Link to this page: http://www.socialistparty.org.uk/issue/360/5919
From The Socialist newspaper, 4 September 2004
Bush loses 'war on terror'
End The Occupation Of Iraq
- Down with the US Empire
- For a socialist alternative to war and terror
GEORGE BUSH has finally admitted that the 'war on terror' can't be won. But not before an estimated 37,000 Iraqi civilians and over 1,000 coalition troops have been killed in Iraq in the name of this unwinnable war.
Hannah Sell
Both the US and British governments are pouring a fortune into Iraq, while they cut public services at home. Britain's government is spending around £4.2 million a day on the occupation and to date it has cost the US a massive $130 billion.
This money is not going to improve the living conditions of the Iraqi people, but to carry out their brutal subjugation. Millions of Iraqis are still without regular electricity and water supplies. Of the $18 billion that the US congress approved for the rebuilding of the country that they smashed only $600 million has actually been spent on reconstruction - mostly on security.
George Bush is right about one thing. No matter how much money and troops are poured in, imperialism will not win the war in Iraq. Hundreds, if not thousands, have been killed in the latest siege of Najaf. But it resulted, once again, in the defeat of the US-led coalition.
President Bush concluded his latest speech by saying that "you can create the conditions so that those who use terror as a tool are less acceptable in parts of the world." His government has done exactly the opposite, multiplying one-hundred fold the hatred of US imperialism worldwide.
That hatred stems from the US's domination of a capitalist system where poverty and instability are the norm for billions of people. This has created the conditions where some, in desperation, will turn to the mistaken methods of terrorism. Bush's policies have inevitably only increased that trend.
This is certainly understood by growing numbers of the US population. The days are long gone when Bush could rally the US working class to his banner just by beating the 'war on terror' drum. The massive demonstration, half-a-million strong, outside the Republican convention has strong echoes of the height of the anti-Vietnam war movement.
It is also an indication that in the US and worldwide a new generation are looking for an alternative to the increasing wars and turmoil that is capitalism in the 21st century.
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In The Socialist 4 September 2004:
US Imperialism Further Weakened In Iraq
Mass Protests Greets Bush And Republican Convention
Mark Thatcher And The 'Dogs Of War'
Socialist Party campaigns
Defending the 35-hour week: The Profit System's The Problem, Not The Workers
Young workers fight to End Low Pay
Low Pay Campaign Taps Into Anger
Scottish nursery nurses: How Our Strike Changed Me
Firefighters' dispute: Employers Climb Down
International socialist news and analysis
Joe Higgins: Speaking Tour Of Australia
Che Guevara, Motorcycle Diaries, directed by Walter Salles
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