To: Detroit/Seattle
Workers' Voice mailing list
January 28, 2020
Re: Two paths for the anti-war movemenr
by Joseph Green, Detroit Workers' Voice
January 25th was supposed to be a Global Day of Protest against war with Iran. It more-or-less fizzled in the US, and the impetus from the emergency demonstrations of January 9 faded. One explanation for this was that the war crisis had receded.
But is that the entire explanation? Whether the demonstrations were large or small, if they had demonstrated solidarity with Middle Eastern peoples in struggle, they could have had a significant impact. After all, the Day of Protest took place at a time when, despite bloody repression, mass demonstrations were continuing in Iraq and the ferment in Iran was continuing.
Perhaps these events in the Middle East could not inspire the Day of Protest because the main organizers either ignored or opposed the popular demonstrations in Iran and Iraq. For year after year, these groups have been misdirecting the anti-war movement by telling people to ignore the mass protests against such reactionary regimes as that in Iran. So it's not so surprising that, at the time when the people are displaying the utmost heroism in Iran and Iraq, would-be anti-war actions in the US fall flat. This is another illustration that a serious anti-war movement must base itself on support of the mass struggles around the world for freedom, rather than supporting any tyrant who is quarreling with the US government.
In Iraq, there have been demonstrations for months with the people rising up against the corrupt and incompetent regime. Based mainly in Shiite areas, the demonstrations have nevertheless been notably non-sectarian, and have received some support from Sunnis. They demanded social programs and rights for all Iraqis, and they were directed against Iranian influence in Iraq as well as US domination. They have been met with violent repression, with protesters killed by security forces or by pro-Iranian militia. Day after day, protesters are killed, yet another demonstration takes place anyway. Hundreds of people have been killed since October, and thousands injured.
In Iran, yet another round of mass protests began on November 15 last year. The theocratic government responded by killing hundreds of people who have come into the streets and imprisoning thousands. This temporarily tamped things down, but the ruling circles were shaken. Then, with the murder of Iranian general Soleimani by a US imperialist drone in Iraq, there was a mass outpouring in Iran for his funeral. But this sympathy for the regime didn't last long. With the Iranian regime's admission that it was its own military that accidentally shot down an Ukrainian airliner soon after it left Imam Khomeini airport in Tehran, mass demonstrations against the regime resumed with fury.
Meanwhile in the US, the Trump administration has stepped up repression against Iranian-American citizens, Iranians resident in the US, and Iranians who come to study at US universities. American citizens of Iranian background are harassed at the border when they return to the US, even from briefly visiting Canada. Iranian students, who have been accepted by American universities and gone through extensive vetting for visas, arrive in the US to find themselves expelled; their expulsion order may specify that they can't reapply for entry for years, if at all. Typically, no reason is given for this disruption of the lives of innocent Iranians. All this shows that Trump, who pretends to support demonstrations against the Iranian regime, actually has contempt for the masses of Iranian people.
International solidarity with these struggles is crucial for a real fight against US imperialism. It is the workers of the world, not the tyrants, who have an interest in world peace and progress. A supporter in Buffalo of the Communist Voice Organization, who had taken part in the anti-war demonstration of January 9, also took part in that of January 25. In the rest of of this issue of the Detroit/Seattle Workers' Voice list, we include excerpts from his leaflet, and other materials concerning the relation between the American anti-war movement and the international struggle against exploitation and tyranny. <>
Below are excerpts from a leaflet written by a supporter of the Communist Voice Organization living in Buffalo, New York, and distributed at the demonstration of January 25.
US imperialism launched its provocative attack on January 3 with airstrikes on the Baghdad airport in Iraq that killed Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the Quds Force and considered the second important Iranian leader after Ayatollah Khamenei. The bombing also killed top Iraqi militia commander Kataib Hezbollah and at least six others. Supposedly Trump had been saddened by the death of a US contractor in an Iranian-orchestrated attack and this was his idea of revenge. We may scoff at Trump’s mindlessness. But he is a mindless, white-nationalist, anti-Islamic imperialist who looks at the Middle East as simply a place to extend US domination, grab oil, and maybe build his own luxury hotels and golf courses. And he has used his vast arsenal of weapons.
When has US imperialism ever stood with the Iranian people? To hear the US talk now, one would think it loves the Iranian workers and poor and just wants to liberate them. But imperialism has spent its whole existence in Iran attempting to strangle the workers and poor. When a democratic movement gained power under Mossaddegh in 1953, the CIA helped depose that government and brought the ruthless Shah dictatorship to power. ...
The truth is that Trump, being anti-women, swamped with religious reactionaries of his own, not to mention being a two-faced enemy of the poor, really has nothing against the Iranian theocratic capitalists so long as he can push them around. “Regime change” is only one imperialist option.
Iran is by no means an innocent bystander. It’s been a strong capitalist country beneath its theocratic rule. It has been bullying its Middle East neighbors for years, expanding its influence as a regional imperialist. The most gruesome example is Syria where, in 2011, the Iranian General Soleimani ordered some of his Iraqi militias to save the brutal Assad government from the democratic citizens in the Syrian Civil War. Soleimani met with the Russians, Hezbollah and others and consolidated the plans bringing them into the war. In essence, Iran planned the war for a time, a war that has resulted in the saving of a dictator, the destruction of a democratic movement, and the slaughter and exile of millions of people. Trump didn’t kill Soleimani because of this, however. ...
It must be mentioned here that there are those “peace” or “anti-imperialist” groups that consider discussion of such matters irrelevant or products of the CIA! They often cover up and hail the Iranian murderers like Soleimani. On Jan. 14, the WWP’s Sarah Flounder’s writes in Workers World [in praise of the Iranian regime and its role in Iraq]. ...
Meanwhile at home, the Iranian regime has always cracked down on protests of workers, poor people, women, and students. They hide class divisions behind religious rhetoric. There have been numerous strikes against the oppression of women and workers that exploded into a big uprising among the working people when the government declared a big increase in fuel prices. In mid-November 2019, the regime went on a rampage, killing an estimated 1500 protesters and 8-10,000 protesters were arrested or not yet heard from.
Iran has also clawed its way into Iraq where it has spread following the US imperialist wars that overturned the regime of Saddam Hussein in 2003. It has taken over parts of the military and the government, has their own militias there and enjoys a certain influence since Iraq like Iran is predominately Shia, not Sunni Muslim.
Of course the US still has its own grip on Iraq and has sent 14,000 more troops to the region to back up the 5300 US troops already in Iraq. The US is intent on keeping Iran in its place. It wants to bring Iraq to its knees with tighter sanctions and real and threatened military actions.
There have been many people’s movements in the Middle East and North Africa in recent years seeking democratic changes, relief from backward living conditions, women’s rights, worker’s rights, changes in the government, and so on. They have usually been met with harsh repression by their rulers who often pose as “anti-imperialist” when they quarrel with the US. Likewise with Iran’s rulers. They hate imperialism (at least the US version with Trump) and will give the Iranian masses the gift of fundamentalist austerity as compensation. They will stomp on any sign of resistance.
It is clear that any real stand against war cannot be based on hoping the imperialist Democrats can plead with the Trump or prettifying the Iranian war machine (which just accidentally shot down a passenger plane!) Our real hope is the working masses; they are the ones sacrificing themselves to squeeze or get rid of the warmongers. If you want to build a strong anti-war movement don’t confine yourself to merely shouting “U.S. OUT" There is no real opposition to US imperialism stopping its brutal interference in the Middle East unless there’s support for the determined people’s movements that are going on now, before an all-out war, and more importantly if there’s an all-out war. <>
by Joseph Green, Detroit Workers' Voice
There is a sort of would-be "anti-imperialism without the people" that glories in opposing may of the world's movements against oppression around the world. When people rise up in Syria, Hong Kong, Iraq, Iran, and elsewhere against oppression, these supposed leftists issue articles citing secret documents or lengthy historical analysis that supposedly proves that that movements are supposedly tools of US or world imperialism. They are the ones who try to prove the Syrian "White Helmets" who provide medical relief to Syrians wounded by the Assad dictatorship are really imperialist agents. They are the ones who try to prove that Assad didn't really stage gas attacks on the people, but the democrats gassed themselves. They are not real anti-imperialists, but some of the worst enemies of a real anti-imperialist movement.
Consider a recent example. Earlier this month a supposedly anti-imperialist conspiracy monger, "Global Research", carried an article on January 10 that attempted to prove that it was imperialist propaganda that the Iranian military accidentally shot down Ukrainian International Airlines Flight 752. They called this a "big Lie" in an article entitled "Washington Blames Iran for Ukraine Airliner Crash. Was the Plane Brought down by a Missile?" They claimed that it was "impossible" that a missile shot down the airliner. Putting this into an international context, they said it was imperialist propaganda "similar to wrongfully accusing Russia for downing Malaysian Airlines MH17 on July 17, 2014 in eastern Ukraine airspace".
The next day the Iranian government admitted that it had indeed accidentally shot down the airliner. Mass demonstrations broke out in Iran denouncing the government. These were a continuation of the protests that the government had thought it had drowned in blood just previously, and here they were again. Yet to this day Global Research still hasn't explained how it could make such a bad mistake as to deny Iran's responsibility. Indeed, it still posts its story about how it's impossible that a missile was involved in downing the airliner, but precedes it with an "update" stating that there is some doubt about it: "The latest information suggests that the Ukraine plane was brought down by a missile, following statements emanating from the Iranian government". So Global Research still isn't completely sure that it made a mistake, even after the confession by the Iranian regime. That is real loyalty! Unfortunately, it's loyalty to an oppressor.
As for the Malaysian airliner in 2014, it was accidentally shot down by pro-Russian separatist forces with a Buk surface-to-air missile that was provided to them by the Russian military. Detailed elaboration -- and thorough refutation of the lies from supporters of the Russian government -- has been provided by, for example, the investigative website Bellingcat. Don't expect any retraction, though, from "Global Research" or other conspiracy theorists; rather, just like Trump, these "anti-imperialists without and against the people" viciously denounce anyone who points out the facts about what is really going on in the world. Thus "Global Research" foams at the mouth against Bellingcat, and has caried Edward Curtin's article "The Art of Doublespeak: Bellingcat and Mind Control".
That's how far the crisis of orientation in the left has gone. If you want to stand up against war and imperialism, you have to be willing to stand against the most vile slanders by the "non-class anti-imperialists", who hobnob with reactionary rulers while denouncing the people who are heroically demonstrating in the streets.<>
Below we reproduce an open letter to the activist organization Code Pink from a bit over a year ago, which asked it to reconsider its policy of building links with the Iranian regime rather than with Iranian workers and oppressed people. It is reproduced from Oakland Socialist.
Open Letter to Code Pink
December 1, 2018
Dear Code Pink:
You have recently announced that you will be organizing a trip to Iran. You state the purpose is to help “move our two nations from a place of hostility and military threats to a place of mutual respect and peace with one another.”
As socialists, and as supporters of the international working class, we, of course oppose any aggression – economic, political or military – by US capitalism against Iran or any other country. This includes opposing all US government economic and political sanctions against Iran as well, of course, as opposing any potential US military attack. However, we also do not think that the issue is simply a matter of lack of “mutual respect” between this aggressive and repressive US government and, we have to say it, the smaller and less powerful but also aggressive and repressive capitalist government of Iran.
We think that the real issue for discussion between Americans and Iranians is that of organizing links and mutual support between the working class and the oppressed peoples of our two countries. This is as opposed to talking about “mutual respect” between the “nations”, which always means between the governments. Any agreement reached between the US and Iranian governments will simply be an agreement for how to “peacefully” loot, plunder and repress the peoples of the world as well as the global environment.
We are concerned that your visit will actually help facilitate the repressive role of the Iranian government. We note that you plan to meet with “representatives of the Foreign Ministry and Parliament” – that is to say, representatives of the regime. You say you will be meeting students and professors. But who will be selecting the students and professors you will be meeting? In the absence of any hint to the contrary, we think it is safe to say it will be the same regime that will be selecting those students, professors and anybody else you will meet with.
Your plans to meet with Iranian regime officials fly in the face of what has been happening in Iran this year.
* There have been a number of major labor strikes in Iran. These include the strikes of 4500 Haft Tapeh sugar cane workers and of 4000 workers at the National Steel of Ahvaz. (See Alliance of Middle East Socialists)
* There have been protests of ethnic Arabs in Iran, and these protests have been viciously repressed, complete with sweeping arrests and even executions. (See Amnesty International.) The Iranian government has also executed Kurdish political prisoners and continues to imprison other Kurdish political prisoners.
* We have seen the courageous acts of Iranian women who have taken off their head scarves in public. They too have been repressed, arrested and imprisoned. Other feminist human rights activists such as Nasrin Sotudeh, Narges Mohammadi, Zeynab Jalalian, Golrokh Iraee, Atena Daemi as well as feminist men such as Farhad Meysami and Arash Sadeghi languish in prison. Some are currently on hunger strike.
* There is also the continued mistreatment of Afghan migrants/refugees who do not have basic civil rights and are treated as a source of even cheaper labor.
* Finally, we note that the Iranian regime has been involved in mass murder and sectarian cleansing in Syria, and intervening militarily and politically in Iraq and Lebanon.
We are alarmed that while you will be hearing the position of the repressive right-wing government in Iran, you evidently have no plans to hear from any of the progressive opposition forces mentioned above. That can only mean that the end result of your visit will be to help legitimize this right-wing, repressive and reactionary regime.
Recognizing the nature of the Iranian regime does not mean supporting the capitalist / imperialist government of the United States. We can and should oppose both by supporting the struggles of the oppressed and exploited in both countries and around the world. The enemy of my enemy is not necessarily my friend.
We hope you will reconsider your plans for your visit to Iran.
Our true allies in Iran are all those struggling against this regime, not the regime that is even more repressive than the Trump regime.
Yours for international working class solidarity and for socialism,
John Reimann, former recording secretary, Carpenters Local 713, editor, Oaklandsocialist
Cheryl Zuur, former president, AFSCME Local Union 444
Co-Signers:
Sina Zekavat, Alliance of Middle East Socialists
Frieda Afary, producer of Iranian Progressives in Translation and member of Alliance of Middle Eastern Socialists
Sarah Morken, former candidate, Tacoma City Council
Reza Fiyouzat, independent writer
Jason Pike, socialist/activist, Poland
Art Francisco, member, Carpenters Local 30
Irene Kellogg, member (retired) United Federation of Teachers, NYC
Michael Karadjis, Western Sydney University, socialist and solidarity activist
Ruth Riegler, editor
Les Evanchick, human being
Felipe Messeguer, Costa Rica
Marilyn Kimmerling, member, Industrial Workers of the World
Roger Silverman, West Ham Labour Party & Newham Momentum and member, National Education Union, Newham
Jon Bekken, American Association of University Professors, Chair of the Faculty, Albright College
NYC Syria Peace Vigil Group
Mike Howells, New Orleans
Dennis Brasky
Johannes Waardenburg, historian, Italy
Timothy Close, Retiree member, Ohio Association of Professional Fire Fighters
Rohini Hensman, writer and researcher
Yasser Munif, Emerson College
Jason Schulman, co-editor, New Politics
Harald Etzbach, journalist/translator, Berlin
Dr Shon Meckfessel
Peter Bohmer, faculty in Political Economy, the Evergreen State College, Olympia, WA, IWW and United Faculty of Evergreen, and Economics for Everyone
Steve Ongerth, IWW and Inland Boatmans Union <>
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Posted January 29,
2020
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