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Workers Power Global, London, 25 July 2003
With remorseless inevitability Tony Blair's case for war in Iraq disintegrates before our very eyes. Above all the claim that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction which it could deploy against its neighbours or against its US/UK "liberators" was dispelled by the war itself and by a total failure to find them.
The WMD argument is not important at all in itself. Most people know what the real reasons for the war were: Iraq's oil reserves - the second largest in the world - and its strategic importance to US plans for imposing its order on the Middle East and central Asia.
As the WMD pretext falls apart Blair is trying vainly to jump ship to the "liberation of the Iraqi people" argument. But this too is being undermined by the naked colonialism of his gigantic ally and the growing resentment and resistance of the Iraqi people.
Meanwhile the Labour MPs and union leaders who backed Blair's war have to face the backdrop of domestic disillusion - over PFI and Foundation Hospitals in the NHS, over chaos in education funding, over low pay and worsening conditions, leading to wildcat strikes like those at Heathrow airport.
The election of a series of left of centre leaders, their talk of withdrawing political funds from Labour and even talk by some of a new party are all reflections of this grassroots discontent.
Of course the union barons and Labour backbenchers lacked the courage or principle to stop Blair's war, or halt his continuing support for George Bush on every major issue. Instead they have set themselves the task of "reclaiming our party" from the Blair clique in order to put it in the hands of... the Brown clique.
No matter that Gordon Brown is the architect of PFI. No matter that he declared his full support for Bush and Blair's war. No matter that he supports all the institutions of globalised exploitation - the IMF, the World Bank, and the WTO.
The "reclaim our party" block of union leaders and MPs now wants us to wait for a year to 18 months and, we are told, Blair will retire.
In the radical days in February and March anything seemed possible - the downfall of Blair and New Labour, a general strike, a new workers party. These were not just idle dreams. The massive million-strong demonstrations had the whole war-mongering government on the ropes. Today's turnaround is due to the failures of the official "left" and even "far left" of the movement.
Had a real struggle for escalating direct action and strikes been launched, the war could have been prevented or turned into a huge class war on the home front. But the majority of the far left refused to say to the union leaders, "Call out your members from above and we will do all in our power to mobilise them from below." They failed to call on the "reclaimers" in the Labour Party to boot out Blair and co. They dared not call Bob Crow and George Galloway's bluff and demanded that they organise a conference of unions and political organisations to discuss the foundation of a new workers party.
Above all the left failed the vital task of calling for People's Assemblies in every single town and city - made up of delegates from the unions, the political parties of the labour movement (including anti-war Labour Party groups), immigrant and community organisations. Such bodies alone could have delivered mass direct action, even a general strike. They would have massively radicalised an already angry and rebellious population.
But the "awkward squad" turned out to be only too peaceable. And the SWP - despite their cries of "Blair Out!" - did not dare offend their new-found friends.
Thus the moment was lost. The ebb of the tide of radicalisation is all too plain to see. The union leaders are back into plotting to replace Blair with Brown. The SWP is dumping the Socialist Alliance in favour of a non-socialist, class collaborationist "Peace and Justice" alliance with the mosques and whoever they can find. Both these "realistic ideas" will turn out to be ridiculous fantasies. Meanwhile they are dissipating the potential of the anti-war movement and the beginnings of a new militancy in the unions.
How can we stop the retreat and recommence the offensive?
The basis for a rapid return to the fight is there. The "victory in Iraq" is unravelling. The discontent and militancy of the rank and file of the labour movement, the anti-capitalist movement and the immigrant communities is also there for all to see - not just in Britain, but across Europe.
This ferment needs a focus - for formulating objectives and for building the action to realise them. The recalled People's Assembly on 30th August needs to set about building local assemblies.
Their first task is to mobilise for 27th September a huge, million-strong demonstration.
• US and UK occupiers out of Iraq now!
• Blair and the warmongers out of power!
The second task is to launch a three-pronged mass campaign:
• against war and imperialism
• against PFI and the destruction of our public services
• against racism and the scapegoating of asylum seekers.
But all these issues point up yet again the crisis of leadership in our movement. The "official left" - whether in parliament or the unions - fails the test of action. The "unofficial left" - the SWP, the Scottish Socialist Party - dares not criticise them at the crucial moment when that criticism would strike a chord with the mass movement and drive the "leaders" forward or replace them.
This zig-zagging between radical slogans and timid deeds, between revolutionary phrases and reformist objectives has a name - centrism. Such centrism - without clear principles and a programme - has outlived its time. The movement needs to debate and decide on the key issues for united action, but it needs to debate overall strategy too - how to replace the violence and insecurity of capitalism with socialism. Can this be done on the road of parliamentary reformism or, as we believe, only on the road of class struggle and revolution? People's Assemblies (or social forums) can launch this process.
But Britain is not the only country facing these struggles. The effects of globalisation (the assault on pension rights and social gains), the mass fightback and the weakness and betrayals of the workers' leaders are common phenomena across the European Union.
Therefore the European Social Forum called in Paris in November is a golden opportunity to learn from one another's struggles and successes, to analyse common weaknesses and to assemble a new layer of rank and file militant leaders. Every trade union branch, every local anti-war and anti-capitalist organisation needs to discuss the agenda for Paris, send a strong delegation and resolve to come back with ideas to make our movement much more effective and clear as to its goals and methods of struggle.
For People's Assemblies in every city and town!
For a new workers party, won to a revolutionary socialist programme!
For a new - Fifth - International!
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