The split in the Stop the War coalition between those who believe in international solidarity and those who can’t see anything in it for them continues to exercise the UK ultra-left. The latest Weekly Worker – official organ of the Homo floresiensis type Trots who masquerade as a Communist Party – has joined the fray:
As often is the case, the AWL’s viewpoint was crudely but aptly put by Jim Denham on a notorious anti-communist website. In a rhetorical flush, he asked: “Are we going to campaign to get more principled trade unionists to follow Rix’s admirable lead and quit this pro-fascist, anti-working class outfit?” (http://hurryupharry.bloghouse.net).
A good question – but what’s with this notorious anti-communist website stuff ? Do they mean us ?
We’ve been banging on about supporting Iraqi Trades Union Federation IFTU since at least December 2003 when Gene complained about the occupation raid on the re-emerging Iraqi Union movement. Just point your mouse to the Harry’s Place search facility and look at the titles it brings up when you type IFTU:
– Iraqi Union Federation Gets Recognition
– Do Something For Iraqi Unions
– Solidarity With The IFTU
– Unison Chooses Solidarity
These are only a few titles of the posts this site has published in an attempt to highlight the emergence of Iraqi Trades Unionism after the dead years of Saddam Hussein – the long years when people were thrown in jail for even daring to discuss independent labour organisations out loud.
None of us who post here are Communists but I would have thought that extending solidarity to Iraqi workers organisations is an action that Communists might be interested in helping us out with.
You’d be wrong. There appears to be an embarrassed silence over at the Weekly Worker when international solidarity might be expected. Actually it’s worse than silence – here’s what the Weekly Worker hopes will happen in Iraq:
Communists are quite frank: we prefer to see the defeat of US-UK imperialism at the hands of islamic reactionaries in Iraq than their victory.
So forget civil society, democracy, workers rights and womens freedom – the Weekly Worker would prefer all the women in burqas and all the Trades Unionists behind bars, just as long as the US and UK get a bloody nose. It’s obvious to anyone who has kept an eye on the middle east that what happened in Iran after the Islamic revolution will be repeated in Iraq if the Islamists win again. The violent breaking up of womens organisations; the mass arrests of those who dare to stand up against the religious authorities; the prisons overflowing with tortured broken leftists and Trades Unionists and the sickening sound of firing squads at dawn.
We can live with the fact that the Weekly Worker isn’t interested in discarded notions like solidarity – like their SWP comrades they’re hurtling towards the rubbish bin of history anyway and it doesn’t really matter what they say. But it does beg an important question- If we are notorious anti communists what do you call an organisation that explicitly hopes for a regime that will crush all Iraqi working class organisations and are ready to cheer the stillbirth of the first multi party democracy in an Arab country ?
On second thoughts don’t bother answering it. The answer was clear in the 1930’s and it’s becoming even clearer now.