Liberation 2019 AGM Journal of Liberation Formerly the Movement for Colonial Freedom Volume 61 No
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Journal of Liberation formerly the Movement for Colonial Freedom Winter 2020 Contents Post election apocalypse? Middle East political uncertainty continues Jane Green Iraq uprising fights for democracy and peace Resisting RSS and BJP Hindutva ideology Joginder Bains The two Pakistans Manzoor Pashteen Hegemonic competition v peace Stavri Kalopsidiotou Liberation 2019 AGM Journal of Liberation formerly the Movement for Colonial Freedom Volume 61 No. 8 Winter 2020 Contents MiddleEeast political uncertainty continues 2 Jane Green Formerly the Movement for Colonial Freedom, Liberation was founded in1954. Today Liberation campaigns for peace, economic justice, equality and human rights Iraq uprising fights for Liberation democracy and peace 75-77 St John Street, London EC1M 4NN 4 Maggie Bowden general secretary This issue prepared by Ararat Ratoosi Printed by RussellPress Design and production Manifesto Press Resisting RSS and BJP set in Liberation sans Hindutva ideology Joginder Bains Other than the editorial, the opinions in the 6 articles are not necessarily those of Liberation The two Pakistans Manzoor Pashteen To recieve a copy of this issue or to recieve 8 regular issues of Liberation journal pleae email or call on [email protected] 02073242498 www. liberationorg.co.uk Hegemonic competition v peace 10 Stavri Kalopsidiotou 13 Liberation 2019 AGM Post election apocalypse? them all being “reasons for the UK to hold Breaking up larger concentrations of its head high”. Did the Conservatives power into pieces that individually have perhaps run past Greta Thunberg their less power may sound clever but it’s a claim to have “driven the agenda” on dangerous game. A Sunni Arab war fighting climate change? Doubtful, against Shia forces in the Middle East probably, especially given their refusal to would surmount all national borders. An honour the convention on the rights of the alliance between imperialism and the CLEAR OUTCOME of the UK child due to their ideological commitment Sunnis, cosied up to by Israel, is the general election is that the to domestic corporal punishment. Ms greatest danger to world peace, with Manifesto of the Labour Party, Thunberg and 15 other children have Sunnis making up 90% or more of the Awhich for the very first time seemed to be recently filed a sample legal complaint populations of Egypt, Jordan and Saudi promoting an independent foreign policy against some countries of failing to take Arabia. Shia constitute about 10% of all in the interests not just of Britain but the action on climate change, in violation of Muslims and globally. citizens of the world, will not now be the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The interests of the US military- implemented. Yet, apparently, ‘Getting Brexit Done’ industrial complex and the oil and It said that international peace and will allow Britain to do more on the transport lobbies, together with their allies security would be a “primary objective” international stage, championing a “rules- in Britain, in motivating this burgeoning since “Britain deserves better than the based” approach by bolstering “NATO; strange alliance may be well aware of Conservatives’ reckless approach to the Commonwealth; Five Eyes; the G20; much speculation over the impending complex global challenges or the the G7; and the World Trade global crash in 2020, now coming in thick outsourcing of UK foreign policy to US Organisation”, all economic, espionage, and fast, led by investment bank, President Donald Trump.” and military frameworks designed to keep JPMorgan – sparked by automated Referencing “failed military the status quo. Other international trading systems. Forbes Magazine says: interventions in countries like Libya”, initiatives involve “supporting the “2020s Might Be The Worst Decade In which have worsened security across upcoming Commonwealth Games, UEFA U.S. History – triggered by contagion North Africa, accelerating the refugee European Women’s Championships and from a global credit crisis.” The chief crisis”, Labour under long-time friend of Rugby League World Cup – and we economist at Moody’s Analytics, has said Liberation, Jeremy Corbyn, would have would back a potential UK and Ireland bid that “2020 is a real inflection point”. trail-blazed “a New Internationalism”. A for the 2030 FIFA World Cup”, say the Global stimulus packages are coming War Powers Act would have ensured no Tories. But “unlike Jeremy Corbyn, we will to an end, inflation is coming, trade prime minister would again bypass stand up to foreign countries that threaten disputes will create a drag on economies Parliament to commit to conventional the stability of Europe, or commit state- and interest rates are now on a rapid military action. sanctioned murder on British soil” upward trajectory. A slump can only be Sadly, no audit of the impact of Meanwhile, the world cartwheels into avoided by going to war. Unquestionably, Britain’s colonial legacy will now be disaster. President Trump’s claim about for billions of people the medicine is conducted, unless Liberation starts a growing Iranian control of Iraq might be much worse that the illness. But, for the project to create understanding of dismissed as nonsense without the larger elite, things are different. It was Albert Britain’s contribution to “the dynamics of consequences involved. Although Einstein who said he didn’t know what violence and insecurity” across regions Washington’s anti-Muslim passport-ban weapons World War III would be fought previously in sway to the Empire. purports to be about 9/11, none of the with; but he was sure “World War IV will Whether there will ever be a British states from which the hijackers came are be fought with sticks and stones”. apology for the Jallianwala Bagh subject to the ban. The intent behind the 254 armed conflicts have been fought massacre is left in the air. The people of list and the hostility to Iran increasingly since 1946, of which 114 are classed as the Chagas Islands remain in limbo and looks to be to use anti-Shia sentiment to wars, defined as more than one thousand the rights of the people of West Papua divide peoples. If Donald Trump thinks battle-related deaths per annum. Right and the Western Sahara go Latin refers to dance movement, no now, long-standing wars continue in unrecognised. With no inquiry into doubt Boris Johnson imbibed Caesar’s Afghanistan (42,000 fatalities in 2019), complicity over rendition and torture, we Commentaries on the Gallic Wars in his Yemen (21,000), Syria (12,000). 10,000 must continue fighting for international youth. It doesn’t take much knowledge of people were killed last year in conflicts in justice the best we can. dead languages to work out that the Somalia, Libya, Iraq and Kurdish The Conservative Manifesto viewed playing fields of Eton have always populated areas of Turkey. Are we not Britain as “a force for good”, with strong resounded with the refrain ‘divide et entitled to ask what the price of war in Armed Forces and a willingness to use impera’, or divide and conquer. 2020 will be? n Liberation 1 Middle East – politica uncertainty continues The assassination of the muted, with a relatively low-key rocket such as Hamas and Hezbollah for commander of the Islamic attack on US air bases inside Iraq, with example, which may result in further no reported casualties. Sources inside responses taken at arm’s length from the Revolution Guard Corps, Iran indicate that the Iranians had alerted regime itself. Qasem Soleimani, has the US in advance of the strike, allowing While political assassination as a tool sparked a further round of all US and Iraqi personnel to be of foreign policy is not a new tactic for uncertainty in the Middle evacuated well in advance. Given the the US, the assassination of Soleimani public outpourings of grief on the streets still came as a shock to the Iranian East and brought the of Iranian cities and the expressions of regime and a blow to its adventurist danger of increased conflict vengeance from the regime’s leaders, foreign policy in the Middle East. With closer. Jane Green Iran’s action so far does not appear to be responsibility for the IRGC Quds Force, assesses the current proportionate to Soleimani’s status. in charge of overseas operations, Following the “missile attack” Soleimani was instrumental in extending situation. Iranian Foreign Minister, Javad Zarif Iranian influence throughout the region, tweeted that Iran had responded, across Iraq, into Syria and in Lebanon HE DEATH TOLL following the indicating in effect that the issue was and Yemen. His military and tactical assassination, by the United States, settled. acumen is widely credited with having of Islamic Revolution Guard Corps This contrasts to the Iranian response turned around the prospect of a Western (TIRGC) commander, General Qasem less than a week earlier when Iran’s led victory in the war of intervention in Soleimani, currently runs at over two Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Syria. hundred, with over 60 civilians being Khamenei, had said that “severe revenge Soleimani, was the loyal servant of a crushed in scenes of grief at Soleimani’s awaits the criminals” behind the attack theocratic dictatorship, unpopular with funeral and 176 deaths in the shooting and three days of national mourning its own people, as recent demonstrations down of the Ukranian civilian airliner, were announced. At that time Javad in November 2019 against corruption which the Iranian regime has admitted was Zarif called the attack an “act of and political cronyism across Iran a tragic mistake. international terrorism”, going on to say illustrate. The Iranian regime will never Neither of these events would have that, admit it but his assassination came at a taken place without the assassination of “The US bears responsibility for all time when uniting the country against a Soleimani and both are examples of the consequences of its rogue adventurism.” foreign enemy could have been a useful unintended consequences which can On an official level, it appears that distraction from domestic pressures.