Bush and Kerry support it
by Mark Williams, Detroit Workers' Voice (CV #34, August 25, 2004)
(A condensed form of the following article was turned into a leaflet as Detroit Workers' Voice #42, August 5, 2004. See http://www.communistvoice.org/DWV42.html)
The occupation of Iraq has been a fiasco for the Bush administration. Not only has Bush aroused the anger and resistance of the Iraqi working masses, but the workers in the U.S. are increasingly fed up with the occupation. The workers are seeing past the flag-waving rhetoric and lies of the administration and are looking into the real motives behind the Iraqi war. They are increasingly aware that it was not self-defense or liberation that was the motive for the war, but protecting U.S. domination in that oil-rich region. They have seen Bush's promises of democracy shattered by the reality of the torture at Abu Ghraib and the suffering of the Iraqi masses under the U.S. military and their hand-chosen Iraqi helpers. American workers have seen thousands of their sons and daughters killed or wounded for a worthless cause. The toll on the Iraqi population has been much worse. And there is no end in sight for this nightmare as Bush's fake declaration of Iraqi sovereignty still leaves the U.S. as the supreme power in Iraq.
While there are presently not many large or militant demonstrations, there are clear signs of growing anti-war sentiment among the workers. Networks of worker-activists in the trade unions and workplaces have been carrying out anti-war organizing and are getting a good reception among rank-and-file workers. Anti-war resolutions have been passed by many local unions. This June, delegates to the conventions of two large national unions, AFSCME (American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees) and SEIU (Service Employees International Union) passed resolutions critical of the occupation. The AFSCME resolution called for immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq. Worker disgust with the occupation is also reflected in the initiative of Local 10 of the ILWU (International Longshore and Warehouse Union) for a "million worker march" in October despite opposition from the president of the AFL-CIO, John Sweeney. This march has gotten support from several other unions including the NEA (National Education Association).
Further evidence of the disgust of workers and other sections of the masses has been the large and enthusiastic audiences for the anti-Bush, anti-war film Fahrenheit 9-11. Even the bourgeois polling agencies recognize a serious shift against the occupation among the masses.
While the fact that anti-war resolutions were passed by two large national unions indicates worker sentiment against the occupation, they also bring to the fore a glaring contradiction. For while the AFSCME and SEIU adopt anti-war resolutions, the leaders of these unions are also mobilizing the workers to become foot soldiers for Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, who is in favor of continuing the bloody occupation. As well, most of the AFL-CIO union leaders aren't even interested in making the war and occupation a big issue.
Subheads:
- Kerry and the occupation
- "Anti-war" Kucinich accepts Kerry's pro-war convention platform
- Union leaders' hypocrisy: anti-war resolutions while supporting Kerry
- U.S. Labor Against the War (USLAW)