Thursday, September 18, 2014

Solidarity and the US Anti-War Movement

The US peace movement has a solidarity problem. As I write this, the progressive, anti-imperialist forces of North Kurdistan are fighting for their lives against a vicious attack by both the Turkish military and the ultra-rightist ISIS forces. I cannot do justice to the struggle in a short blog post; therefore, I implore readers with even the barest shred of internationalist solidarity in their heats to visit the Kurdistan Communities Union blog and educate themselves.
Suffice it to say, the people of North Kurdistan are on the front lines of the struggle against imperialism. Yet, not one major US peace organization has anything to say about North Kurdistan or the struggle taking place there beyond the usual shallow calls for 'no war'. Of course, any sane person would wish to put an end to war! However, too many in the US peace movement never think beyond their distaste for armed conflict and grapple with its root cause: imperialism. Imperialism, whether conducted via military organizations like NATO and the US armed forces, or through 'peaceful' means by finance capital organizations like the World Bank is war. It is a rapacious war of conquest waged by the global 1% (or more precisely, the 0.0001%) against the global 99% and it will not end until every last drop of wealth is brought securely under the control of the global capitalist class, or that class is finally brought low by revolution. So long as the US peace movement refuses to consider the question of imperialism, and continues to limit its analysis to moralistic, pacifist bromides, it will remain globally isolated and utterly ineffective. While some may find my criticism too strident, it is commensurate with the seriousness of the crisis facing the US anti-war movement, and offered in the hope that some in that movement might find it useful. Whosoever may come across this post, whether your peace organization is large or small, national or local, or if you belong to no organization at all, I ask you to stand in solidarity with the people of North Kurdistan, and all other anti-imperialist fighters around the world. Their need is great and even the smallest measure of aid is welcome.

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