Preliminary Draft (Version for first distribution).
We have gathered here tonight at a time when the Israeli Government is on a mission to annihilate the Palestinians, when Bush is threatening Iraq and Iran with nuclear attack, when the American military forces are marching all over the world -- in Afghanistan, in the Philippines, in Georgia, in Colombia, and the CIA is all over the world, looking for "terrorists".
The world today is in a period of imperialism, the last stage of capitalism, where the US, the only superpower, is on a deadly mission to consolidate its rule over the world with the Iron Fist of its military might.
It is important to remember that if it weren't for this military might enforcing the economic interests of global capital, the multinational corporations would not be able to impose their never-satisfied thirst for greater profit on the people of the world. The WTO, World Bank, IMF and other such organizations are only financial tools which would have no force without the backing of the US military and its allies such as the NATO nations.
We are at a time of history when the global capitalist system is approaching its limit of capital accumulation. Production in the center countries is declining; they have moved their factories to the periphery where they can intensify the exploitation of labor and the environment and deplete the natural resources at an increasingly fast pace.
The geometric increase in world population coupled with the fact that the majority of the increase, in absolute and relative terms, is happening in the Third World, the decrease in the reserve of natural resources including water, and the deterioration of the environment, have intensified the competition for the available goods for consumption.
The assumption that with the magic of technology, the world would be able to produce almost limitless food and other goods for the increasing population, has been seriously questioned. Today we understand the fragility of the environment and the endangerment of life on this earth resulting from our indiscriminate use of the land, air and water. The application of technology and chemicals to the production of food and other goods creates tremendous problems for the world at large.
The rich countries can no longer expand their consumption (on the average the per capita consumption in the US is 200 times that of the average for the Third World), without severely decreasing what is available for the rest of the world. This is why we have seen the tremendous increase in the gap between the poor and the rich, both in the countries of the North and between the North and the South. (on March 19th, 2002, The Washington Post reports that in Zambia, $1.00 feeds a family of 6 for one day.)
The fall of the Soviet Union in 1989 ushered the world into a new era. The capitalist powers believed or wanted the world to believe that the conflict between socialism and capitalism had ended in the victory of capitalism. Thus they announced the end of history.
In the 90's they celebrated the greatest expansion in their economies. But they only achieved this through telling the world that with the end of the historical conflict of capital and labor, and the victory of capital, it was safe for all to invest in their stock markets. Thus they fooled the middle class to buy into their pyramid scheme and hand over their savings and create the image of a ballooning economy. In fact it was nothing but a balloon which has already started to deflate.
At the time of deflation and economic depression, capitalist systems always turn to war to pump up the economy. So here we are. Bush and company announce a never-ending war on "terrorism". No one asks what happened to the big celebration of the end of history. Their propagandists, who were telling us how safe the capitalist system was, now tell us the "civilized world" (5) is in tremendous danger from the savages in the "uncivilized World". To defend themselves against these "savages", they send the CIA and the military to the Philippines and Georgia. Then they announce their intention to expand the war to include "rogue nations", particularly the "axis of evil": Iran, Iraq, and North Korea.
Why did Bush include Iran in his "Axis of Evil"? There are two important reasons:
In addition, Iran had been an important route for trade from Central Asia to the rest of the world. Its importance in geopolitics became clear during the World War II, when the Allied forces occupied Iran in order to transport military aid to the Soviet Union in the war against Germany.
Today, with the fall of the Soviet Union, the close cultural and religious connection to the Central Asian republics increases the possibility of the expansion of the Iranian sphere of influence into Central Asia.
The discovery of oil in Iran and the rest of the Middle East tremendously increased the importance of Iran in the global economy and the strategy of the colonialists and the imperialist powers.
The discovery of oil reserves in the Caspian Sea region in the 1990's has increased the strategic importance of this area, especially Iran, for the US and the European Countries. The European Countries are completely dependent on the oil from the Middle East. The discovery of oil in the Caspian region opens a new source of energy for the energy-hungry countries of the North. The effect of this discovery for Iran is two-fold. It adds to the total oil reserves controlled by Iran. It also increases the economic importance of Iran as a transportation route for the Caspian oil. The experts consider Iran the most economically viable route for the pipelines to transport the oil and gas to Europe. However, in the absence of friendly relations with the US, other alternatives such as pipelines through Turkey are being considered. All of these have turned Central Asia into a very important element in the foreign policy of the US. Thus the concern of US with Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkmistan, Afghanestan, Georgia and Uzbekistan. The American oil interests have already purchased land in the areas. The American military has established bases in these republics in addition to its previous bases in Turkey and the total control of Afghanestan. Thus Iran is encircled on all sides by American bases. That is why Bush insists that after the problem of Iraq is solved they will give priority to Iran.
Why the tremendous propaganda and war against Islamist movements in the world?
During the cold war the policies of the imperialist powers included, on the one hand, brutal suppression of any leftist liberation movements in the third world (one example is the massacre of 30,000 communists in Indonesia); and on the other hand, the introduction of reforms such as the White Revolution in Iran, Green Revolution in India, Land Reform in South Vietnam and various welfare reforms in western Europe were introduced, in response to the struggle of the people for more rights.
While the imperialist powers and their domestic dictators (such as the Shah of Iran) were busy crushing the leftist movements, another form of opposition was gaining ground. In the case of countries with majority Moslem population, this alternative ideology was the ideology of Islam as a liberating force. (1)
The victory of the revolution in Iran (2) and the subsequent establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) became an inspiration to Moslem people around the world and specially in the Middle East. (3)
This influence had the distinct effect of strengthening the Islamic forces such as Hamaas in Palestine, Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Mujaheddin in Afghanistan, and the fundamentalists in Algeria, Egypt and Pakistan. In the ideological sphere, the Islamic forces reasoned that the left and the nationalist movements in the middle east had so far failed to defeat the US. The only real victory was that of the Islamic revolution in Iran. Later on, the IRI gave material support to some of these movements, especially in Bosnia. (4)
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The Islamic movement in Iran, which eventually came under the leadership of Khomeini was opposed to the Shah's government from an anti-modern position and ideology. It was also strongly opposed to the left in Iran. By 1963, 10 years after the CIA's coup d'etat and its forming of SAVAK, the members of the Iranian Left had either gone into exile, been killed, or gone underground. Meanwhile, the Islamic forces had gained enough strength that the 1963 uprising was led by them and resulted in the exile of Khomeini to Iraq.
2 - There are oppositions to the use of "victory of revolution" from some leftist forces. They argue the revolution was defeated by the Islamic forces. The fact is that the revolution in Iran was a mass movement against US imperialism and its puppet the Shah. The revolution was successful in its main objectives. After the revolution, the Islamic forces consolidated their power and the nationalists and the leftist forces were defeated.
3 - Right after its establishment, The IRI announced its strong support for the rights of the Palestinian people; Arafat came for a visit. The IRI announced that it would end its export of oil to South Africa, and announced its support for many of the liberation movements.
4 - The US was alarmed with this new development, but not enough to not support the most fundamentalist of the Mojahedin in Afghanistan to fight the Soviet Union.
5 - In their news reports they write "the 17 civilized Nations that helped us in our war in Afghanistan". So the 1984 is complete. The warmongers are the civilized. Nations like Iran who are against the imperialist wars now masquerading as "war on terrorism" and yesterday as "war on Drugs", are the savages.