Marxist-Leninist Organizer
September, 2001

NO TO WAR!

We, together with all New Yorkers, people around the country and throughout the world, condemn the attack on the World Trade Center, which took the lives of some 6,000 innocent people. But while we mourn the victims, we must look at what has led to this attack, and the response the U.S. government is preparing.

Under the guise of attacking terrorism and states that harbor them, the government is planning a war against Afghanistan. However, the U.S. ruling class would like to use this to remove any government in the region that opposes its dictates, from Iraq to Libya and elsewhere.

A so-called "war against terrorism" will only create then ground for more terrorism. For each Osama bin Laden who is killed, 10 more will rise to take his place, with increased hatred of the United States.

We must also remember that bin Laden was armed and trained by the CIA in its war against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan during the 1980s. Similarly, Saddam Hussein was propped up by the U.S. to fight Iran after the revolution there. The U.S. government has no permanent friends, only permanent interests.

Make no mistake about it: the U.S. rulers' desire for war is not to "stop terrorism," for it has been one of the greatest perpetrators of state terrorism. It is to preserve and extend the domination of the big U.S. corporations throughout the world.

Do not let yourself be used! If Bush invades Afghanistan, it will not be to "avenge the terrorist attack," but to project U.S. power into this strategic area of the world.

If Bush attacks Iraq, it will not be because Saddam Hussein is a "sponsor of terrorism," but because Iraq refuses to turn its oil industry over to control by Exxon Mobil and the other big oil monopolies.

Working people here have no interest in fighting and dying for the big corporations.

The U.S. monopolies and their government are already using the attack to undermine the conditions of workers in the U.S. The government has provided $15 billion in relief to the airline industry, which is laying off some 100,000 workers. Moreover, American Airlines has declared that it will not give severance pay to the 25,000 employees it is letting go, using an emergency clause in its union contract to get out of its obligations. Meanwhile, some 100,000 other workers in New York City expect to lose their jobs as a result of business closings and layoffs since the attacks.

The Democrats are no opposition to this war. A crisis always brings out the class nature of the capitalist parties. The war resolution passed in the Senate by 98 – 0, and in the House by 421 – 1.

Only the working people in the U.S. and worldwide can put an end to this world. Let us unite against war, against racist attacks and to preserve our democratic rights, which the rulers of this country will start to take away under the guise of a "war for democracy."

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