The Midlands Discussion Group (MDG) has existed for more than two years now, involving people from Leicester and Birmingham from various political backgrounds - left communist, councilist, anarchist, environmentalist, leftist. The aim of the group is to discuss the proletarian alternative to capitalism, like other discussion groups that exist or have existed in Mexico, India, France, Spain, Switzerland and Australia. Discussion circles: important moments in the development of class consciousness
Discussion circles (DCs) can only be understood in the context of the historical development of class consciousness. They are part of the proletariat's effort to develop its class consciousness through trying to understand the meaning and implications of the crises of capitalism within the framework of the political positions of the proletariat. "Class-consciousness is by nature a political consciousness: a consciousness of the necessity to develop the class struggle against the bourgeois state and the building of communism; a consciousness which involves an understanding of the need for the proletariat to create its own political party to deepen and extend communist consciousness" ('The proletariat: class of consciousness', WR 83). This consciousness does not develop in a mechanical and linear way, but through a very difficult historical process of twists and turns, of advances and retreats. An essential part of this is the subterranean maturation of consciousness. Whilst the mass open struggle of the class is essential for the generation of revolutionary consciousness: "the degree to which mass struggles can give rise to such a consciousness also depends on a prior process of 'semi-concealed' or subterranean maturation within the class - the 'old mole' that Marx talked about... On the broadest level, a subterranean maturation takes place in the mass of workers, in the growing contradiction between the way bourgeois ideology describes reality and the way the workers themselves experience it. Initially this development may remain 'unconscious' to most workers, or take the negative form of disillusionment with bourgeois ideals. But this 'negative' stage is a precondition for the emergence of a more positive and conscious critique when the struggle comes out into the open.
"But the term subterranean maturation doesn't only refer to this semi-conscious form of development. It also takes place through workers reflecting on past struggles, forming discussion circles in order to make sense of their situation, and so on" ('The subterranean maturation of consciousness', WR 73).
In the present historical situation it is important to underline that, with the ever growing imperialist and economic chaos engulfing the world the process of the growth of class consciousness has been extremely difficult, particularly since the collapse of the eastern bloc. The work of discussion circles is thus of real importance to the future development of the proletariat's understanding of its historical role. An open forum for discussion and clarification
The MDG initially began as the Leicester Discussion Group with some people who had been discussing with a long-term contact of the ICC in the area. These discussions had been stimulated by the war in Kosovo. In order to give these discussions a more systematic and fruitful form the ICC suggested that they form a discussion circle. The initial discussions of the LDG were animated by an ICC article which drew the political lessons of a discussion group that had existed in Zurich, Switzerland, in the 1990s. This article explained that, "A circle is an open, but not permanent coming together of workers, who meet because they want to discuss and clarify political questions. They are places which the proletariat creates in order to push forwards its consciousness, above all in times when there is no party and no workers' councils... We consider them to be a concrete expression of the class. They express the consciousness of the class, showing that it is not willing to accept the crisis and the bankruptcy of capitalism without resistance; that it wants to defend itself against the attacks of the capitalist system. Also, they express an attempt to search for ways to fight back and to develop a revolutionary perspective..." (WR 207, 'Discussion circles in the working class: a world-wide phenomenon'). Regarding the function of Discussion circles the article also underlined that, "The goal of a discussion circle is the political clarification of the individual participants. The framework of discussion is a common one, corresponding to the collective nature of the working class. The direction and pace of political clarification however, vary according to each person. Since a circle is not an organisation regrouping with a political platform, a circle is not a permanent or stable entity. Rather, it is a moment of political clarification, allowing the militants, through participation in a collective discussion process, to find out where they stand politically in relation to the major questions of proletarian politics and in relation to the already existing historical and international currents of the marxist proletarian milieu...
"What's proletarian about a discussion circle is not a common 'local' programme but the common will to discuss and clarify. Thus, a discussion circle isn't the same as a political group with a fixed programme. Rather it is a place, a meeting place for political clarification." (ibid.). A positive process of clarification and opening out
Central to the discussions of the MDG has been a determination to better understand the main theoretical and historical questions of the workers' movement and to combine this with a concern to address and discuss international and national events as they have unfolded. Thus, after 11 September 2001 they too discussed the meaning of the events using the leaflets and communiqu�s issued by the ICC and other groups of the Communist Left. This particular meeting saw the attacks as an expression of worsening imperialist tensions. This concern to denounce imperialist war from a proletarian perspective has been a great strength for the group. All the participants have made clear their opposition to the Kosovo, Afghan and all imperialist wars.
The MDG's discussions are planned and comrades prepare presentations, reading lists are proposed for the preparation of the discussions. This systematic organisation of its discussions has allowed the MDG participants to carry out a serious process of clarification. The publication in WR 257 of the presentation for a discussion on the Paris Commune demonstrates the depth and quality of its discussions. Amongst other things, the MDG has discussed: the anti-capitalist movement; the Russian Revolution (which the group sees as proletarian, although there are disagreements on the role of the Bolsheviks and the reasons for its degeneration); and the consciousness of the bourgeoisie focusing on the role of the left against the working class
The confrontation of positions has been strengthened with the involvement of people from different towns and different political backgrounds. This rejection of localism has enabled a wider and deeper process of discussion to take place, and has allowed all of the participants to undergo a process of clarification at different levels.
From its beginning the MDG has made the Communist Left a reference point. It has invited the groups of the Communist Left to participate in its meetings. It has meant the participants have gained not only a better understanding of the positions of the different groups but also the experience of discussing with the political expressions of the proletariat. The ICC has intervened in the group's meetings since its founding, and the Communist Workers Organisation has also intervened more recently. Progress gained through determined political struggle
The MDG has succeeded in fulfilling its central role, that of clarification. But it has had to struggle in order to achieve this. In particular it has had to deal with confusions over its own nature and the role it plays.
The MDG initially based its work on the lessons of the wider experience of the working class, especially that of the Zurich discussion circle. However, the full assimilation of these lessons has been hampered by confusions within the group about its relationship to the ICC. Some elements, whilst initially seeing the need for an open forum, began to see the function of the MDG as being a place for the discussion of the positions of the ICC. This vision tended to see the group as kind of ante-chamber to the ICC. The ICC firmly rejected this vision and has often stressed the need for the group to discuss the wider history of the workers' movement and the positions of other communist organisations.
The ICC has always held the view that discussion circles are places for clarification, not appendages or the property of proletarian political organisations. They include anyone seeking clarification: not just those who agree with the ICC's or any other proletarian organisation's positions. The only reason for stopping someone from attending would be if they wanted to disrupt or take over its work. MDG meetings have been attended by leftists, which has led to a healthy confrontation with bourgeois positions. Far from being a distraction, such discussions have lead to clarification on the nature and role of leftism.
Thus, as is the case with the MDG, discussion circles can be very heterogeneous. But there is nothing wrong with this. To seek to impose political criteria for participation means undermining their fundamental strength: their open nature, because this implies prior agreement on the political criteria - that is, a certain level of clarification - which is to put the cart before the horse. Any attempt to impose such criteria would lead to the freezing of the process of clarification. The political evolution of those who participate in the discussion is a result of the confrontation between different positions.
However, if a discussion circle is not the property of one organisation, neither is it a political group or organisation in its own right. "A political organisation of the proletariat is necessarily an internationally orientated organ, a product of the historical effort of the working class fighting for its programmatic clarity. It doesn't arise locally, but is a direct continuation of the political and organisational traditions of the marxist movement. A circle however, is a phenomenon that is limited geographically and in time. It is restricted to one area. Elements come together in one area in order to discuss matters of relevance to the proletariat and clarify them" (ibid.).
This does not mean that it is not the duty of proletarian political organisations to stimulate the emergence of such groups and to intervene towards them in order to contribute to the most effective clarification. The ICC's defining principles for its intervention are to carry out an "Organised intervention, united and centralised on an international scale, in order to contribute to the process which leads to revolutionary actions of the proletariat" (Basic Positions of the ICC). It is the duty of the ICC and other proletarian political organisations to intervene within discussion circles in order to work towards them having the healthiest proletarian life possible.
The MDG has also had to deal with a certain amount of personal tension in its ranks. However, following some frank discussion all the participants agreed that the interests of the group came first, and that the personalisation of discussion should be rejected.
Since confronting these difficulties the group has flourished. At the beginning of 2002 the MDG held a meeting on proletarian opposition to imperialist war. This drew in people that had not been to meetings before, along with the CWO and the SPGB (See WR 252). Most of these elements have since participated in the discussions of the MDG. Perspectives
In recent months individuals in the group have participated in meetings of the Sheffield No War But Class War; it has contacts with the London NWBTCW Discussion Group; the CWO has participated in its meetings; and the group has held another public meeting on the question of communism, all of which pose questions about activity of the MDG. We will not deal here with the questions of Sheffield NWBCW and the CWO's conception of discussion groups - they will be addressed in a forthcoming articles. What does need addressing is how to maintain and improve the healthy dynamic the MDG has had since last summer.
Central to the development of the group's life is the maintenance of its nature as an open forum for discussion. The importance of this cannot be overestimated. In the present very difficult situation for the proletariat the central need is for reflection upon and discussion of the historical and political questions and challenges facing the working class. The greatest danger for the group is to forget that discussion groups are not permanent political organs of the proletariat but moments in the development of class-consciousness. To seek, even if unconsciously, to turn the MDG into a political group would be a mistake and a failure to understand the nature of discussion circles and the class struggle in the period of decadence.
The holding of public meetings poses important questions. The meeting on proletarian opposition to war was based on the group's unanimous opposition to the Afghan war and defence of proletarian internationalism. The desire to make this opposition widely known was a proletarian response to a vital event. Nevertheless, it contained the potential for confusion on the role of the MDG. The fundamental characteristic of a discussion group is that it is an open place of clarification. To hold regular public meetings would call this into question and expresses an emerging idea of the circle as a semi-political group with its own positions to defend. Whilst most of the participants of the MDG support the positions and intervention of the Communist Left, its role is not to defend these before the class - which is the role of communist organisations - but to provide an area for the confrontation of positions. A recent public meeting on the nature of communism showed the problem: why a meeting on such a question? It is not a pressing immediate question confronting the working class, as it was with the war in Afghanistan. It is a question where there are many positions and ideas amongst the participants and therefore a question to be discussed in the usual way. The comrades need to discuss the danger of mistaking the nature of their role. Warning of such a danger is a vital duty for the ICC because its central concern is to defend the healthy proletarian life of the group.
The Midlands Discussion Group has expressed the wider effort of the proletariat to develop its consciousness. The dynamic that the participants have been able to maintain expresses the political vitality of this group. All of the participants have undergone a real process of clarification in their political understanding. This does not mean that everyone has gone beyond their various political backgrounds, but it does mean that the participants are much clearer on what they defend and don't defend, on how they see their political futures. The MDG is at a very important point in its development: will it continue as a forum of open discussion or will it increasingly solidify into a permanent semi-political organisation? The ICC is determined to do all it can to impulse the former and to struggle against the latter. We urge the MDG and all those interested in it to seriously discuss the analysis we have made.
WR, 4/10/02.
The bourgeoisie's war drums are beating all over the planet. The famous promise made by Bush Senior in 1990 that we were entering a 'New World Order' of peace and prosperity have proved to be a cynical lie; in reality war has become more and more permanent and threatening for humanity. Those who talk the most about 'peace' and 'humanitarianism' and the 'fight against terrorism' are worthy defenders of a system which is dragging the human race towards mass destruction.
Each military conflict, far from bringing peace, leads to even wider and more destructive conflicts. The frightening demonstration of American power in Afghanistan has only served to heighten instability in all the surrounding regions, in particular by intensifying the danger of a war between the two nuclear-armed states of India and Pakistan. And hardly had the American operation in Afghanistan been completed when Iraq became the next target of US threats. Of course there are disagreements between the great powers about military intervention against Baghdad, but it's not because any of them have any concern for saving the Iraqi population from a new bloodbath; it's simply because the imperialist interests of these vultures are increasingly at odds with one another, a reality which contains the seeds of even worse massacres to come.
The hands of all the world's powers and leaders are stained with blood! Not just Bush and Blair, who are calling for a new crusade against Saddam Hussein, eleven years after the slaughter which cost hundreds of thousands of Iraqi lives. But also the countries and politicians that prattle on about 'international law' and the need for UN approval of any action against Iraq. This opposition, led by countries like France, Germany and Russia, and echoed by the so-called 'doves' in the US and Britain, is simply a new attempt to pursue their own imperialist appetites. Let's not forget that in 1991, France and others were also reluctant to take part, but they ended up doing their bit, not least when all the major powers cooperated in pushing the Kurdish and Shiite minorities to rise in rebellion, only to be crushed by Saddam's elite units, which had been carefully spared by the 'allies'.
And let's also recall that less than six months after the first Gulf war, the same imperialist powers found themselves on different sides of the war in Yugoslavia, instigated by the growing imperialist ambitions of a reunified Germany, which had called on Slovenia and Croatia to proclaim their independence from Belgrade. For the next eight years, in the name of 'humanitarian intervention', Germany, France, Britain, the US and Russia armed and advanced their various pawns, who carried out a ceaseless genocide of the population, reaching its peak with the Kosovo war in 1999.
As in the Gulf war, the hypocrisy of the great powers was limitless. In 1991, as today, Saddam was painted as the great tyrant, the new Hitler, in order to justify military intervention; but those who most pointed the finger at him were the very ones who had set him up in the first place. "He may be a bastard - but he's our bastard" was the cynical description of Saddam by the US during the 80s when he was useful in reining in Iranian ambitions in the region. In Yugoslavia the evil tyrant was Milosevic, now on trial for war crimes; but for most of the war in ex-Yugoslavia he was supported by Britain and France to counter the advance of the Americans and the Germans. War across the planet
The story is the same in the Middle East. We are encouraged by the media to see the conflict there as the result of some blood feud between Jews and Arabs, or of the extremism of Sharon on the one hand and of the radical Islamic groups on the other. And certainly both of these local expressions of capitalism are constantly trying to outdo each other in the pitiless murder of terrorised populations. But once again, behind all the local killers lurk the great powers, who talk peace while aiming to sabotage the interests of their great power rivals through all kinds of intrigues and underhand manipulations.
It's the same in Africa: there are wars all over the continent, and the hand of imperialist powers large and small can be seen in all of them. In Algeria the US has backed the Islamic fundamentalists to weaken France, which props up the military regime; in Rwanda France trained the Hutu death squads which spearheaded the genocide of 1994, while the US and Britain supported the Tutsi rebels of the RDF; when this conflict spilled over into ex-Zaire, nearly all of the local states became embroiled, and once again the bigger powers were stoking the fires in the background.
The war games of decomposing capitalism are being played all across the planet. Countless massacres, stirring up the worst forms of racism and religious fanaticism, deepening the terrible and growing poverty which blights the majority of the world's population - this is the only perspective which the capitalist system can offer us today.
Faced with such a scenario, calls for peace and disarmament are not just empty words, they are more and more being revealed as yet another justification for imperialism. When the USA's rivals paint themselves in 'anti-war' colours, it's only to carry out their own imperialist policy in a different way, given that they cannot compete with the US directly on the military level.
The only force that can block the spiral of war is the class struggle of the international proletariat. This was proved in 1917-18 when the revolutions in Russia and Germany, the mutinies across Europe, forced the bourgeoisie to call a halt to the butchery. It was further confirmed after 1968 when the revival of workers' struggles across the globe was the key factor preventing a third world war between the two great imperialist blocs.
The interests of the working class are directly opposed to the national and imperialist interests of the ruling class. The working class is the first to suffer in imperialist wars - whether as conscripts in the front line, or through the increasing attacks on living and working conditions demanded by the national economy, which is more and more revealed as a war economy. By struggling tooth and nail against these attacks, the working class can become aware of its real strength as an international social force.
Working class internationalism is not some pious wish; it corresponds to the real material interests of the world's workers. The struggle against war starts with the immediate struggle against the economic attacks launched by 'our own' ruling class. But this is the same struggle in all countries, and it can only advance by generalising across national frontiers and transforming itself into a political offensive aimed at the victory of the world communist revolution.
ICC, 5/10/02.
We have already dealt in our press with the so-called "Internal Fraction of the ICC" (IFICC). This is a parasitic group which constituted itself within our organization; under the cover of fine phrases about its desire for "correcting and saving the ICC", its real function has been sabotaging its work and trying to destroy it. The International Extraordinary Conference of the ICC which was held at the end of March 2002 noted that the Parisian elements constituting this supposed "fraction" (which also has an offshoot in Mexico) were deliberately placing themselves outside our organization on a number of counts: their repeated violations of our statutes (in particular the refusal to pay their contributions fully) and their refusal to make a commitment to respect them in the future; their refusal to present their defence before the extraordinary conference; the theft of money and of material of the ICC (internal files of addresses and documents).
As of January 2002, while its members formally belonged to our organisation, the IFICC started systematically pouring out towards the outside calumnies that it had previously only peddled on the inside. Today, through an Internet site (membres.lycos.fr/bulletincommuniste) and the documents that it sends to the subscribers of our press whose addresses were stolen by one of the members of the IFICC, it continues its slanders against the ICC and its attempted destruction of the proletarian political milieu.
We shall not return in this short article to the totality of the lies and calumnies which the IFICC has been spreading against our organisation and its militants. We have already expressed ourselves at some length about this and will return to it later if necessary. We want simply to discuss a "communique", which IFICC seeks to get published "in all the press organs of the proletarian political milieu, including in the publications and on the site of the ICC as a right of reply"(Footnote 1 [6]). The communique affirms: "Following the articles published in the press of the ICC, we deny all the charges made by the ICC against our fraction and its members". In fact, this "denial" is itself only a web of lies. Some examples:
1) Concerning Jonas, excluded from ICC at the beginning of 2002 for "conduct absolutely unworthy of a communist militant": "All the charges which the current leadership of the ICC makes today against his honesty and loyalty to the communist cause are nothing but infamies".
In our official statement published in WR..252, we wrote that one example of behaviour justifying the exclusion of Jonas consisted of "circulating, including outside of the ICC, a whole series of extremely serious accusations against a certain number of its militants, while at the same time he always refused to meet (and to even recognise) the commission (�) charged with examining this type of accusation". And the communique specified: "One of the most intolerable and repugnant aspects of his behaviour is the veritable campaign that he promoted and carried out against a member of the organisation (�) accusing them in the corridors and even in front of people external to the ICC of manipulating his followers and the central organs on behalf of the police force".
It is necessary to note that not one member of the IFICC ever contradicted the facts which are reported here. In the public meetings of the ICC where we had invited the members of the IFICC to come to present their position (in Paris on 4 May 2002 and in Mexico City on 3 August 2002), the latter carefully refused to come to a conclusion about the truthfulness of facts such as these, as requested by the presidium and the participants, or else tried to get out of trouble by lying. In Paris, they courageously left the room en bloc (justifying this "by family obligations"!) after a sympathiser insisted that they pronounce on the question; and in Mexico City a member of the IFICC affirmed that Jonas had actually made this type of accusation but in front of "the appropriate organ".
But perhaps the IFICC considers that for a communist militant to accuse another militant of the organisation of being a cop (according to the expression of Jonas) - and that in the corridors and not in front of the bodies responsible for this type of question - constitutes completely correct conduct? The IFICC should take a position on this and in particular say what it thinks today of the following assertions: "since the beginning of the workers' movement, its political organisations have always acted with the greatest severity (often leading to exclusion) against even well-meaning authors of slanderous accusations against their militants.� any suspicion, even well founded, towards a member of the organisation must be communicated exclusively to a proper body responsible for dealing with this kind of problem (a central organ or a specialised commission) and should certainly not become the object of discussions or speculations within the organisation as a whole. Anybody who acts outside of the formal structures of the organisation to conduct 'his own' investigation into a particular individual or a particular 'collective' on an issue of this kind is making an organisational transgression of the most serious kind, similar to an act of police provocation (even if it is inspired by the best intentions). Therefore it will be dealt with as such".
These passages are extracted from a resolution adopted in January 2002 by a full session of the central organ of the ICC with the full support of the two members of the IFICC who took part in it. Let us note that the passage of our communique on Jonas affirming that he "has behaved in a manner worthy of an agent provocateur" was itself directly inspired by this resolution.
2) Concerning the payment of the dues and the theft of material of the organization: "We have never refused to pay our dues nor, even less, have ever stolen money from the ICC, as it implies constantly. Thus, during the last months of our presence within the ICC, we placed at the disposal of the organisation part of our militant dues and preserved the remainder for the operation of our fraction as is the tradition in the revolutionary movement."
We have never written that the members of the IFICC had "refused to pay their dues"; we simply announced what they recognise in this official statement: they refused to pay the entirety of their dues. It is an old dishonest method this: fraudulently attributing lies to others, in order to better be able to "denounce" them. In addition, under the pen of the members of the IFICC, "tradition in the revolutionary movement" has the flip side of justifying no matter what breach of the organisation's rules of operation (Footnote 2 [7]). This is why the statutes of the ICC specify that: "The fact that members of the organisation defend minority positions does not release them from any of their responsibilities as militants". This is also true for the payment of the entirety of dues, which constitute one of the major responsibilities for each militant. It is necessary to note that the statutes of the ICC were adopted by the totality of the Parisian members of the IFICC and that the Mexican members of the latter affirmed the desire to respect them while part of our organisation, as does any militant who integrates into our ranks. As for the affirmation that the members of the IFICC have never stolen the money of the ICC, this is an enormous lie. Yes or no, have they refused to refund the cost of the air tickets which made it possible for two Mexican members of the IFICC to come to France, not to take part in the extraordinary conference of the ICC of March 2002, as they had received the mandate of their section to do and as they were committed to do, but to take part in a meeting of the IFICC? As we have already written, it would seem that the IFICC endorses this assertion of Goebbels, the person responsible for Nazi propaganda: "An enormous lie carries with it a force which removes doubt".
Before concluding, we would like to comment on the support that the IFICC is receiving today.
The "communique" was published with "its support and its understanding" by a small free sheet entitled Le prol�tariat universal (PU). Pierre Hempel, the person in charge of publication and sole writer of this sheet adds: "� the ICC functioned for20 years with full freedom of internal criticism � it was a time, it is true, when a representative of the old revolutionary tradition - neither sectarian nor intolerant (Marc Chiric) - was still living. This spirit � has fled the ICC. This is why I myself fled this sect in 1996". In July 1984, our comrade MC had written an article (RI No. 123) in connection with the publication by a former member of the ICC, RC, of a small review entitled Jalons, comparable to PU with the difference that it was not free and did not fill its columns with attacks against the ICC nor with gossip worthy of a concierge. On this subject, MC wrote: "This question is of interest largely exceeding the person of this comrade. It touches the essence of what separates marxism from anarchism. Marxism is the theory of a class with associated work, the working class, which tends towards unity, towards a collective activity, the re-establishment of the human community. Anarchism, in all its forms, is the ideology of the lower middle class, the handicraft maker, of individual work, and which aspires to unbridled individualism, to the Ego of Stirner. Comrade RC would like himself to be marxist in theory, but does not manage to remove the mud of individualistic anarchism in practice, which sticks to his skin, like another anarchist who claimed to be carrying out the general strike all by himself".
This appreciation also corresponds rather well to Hempel. Furthermore, MC had severely criticised the individualism of RC as well as that of Hempel in contributions to our internal bulletins. It was also no accident that RC and Hempel followed the same path for a while after the "flight" of the latter from the ICC. This was before, very logically, as incorrigible individualists, they separated. Unable to put up with the discipline of a proletarian organisation, frustrated that we do not recognise his literary talents to the same extent that he does, dissatisfied that we criticised his conduct (criticisms that MC had made or had supported, but which he was no longer prepared to accept after MC's death), Hempel has found nothing better to do than plant his cabbages all alone, justifying his "flight" with the old charge of the parasitic milieu that the IFICC endorses today: our organisation is a sect. That is to say, the classic accusation of bourgeois propaganda against the organisations which fight for the communist revolution, a propaganda to which parasitism contributes its share. As opposed to what Hempel says, and to what the IFICC is now arguing, there has not been any change in the ICC as far as "freedom of internal criticism" is concerned. Hempel was quite able to express his point of view and his disagreements, as were the members who now form the IFICC. On the other hand Hempel - like the IFICC, and whatever their disagreements - still had to respect the statutes of the ICC.
In itself, the type of support which the IFICC gathers in its campaigns says a lot about the role that it now plays, not in the service of the proletariat, but in playing the game of the ruling class.
ICC, September 2002.
(1) We want to make a point of affirming that we do not regard ourselves as being obliged to publish a document of the IFICC as part of a "right of reply". Our press, while it is open to the expression of the disagreements or critiques formulated by readers or by other groups of the proletarian political milieu, does not have the task of conveying the slanders of a parasitic group, aimed not at a "correction", as it claims, but at the destruction of our organisation. It is thus not a question at all of "censorship" on our part against the positions of a group of the communist left, as the IFICC likes to pretend. Still less do we feel any obligation here, given that thanks to the material which its members stole from the ICC, it has the wherewithal to spread its assertions far and wide. Back [8]
(2) See on this subject our article: 'The left fractions and the question of organisational discipline' in International Review No. 110. Back [9]
A week after the Countryside Alliance's march in London (for "Liberty and Livelihood") came the demonstration initiated by the Stop the War coalition and the Muslim Association of Britain ("Don't Attack Iraq - Freedom for Palestine"). The earlier march was characterised as a lot of 'toffs' and Tories coming to town, but not every one there was a big 'fat cat' landowner: some were agricultural workers, some impoverished small farmers and some who've felt the very real decline in rural services. Similarly there were many who went on the 28 September march who were genuinely concerned about the drive towards war and wanted to find a way to express their fears. From the noise and crush of the start at the Embankment to the procession of speakers at the end in Hyde Park many must have wondered what sort of 'anti-war' event they'd got themselves involved in. A policy for imperialism
As with the speeches of union leaders and left-wingers at the Labour Party conference there was a great emphasis on the role of the United Nations. The actions of the US were seen as undermining the UN efforts for 'peace'. In reality the UN, like its predecessor the League of Nations, has been used in the military strategies of the biggest imperialisms. The UN had not been long founded before it was used to co-ordinate the forces arrayed against North Korea and Russian imperialism in the early 1950s. If there are occasions when the UN has expressed a view contrary to the US, then firstly it has been in the interests of other imperialisms and, secondly the US will act unilaterally anyway if it feels the need to. The UN is not a force that's above or against imperialist conflicts - it's an integral part of the way different imperialisms relate to each other. Turning to the UN or ignoring it are both imperialist policies. In Britain at the moment the current emphasis on the UN is being used as a means of advancing the particular interests of British imperialism.
"Don't Attack Iraq" read the placards. On banners and badges US imperialism was marked out as the main enemy. The front page of Socialist Worker headlined with "STOP BUSH. He is the threat to peace. He has got nuclear weapons. His doctrine is imperialism". On posters and in leaflets from a range of groups the implications of this were spelt out. The British government should not support American belligerence. No one seemed under any illusion that a demonstration through London would influence American foreign policy, but the spirit of much of the material produced for the march showed that there were some who thought that the British government had to make itself "accountable" to "democratic protests".
In reality the British state determines its military actions according to its imperialist needs. More to the point, the demand for Britain to act independently from the US actually corresponds to a policy within the British ruling class. They know there are occasions when British imperialism's interests will coincide with aspects of US policy, but they want at all times to ensure that Britain's particular interests come first.
The fact that there are states in Europe which oppose the strategy of US imperialism is easily understood - as that strategy is directed against them! Socialist Worker reported the re-election of Schr�der in Germany as "bad news for George Bush and the warmongers". But it had to admit that this was "partly a reflection of the fact that German big business does not believe its interests will be advanced by a US victory in the Middle East". So in fact the election of Schr�der corresponds to the interests of 'the warmongers' (of the German ruling class), in the same way that the military stance of the Blair government is determined by the needs of British imperialism. Marching to war
On the demonstration the abstraction of 'Freedom for Palestine' was made very concrete. Demands for a Palestinian state, for a state 'between the river and the sea', for the 'return of land' are imperialist. The fact that the conflict in Palestine/Israel is currently between suicide bombers and a state armed with nuclear weapons and all the latest military technology does not alter this. The pro-Palestine demands are one side of an imperialist conflict in which workers, poor peasants and people from the refugee camps are used as soldiers for the cause of the Palestinian bourgeoisie (and any imperialism that feels it can use the Palestinian cause). This is not a hypothetical situation but a conflict that has in various stages gripped the region for decades and resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands. The 1948-49 war, the Arab-Israeli war of 1967 and the subsequent years of attrition, the Jordanian attack on the Palestinians in 1970, the war of 73, the Syrian invasion of the Lebanon in 75-76, the Lebanese 'civil war' of 1975-1990 including the Israeli invasions of the south of the country, the 'Intifada' of the last two years - this is the continuing conflict that the organisers of the march support. The demand for a Palestinian state (supported by all major imperialisms) is no less reactionary than the insistence that the Israeli state has a 'right to exist'. Both calls are for the mobilisation of the exploited and oppressed in the service of their class enemies.
While the organisers found those dressed as suicide bombers just too blatant for a 'Stop the War' march, Islamic 'jihad' militants were omnipresent. A contingent wearing uniform T-shirts saying "Reject Western solutions" was marshalled round orange banners expressing support for various imperialist causes related to the Middle East.
While the dominant note of the march was a plea for there to be no attack on Iraq, there were the usual leftist calls for the actual defence of Iraq, even for the 'victory' of Iraq. Again, this amounts to a demand that workers abandon any thought of the defence of their own interests so that they can enter the military service of their exploiters. The proponents of this line of thought always make a distinction between 'military support' for Iraq going alongside 'political opposition' to Saddam's regime. This distinction is meaningless from the point of view of class realities. For the ruling class at war 'military support' is all it actually requires in its defence. For the working class anything that mobilises it in the defence of its exploiters can only serve the interests of the ruling class. For class opposition to war
A year ago with the demonstrations around the war on Afghanistan there were many elements wanting to defend a class position against the 'war against terrorism', and a certain amount of co-ordination and joint activity between different groups and individuals took place. This was not the case with the 28 September demonstration. This was a much bigger demonstration, with a more clearly pro-war atmosphere, but it was political dispersal that further undermined the impact of a proletarian stance. This time there were separate leaflets from the 'No War But The Class War' groups in London and Sheffield, and a general lack of co-ordination which saw these two groups in different parts of the march. Furthermore, the focus of both these groups, and of the IBRP which has a major influence on the Sheffield group, on finding a place within the march added to the difficulty of making a distinctive proletarian intervention. We will take this problem up in more depth next issue.
A year ago delegations from the organisations of the communist left, the ICC and the International Bureau for the Revolutionary Party, were able to get together with some from the London 'No War But the Class War' group at the end to attempt an impromptu meeting in opposition to the official platform. Whatever the difficulties and weaknesses of that attempt, we must not underestimate the importance of working together to give the small internationalist voice the greatest possible impact. Nothing of the kind happened this time.
While the intervention of revolutionaries was swamped at this demonstration, and will continue to be very difficult to raise at such events in future, we will continue to participate in meetings wherever working class opposition to war may be discussed, to relate to any current that puts forward the need for the class war as the only way to oppose imperialist war, and ensure that our press shows what's at stake in the current proliferation of military conflicts.
Only the international revolution of the working class can put an end to the capitalist system that engenders imperialist war. While capitalism's spectacular demonstrations make all their noise, the work of revolutionaries, the discussions in the working class, the evolution of class consciousness continue, as part of the only movement that can really end war.
Car, 2/10/02.
Links
[1] https://en.internationalism.org/tag/geographical/britain
[2] https://en.internationalism.org/tag/political-currents-and-reference/communist-left-influenced
[3] https://en.internationalism.org/tag/recent-and-ongoing/class-struggle
[4] https://en.internationalism.org/tag/4/135/internationalism
[5] https://en.internationalism.org/tag/recent-and-ongoing/war-iraq
[6] https://en.internationalism.org/wr/258_ificc.htm#note_01
[7] https://en.internationalism.org/wr/258_ificc.htm#note_02
[8] https://en.internationalism.org/wr/258_ificc.htm#back_01
[9] https://en.internationalism.org/wr/258_ificc.htm#back_02
[10] https://en.internationalism.org/tag/political-currents-and-reference/internal-fraction-icc
[11] https://en.internationalism.org/tag/political-currents-and-reference/pacifism
[12] https://en.internationalism.org/tag/political-currents-and-reference/socialist-workers-party