eurodusnie)
Eurodusnie - 20.03.2003 10:10
The war against Iraq has started. The war engine is moving again. Human beings are being killed and others are destined to be disabled for the rest of their lives. Others will die of hunger or lack of medicines. Daily we hear in the news about the inevitability of war. The United States and its ‘coalition of the willing’ are trying to persuade us that it is a war against tyranny and for peace and democracy. However, the story is different and more complicated than that. Let’s try to unravel the story…
Why is the war happening?
The control of oil areas has always been an important issue and Iraq in particular and the Middle East in general are rich in oil. So many different interests conflict and this can partially explain the situation. It seems to be the case that this war is part of the nature of the system. After the 11th of September and the ‘war against terrorism’ the United States threatened a list of countries with an attack. Afghanistan was just the beginning in this new series of wars, with possibly Iran and North Korea as the next targets. It is sick to see how the war is boosting the economy. The stock markets went up directly after the United States blew up the United Nation process and the last chance for a peaceful solution.
Results of war!
The results of war are going to be disastrous. Human lives will be sacrificed, and we should not only think of the number of Iraqis that will die. We should also think of those who will be disabled and the future kids that will be born with diseases because of the polluted earth, like the people in the Balkans who are still suffering from the NATO bombings in 1999. Due to the use of depleted uranium the number of people dying of cancer has amazingly increased. The war will not leave the environment unaffected. The air, the sea and the ground will be polluted because of the new weapons that are going to be used and ‘tested’. One might think but this is happening too far away, how is my life going to be affected? All our lives will be affected, as oppression and exploitation will escalate. European Governments have already used September the 11th in order to have more laws ‘against terrorism’ which are frequently translated into laws against civil liberties, against demonstrations and strikes.
Is the US bad and the EU good?
Despite the attempts of European leaders to persuade us of the opposite, it is a fact that European countries are participating in the war against Iraq. European war industries have sold weapons to Iraq, and of course European governments and oil companies are also interested in control of the oil of the area. The German Prime Minister Schroeder might initially have opposed a war scenario, but he also made it clear that if the war comes, then Europe should support the US led coalition. The Dutch government is taking a similar stance. Moreover, it is European army forces that are replacing the American ones in the Balkans and Afghanistan, so that the latter can move on to the Gulf area. British forces have already been sent to the Gulf, Greek and Dutch warships are patrolling the area. The Spanish government has stated that any Spanish man could be send to war, since the professional army is understaffed. The Dutch government is letting the United States use Schiphol airport, the port of Rotterdam and the railway. So it is more than obvious that the European governments are participating in the war despite the majority of people opposing a war.
Is it a war for democracy?
The United States and its ‘coalition of the willing’ are trying to persuade us that the war against Iraq is a justified one. They refer to International Law, but international law is nothing but what the powerful capitalist states want it to be. They talk about the United Nations, but again this is nothing but an arena for them to work out how war and peace will be imposed, how ‘the loot’ will be divided. This war makes more clear than ever that international politics is a market place. Rich countries are openly buying support instead of using arguments. Is this the democracy, they say they defend?
How can we stop the war?
Now that the war has started, what can we do to turn the tide towards a peaceful and sustainable future? We suggest direct action, since parliamentary ways obviously do not help and parliamentary democracy has turned out to be a fraud. There are already courageous groups and individuals employing direct action at military bases, but each of us should do something every day and at every level. What is required is direct action involving tens, hundreds or thousands of people. Of course, we can’t all spend our days protesting, but we can all make a real difference in the towns and neighbourhoods where we live, in the places where we work, in the universities, at school, everywhere. We can sabotage the war by demonstrating and being on strike, but we can also make a difference by being politically disobedient and organising ourselves outside of the boundaries set by parliamentary democracy. We cannot stop the war by protesting alone, we have to organise our lives without the political and economical elite, without the institutions they have created in order to legitimise their power. Therefore, let us get organised for a direct democratic alternative in the here and now. Let’s take to the streets to prevent war but also retake our lives in the process.
Global workgroup from the Eurodusnie collective PO Box 2228, 2301 CE Leiden in The Netherlands Telephone: ++ 31 (0) 71 5173019 email:  infopgaconferentie@eurodusnie.nl website:  http://eurodusnie.nl
 E-Mail: info@eurodusnie.nl  Website: http://eurodusnie.nl
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