Bring the troops
back now
AFTER A six-day bloody assault, George Bush declared ‘victory’ in Fallujah.
It is an empty victory that will come back to haunt both him and Blair.
Cartoon by Alan Hardman
It has left a city in ruins and forced tens of thousands to flee their
homes – many sleeping on the streets in makeshift cardboard shelters.
Nobody knows how many Iraqi civilians have died during the invasion of
their city. It was only weeks after the last assault in April that we learnt
the full horrific truth – that up to 1,000 Iraqis had been slaughtered.
Thousands of civilians remained in Fallujah as it was flattened by 500lb
bombs and heavy artillery. With no water, electricity or medical aid, the
injured, including children, were left to slowly bleed to death. There has
been an increase in typhoid and other diseases from drinking contaminated
water.
Cost
US forces have succeeded in seizing Fallujah but at a terrible cost.
Spokespeople for US imperialism talked of ending the insurgency by giving it a
‘big slap’ in Fallujah and preparing Iraq for elections in January. But as the
US forces were destroying Fallujah, violence was raging in virtually every
major city in central Iraq.
In Mosul, the third-largest city, at least nine police stations were
stormed and looted and roadblocks set up. Even Bush and Co. are having to
admit that the violence will get worse.
How many more cities will be flattened by occupying forces? How many more
Iraqi civilians and troops will be killed in what is an unwinnable guerrilla
war? Even if elections take place, which is far from certain, resistance to
the occupation will not be quelled. Attacks like that on Fallujah will ignite
new fires throughout Iraq. The troops should be brought home now.
- Troops out of Iraq
- Let the Iraqi people decide their own future
- For a united working class struggle against the occupation and for a
socialist Iraq
Iraq – what we say
THE SOCIALIST Party calls for the immediate withdrawal of all occupying
troops. We support the right of Iraqis to fight imperialist occupation and
advocate mass resistance through the building of democratically controlled
workers’ and farmers’ militias, uniting all ethnic groups.
Actions which result in the indiscriminate killing of ordinary Iraqis,
carried out by a small minority, do not advance the long-term interests of the
working class. Mass resistance however, could massively weaken the occupation
while laying the basis for independent working class organisation, and the
struggle for democratic control and planning of the country’s resources to
ensure jobs, a living wage, healthcare education and basic services for the
Iraqi people.
This is essential to cut across ethnic and religious divisions and prevent
the dominance of right-wing political Islam, which is a danger to the Iraqi
working class.
