War in Iraq: pacifist nullity and re-emergence of "resistance" blah blah

The U. S. power is the only real chance of survival for the capitalistic mode of production. It is the backbone of a system that, without this vital prop, would immediately fall into ruin. As active supporters of the global Capital, the United States hostile in particular the old passive imperialism of Europe. That's why their war against Iraq is nothing but an episode in the war they are waging against the world.

In the face of this reality, pacifism — whose distinctive feature is always bourgeois — has once more given proof of its inconclusiveness by invoking the intervention of UNO or of countries rivalling the USA, appealing to constitutions made just to be bypassed, finally hoping the war "will finish quickly". But which war should "finish" if they called "peace" the bloody war that has been going on for a half-century? There have been much less victims during the whole Iraqi campaign than during a single day in "peace time" all over the world. Even the Catholic Church stated not to be "pacifist" and to consider as "right" the wars against aggressors, thus rejecting the existential nullity both of Christian "peacemongers" and of their "left-wing" emulators.

Meanwhile, the USA have launched their umpteenth recruitment campaign, addressed to both countries and social fringe groups inside them, useful in the event of balcanizations. Clear examples of this are: in former times, the partisanism of the Afghan ² lords of war² against the Russians first, then against the Talibans; today, the willingness of the Kurds to offer themselves as cannon fodder, in the vain hope of gaining some crumbs from the American Pax.

The present war confirms once more the validity of the Marxist programme, according to which imperialism does not derive from the will of certain nations to abuse their power, but it is the ripe fruit of capitalism. Therefore, the anti-imperialism is to be considered as the result of a complex historical course, not as a set phrase to parrot. After the end of colonialism, every irredentism or national question can be resolved only through the proletarian revolution, or else it becomes an element of this or that strategy followed by the major powers. The current partisanism, encouraged both by the United States and by their rivals, has the same nature of that already seen everywhere for decades.

And yet some hope the "Iraqi people" will put up "resistance" to the super-powerful invading army, as if there were a proletarian "Commune of Baghdad" to defend. Others compare improperly Baghdad with Stalingrad, forgetting that the massacre of 1942-43 took place during an imperialistic war which mowed down twenty millions of Russians: a high price in blood paid for the American victory and rewarded with the Yalta partition.

Much more consistent is the pragmatic American movement against the war, that gave already proof of defeatism during the Vietnam conflict, when tens of thousands of draft-dodgers and 10.000 deserters contributed towards putting a stop to fighting. In addition, this time the great protest demonstrations have been organised before the outbreak of the war, showing this way the positive acceleration of all the historical processes.

The U. S. troops have arrived in the town centre of Baghdad destroying everything and slaughtering even pro-American reporters. There is a such bloodshed in sight as to trouble even the tough ex-colonialist Great Britain. So, instead of a suicide "resistance" , we wish an active defeatism of the Iraqi proletarian soldiers: obviously they cannot fight, alone, both against their bourgeoisie and the U. S. army, but they can revolt and turn their weapons on their officers. Just to silence those who are still blethering about a Mesopotamian Stalingrad.

Up to now, the Iraqi soldiers have fought bravely against the incommensurable U. S. forces. Even though they had primitive armaments, they have stood up to the most dreadful technological-military machinery of all time. They have demonstrated that omnipotence does not exist. They would certainly deserve a recognition for their valour, but for the fact that the Americans do not accept conditional surrenders. The United States have always fought their wars aiming to destroy the enemy. This is not the result we expect for the proletarians of the Iraqi army. Being the most numerous and organised of the whole Middle East, they would better save their strengths for future class battles.

But, once the war is over, they will not be able to do much alone. The future of class war will be decided in the Western metropolis, through the indispensable connection between the proletariat and the peoples starved out by imperialism. Unfortunately a historical tragedy might occur again. If a marginal war like the present one is enough to infect the proletariat with the plague of the partisan ideology, we can imagine what might happen when the "endless war" will be waged on the real U. S. competitors: Europe, Japan, China.