the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
Mar 3, 2003
As the drumbeats for war speed up, Bush will try to use the soldiers he’s sent to the Middle East against people in this country who oppose the war–and against the soldiers’ own self-interest. "Now that they are in harm’s way, we must support the troops" –that will be his refrain.
This refrain–support the troops–is heard in every war. What scoundrels like Bush cannot gain by wrapping themselves in the flag of patriotism, they try to gain by playing on the workers’ concern for all their sons, daughters, nephews, nieces, and neighbors who are in the middle of the battlefield. In Viet Nam, Johnson and after him Nixon tried to make it seem that the demonstrators were attacking the troops (and, unfortunately, some demonstrators were stupid enough to get lured into this trick, believing that the troops were as much of a problem as Johnson and Nixon, et al). But the fact is that some of the biggest opposition to the war came from within the ranks of the armed forces–even though such opposition can subject a soldier on the battlefield to all sorts of discipline, up to and including execution.
Yes, we must support the troops. But the ONLY way to support them is to do everything possible to bring them back OUT of "harm’s way."
The best way to support the soldiers is to oppose this war.