CURRENT AFFAIRS
March 2002
(Comments: tpapard@btinternet.com)
THREATENED WAR AGAINST IRAQ:
A very dangerous policy which would break up the anti-terror coalition and set every Arab nation against the U.S. and U.K., vastly increasing the threat from terrorism by creating millions of new potential terrorists overnight.
Attempts must be made to reintroduce inspectors into Iraq under UN auspices. These would have a much better chance of success if USA, Israel, UK, etc. agreed to deplete their own stocks of weapons of mass destruction also under UN inspection.
END SUPPORT FOR SHARON’S ISRAEL:
Israel must no longer be seen as USA’s colony or client state in the Middle East. Equal recognition must be given to Palestine as an independent state, and both sides must be equally pressurized to halt the violence and agree a lasting peace treaty. Sharon’s provocative, aggressive policies have not brought peace and security, only made the situation far worse. Bush is now aping Sharon’s disastrous policies in the Middle East.
THE WAR AGAINST TERRORISM:
Everything in my previous article on the War in Afghanistan and the events of September 11th still apply, except now the USA has killed more innocent people in Afghanistan than those who died in USA in the terrorist attacks last September. Yet still Bin Laden and those who planned the September 11th attacks remain at large. The war has not solved anything; it has created chaos in Afghanistan, especially outside the capital Kabul, where the rival warlords are threatening full-scale civil war. The international policing and intelligence organization to catch those responsible for September 11th doesn’t seem to have even gotten off the ground, nor has there been any attempt whatsoever to revise the policies which caused such resentment in the Arab world and which gave rise to the suicidal terrorist attacks on that dreadful day, indefensible as they were.
The removal of US bases from Saudi Arabia, recognition of a Palestinian state, and US pressure to curb the excesses of Israel (illegal settlements in Palestine, nuclear weapons, killing of innocent civilians) along with equal pressure to curb Palestinian violence would do far more to stop the terrorist threat than bombing innocent Afghan civilians (‘collateral damage’ in US military parlance.)
Prime Minister Blair, leader of the New Tory Party in the UK, must stop being Bush’s poodle and say No to Star Wars technology, No to any invasion of Iraq, and No to US hegenomy and unilateralism generally. If USA wants to act unilaterally, let it give up its vast nuclear weapons arsenal as an example to all other states. They are military useless anyway – they didn’t prevent the September 11th attacks, or the Vietnam war – case proven.
BRITISH AND EUROPEAN POLITICAL SCENE:
The Liberal Democrats are the new left-of-center party in British mainstream politics, far to the left of so-called New Labor (in reality, New Tory Party). The trades unions should line up behind the Liberal Democrats and make sure they don’t lurch to the right. The Liberal Democrats support increased taxation to support and improve the public services, and are the most enthusiastic of the three main parties towards Europe and the single currency.
The future for Britain lies with an increasingly federal Europe, working from the inside to make its institutions more progressive and democratic. All internationalists should support the single currency and moves to break down the barriers between European states which caused two World Wars in the last century. We must move towards a United States of Europe, and eventually towards a United Socialist States of Europe, a democratic successor to the USSR and the former Socialist states of Eastern and Central Europe.
In this the 50th year of the Queen’s accession, it is high time Britain considered a referendum, not only on the single currency, but on the outdated concept of the Monarchy. In the 21st century this should be replaced by a democratic republican constitution, and hopefully one day by a democratically endoresed Socialist republican constitution as part of a United Socialist States of Europe.
FIRST PRIORITIES:
Ditch Bush, Blair, Sharon and get some sensible, moderate leaders in these three countries who can start to solve the terrible problems we face in the 21st century without making them worse than they already are!