Protesting at the Newport 2014 Nato Summit, photo Paul Mattsson

Protesting at the Newport 2014 Nato Summit, photo Paul Mattsson   (Click to enlarge: opens in new window)

Steffan Bateman, Cardiff Socialist Party

The world does not look like a safer place after the Newport Nato Summit, held on 4-5 September.

In response to the crisis in Ukraine they agreed to establish a ‘rapid reaction force’ to be deployed within 48 hours of a Russian invasion. 4,000 soldiers are being sent to the Baltics, a quarter from Britain.

Five Nato members will supply Ukraine with arms. Despite the ceasefire agreed between the Ukraine government and Russia-backed rebels, shelling continues.

Nato also discussed military intervention in Iraq as a ‘solution’ to the crisis that its member nations created. But the new bombing campaign against Isis (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant) extreme religious fundamentalists in Iraq will only create more carnage.

The leaders of the military wing of western capitalism were protected from the people of South Wales by 12 miles of steel fencing, nearly 10,000 police officers, 25 fighter jets, and even five Nato warships.

‘Security’

An estimated £50 million were spent on the security operation for the delegates, while austerity is wreaking havoc in Wales just like the rest of the world.

A luxury banquet was held for Nato attendees, including US President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Merkel: A disgusting spectacle in a city where many rely on food banks.

The Socialist Party joined the hundreds of anti-war and anti-austerity protesters in Newport and Cardiff. Our leaflets and meetings stressed that war is inextricably linked to capitalism. We were loud, lively, and colourful, shouting the need for a socialist society to replace the misery of our war-torn society.

The ruling classes of this world have no solution for the economic mess we’re in, they don’t have answers for the sectarian wars ripping apart the Middle East, and their rush to re-arm Ukraine and Israel will only prolong slaughter.

Only a workers’ alternative can achieve long lasting solutions in Ukraine or the Middle East. That means a socialist society where the energies of humanity are spent on improving living standards, not killing machines.