May Day 2011
2011 2011-05Read it in the scan (PDF at ETOL), page 5 →
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(continued from page 1: “NATO leaders escalate attacks in Libya, vow to ‘finish’ Gadhafi”) for massive attacks without regard to civilian “collateral damage,” allegedly to stop greater loss of civilian life later on.
Cordesman called explicitly for targeting “Qaddafi, his extended family, and his key supporters,” without worrying about other civilians who would die as a result: “Hard, and sometimes brutal, choices need to be made between limited civilian casualties and collateral damage during the decisive use of force and an open-ended war of attrition that will produce far higher cumulative civilian casualties and collateral damage.”
The likelihood of such barbaric tactics being used was heightened by events last month in the Ivory Coast, where French and UN armies brazenly removed from power Laurent Gbagbo, who had lost a recent presidential election but refused to step down. These actions in Libya and the Ivory Coast are a sign that after the “successes” of regime change in Iraq and Afghanistan, the imperialists feel less and less need to pretty up their interventions with lies or even rationalizations.
Can the mass revolt be revived?
On April 16, four analysts and activists co-authored a column in Al-Ahram titled “Using Libya to Abort the Arab Spring,” which makes a very useful distinction between four conflicts in Libya: (1) Gadhafi versus the Libyan people; (2) the Western war against Libya; (3) rivalry among the aggressors over how the war is conducted and over the future spoils; (4) a yet-to-be begun conflict that the authors recommend which a post-Gadhafi Libya, or one carved up between him and the TNC, would be even more firmly under imperialism’s domination.
Ironically, the new tactics used by Gadhafi’s forces—mixing with civilian populations, camouflaging weapons, and driving pickup trucks instead of military vehicles—can provide an opening for the masses to re-enter the battle against him. The battles are no longer limited to Gadhafi’s tanks and missiles versus the imperialists and their planes. Once again, it appears, decisive battles will be fought street by street.
However, to effectively combat both Gadhafi and his imperialist rivals, the masses must revive and deepen their own organizations. No one elected the Transitional National Council. Neither the rank-and-file fighters opposing Gadhafi guns in hand nor the broader masses in Libya’s cities have any duty to obey a single order from TNC-appointed officers. And by the same token, the masses have no obligation to respect any of the political agreements for a postGadhafi Libya now being forged by imperialist diplomatic officials and TNC representatives.
Instead, the workers and peasants of Libya need to begin organizing now—starting with neighborhood, workplace, and militia gatherings—for a nationwide revolutionary constituent assembly of the sort called for by the left in both Egypt and Tunisia to enable the masses to vote democratically on what kind of government they want.
Such an assembly could seek to organize its own armed forces to battle both Gadhafi and the imperialists. And it could put forward a revolutionary economic and social program to meet the masses’ needs, starting with the kind of political liberties that an imperialist-dominated TNC would never grant, and including such measures as putting Libya’s oil for the very first time under the control of its workers so that its revenues go for the working masses’ benefit.
A revitalized grassroots militia and a constituent assembly proS ocialist Action salutes all workers on May Day 2011—the 125th anniversary of International Workers’ Day! We recognize that workers have built our society and that we have the power to change its course towards democracy, justice, sustainability, and socialism.
The international working class today faces many struggles, and we take this moment to reflect on some of the current challenges, while working to inspire collective action for worker justice in an organized and energetic manner.
We call for justice and legalization for the millions of immigrant workers who helped revive May Day in the U.S. in 2006. Immigrant workers have long faced criminalization and dehumanization. Right now vicious anti-immigrant legislation is sweeping the U.S., while deportations of our immigrant sisters and brothers are at record levels. This May Day Socialist Action calls for an unconditional legalization for all immigrant workers.
We understand that the immigrant workers’ struggle reflects the struggles of all workers. An injury to one is an injury to all!
Socialist Action stands in solidarity (Above) Thousands marched in New York on May 1 for the rights of immigrants and all workers.
with public sector workers in Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan and across the U.S. and around the globe who are courageously taking on the bossclass and their government lackeys who seek to destroy workers’ living standards while slashing taxes and regulations on the wealthy elite. In the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression we say, “The rich, with their incessant drive for profit and their greedy gambling with the housing and financial markets, caused this crisis. Make the rich pay!”
We stand with our sisters and brothers in the Middle East and North Africa taking the power back from thoroughly corrupt, anti-worker dictatorships across the region. Recognizing the autonomy and right to self-determination of each nation, we reject any outside imperialist interference from the U.S. or subordinate NATO forces in these struggles.
We call for political and economic democracy and justice for all workers in North Africa and the Middle East. The workers united will never be defeated! n