LAST MINUTE:
AFTER THE JANUARY 18TH 2003 ANTI-WAR
DEMONSTRATIONS
The street demonstrations against
war all around the world which took place yesterday Saturday 18 of January,
and particularly in the United States and in Europe, had expressed the
appearance of an important pacifist movement. Far from expressing an attempt
to stop the imperialist war dynamic,
all the contrary
the development of a pacifist movement is reinforcing
this war dynamic . In fact, the pacifist ideology
is an indispensable arm, actually the most dangerous since it claims to "peace",
to impose war. In 1914, it's in the name and under the cover of the pacifist
ideology that the social-democracy and the unions first disarmed the working
class against the war, and after dragged it into the generalised massacre.
"Pacifism
and the abstract preach for peace are one of the means to deceive the working
class. In capitalism, and above all in its imperialist phase, wars are inevitable"
(Lenin, Conference of the abroad sections of the Rusian Workers Social Democrat
Party, 1915, translated by us from french) and
"it's only when we call for the revolutionary struggle that the demand
for "peace" takes its proletarian meaning"
(Lenin, Socialism and War
, 1915, translated by us).
This danger of pacifism is confirmed
by the fact that it's all the Left political forces of the capitalist State,
socialist parties, ecologists, communist parties, trotskyst organisations,
and up to the anarchists ones, which mobilize in this enterprise as we could
see it yesterday in the demonstrations all around the world.
This mobilization of the Capital
Left political forces aims to give a response, a false, deceptive and dangerous
one, the
pacifism , to
the deep and very living questionnings which develop within the working class.
Below, we give some concrete manifestations of this reflection and growing
consciouness. The close link which unites the historical economical impasse
of world capitalism and its drive to imperialist war, tends to appear more
and more clearly to the workers. And behind this understanding, the question
of the historical bankruptcy of capitalism and the need for its destruction.
Imperialist war or communist revolution
, such is the historical alternative.
What is engaging today is only
the beginning of a political struggle of international dimension and whose
political and historical stakes are of first importance. In this struggle
which is imposed to the international proletariat, the expression of the
internationalists'voice is primordial and called to become increasingly determinant.
It's for this reason that, in our opinion, revolutionaries must do all they
can to make hear the voice of
proletarian internationalism
.
Today, January 19th, 2003,
we reiterate the call we make in the introduction of our bulletin #15 :
"But to assume the best way their responsability,
[the revolutionary organizations]
must do all they can to put in common their forces, to meet, to discuss and
to intervene in this situation defending that it's world capitalism we have
to destroy in order to stop this warlike spiral. They must denounce the pacifists
who just mask the real causes of this situation. We'll support any initiative
which will put forward this struggle from a proletarian stance, thus an internationalist
one" .
Useless to shut our eyes to reality,
the bourgeoisie offensive forces us to assume our responsabilities as never,
with no doubt, our generations of revolutionary militants had to do it.
The internal
fraction of the ICC, January 19th, 2003.
Recent internationalist initiatives and proletarian reactions.
During the January 18th Paris
demonstration against war, and without any intervention of the Left communist
groups with leaflet, our fraction decided to make hear the internationalist
voice. We distributed 500 copies of a leaflet elaborated from the article
A New Period Is Opening Up
published in our bulletin #14. The good reception to this leaflet doesn't
but underline the very real questionnings in our class on the present situation
and the revolutionaries's responsability in this situation.
The IBRP which has been contacted
previously but too lately, informed us it couldn't organize at the last moment
a journey to Paris for such an intervention since the public annoucement
of this demonstration had been very late. For their part, the IntCP-
Le Proletaire ("bordiguist" organization)
and the ICC [1] have intervened through their press, thus
assuming an internationalist presence, but without massive intervention by
leaflet which is largely insufficient. For us, it's really a pity that this
internationalist voice was so weak in Paris.
Very last minute. We have just
received this message from the comrades of the
Workers Internationalist Group affiliated
to the IBRP and which publishes Internationalist Notes
in North-America :
"Dear
comrades, 25 to 30 thousand people against the war marched in Montreal today
in minus 25 celsius temp. Our sales were fantastic so our French edition
is sold out with maybe 15 English bulletins left; Expecting news from Toronto
and Quebec City tonight. A more substantial report will follow. Many radical
youths are interested by a Not War but Class War
comittee. Down with imperialist war."
In a workers General Assembly of
the French national electricity company [EDF-GDF], and with the occasion
of debates and an important mobilization against the pension attack prepared
by the government, the following motion has been adopted unanimously by the
"hundred of presents up to the corridors"
[2] : "The
General Assembly of the city of Arcueil pronounces against the sending
of French troups to Irak" .
Notes
[1]
. It's
very sad, and we deeply regret, to see that the present ICC has been unable
to mobilize more than three militants for this demonstration while is capable,
for its "holy war" against our fraction, to mobilize tenths of
militants and sympathisers from all France and Europe for its Paris public
meetings in order to be "massive" and to cover up the dramatic
weakening of its parisian presence. Beyond the validity or not of a massive
intervention by leaflet before the war outbreak, the ICC of yesterday would
have assumed a consequent internationalist and much more determined presence
in this demonstration.
[2]
Quoted
in Le Proletaire universel
#60 – P.Hempel, 67 rue Henri Ginoux 92120 Montrouge – France.