End the Occupation now, No to a Religious State

international | anti-war / imperialism | opinion/analysis Monday March 21, 2005 11:31 by sovietpop - workers solidarity movement sovietpop at eircom dot net

The Occupation: A Disaster

The US occupation has damaged Iraqi civil society and infrastructure, fuelled terrorism and was carried out in the interest of capitalists rather than the Iraqi people. American capitalism has used the occupation to suppress workers rights and steal the natural resources of the country. Before the US invaded there weren’t any Islamist terrorist groups of any note in Iraq. Now there are, thus the secular nature of Iraqi society has declined under the occupation as secular forces are squashed between the Islamists and the US forces.

How do we oppose the occupation in a progressive manner?

We must support people like ourselves, workers, secularists, progressive women’s movements and free Trade Unions. We need to oppose the anti-working class actions of the US occupiers, such as their attempt to ban independent trade unions in the work place. We also oppose the US attacks on cities such as Falluja, which resulted in huge civilian casualties.

While we support the right of the Iraqi people to resist occupation, supporting the political Islamists, that is organisations that wish to create an Islamic state in Iraq, can only contribute to the oppression of Iraqi people. We should support our fellow workers rather than religious zealots who terrorise women and assassinate progressive activists. Political Islamists, whether they are those that collaborate with the US occupation, like Sistani’s group, or those opposed to it in the resistance, share a common goal: the repression of secular women’s and workers’ movements.

Solidarity with the Iraqi people.

There is a progressive alternative: The women’s organisations, independent trade unions, groups representing the unemployed and left parties such as the Workers Communist Party, that are fighting for a secular state free from occupation, intolerance and oppression. Groups such as the General Union of Oil Employees, an independent union based in the south of Iraq, or the Federation of Workers Councils and Unions in Iraq are trying to organise workers in the face of intense physical and political repression. It is these alternative movements, not the Islamist or Ba’athist elements of the resistance or the occupying forces which deserve our support.
For further information on progressive Iraqi groups see www.equalityiniraq.com, www.uuiraq.org, www.wpiraq.net

Issued by
Workers Solidarity Movement (wsm_ireland@yahoo.com)
Irish Socialist Network(irishsocialistnetwork@dublin.ie)
Fairview Against the War(fairviewantiwar@eircom.net)