Unity!

THE PEOPLE of Britainwere told that thismilitary alliance wassimply a mutual self-

defence pact, not aimed at anyother country and so did notcontravene the UN Charter.

But it soon became clear that NATOwas at the core of a string of US-ledmilitary alliances to encircle the SovietUnion, alongside SEATO and CENTO.US, British and NATO forward militarybases stretched from Alaska, Canada andIceland across to Scandinavia, Britain andWestern Europe (including fascistPortugal), the Mediterranean, Turkey, theIndian Ocean, South-East Asia, Southkorea, Japan and the Pacific. This ensuredthat Soviet cities could be hit by short andmedium range as well as inter-continentalnuclear missiles.

When the Soviet Union attempted tosite its own short range missiles within

striking distance of the US, to defendCuba in 1962, the White housethreatened all-out nuclear war to havethem removed.

NATO was set up when the Britishgovernment was lying about US bombersvisiting here on temporary ‘training’ andgoodwill purposes'. Some 66 years later,they are still here at US controlled sitesoriginally designated as ‘RAf’ bases tofool the public.

The late 1940s was also the periodwhen the post-war Labour governmentwas developing Britain's own atomicbomb, an operation initially kept secretfrom most Cabinet ministers.

from the 1950s, it was claimed thatNATO had been formed in order tocounter the Soviet threat to Westernfreedoms posed by the Soviet Union andits allies, who had launched an arms raceagainst the West.

continued overleaf

Unity!

Six reasons why you should join theCommunist PartyBy MOz gREENShIELDS

1Class, politics and economy Communistsoppose the state monopoly capitalist system

where economy and politics is dominated by a tinynumber of privately-owned profit-drivenconglomerates. The state defends these giantmonopolies’ interests and their neo-liberal system.

The Communist Party stands for ending thatcapitalist system and to put the working class inpower in state and society.

The state, using our tax money, rescued thebanks and protected the fortunes of the rich ascapitalism went into crisis. It’s state bodies, theTreasury, Bank of England, tax and benefitsagencies that impose the burden of austerity.

Capitalists – bosses, bankers, top statebureaucrats and politicians – are linked bynetworks of family, financial and business interests.Labour and Tory ministers alike leave office to joinmonopoly firms. Both parties recruit from thosefirms to join their governments.

Austerity, privatisation, the assault on pay andconditions are designed to restore and increaseprofit. The Party works to strengthen the powerof the working class, both within capitalism – andin a new Socialist society.

2In the workplace The Communist Partyargues that trade unions must be at the heart

of opposition to austerity and work place attacks. In the end the strength of the working class will

be determined by how well organised,determined and active we are in workplaces upand down the country and in communities.

Communists advocate a union-organisingapproach which goes beyond boosting densitylevels, to creating internal democratic structures,education programs and vibrant networks ofmembers, workplace activists and stewards tomake us strong and to develop the ideas a newsocialist society would depend upon.

3The crisis working class politicalrepresentation A Labour government is

the only electorally viable alternative to the Tories,but the organised working class needs to developa force capable of real political representation.We do not see ‘a new workers’ party’ being bornout of the various bickering groups of the ultra-left! Communists don’t set themselves apart fromthe movement and class of which we are a part.We fight in our workplaces, local communities andnationally to strengthen the unity of TradesCouncils and the People’s Assembly – and wehave played a leading role in developing these, notas a vehicle in which to simply promote ourselves,but as a vehicle for building a genuine movementagainst austerity and for working class power.

4Unity and Solidarity ‘Divide and Rule’ liesat the very heart of capitalism’s war on

workers. The party fights for unity and solidarityand is organised internally and in the movement toovercome divisions. The Women’s Commission isactive and we play a strong role in the NationalAssembly of Women and the Charter forWomen. The uncontrolled flow of capital andlabour is designed to maximise profits throughlower wages – and our rulers are happy to seexenophobia and racism promoted as part of this.The IMf, World Bank, ECB and the EU underminenational sovereignty and impose austerity and anti-union laws. Communists stand for exiting the EUand for working class solidarity across Europe –and between workers in Britain and abroad.Communist campaigning is co-ordinatedinternationally across more than fifty countries.

5Imperialism and war Capitalism ispredatory – seeking to own, control, plunder

and exploit the people of the world. Imperialism,invasion, economic sanctions, destabilisation etcare the result – just another day at the office forcapitalism. Competing capitalist interests createconflict and war, seeking to defend their territoryagainst other imperialisms, or to undermine themin order to enrich themselves. Communistsoppose all imperialisms, and seek the defeat ofour own in its role as main ally of US imperialism,and its role in the EU where we now see theseeds of another European war.

6Tactics, strategy and a sense ofdirection! Party organisations bring together

comrades to regularly discuss and analyse the bigpolitical issues, and also the everyday problemsand struggles we face in our political work. Weaim, together, to come up with directions, tacticsand strategies that we think the class need tomove forward, in order to put such ideas forwardamongst our workmates, communities, unions,campaign organisations etc.

The party has a vibrant Trade UnionCoordinating Committee – and Commissions oneconomic, social and political issues – which bringcomrades together to develop policy and action.

Convinced? If so, contact usto discuss membership. If notyou, who? If not now, when?

MOz gREENShIELDS IS A MEMBER

Of ThE COMMUNIST PARTy

ExECUTIVE COMMITTEE

www. co m

mu n

i st -p a

r ty .o r

g .u k

C om

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i st P a

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I want to join the Communist Party o young Communists o more information o please tick

name

address

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return to Communist Party Ruskin House 23 Coombe Road Croydon CR0 1BD e mail office@communist-party.org.uk or call 02086861659 H NATO 2014

The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation was formed in 1949 on the basis of a pack of lies

argues ROBERT GRIFFITHS

Unity!

NATO No

New wardangerBy ALAN MACkINNON

ThE PARALLELS between theonset of war caused by imperialrivalry in 1914 and today’s

geopolitical conflicts are alarming. DavidCameron celebrates “British values” byspending £55 million to commemoratethe centenary of the first world war.

This money is being carefully used topresent a particular account of thatconflict. Out is the popular narrative ofthe war as useless industrial-scaleslaughter to feed human greed. In itsplace, WWI is presented as a “necessarysacrifice” to defeat german militarism.

Britain, it is argued, even in the heydayof empire, was a beacon of tolerance andfair play and simply wanted to spread thebenefits of civilisation and democracy.

The truth, of course, was very different.Our colonial empire was far from civiland the very antithesis of democracy. Itwas ruled, garrisoned and policed withruthless efficiency. The slightest hint ofdissent was crushed mercilessly.

WWI was a war between the greatpowers to redivide the world. AlthoughBritain’s global power had already startedits slow decline, the immediate outcomeof the war was the expansion of its vastempire, especially in the Middle East andAfrica. Indeed, the seeds of virtually allthe current problems in the Middle Eastgo back to that conflict.

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant(Isis) claims it has abolished the bordersleft by the secret Sykes-Picot agreementin 1916, which — in the middle of WWI— carved up the crumbling Ottomanempire between Britain and france in theevent of victory for the Triple Entente.

Lines were drawn on the map whichdisregarded tribal identity and ignoreddeep ethnic differences between kurdsand Arabs and Shia and Sunni. francewould get Lebanon, Syria and a part ofTurkey, while Britain would control threeeastern Ottoman provinces (now Iraq) aswell as Transjordan and Palestine (nowIsrael, the West Bank and gaza).

The following year (1917) Lord Balfourpledged British support for a zionistJewish state in Palestine making it clearthat Britain had no intention of honouringits promises of post-war self-determination to the Arabs whoseuprising was crucial for the British victory.

Then, as now, careless and arrogantmilitary intervention in pursuit of empirewas to have huge and unforeseen impactson millions of people in the Middle Eastfor generations to come.

continued overleaf

continued from page 1

Today we are witnessing the decline of anotherempire — that of the United States. The maintask of the peace movement is to manage thatdecline without resort to war at a time when theUS still possesses overwhelming military power.

The omens are not good. The US is leading adeliberate campaign to destabilise Ukraine andexpand Nato and the EU up to the borders ofRussia. In the Asia-Pacific a new network of USmilitary bases and alliances is being built toconfront China.

And in the Middle East, the rapid advance ofIsis has exposed once again the abject failure andirresponsible folly of the Anglo-American wars in

Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya — wars that wereintended to eliminate terrorism but, as wepredicted, ended up spreading it across vastswathes of Africa and the Middle East.

There are alarming similarities between therun-up to World War One and the internationalcrisis today and the way in which these eventsare linked in the pursuit of empire.

The peace movements needs to focus on thegrowing danger of a major war in easternEurope, the Middle East and the Asia-Pacificdrawing in neighbouring states.

The Obama administration is trying to use itsmilitary might to confront this crisis on threefronts and halt the development of its rivals —above all China and Russia?

We need a clearer understanding of US policyand the “pivot” to Asia and why it is a threat topeace? Understanding the role of Nato and theEU is key to interpreting recent developments inUkraine and Venezuela? And for Britain’s peacemovement the role of nuclear weapons is centralto how we best can we build the peace andsolidarity movement?

ALAN MACkINNON IS SECRETARy

Of SCOTTISh CAMPAIgN fOR

NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT

This is an edited version ofanarticle in the Morning Star

If not you, who, if not now, when?

* NATO 2014 Unity!_Layout 1 26/08/2014 18:46 Page 1

Yet the intervention in Syria he wasurging – he likes an uncommon amount ofMiddle East wars for a Middle East peaceenvoy – would have been against theAssad government, not IS; so it could onlyhave left the Islamist insurgents evenstronger.So Obama is left contemplating the

virtual disintegration of the Bush-createdsurrogate state in Iraq. Bombing IS islikely to prove of only limited effectivenessif translated into action, for the reasonsoutlined above. It would also be deeplyironic if he now bombed those ininsurrection against the Syrian governmentwhen this time last year he was gearing upto bomb the troops of that self-samegovernment.Seldom have the contradictions of

imperialism’s policies been so nakedlydisplayed, highlighting the difficulties thegreat powers now have in assembling anacceptable cast of surrogates to preservetheir interests in the region.Contradictions abound. Iran now appears

to be cooperating with the US in proppingup the government in Baghdad, over whichit exercises considerable influence. Andwill Turkey stand indifferent while aKurdish state emerges, or will it claim theright to protect the Turkoman populationaround Kirkuk as the Iraqi statedisappears?In total, the picture is a more vivid

indictment of Blair’s war policies thananything likely to emerge from theelephantine gestation of the Chilcot report.Every charge made against the invasion in2003 by the anti-war movement –including the danger of sparking a widerregional conflict – has been confirmed inspades.Of course, there will be those keen to

double down on disaster, and the familiarneo-con personalities on both sides of theAtlantic are urging an Anglo-Americanreturn to Iraq in force. The large-scaledeployment of land forces seems unlikely.But we have already embarked on thefamiliar route of “mission creep” in whichsupposedly humanitarian interventionagainst the barbaric depredations of ISmorphs into a full-scale renewed war. Theanti-war movement must mobilise againstthis. Britain owes the Iraqi people theobligation, after a century of disastrous andbloody intervention, of now doing nothing.One thing is clear. In Mosul, in eastern

Ukraine and in the South China Sea the1991 world order is breathing its last. Thenew order is full of danger of new andexpanding wars, but also of the possibility

of the defeat ofimperialism on a worldscale.

ANDREW MURRAy IS

DEPUTy PRESIDENT Of

ThE STOP ThE WAR

COALITION

Unity!

continued from page 1

yet the Warsaw Pact was not established until 1955, sixyears after NATO, and then only because the latter hadrearmed and enrolled West germany in its ranks. Meanwhile, inthe arms race, both the atom and hydrogen bombs weredeveloped first by the US, as were nuclear bombers andintercontinental ballistic missiles.

The Soviet attack on Western Europe never remotelylooked like materialising before the Warsaw Pact was would upin 1993. But instead of this being the signal for NATO todissolve itself, new enemies were invented such as the 'roguestates' led by gaddafi, Saddam hussein, Milosevic and theIranian ayatollahs to justify NATO's continuation.

NATO forces have since bombed or invaded Bosnia (1992-95), Serbia and kosovo (1999), Afghanistan (from 2002) andLibya (2011).

Breaking pledges given to ex-President gorbachev, NATOhas driven eastwards to the borders of Russia and with newcapabilities to hit China. Twelve Soviet and Warsaw Pact stateshave been enrolled with new US bases also established inTajikistan, kyrgyzstan, georgia, Azerbaijan, Afghanistan andIraq.

Plans to incorporate georgia and Ukraine into NATO andthe EU have led to civil wars and to military confrontations withRussia. NATO proposals for a European 'missile defence shield'in eastern Europe would ensure that it could attack Russiawithout fear of effective retaliation.

Since the Berlin Plus agreement in 2002, the European Unionhas become increasingly enmeshed in NATO, reflected in themilitarisation programme outlined in the 2007 EU LisbonTreaty.

Moving into such policy areas as international piracy andcyber crime is designed to extend NATO's reach across theglobe. This same ambition has led to the conclusion of astrategic pact with Colombia, whose right-wing governmentsact as a Trojan horse for US disruption of anti-imperialist unityin Latin America.

As Communist MP Phil Piratin warned in 1949, far fromupholding the authority of the UN, NATO undermines it.Always in line with US foreign policy, NATO picks and chooseswhich UN decisions to enforce and which to ignore (such theUS trade embargo of Cuba or Israel's illegal occupation ofPalestinian, Syrian and Lebanese territories). When the UN failsto fall into line, NATO goes ahead to take military actionanyway.

The NATO powers now account for more than 70 per centof global military spending.

NATO has no democratic structures, nor is it accountable toany. It undermines the UN, promotes militarism and is theworld's single biggest menace to peace and stability.

Britain should withdraw from NATO andthe EU to pursue an independent foreign anddefence policy which rejects militaryaggression and nuclear weapons.

ROBERT gRIffIThS IS gENERAL SECRETARy

Of ThE COMMUNIST PARTy

By BILL gREENShIELDS

ON MAY 2 2014, Ukrainianfascists attacked and burned thetrade union building in Odessa,chanting, singing and cheering thedeaths of those they had trappedinside, and who were shot bythem as they tried to escape.

Their action copied that of the Nazison May 2 1933 occupying and destroyedtrade union buildings, arresting, torturingand murdering trade unionists, socialistsand communists. The Ukraininan fascistswere again undertaking the Nazi task ofeliminating resistance.

Now, their putschist government issupported, financed, directed and usedby US and European capital and theirinternational organisations - NATO andthe European Union in the lead - aimingto consolidate and accelerate theirimposition of ‘austerity’ across Europein order to re-establish their rate ofprofit.

Austerity is a vicious aspect of the classwar, as recognised by TUC generalsecretary frances O'grady at thefounding conference of the People’sAssembly in June last year.

Throughout Europe, workers are beingsubjected to versions of the same‘austerity’ treatment which is reflected indisguised and statistically manipulatedunemployment, in privatisation, in legaland organisational attacks on unions, inincreased exploitation at work, in payand pension cuts, in attacks in attacks onhealth and safety and other workingconditions, in the deprivation anddemonisation of those most vulnerable,in orchestrated “divide and rule”, inpublic service cuts, in poverty and thewealth gap.

It’s also reflected in the beatings, bulletsand flames of the Ukraine as Europeanand US capitalism sets sights on securingtheir interests in Eastern Europe,cynically imposing austerity and totalprivatisation in the name of ‘democracy’,but really to maximise profit.

Resistance is buildiing here in Britain,

both in the trade unions’ growing use ofco-ordinated strike action – yet to growinto generalised strike action - and inthe People’s Assembly, now havingadopted the People’s Charter andidentifying the nature of the crisis andthe ruling class attack. ‘Austerity’ isworking for the ruling class, andcapitalism requires a decisive defeat ofthe working class in order to re-establishthe rate of profit.

We urgently need a strategy to inflict adecisive defeat on the ruling class - thedefeat of any austerity government, andits replacement with one committed toPeople’s Charter policies.

Simple protest and resistance are notenough. Strikes and civil disobedienceare not aims in themselves, but weaponswith which to achieve those victories. Ifa decisive defeat of our class is anecessity for capitalism, and if ourresistance is limited to “protest”, we areinviting the kind of response thatcapitalism and its institutions are inflictingon the trade unionist, socialist andcommunist resistance in Ukraine, andthat they have inflicted before aroundthe world when they have felt itnecessary.

We need a strategy to win, and windecisively.

Our unions, the peace movement andthe People’s Assembly needs a strategyfor winning and unity is the key. Everyanti-austerity and anti-wardemonstration is important. Even moreimportant is what happens now as thePeople’s Assembly strives to put downdeep roots into communities aroundBritain, trade unions work to organiseand activate whole memberships,understanding that only we ourselves –the working class - can secure

progressive economic,political and socialadvance and stop thedrive to war.

BILL gREENShIELDS IS

ChAIR Of ThE

COMMUNIST PARTy

Austerity and warhand in bloodyhand

Morning Star

Daily paper of the left £1 from your newsagent

and online atwww.morningstaronline.co.uk

Odessa Ukraine, May2 2014

Unity!

By ANDREW MURRAy

IF CREDIT were given where it isdue, the black banners of theIslamic State now flying over

Mosul, Fallujah and Ramadi would beemblazoned with portraits of Blairand Bush.For the sudden and stunning military

triumphs of the fighters of the IS(previously known as known as ISIS) isboth the consequence and the collapse ofthe policy launched with the Anglo-American aggression against Iraq in 2003.The overthrow, by means of illegal

invasion, of the dictatorial regime ofSaddam Hussein in Iraq spawned anincreasingly sectarian, authoritarian andcorrupt state which is now on the brink ofdisintegration along more than one axis.Now the US appears to be doubling-down

with a further military intervention,allegedly to stop IS advances, fuelled bythe barbaric murder of James Foley. Theonly certainty is that this new militaryincursion will not solve the crisis in Iraqand the wider Middle East but will mostlikely end up exacerbating it.So far the US has limited itself to

supporting military operations by KurdishPeshmerga fighters, who had been losingground to the IS. Clearly this will notdefeat IS on its own, since the Kurds arenot likely to carry the fight far outside theirown territory. The other initiative taken by Washington

is to shuffle aside the incurably sectarianpremier Maliki and replace him with whatthey hope will be a more inclusive regime.Again, it can be stated with a fair degree ofconfidence that this will not restore thecorrupt, sectarian and dysfunctional Iraqistate to anything like a condition in whichit can confront IS with confidence. TheIraqi army created by the USA after itsoccupation liquidated the existing armedforces, had its sectarian characterenhanced by Maliki to the point where itseems uninterested in fighting outside “itsown” territories in Baghdad and to itssouth.The leadership of the autonomous region

of Kurdistan, forever looking for theopportunity to upgrade their autonomy tothe foundations of an independent Kurdishstate, took advantage of the chaos to seizecontrol of Kirkuk and the surrounding oilfield, a position which they will notvoluntarily relinquish. A de factoindependent Kurdish state based in IraqiKurdistan is now becoming a reality. Aswith the erasure of the Iraqi-Syrian borderby IS, the nefarious work of the VersaillesTreaty in the Middle East is graduallycoming unglued.Thus the scene is set for a tripartite

division of Iraq – an effectivelyindependent Kurdistan which would be apole of attraction to Kurds in other states,including Turkey, Iran and Syria; afundamentalist-ruled IS in the north (alsoincorporating much of Syria, wheredislodging it would require as a minimumcooperation with the Assad government)and a Shia-based authoritarian US satrapyin the south. Democracy could perhapsknit it together again, bombing certainlywill not.It is cold comfort to say that precisely

this fracturing was a clearly foreseeableoutcome of the invasion of 2003, joiningthe long list of warnings ignored by thehubristic and messianic Blair.Undoubtedly the most humiliating aspect

for London and Washington is the triumphof IS across not only much of Iraq but alarge slice of Syria as well, where theyhave benefitted from western and Saudisupport for the rebellion against Assad.So here is the finale of the “war on

terror” – an Islamist terror group rulingacross the heart of the Arab world as adirect result of western intervention. Addthat to the growing power of the PakistaniTaliban – unknown in 2001 – and it is fairto describe the Bush-Blair war as astrategic disaster almost beyond measure.For Blair, of course, none of this is his

fault. Bizarrely, he argued on his FaithFoundation website – the faith in questionseems to be his own omniscience – that therise of ISIS could have been avoided hadthe west intervened militarily in Syria.e

NO TO INTERVENTION

H

‘The new orderis full of dangerof new andexpandingwars, but alsoof thepossibility ofthe defeat ofimperialism ona world scale’

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