End The Occupation Of Iraq

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.