Socialist Worker Monthly Review December 2004

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CAN HE BE
STOPPED?
Socialist Worker Monthly Review December 2004 1
Reading cinema workers win
SOCIALIST
by JOHN ANDERSON WORKER
After a long fight for better pay
MONTHLY
and conditions, Reading cinema
workers finally called a victory
on 4 November after ratifying REVIEW
the management’s offer for
better wages with a margin of
10 to 1.
Editors:
They achieved their aim of a
Daphne Lawless
pay scale that is based on experi-
ence rather than on age. Workers & David Colyer.
will be looking forward to a
substantial pay increase. Millar of Unite. Unite is looking forward
We welcome your
Earlier this year Reading Negotiations broke down to continuing these sorts of
boss Mark Douglas told work- in July when Reading workers campaigns. contributions.
ers that it was Reading Inter- rejected an offer. During the last “What was most exciting was Email copy to
national’s policy to pay cinema school holidays, workers pick- that the rejection of the two
[email protected]
workers the lowest they legally eted outside the movie theatre previous offers was driven by
or post to Box 13-
could. and gave away free popcorn. the workers, they decided that
“Minimum wage has been This got Reading back to the it wasn’t good enough. In eleven 685 Auckland
the standard pay at multiplexes, table, but it was the threat of a months the workers went from or phone the
because individual workers strike that forced management not knowing what a union was,
Socialist Centre
don’t have much power to to make a better offer. to running—and winning—a
negotiate, but where we stick “It was a long campaign, but campaign.” [phone].
together and negotiate a collec- everyone stuck together, which
tive agreement we can change was why we won,” said Grace Reprinted from Snap!: www.
that,” said union rep Grace Millar. snap.enzyme.org.nz
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2 Socialist Worker Monthly Review December 2004
here this insider
The spooks versus here & now 4
• RAM the Jam
• Alliance conference
• Matt McCarten
the masses
industrial action 7
• Listener: liberal or
Allegations that the Security Intelligence Service have been
Libertarianz?
running a campaign of infiltration and surveillance against
Maori organisations should come as no surprise to anyone.
As Auckland Council of Civil Liberties president Barry US election 8
Wilson has pointed out, they did exactly the same thing to • The power to beat Bush
anti-Springbok tour protesters in 1981.
• America’s right turn?
More recently, the SIS broke into the house of anti-globali-
sation activist Aziz Choudry.
The SIS’s function is to uphold the security of the New Iraq 10
Zealand state. This includes New Zealand’s place in the world
• War crimes in Fallujah
capitalist economic system, and our relationships with the se-
• No democracy
curity and military establishments in the other countries which
make up the “Western Alliance”. • Victory is defeat
To this end, they certainly consider it part of their job to • The great gamble
monitor and undermine any political movement which could
threaten this—up to and including elected governments.
Palestine 14
In the 1980s, David Lange’s government rubbed the SIS the
wrong way with their anti-nuclear stand. The SIS reportedly • Yasser Arafat
retaliated by passing information on Lange’s personal life to
business leaders.
culture with class 16
In the 1970s, the British secret service MI5 spread rumours
that their Labour prime minister, Harold Wilson, was a Russian • The sigh of the oppressed
spy. West Virginian
In New Zealand the system is set up deliberately to mini-
mise the ability of parliament to control or even know about
history of ideas 17
what the SIS does.
Even if radicals won a parliamentary majority, there’s no • The other America
way that they could keep these people under control.
Helen Clark’s strong statements of having “total confi-
neighbourhood news 18
dence” in SIS director Richard Woods shows just how much a
part of the system the Labour government is. • Australia: recruiting sergeant
This confidence is reflected not only in her dismissal of for US imperialism
these current allegations, but in the way that her government
is determined to keep Ahmed Zaoui in jail.
says you 18
The SIS issued the “security risk certificate” against Zaoui
pretty much on the say-so of overseas intelligence services. • Multi-Cultural Aotearoa
Helen Clark obviously considers keeping the worldwide • Palmerston North Nazis
network of spooks on-side is worth keeping a man in jail with-
out trial for more than two years.
The state is not neutral. The SIS will go after any political where we stand 19
force whom they consider a threat to the status quo. • Socialist Worker locality
Any elected government that knows what’s good for it will
contacts
go along with it.
This is why you can’t change the system through parlia-
ment, because parliament isn’t where the power lies. fightback 20
Changing the system means going up against the power of
• Ahmed Zaoui
the state.
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Socialist Worker Monthly Review December 2004 3
here & now
RAM the JAM with free
& frequent buses
On 15 November, Auckland’s RAM (Residents Action Movement) launched its petition for free & frequent buses at
a meeting of the Auckland Regional Council (ARC). The following week, RAM ARC councillor ROBYN HUGHES and
RAM organiser GRANT MORGAN gave the following address the Auckland City Council, arguing the case for free
buses.
ROBYN HUGHES: F R E E would take anyone anywhere
We all know that the Auck- anytime. It would make sense
land region is gripped by a trans- for people to get out of their
port crisis. Major road arteries cars.
are clogged much of the time. It would fix gridlock in a
Pollution levels are worse than way no other transport mode
London, the ARC reports. B U S E S could in a region covering a
On present trends, the huge geographical area with a
number of vehicles on Auck- fairly dispersed population.
land roads will double over 20 This isn’t just RAM’s view.
years. That’s not sustainable. Close to 200 prominent and
Build more roads? Our re- P E T I T I O N respected Aucklanders have
gion already has more tarseal personally endorsed RAM’s
per person than any other free buses petition.
comparable city in the world. Our personal endorsers are
More tarseal will do what it’s as diverse as:
always done—grow more cars • Professor of Financial Ac-
and make gridlock worse. counting, Jilnaught
How do we solve greater Wong.
Auckland’s chronic conges- • Maori Party co-leader, Pita
tion? How do we turn our Sharples.
region into a world show- • Executive head of St Kenti-
case?—somewhere overseas gern College, Warren Peat.
visitors flock to experience a • World heavyweight title
place that moves. boxer, David Tua.
RAM has a plan. • High-profile political com-
We want the urgent intro- mentator, Chris Trotter.
duction of thousands more • General manager of Bar-
buses which are fare-free and nardos Northern, Glenys
frequent and close to everyone Knowles.
RAM
in build-up areas. Residents Action • Award-winning hip-hop art-
Funding would come NOT ist, Che Fu.
Movement
from rate rises, but by a major • Executive trustee of Inde-
shift of government funds pendent Business Founda-
away new tarseal and into tion, Ralph Penning.
new buses. transport costs to the business this requires a political will • Well-known economist, Su-
This bold plan can fix gridlock loss and you get a that, at present, isn’t there. san St John.
gridlock fairly quickly and total of $1.7 billion each year I will let Grant talk about • Auckland City councillors,
cheaply. in real transport costs not fac- the politics of getting Auckland Cathy Casey & Richard
In terms of economic, social tored into traditional transport moving. Simpson.
& environmental costs, RAM planning.
believes the key question is: If we had, say, 3,000 new GRANT MORGAN: Our petition’s extremely
Can we afford not to have free buses, they could be run for In the words of Dr Paul diverse endorsers believe that
buses? free and gradually replaced Mees, a world-respected urban free & frequent buses are the
Recently, three academics for less than a quarter of the planner: way to go, and that government
linked with the School of Ge- $1.7 billion in today’s “hidden” “Half a century of mo- money is there to fund it.
ography completed the Auck- transport costs alone. That’s not torway-dominated transport They also sense a lack of
land region’s only in-depth counting the one-off purchase policy has made Auckland a political will to do it. Why
analysis of “hidden” transport price of a mix of 3,000 large & car-dominated city. This domi- else would they endorse our
costs, such as environmental, small buses, which would be nance is reflected in the on-the- petition?
accident and health costs. around $500 million. ground reality of congested That’s why RAM has
These independent re- At present, 82% of mostly roads and pitiful public trans- launched a free buses petition.
searchers found the “hidden” government transport funding port, but also in the intellectual Only a massive groundswell
costs of private transport goes into roads. Less than 8% reality of a transport debate can bring about the political
across the region to be $711 goes into passenger trans- that cannot make a decisive changes needed to get our
million each year. port—and even this 8% is break with the past.” region moving.
In addition, the government mostly devoted to rail, not RAM is making such a de- We’re out to “RAM the
estimates that gridlock costs buses. cisive break. JAM”—not just the traffic jams
Auckland businesses a billion This radical imbalance in fa- 3,000 fare-free buses, run- that plague Auckland, but also
dollars each year. vour of roads must be changed ning in new patterns, would the political jams that prevent
Add the “hidden” private if we’re to make progress. And bring buses to the people. They a real solution.
4 Socialist Worker Monthly Review December 2004
here & now
Alliance remainder rallies
Around fifty Alliance party members required to register
activists gathered in Welling- a party list at the next election.
ton on the last weekend of One Alliance activist estimated
November for the party’s an- their active membership at
nual conference. “about a hundred”.
The conference was over- One delegate announced to
shadowed by the recent res- the conference that several of
ignation of the majority of those attending had come to
the leadership, including Matt see “if it was still worth it” be-
McCarten and Laila Harre. ing part of the Alliance.
Over the past year, deep Conference delegates
divisions opened within the blamed the “arrogance” of
Alliance, over its relationship their former leaders for their
with new organisations that party’s lack of progress over
are independent of the Labour the previous year. They ac-
Party—the Unite union, led by cused McCarten and Harre
McCarten, Auckland’s RAM of disregarding the views of
(Residents Action Movement) Alliance activists outside the
and, in particular, the Maori leadership, and giving the party
Party. no lead for action.
McCarten and his support- Because of this, a major
ers argued that the Alliance theme at the conference was
“internal party democracy”.
The conference voted to re- Jill Ovens and Andrew McKenzie
place the council and positions
of leader and general secretary Piesse agreed that having a this party through hard, patient
with two co-leaders and a five- primary focus on elections has work of local activism.”
person “secretariat”. The two tended to make Alliance mem- She also said “the Alliance
co-leaders of the Alliance will bers passive, but thinks, “that’s is an electoral party—that’s
be chosen as the party draws inevitable in a party that has a what we do, run in elections.”
up its electoral list. broad range of activists. New general secretary An-
In the last session, the con- “People will only get in- drew McKenzie, a Christch-
ference made the usual reso- volved in the party to the ex- urch lawyer, agreed, saying
lutions about getting more tent that they were interested,” that running a party list was “a
involved in grassroots cam- he said. symbol of legitimacy”.
paigns. Jill Ovens, re-elected as Al- When asked whether it was
Suggestions from delegates liance president, is optimistic more important to build for
included calls to renew Alli- about the future of the party elections or build a grassroots
ance campaigns for universal now that “the clique on the old movements, Ovens suggested
student allowances and the national executive” have gone. that the Alliance could do
Paul Piesse re-nationalisation of electricity, Accusing Matt McCarten of both, and could become “the
as a way of raising the party’s “seeking shortcuts to power”, electoral arm” of the anti-glo-
should continue to help the profile in the run-up to the Oven said, “We’re going to build balisation movement.
Maori Party, and should coop- election.
erate with it (and possibly the Paul Piesse, a union official
Greens) in next year’s general from Christchurch, is a front-
election. runner for one of the co-leader
Facing strong opposition, positions. He told Socialist
SWMR’s view
many supporters of this pro- Worker Monthly Review that
posal have dropped out of he supported the concept of
active membership, or left the a broad coalition to the left of
party altogether—including the Labour Party. A renewed left will only be created through the
such prominent members such As an admirer of the Aus- actions of thousands of ordinary people, as they
as Wellington city councillor tralian Socialist Alliance, he involve themselves in political struggle. It won’t
Stephanie Cook. hopes that “some wider force” happen through coalitions among existing groups,
The party is now just short could unite the Alliance and or getting the policy or structure of one group
of the five hundred paper revolutionary socialist groups. “just right”.
Socialists and other radicals have an important
role to play in this process—as we have seen in
RAM, in the organising of the Unite union, in the
foreshore and seabed hikois and the Maori Party.
For that reason, we think that Matt McCarten
and his supporters are right to reach out to the
Maori Party.
To really change things, we have to get large
numbers of people mobilised into political action,
not just passively voting for one party or another.
We hope that Alliance activists will get involved
in making this a reality.
Socialist Worker Monthly Review December 2004 5
here & now
The Left needs to engage
with the working-class
MATT MCCARTEN has resigned as leader of the Alliance and from the party itself. He spoke to DAPHNE LAWLESS
about the future of the Left.
I stood down from the leader- and a Labour / Green / Maori
ship for a number of reasons. Party coalition. The latter is
The more obvious one is my obviously better. It will create
role with the Maori Party. an environment where workers
There shouldn’t be any conflict, will be more confident.
in my view, between that and Traditional union structures
working for the Alliance. But aren’t working after five years
in the view of many in the Al- of Labour government. The
liance, there is. union leaderships are well-
I thought about going to the meaning, but they’re using old
Alliance conference. I’d have models. By-and-large they’re
gone if I thought that people divorced from workers’ day-
were interested in coming to to-day lives.
a common position. There are The Maori Party is an excit-
two clear positions for me: ei- ing development for the Left,
ther the Alliance becomes part for all those who believe in
of a mass movement to the left self-determination.
of Labour, or it is in danger of I’m disappointed with how
becoming an irrelevant sect. much of the Left has been pat-
When we had our regional ronising and arrogant towards
meetings around the country, Maori—saying that they “want
the membership was clearly to see if their policies are left
split on the electoral agenda. enough” is like making them
I couldn’t see a way forward jump through hoops.
which could unite the party. You’ve got to take a move-
My position is that building ment with all its contradictions.
a mass movement on the left Maori are no different from
of Labour is what’s important. non-Maori, there’ll be reac-
You’re not going to do that by tionaries, opportunists, vested
seeing your main priority as Matt McCarten interests, egotists. Point me
running in parliamentary elec- to any mass movement which
tions, from a small base. a working-class Left. The cur- around the free buses cam- don’t have that.
A weakness of the Alliance rent trade union movement is paign is the kind of model But it’s a genuine force
was that it never built a mass middle-class. around which a new Left can for representation. There are
base in the community—it just The Left has to have a be built—struggles round real seven thousand members in
fed on opposition to the New strategy of becoming part of issues, not some phoney discus- the Maori Party and growing.
Right. When the Labour Party the migrant communities, the sion club about our differences, To not engage with them is an
moved away from hard neo- Maori communities, Polyne- but doing real things that affect abdication from the Left.
liberalism, it took away the sian communities. We need real people’s lives. I believe that a new non-
reason for the Alliance to be. to accept things like race and The free buses campaign sectarian left is the way for-
That’s a problem with the culture as facts of people’s makes sense—it would make ward. We must engage in a
Left in general. We have to lives. People do identify with a real difference for working broad, new, tolerant Left,
reach out, build a broad base their cultures—the left cannot people, and it’s environmen- which can accommodate dif-
in the community. have a monolithic view. tally responsible. ferent views.
I always think, “What would The working-class “under It addresses the contradic- It shouldn’t be top-down;
Lenin’s position be in the mod- the radar”—the part of the tions of capitalism: if buses can it has to be based in the work-
ern-day world?” It wouldn’t be community who work 60 hrs be made free, people can see ing-class, with a significant base
a small group that just talks for $9—is in desperate straits. that the market isn’t always the and support and membership
to itself. Anyone who is involved in bottom line. Then, people start among a Maori, Pasifika and
The Alliance and the rest of working alongside such peo- to be won to groups and parties migrant communities.
the Left must debate openly, ple knows that that’s true. advocating those objections. It probably needs to be built
without aggression: What is Therefore, I think that al- In the electoral field, it’s around a discussion paper. So-
the “New Left”? What is the though parliamentary politics important to support any party cialist Worker Monthly Review
way of becoming relevant to is important, more important left of Labour, because the Left does well, but we need some-
workers’ lives? is building a mass community will never be built under the thing broader than that.
The Left needs to engage base around issues which are Labour Party’s hegemony—it It would be not so much a
with the working-class, and of interest to those at the must be independent. regrouping, but a responsibil-
that’s not white. Most of the bottom. The next election will be a ity to have a Left relevant to
Left things I go to are very The work of RAM (Res- choice between a Labour / NZ working-class and exploited
white. It’s a liberal Left, not idents Action Movement) First / United Future coalition sections of society.
6 Socialist Worker Monthly Review December 2004
industrial action
The Listener:
liberal or Libertarianz?
by DON FRANKS
This column originated as letters to the
Listener, criticising their business writer,
David W Young.
Young was recently headhunted from
Free Radical, the magazine of the Liber-
tarianz party, a far right outfit who want
to abolish all restrictions on the “free
market”, such as minimum wages.
The Listener chose not to print my
criticism; I appreciate Socialist Worker
Monthly Review providing me space to
do so here.
Young wrote his 30 October column in
praise of multinational companies. Listener columnist
He began by misrepresenting the ideas David W Young
of Marx and Lenin and then declaring is unhappy that
them “wrong”. corporations are
He then claimed that the company is being depicted as
“immortal”, “produces the bulk of the bad-guys
world’s products” and “is responsible for
the employment and well being of most Half a million dollars sounds like lots. their bosses wish.
people in developed countries.” But $500,000 divided between 117 sacked In this cold new industrial climate
Young underlined his religious notions workers is just $4,273 each. Not much bosses use a new form of dismissal, not
about capitalist immortality by conclud- of a pay-back for being unfairly sacked; mentioned by David W Young.
ing: “The company’s central role in society especially when you consider that half a The trick works this way: a worker ap-
is not going to change: the main chal- million is a lot less that what many bosses plies for a job and is handed a “contract”
lenge for many people is to learn to live get paid each year. which says casual work will be offered as
with that.” Note too: less than half the workers and when the employer decides. If the
The main challenge for David W who tried taking a case got anything worker doesn’t sign the “contract”—no
Young is learning some basic economics. at all. job.
Companies do not “produce the bulk Sensing the odds loaded against them, Then, if the boss wants to get rid of
of the worlds products”; human labour many sacked workers don’t even try to get someone, all they need to do is say they
power does. compensation. Their number is necessarily are going to stop offering work for a
As for “responsibility for the employ- unknowable, but in the present climate while.
ment and well-being of most people in of casualisation and deunionisation, it’s As a volunteer Unite union organiser
developed countries”—David, the cor- likely to be large. Certainly I know of I was recently involved in fighting such a
porates you so obviously wish to please many instances myself. case myself.
will not thank you for saddling them Young does not reveal figures for After disagreements on the site an
with your fantasy about their supposed sacked workers seeking reinstatement. employee was abruptly told there was no
benevolence. These days, with short-term contracts work currently available for him and to
Ford and GM left their car assembly everywhere in industry, reinstatement is leave the premises. Months later, the con-
plants in New Zealand for as long as not the priority it used to be when most tinuous work is still flowing, being done
it suited their profitability and then of us had real jobs. But reinstatement is by a new worker. The worker the firm ef-
whipped them right out. still important for many workers. And the fectively fired remains out on the street,
They were deaf to protests that they figures are not good. but not being officially sacked, he can get
should assume some social responsibility During the first six months of Labour’s no redress for unjustified dismissal.
to the workers who had made their com- Employment Relations Act, 2,219 applica- Unite union official Robert Reid told
panies rich. And what multinational acts tions for assistance were completed by the me that sort of sacking “goes on all the
any differently? mediation service. Personal grievances time.”
Young’s next column argued that over unjustified dismissal were the pre- Right-wing business writers like the
it’s virtually impossible to sack workers dominant type of application, but only Listener’s David W Young are blind to
under the present industrial legislation. 75 workers got their jobs back. the vicious injustices visited on low-paid
He also suggested that claims for unjusti- Mediation is plainly not a reliable workers.
fied dismissal are a sort of cookie jar for means of reinstatement for workers. Note too: the supposedly liberal Lis-
every industrial malcontent to dip into, During the 70s and 80s (before Na- tener prints a regular business column,
complaining: tional made it illegal) organised workers but there’s no thought of a worker’s
“Last year the Employment Relations could take strike action when a workmate column. In capitalist magazines, work-
Authority (ERA) heard 278 claims of un- was sacked. ing class struggles are either distorted
justifiable dismissal. In 117 cases, the ERA Today, Labour maintains National’s or invisible.
ordered money to be awarded. Employers anti strike laws. Result—the solidarity That’s why it’s so vitally necessary to
and Manufacturers Association figures of workers industrial action has been keep producing revolutionary Marxist pa-
show that over half a million dollars were greatly reduced. Thousands of atomised pers, telling the truth about workers issues
paid out”. casualised workers get shoved around as and fighting for a new socialist system.
Socialist Worker Monthly Review December 2004 7
US election
We still have the
power to beat Bush
Bush has won a second term but his part of the corporate rich—to displace the
project is still in crisis, argues ALEX anger and frustration of many working class
CALLINICOS, while other prominent Americans onto terrorists, or the so called
voices on the American left give “liberal elite”, or other imaginary or sec-
their views on the way forward ondary targets, and so win their support.
As the critical theorist Slavoj Zizek puts
A huge groan went up around the world it, “The ‘moral war’ allows the lower classes
when it became clear that George Bush to articulate their fury without disturbing
had won another term of office as US presi- dominant economic interests.”
dent. Even those who doubted whether According to an exit poll conducted
John Kerry would have been much better by Associated Press, 22% of American
were depressed at the thought of Bush voters said “moral values” were the main
and his gang winning another four years to influence on how they cast their vote. And
pillage the planet and wage the global war the turnout was still only just under 60%,
they declared after 11 September 2001. which means that many of America’s poor
It’s chilling to think of Bush and his neo- stayed at home.
conservative advisers, emboldened by their The only answer to this is class politics
Half a million protested at the Re-
election victory, using the military power of that seeks to focus the rage of working
publican convention in New York
the Pentagon to remake the world in the people on the real source of their suffer-
interests of US imperialism. This contrast in fact points to the ing—the tiny ultra-rich business class that
But before we get too depressed we Republicans’ secret weapon. Over the dominates American society, and buys
should remember that the past four years past generation working class Americans both Republicans and Democrats to do
have actually demonstrated the limits of have suffered a severe economic pasting, their will.
American power. reflected in the decline of real household This means building on the brave effort
This is above all true in Iraq. income. by Ralph Nader and his small band of sup-
The fact is that the US is bogged down But Democrats like Kerry have nothing porters to develop a genuine alternative to
in a guerrilla war in Iraq. And occupying to say about the problems that dominate both the main parties in the US.
powers don’t win guerrilla wars by using working people’s lives. They belong to the By continuing to resist Bush’s policy
the air power and high tech weapon sys- corporate rich that have hugely profited of permanent global war in the rest of the
tems in which the Pentagon specialises. from the triumph of neo-liberalism. world we can support the American left in
They win them through the combina- This allows Republicans like Bush—also taking on this huge but essential task.
tion of a political strategy that succeeds in
isolating the insurgents and an army large
Don’t mourn... organise!
enough to deny them territory. The US has
neither in Iraq.
But even if Bush isn’t in a position to
conquer the world, there is still the nagging by United for Peace and Justice but the truth is that the peace and justice
question—why was he re-elected? movement is not yet strong enough to
Why, with the mess in Iraq and unem- In the wake of Bush’s election it’s time to successfully change those in power.
ployment higher in the US than when regroup and take the long view. The bad United for Peace and Justice always
he first entered the White House, was he news is obvious and awful, but the good knew that our work to end the occupa-
able to win a majority of the popular vote, news is that our movement continues to tion of Iraq would not be immediately
something he failed to do when running grow. affected by the outcome of the presi-
against Al Gore in 2000? Here at United for Peace and Justice dential race.
Some have put it down to the stupid- we share with millions of people around We are preparing to move into a pe-
ity of those who voted for Bush, but this the country—and millions more around riod of much more focused organising on
explains nothing. the world—a sense of horror about what the Iraq war, working with local groups
Conventional wisdom had it that the happened on election day. around the country on implementing
higher turnout would favour the Demo- The largest grassroots electoral mobili- plans to reach the people we don’t usu-
crats. This proved wrong. sation in memory was not strong enough ally talk to.
It looks as if the strategy devised by to unseat George Bush. We are upset by Working together has made it possible
Karl Rove, Bush’s political adviser, of mo- the outcome, but we are not totally sur- for us to make a significant contribution to
bilising the “faith-based community”—the prised by the outcome of this election. the larger social change movement.
Christian fundamentalist right—has At the same time, every day we are The months and years ahead will not
worked. inspired by the outpouring of energy and be easy, but we are hopeful that our com-
The 2004 election confirmed that creativity around the country. In the past mon efforts will bring us closer toward a
American society is bitterly, but almost few years the peace and justice movement world where justice triumphs and peace
evenly, divided between Republicans and has been reignited. At least 500,000 peo- prevails.
Democrats. But there is a paradox here. ple marched in New York City on the eve
Both Democrats and Republicans sup- of the Republican national convention. United for Peace and Justice is a
port big business, free market economics Our long term hope lies in this grass- coalition of more than 800 national
and US imperialism. What they fight fierce- roots upsurge, and to win we need to and local US anti-war groups. Go to
ly over are so called “cultural issues”—gay take the long term view. We share the www.unitedforpeace.org for more
marriage, abortion, stem cell research. frustration and anger of so many activists, details.
8 Socialist Worker Monthly Review December 2004
US election
ACT NOW AGAINST THE WAR
by RALPH NADER marriage, abortion and guns swayed them.
It is now urgent for the peace move-
The 2 November is not the end, it is a new ment to be reawakened. They have side-
beginning. The challenge to the two-party lined themselves in this election by their
system that is choking political expression silent support for a candidate who has
and response in the US will continue and become aggressive on the war.
grow. There is no time to delay in order to
If the parties want to continue losing protest at the intensification of the Iraq
significance in attending to the country’s occupation. The time to act was yester-
necessities, they need only continue to day. Not only is the Iraq war an illegal,
place the interests of big business before fabricated one, but it is draining resources
the interests of the people. needed to deal with necessities for the
The re-election of George Bush would American people.
not have occurred had the Democrats The straitjacket of the political duopoly
stood up for the needs of the American needs to be broken. This campaign exposed
people. Tens of millions of Americans Ralph Nader the ballot access barriers that confront all
have been left out of the political process third party and independent candidates. It
because their needs are being ignored. As the votes are analysed we will find is time to challenge the shared monopoly
Many of these people did not even that significant percentages of union of the two parties at every level, and to do
bother to vote because they feel unrep- members, low income earners, seniors and so consistently.
resented. Others ended up voting against women will have voted for the president.
their own personal interests for George These people voted against their interests Ralph Nader ran for US president as an
Bush because of the absence of clear at- because the Democrats did not put their independent candidate. Go to www.
tracting policies by the Democrats. interests on the table, and issues like gay votenader.org for more details.
America’s right turn?
by LANCE SELFA to authorise an invasion, even knowing
that there were no weapons of mass de-
Hardly had the votes been tallied, and the struction—and that he was dedicated to
conventional wisdom to explain Bush’s 3.5 “winning” the war.
million-vote margin over John Kerry had It was like this with any number of
already taken shape. issues. Terrorism? Kerry tried to portray
According to exit polls, we were told, himself as tougher than Bush. Gay mar-
22% of voters cited “moral values” as riage? Kerry opposed it. Jobs and health
their chief concern—trumping even Iraq, care? Kerry promised tax breaks to busi-
terrorism and the economy. And 80% of ness.
these “values voters” backed Bush. The At a time when Bush’s popularity was
mainstream media claimed that Bush’s cratering over the disastrous war in Iraq,
victory symbolised a revolt of conservative most of the antiwar movement got behind
country bumpkins against liberal city slick- a pro-war candidate—bringing activism to
ers in New York and San Francisco. a virtual standstill.
But this explanation doesn’t hold up. Ordinary people in the US aren’t
According to exit polls, Bush actually lost part of some reactionary mass, and their
a little ground in rural areas, compared to consciousness isn’t fixed in stone. To take
the 2000 election. But he polled a full 10% a small example, consider that 60% of
better in urban areas. George W Bush the 2004 electorate supports either mar-
Also, if you compare the composition of riage rights or civil unions for gays and
voters between this year and 2000, you find Christian Right. lesbians—a position that was considered
that the percentage of evangelical Chris- So the real question isn’t why Bush won, “controversial” only four years ago.
tians remained the same; the percentage of but why Kerry couldn’t hold onto groups Consciousness can shift to the left—if
people opposed to abortion remained the that reliably vote Democratic—minorities, people’s life experience challenges their
same; and the percentage of people who say women, city dwellers. Or why, after an un- ideas and if they hear a left alternative.
they pray every day didn’t change either. precedented effort to push up Democratic By the same token, it can shift in the other
Slightly more evangelicals voted for Bush in turnout, Kerry couldn’t inspire the 45% direction if those who stand for peace and
2004 than in 2000, but there wasn’t a great of the population—disproportionately justice remain silent.
surge of the religious right to the polls—at working-class, female and minority—who The Bush gang’s announced agenda of
least on a nationwide level. stayed away from the polls. more war, privatising social security and
The media’s focus on the role of one This leads right back to the character of ending legal abortion will force millions
segment of the electorate—conservative Kerry’s campaign—his strategy of pursu- of people—including some who voted for
Christians—in determining the outcome ing conservative “swing voters,” instead of the Republicans—to fight back.
obscures the fact that Bush did better presenting people likely to vote Democrat It’s the job of the Left to build these
across the board. with a compelling reason to choose him struggles wherever they occur—and to
In fact, Democratic pollster Mark over Bush. build a real alternative to the rotten poli-
Penn said that shifts toward Bush among People who were motivated to vote tics of the status quo.
Latinos and women—two Democratic against Bush because of the Iraq war were
“base” groups—more easily explain Bush’s presented with a Democratic challenger Lance Selfa is a journalist with Socialist
popular vote victory than the votes of the who declared that he still would have voted Worker newspaper in the US.
Socialist Worker Monthly Review December 2004 9
Iraq
WAR CRIMES
IN FALLUJAH
by SIMON ASSAF While Fallujah’s citizens and defend- fighting described the indiscriminate kill-
ers were dying of their injuries, wounded ing in the city and senior officers wanting
Iraqi doctors have accused the US mili- US soldiers were airlifted to the modern “trigger time”—to join the fighting after
tary of committing a war crime after they Landstuhl Regional Medical Centre in the battle was over.
destroyed a neighbourhood clinic during Germany. No injured Iraqis, including He told the anti-war GI Special, “I could
the assault on Fallujah. those fighting alongside the US forces, see [helicopter gunships] hovering around
Dr Saloum Ismael of Doctors for Iraqi were permitted treatment at the hospital. the carnage, scanning the ground with an
Society says missile attacks on the Popular Meanwhile Arab satellite station Al infrared spotlight that seemed to reach
Clinic on 7 November killed a number of Jazeera claims that US soldiers were or- for miles.
patients, staff and two senior doctors—an dered to shoot anyone caught out in the “Once a target was identified, a rapid
orthopaedic surgeon and a radiologist. streets, even if they were not armed. One series of hollow blasts would echo through
Amnesty International believes up to 20 commander was caught by TV cameras the skies.
Iraqi medical staff and dozens of civilians telling his men, “The enemy can dress as “More artillery, more tanks, more
were killed in the attack. Dr Ismael said, a woman. The enemy can be faking to be machine-gun fire, ominous death-deal-
“This is a crime of the Americans in Fal- dead. ing fighter planes terminating whole city
lujah. They have no respect for the doctors “So shoot everything that moves and blocks at a time…this wasn’t a war, it was
and their mission.” everything that doesn’t move.” US troops a massacre!”
The Fourth Geneva Convention clas- stopped all men “of fighting age” fleeing “As I look back on the air strikes that
sifies attacks on hospitals as a war crime. the city days before the assault began. lasted well into the next morning, I can-
Article 18 states, “Civilian hospitals organ- US soldiers taking part in the week-long not help but to be both amazed by our
ised to give care to the wounded and sick, battle are also beginning to speak out. One modern technology and disgusted by its
the infirm and maternity cases, may in no soldier involved in the last two days of means.”
circumstances be the object of attack, but
shall at all times be respected and pro-
tected by the parties to the conflict.”
The US military claimed the clinic was
treating wounded resistance fighters.
Civil rights groups based in Fallujah
also accuse US forces and their Iraqi allies
of blocking vital humanitarian and medical
aid from entering the city.
The Study Centre of Human Rights
and Democracy, based in Fallujah, said
in a statement, “American forces are pre-
venting any organisation from entering
Fallujah to relieve the remaining civilians
as well as the civilians who fled Fallujah to
[the villages of] Saqlaweiya and Karma.”
Both villages were under the control of US
forces and not involved in the fighting.
The human rights group also claims
that interim prime minister Iyad Al-
lawi “threatened the staff of [Fallujah’s
main] hospital, warning them not speak
one word about what they have seen of
American war crimes”. The main hospital
was raided and closed on the eve of the
assault.
Last Sunday villagers from Saqlaweiya
buried 73 women and children who were
killed during the US assault. The villag-
ers said the bodies were burnt beyond
recognition.
The International Committee of the
Red Cross estimates that about 800 civil-
ians were killed in the assault. But there
are fears that up to 3,000 may be buried in
the rubble of bombed buildings and homes.
Several days after the US declared it had
taken control of the city hundreds of bod-
ies still litter the narrow alleys.
10 Socialist Worker Monthly Review December 2004