Voice of the International African Revolution! - Uhuru News

26 THE BURNING SPEAR April 2003
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response to the violence of imperialism
as violence equal to what the
imperialists are doing.
The struggles in Colombia now
are characterized as being waged by
terrorists, and that is "violent."
The Palestinians are being massacred
on a daily basis. Just over the
last week, maybe 40 or more
Palestinians have been murdered.
Their response is "violence." Then
you have the "good violence" versus
the "bad violence." The "good violence"
is violence by the U.S. and its
allies. The "bad violence" is committed
by anybody who is opposed to
that.
Therefore, I’m concerned about
the peace movement. I am truly, truly
concerned about a peace movement
that will validate the policy of the U.S.
government, which is fighting against
"terrorism" and "violence."
The thing that disturbs me is that
less than 44 percent of Africans are
for this war. In this country, Africans
are the largest group of people
opposed to the war, but Africans
don’t participate in the peace movement.
The Africans can’t participate
in the peace movement because the
peace movement doesn’t recognize
the war that’s being made against
the Africans.
The peace movement calls on
everybody to fight for peace for white
people. It will not include on its
agenda the attack that’s happened to
Africans, Indians and other people in
this country.
In fact, the Quakers have said
Opinion
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the people of Iraq — not only
Saddam and his supporters — see
the war directed at them. Contrary to
the Iraqi exile opinion, it looks that
even if Saddam falls, the resistance
might outlive him. The native tactics
might test the power of the
microwave bombs, the bunkerbusters,
oxygen-depleting bombs
and other B-52 bearing cruise missiles.
It is looking more and more that
way.
I read a report that when Iraqi
people see dollars, they will side with
the invading force. Such lies and
contempt directed at a basically
nationalist-patriotic people can be
very self-deceiving. The people may
take the dollars and sweets and continue
to fight the invaders. Has that
occurred to the invaders who think
dollar power will neutralize what
seems a self-motivated, spirited and
determined resistance?
Most of the leadership of the Arab
Socialist Party of Iraq has been
weaned in Cairo University under the
Arab nationalist leadership of Gamal
Abdel Nasser. Saddam graduated
from Cairo University in the ‘60s. His
main political content has been Arab
nationalism even when he fought the
Kurds and the Mullahs of Iran — the
latter not being Arab!
The defining content of nationalism
is to try to use the resources of a
country first and foremost to develop
that people. Saddam and his followers
may have shown cruel and
deceitful conduct, but they are above
all Arab nationalists. Saddam would
probably be seen and hailed as an
This contradiction
between oppressed
and oppressor
nations is really
busting wide open...
You see they’re not
occupying France.
The war is
happening in all
these other places
where people have
been living under
colonial domination
all this time. They’re
trying to stick
people back in that
situation.
that they don’t even want to participate
in the anti-war movement that
we helped to build because it was
taking up too many causes of Indians
and black people.
We don’t live in peace. We don’t
have any peace in our communities.
We are opposed to the war because
we are witnesses to what the
American war is all about right here,
where the movement that is supposed
to be for peace won’t open the
Arab (even Muslim) leader at the
grassroots level in the Arab world. If
this war becomes drawn out and
long — dead or alive — he will be
immortalized in the Arab world and
perhaps even in the Muslim world.
The World is too silent!
An old civilization is being razed
to the ground and no one is rushing
to put a stop to this madness. The
UN is mute. China, Russia, France
and Germany make meek statements.
The Arab League makes
banal remarks while Qatar's foreign
minister walks out.
The African Union has uttered
hardly a murmer or blib.
The world must not see Iraq burn
like hell. The images we see are
deeply disturbing and the scar they
leave will not be healed for generations.
We must try to be resourceful
and try to save lives — on all sides.
As the soldiers displayed as P.O.W.s
from the USA show that they are
from ordinary families why should
they die too?
The African-American father who
waved the picture of his killed sonsoldier
in the war to the world media
demanded to Bush that he be held
responsible for taking his only son's
life. That was a display as heartrending
as it is symbolic of all those
soldiers who may die for the simple
reason of being in Iraq — not
because they know anything or care
about the Iraqis, but because they
are doing a 'job.' Moreover, as one of
the captured POWs said, "They are
there because they have to follow
orders."
Anarchy above international law
What can be done to prevent the
door to allow African people to participate.
This contradiction between
oppressed and oppressor nations is
really busting wide open. That’s what
September 11 seems to have been
about. That’s what Afghanistan is
about. That’s what Iraq is about.
That’s what Colombia is about.
That’s what the Philippines are
about.
You see they’re not occupying
France. The war is happening in all
these other places where people
have been living under colonial domination
all this time. They’re trying to
stick people back in that situation.
Inside this country, the so-called
peace movements reflect imperial
assumptions as they relate to
oppressed peoples. They assume
that black people should not come in
and mess up their damn peace
movement. They have a nice peace
movement and here’s Omali. They
say, "Every time Omali talks, he’s
talking about oppression and imperialism
and we just want it to stop." Do
you understand?
That’s what’s happening. Here’s
Sheridan from the American Indian
Movement talking about what’s happening
on the reservations and they
just want the discussion to stop.
It’s happening even with folk who
are being redbaited, like
A.N.S.W.E.R. They are being redbaited,
yet they’re trying to stop us
from speaking out.
They say they want
to save the people,
then bomb them and
their country to save
them. After their
conduct of
destruction, they
want to show them
compassion by
inviting ruthless U.S.
corporations,
government
development agencies
and NGOs to
reconstruct their
society and provide
them food and
medicine.
Driving force in history is
national liberation
It’s an incredible, volatile situation,
but it’s one that can bode well.
The fundamental problem is all
the millions of people who are out
there in opposition to what the Bush
regime is attempting to do. People
are opposed to imperialism, but the
fundamental contradiction is the lack
of organization.
There is no evidence of revolutionary
organization. People need
organization.
Even with the Soviet Union being
the opportunistic entity that it was, it
was significant because it gave ideological
grounding for many forces
throughout the whole world.
The contradiction in this world that’s
going to be kicking everybody in the
teeth is that oppressed peoples everywhere,
including the black communities
and Barrios in the cities and communities
where you live, are moving
forward and are no longer going to live
like this.
That’s what’s defining the historical
trajectory that we’re moving along
today. Bush is trying to stop history.
That will not work. I think what revolutionaries
struggle to do is to understand
the historical trajectories and join them
to facilitate the birth of a completely
new kind of social system. That in the
final analysis is what we’re fighting for.
People have to choose sides.
The driving force in history is
national liberation. There’s a real
attempt to re-colonize the world directly
under white power. I believe everything
they do will deepen this crisis as
opposed to lessening it for them. That’s
the world as we see it.
BUSH-BLAIR mad rush to destroy
Iraq under the guise of changing its
government?
What kind of world are they wishing
to create?
Tomorrow, a small country can go
charge its neighbor to bring about
regime change and can point to the
Blair-Bush doctrine of pre-emptive
strike to bring change. And if this
country appears to be endowed with
some rich minerals that the big powers
desire, they will use that as a pretext
to get involved and bombard
hapless populations. This is a neat
formula for spreading world anarchy.
Ironically, this comes from the
power that wants — or says it wishes
— to police the world and create stability
and security for the 21st century.
How can this power create security
and order if it is seen as an outlaw
and contemptuous of the international
institutions and international
law?
This is a formula for a security disorder
for the 21st century, not a new
world order.
Charity after the festival of
violence and willful destruction
Organized hypocrisy characterizes
imperial politics and human
rights. Imperial power self-arrogates
the power to dictate the terms of any
engagement.
If opposed, it collects a number of
disparate countries and goes to
enforce its own actions against the
will of the world and international law.
It camouflages its own action under
the euphemism of a constructed
"coalition."
There is not only violence against
people, but truth is dead and language
itself is casualized — having
been used and turned into fraud and
deception.
Ethics is thrown out of the window.
The overriding animal instinct to
win war dictates how the war is
reported, played out, even thought
about. It is not a command and control
of the physical battle. It is a command
and control of everything. It is
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African People’s Socialist Party