Iraq

Posted by: John Phoenix The 20th of March this year marked the 20th anniversary of the start of Anglo-American imperialism’s war against Iraq.  Although there was mass opposition to this war, most of the print and electronic media, including the BBC, whipped up jingoistic hysteria against Iraq and in favour of the war.  20 years on there is hardly anyone who can be found to speak in favour of it.  Respectable bourgeois newspapers have published articles, written by respectable bourgeois journalists, condemning this war.  We just take one such article as an example.  It appeared in the Sunday Times of 19 March 2023. Under the half misleading title ‘Ever noticed how much less stable the world is now than in 2003? Well, Blair’s to blame’, the...

Posted by: John Phoenix For seventeen years British and US soldiers have been in occupation of Iraq. At first this occupation was openly acknowledged. Later it was presented as offering security to the US-sponsored regime which in turn ‘invited’ the troops to stay on. Gradually successive Iraqi governments, acting under popular pressure, have sought to set deadlines for the troops’ departure, but the army never quite managed to find the exit. As things stand, there are still about 7,500 coalition grunts squatting on Iraqi soil, of whom 5,000 are from the US. Needless to add, this conservative estimate does not include the numerous contractors, mercenaries and other camp-followers who buttress the occupation. Now, though, with the imperialist proxy war against Syria collap...

Posted by: John Phoenix The protests which erupted in Iraq throughout October and November, culminating in the resignation of prime minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi, did not come out of a clear blue sky. There is no shortage of reasons to revolt against the situation in which Iraqis find themselves seventeen years after their country was sanctioned, invaded, occupied and destroyed by US and British imperialism, all in the name of democracy and freedom. What had been one of the most modern and industrially advanced societies in the Middle East, with an enviable record in health, education and welfare funded by ample domestic oil revenues, was comprehensively trashed, leaving behind nothing but wreckage and depleted uranium. To this day, despite (or because of) the lucrative involve...