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
Aug 2, 2004
In his acceptance speech, John Kerry accused President Bush of misleading the country into a war with Iraq, falsely claiming there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq when there weren’t. Implicitly Kerry accused Bush of taking the country into a war without real justification.
What conclusions should be drawn? Number one: propose to take U.S. troops back out of Iraq. Number two: arrange to compensate the people of Iraq for all the damage created in their country. On January 21, the day after taking office, Kerry would issue an order to start the immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops, and another order to transfer the needed funds–without strings–to every Iraqi city, every village, every neighborhood, every family who had been harmed because the U.S. attacked and invaded Iraq, creating the current mess.
Did anyone hear Kerry make such proposals in his acceptance speech? No, not at all! In fact, Kerry presented himself as someone who would be a "strong leader," ready to continue the war. To make that point perfectly clear, the Democrats paraded former generals and admirals out on the platform to praise Kerry’s military credentials, showing films of his time in Viet Nam. Kerry even showed up at the convention in a power boat, surrounded by ex-sailors he had spent some time with in Viet Nam.
The convention itself and his speech were filled with the kind of patriotic references that fill the media during wartime.
Kerry is not proposing to wind down the war. He’s proposing to rev it up. And so what if he says he will bring other countries in, so that U.S. troops are not the only ones to die. The Iraqi people would still be dying, no matter whose hands are on the guns the U.S. supplies. In reality, so will U.S. troops be dying–as is shown by Kerry’s proposal to immediately authorize 40,000 additional manpower for the armed forces.
Voting for Kerry is not a way to repudiate the war that George Bush started. It’s only a way to put another stamp of approval on it.
This is a war the working people of this country, in their big majority, never wanted. It’s a war that sickens most of us today. Voting for either George Bush or John Kerry will only let the one who wins say that he has been given the country’s approval to continue the war.
Vote for neither of the warmongers!