concern 4

Full Resolution on Concern No. 4:
The cause of just peace and struggles against wars of counterrevolution and aggression and against nuclear, biological, chemical and other weapons of genocide and mass destruction.

Imperialist plunder and war

The 20th century - the first century of modern imperialism -- was marked with the greatest and most advances in science and technology by far, as man breached the frontiers of knowledge and space as never before. Rather than improve the quality of life, those giant leaps have brought the broadest mass of humanity grovelling in deeper poverty, misery and oppression, while a handful of exploiters and oppressors wallow in unimaginable wealth and power. Twentieth century man holds the unenviable distinction of threatening to annihilate the entire human race just when he has achieved the material capacity and power to liberate, clothe and feed all of mankind. Never has the ground been more fertile for the most colossal and destructive of wars, as it is for social liberation.

The US dropped two atomic bombs on Japan, killing tens of thousands and devastating two entire cities. It was as much the first horrific criminal act of the Cold War that would follow as it was the unmistakable ruthless deathblow delivered by a victorious beast. The US emerged from World War II as the most powerful and prosperous imperialist country in the world.

Socialist states likewise emerged from the ruins of the world wars. This inspired the oppressed peoples in other countries to struggle for their own national and social liberation. Their struggles stymied the schemes of the imperialist powers, while exacerbating both the inter-imperialist contradictions as well as the internal contradictions within each imperialist country. The development of nuclear capability by these powers broke the US' nuclear monopoly that would have given it free rein over the entire world.

The US achieved absolute superiority, if not supremacy, when the USSR and the East European regimes disintegrated in the last decade of the 20th century. It led the imperialists in an ideological and political offensive to proclaim the dawning of an era of global progress, prosperity and peace. But the neoliberal policies of so-called "free market" globalization were in truth imperialism's instruments of plunder on the weaker and smaller countries, pushing them deeper into debt and depression.

Little noticed were the wars of aggression and intervention launched by the US against Iraq, Yugoslavia and Somalia under the guise of "peace-enforcement", and hiding behind the mantle of "multilateralism" as it built coalitions and secured the mandate and support of the UN and NATO.

The September 11, 2001 WTC and Pentagon bombings gave the US the pretext to launch a global "war on terror" so-called. It invaded and occupied Afghanistan and Iraq to consolidate its hold on strategic oil resources and pipeline routes in the Caspian region, Central Asia and the Middle East. It carried out a wholesale restructuring of its armed forces worldwide in order to firm up its self-anointed role as world policeman while at the same time justifying the flow of funds and other resources to the military-industrial complex in which high US government officials held huge stakes.

The US maintains more than 700 military bases in about a hundred countries outside US territory. Access and servicing arrangements, "status of forces" agreements, and other forms of military treaties with other countries where it does not have military bases allow the US to deploy its forces and preposition warplanes, ships and other transport vehicles and war materiel including nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction in these countries. All these are essential in pursuing the US' renewed drive to firm up its dominance over the entire world.

The US has declared that it shall never again allow any nation whatsoever, whether ally or foe, to equal or even challenges the military superiority of the US. To ensure this, the US has invoked its self-declared right to "pre-emptive strike", "regime change", and unilateral military actions against any potential peer adversary and against what it unilaterally declares "axis of evil" or "threats to regional and world stability and peace".

In fact the US has become the biggest terrorist and threat to world peace. The invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq are only the worst and most blatant instances of its violations of international law, trampling on the sovereignty of nations and peoples, disregarding UN resolutions when it fits its purpose, killing and maiming tens of thousands, causing wanton destruction of property and incalculable hardship and misery.

The irony is that while the invasion of Iraq was made under the pretext of destroying mythical weapons of mass destruction allegedly possessed by the Saddam regime, it is the US which has the stockpile of nuclear weapons with no less than 10,600 nuclear warheads, 3,000 of which are ready to deploy from its "Enduring Stockpile". Moreover, the US, which is the only country that has used nuclear weapons in war, has not minced any words that it will target "dedicated proliferators" which directly threaten US interests.

The US has also used 320 tons of depleted uranium artillery in the 1990 Gulf war. Depleted uranium has also been used in the Yugoslavian conflict and is still being used until now in the current Iraq war despite numerous health risks to soldiers and civilians in areas where it has been deployed.

US imperialism is itself the World Merchant of Death, amassing immense profits from selling armaments to both sides prior to joining the fray in the two world wars since 1990, the US has exported USD 152B worth of weapons in form of sales and military aid. In 2001, it exported war material in no less than 170 nations and has earned USD 13.1B in that year alone, under the aegis of the "war on terror". Also in the guise of counter terrorism it has now increased military aid and activities such as training exercises in more countries than before and it has deployed these US-trained and equipped troops as surrogate or proxy armies through coalitions and alliances and as UN peace-enforcement forces.

The US has unilaterally rejected the Biological Weapons and Toxins Convention treaty and its protocols in 2001 on the grounds that inspections of facilities would jeopardize US national security. It has since then engaged in developing small weapons delivery devices for biological and chemical weapons as well as bio-defence research activities. The Pentagon now considers bio-weapons work acceptable as long as "non-lethal" is appended in its activities.

The world's capitalist powers collude with each other in exploiting and oppressing the world's peoples. But the crisis of the world capitalist system and the arrogance and drive of the US to assert its supremacy exacerbate their conflicting interests. Germany, Japan, France and the UK understand clearly that when Bush says that the US reserves the right to use "pre-emptive strikes", "regime change" and even nuclear weapons if necessary, to prevent any power from even coming close to being a peer rival or challenging US world supremacy, he is referring not only to the so-called "axis of evil", Russia and China, but to themselves as well.

The European Union continues to challenge the US economically. In 2003, the EU GDP amounting to USD 10.3 trillion was greater than the US GDP of USD 10.1 trillion. The Euro, now stronger than the US dollar, is challenging the latter's monopoly as the international reserve currency and as the currency used in the oil trade. Some European countries are pushing for a European army to advance and protect European economic and political interests. However, the European countries continue to be politically divided and the US continues to lead NATO and thereby maintain its military control over Europe. The US and Germany, both aiming to tighten their control over Central Europe and the Balkans, stirred ethnic conflict and then led the UN and NATO in intervention and occupation under the guise of "peace-enforcement". But their interests and their plans in securing the territory and laying the oil pipelines from the Caucasus and Caspian Regions to Europe are conflicting.

The European states are uneasy over the US' predisposition to seize strategic resources worldwide just as the US arrogantly asserts its will over the WTO. France, Germany, Russia and China opposed the US invasion of Iraq because this threatened their own investments, concessions and toehold in Iraq and elsewhere in the Middle East. But they acknowledge US military superiority and sanctioned the occupation of Iraq by calling for UN supervision which might give them a share of the pie, no matter how small.

Both China and Russia are wary of US encroachments, including the maintenance of US bases, in Central Asia. They held joint military exercises last August with Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan, their partners in the security alliance, Shanghai Cooperation Organization. Between Russia and China, it is China that the US considers a bigger potential peer rival. The US pursues a dual policy of engagement and containment toward China - engaging it economically while containing it politically and militarily.

Peoples' Struggles

A broad range of forces all over the world has risen to oppose US aggression, plunder and war.

Millions marched in a single day, 15 February 2003, to protest the impending invasion of Iraq, even as the US and its allies churned out lies about Saddam's weapons of mass destruction and of the Iraqi people waiting to be liberated by the US-led invasion force.

The worldwide anti-war and anti-imperialist movements are now rallying behind the Iraqi and Afghan resistance and the Palestinian struggle. Worldwide condemnation is focused on US imperialism and Israeli Zionism for their gross inhumanity, arrogance, their utter disregard for the safety of innocent civilians and other blatant violations of human rights, national sovereignty and international humanitarian law.

A year and a half after Bush declared that the war had been won conclusively, American soldiers are falling with increasing frequency as the Iraqi people step up their resistance to US occupation. At home, Bush along with his neo-conservative cohorts persist in carrying out the murderous "Project for a New American Century". They are besieged and beleaguered by probes that produce mounting evidence of official lying and scheming to deliberately mislead the public into supporting the criminal invasion of Iraq.

As in Vietnam in the 1960s and 1970s, the American people's protest and condemnation of the US war of aggression is bound to mount as the moral justification for the US invasion and occupation and the image of US invincibility are shattered. Massive anti-war protest actions in the US and abroad, the advance of anti-imperialist wars of national liberation movements, and the floundering economy can create tremendous pressure on the US imperialist masters to withdraw from Iraq.

The recently concluded US elections reveal the deep divisions within US society and its polarization over the US role in global war and terror, even as the Bush-led neoconservatives are flaunting the final result as a clear mandate to pursue more vigorously their scheme for world dominance by whatever means.

Many nations and peoples assert their sovereignty to resist the economic, political and military demands and arm-twisting by the US and other foreign oppressors. There is a growing movement against the deployment and activities of US military forces especially in countries where US military bases are found or where there is continuing presence and intervention.

Armed liberation movements in several countries such as Palestine, the Philippines, Nepal, India, Turkey, Colombia and Iraq deal lethal blows to imperialist forces and interests in these countries. They inspire other oppressed peoples to advance their own struggles for freedom and democracy.

The establishment of the ILPS in May 2001 as a broad mass formation for expanding and consolidating the peoples' struggles against imperialism could not have come at a more propitious time. The campaigns and activities launched by its member organizations in various countries and regions, the international actions such as Thessaloniki Resistance 2003, Mumbai Resistance 2004 and the International Campaign Against Overseas US Military Bases under the aegis of the ILPS, have significantly raised the level of militancy and anti-imperialist consciousness in the global struggle against imperialism and all reaction.

Resolutions

A. The ILPS resolves to prevent, oppose, frustrate and ultimately defeat unjust wars of imperialist aggression and the use of nuclear and other genocidal weapons of mass destruction (WMD), and work for genuine peace based on freedom, social justice and equality among nations. The ILPS:

1. Condemns imperialism as the main source of war and upholds national liberation, social emancipation and peaceful coexistence among nations, i.e., mutual respect for territorial integrity and sovereignty, mutual non-aggression, non-interference in each other's internal affairs, equality and mutual benefit, as the path to genuine peace. It shall expose, oppose and thwart the interference and intervention by imperialist powers in the internal affairs of nations.

2. Demands the disarming, dismantling and destruction of all existing nuclear and other genocidal WMD and a total ban on their manufacture, development and deployment.

3. Demands the dismantling of imperialist regional military alliances and bases, especially the US overseas military bases, and the abrogation of defence and military treaties and agreements.

4. Opposes the development and use of armies for aggression, unjust wars and plunder.

B. The ILPS shall implement the above through the following means:

1. Launching information drives and education campaigns for a deeper understanding of and unified stand against imperialist wars of aggression and the use of nuclear and other genocidal WMD.

a. Build a common understanding on how imperialism has led to two world wars, the Cold War, "low-intensity" conflicts, "global war on terror" and similar wars of aggression and intervention under the guise of "peace-enforcement"; expose and oppose the imperialist hand in current post-Cold War conflicts such as in the Middle East, Balkans, the former Soviet republics, Turkey, Iraq, Palestine, Southeast Asia, South Asia, Colombia, Congo,Haiti, Somalia, Rwanda and others; conduct studies on recent and current wars of aggression and counter the imperialist propaganda line that local conflicts are rooted in racial and ethnic strife, border disputes, corruption, and despotism in order to rationalize imperialist intervention in such conflicts.

Special and additional attention shall be given the theory and application of US global strategy and tactics as defined in "Project New American Century" and other documents.

b. Promote a fundamental understanding among progressive forces and peoples' organizations of the military-industrial complex, as to how military production is rooted in the structure of capitalist production relations.

National and international information and education campaigns shall be undertaken to expose, oppose, and eventually help defeat specific cases of imperialist intervention, aggression and genocide. Focus shall be on current conflicts such as in Colombia, Congo, the Balkans, Iraq, Palestine, the Philippines, and Turkey.

Conferences, symposia, and fora shall be held for the purpose of common study and information dissemination, and for organizing and galvanizing various forces into undertaking common programs and specific actions.

The Study Commission for Concern 4 shall initiate and take the lead in conducting research, building databanks, and disseminating information.

2. Building a broad anti-imperialist peace movement consisting of various international and national movements, formations and outstanding individuals committed to the cause of just peace. Such a movement shall have a clear commitment to oppose imperialism as the real source of war and uphold national liberation, social emancipation and peaceful coexistence among nations.

National and international networks shall be established for research and publications, interfacing, coordination, etc. to facilitate production and dissemination of information and analyses of concrete situations and problems relating to the question of peace. A veritable database of the elements of Concern 4 - wars, WMD, bases, army deployment, struggles… - shall be built.

3. Actively promoting and engaging in solidarity work in support of peoples struggling against imperialist aggression and intervention. Widespread opposition shall be created and mustered against acts of aggression and intervention and to the use of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction.

4. Serving as a coordinating center for various independent initiatives of member organizations relating to the quest for peace.

5. Cooperating with all institutions, organizations, parties and other formations that oppose imperialist wars of aggression and intervention and the use of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction.

C. In their own countries, regions and specific concerns, the participating organizations shall:

1. Undertake campaigns and programs to help advance their people's struggles for genuine peace and against wars of aggression and the use of nuclear and other genocidal WMD. These campaigns and programs shall be an integral part of the people's struggle for basic social reforms, and for respecting the territorial integrity and sovereignty of nations.

2. Expose and oppose the militarists, fascists, agents of imperialism and all those advocating and carrying out policies of aggression, interference and intervention, fascism and genocide.

3. Coordinate with other participating organizations and support each other's efforts and specific campaigns.

4. Actively participate in and support the International Campaign Against US Overseas Military Bases.