December 18, 2003
The Capture of Hussein: Propaganda Coup but a Hollow Conquest
The drumbeat of U.S. propaganda surrounding the capture of Saddam Hussein pounds out the "news" that a milestone in the pacification of Iraq has been achieved. The implication is that with the dictator finally run to ground, Iraqi outrage at foreign soldiers will abate and deadly assaults on U.S. troops will taper off.
But this is not so. Although U.S. officials have strained to portray opposition to the occupation as the creation of "evil-doers" like Hussein, Baath Party loyalists, and Al Qaeda, the truth is otherwise. Resistance in Iraq is driven not by any one man or movement, but by a basic social reality: people who are occupied by foreign armies resist.
Obviously, Hussein could not have been a prime mover of the growing rebellion, which now averages 55 attacks every day. On the run for nearly nine months, with a $25 million bounty on his head, Hussein was in no position to mastermind anything — probably not even his next hiding place.
Instead, reports from Iraq make it clear that the insurgency is organic and heterogeneous. An example is the city of Samarra, where U.S. troops were ambushed shortly after Hussein was seized. The city has become a flash point of resistance since U.S. soldiers fired on a wedding party there, killing four people. The Samarra uprising includes Baathists, but is also made up of "people who are simply nationalists or patriots, or want revenge for family members killed or injured," according to aljazeera.net.
Demystifying a dictator and his downfall
George W. Bush pontificated that Hussein's apprehension ends a "dark and painful era," telling Iraqis that it will advance "sovereignty for your country, dignity for your great culture." The U.S. government paints Hussein as a towering dark figure whose eradication will open the door to liberation and democracy for Iraqis and reduce the terrorist threat worldwide.
This "great man theory" of events in Iraq and more broadly is false to the core. It conveniently ignores the role of Western colonialism in creating the conditions for the rise of nationalist, autocratic regimes like Hussein's in the Middle East. Indeed, the very configuration of the various states in the region is a product of colonialism and imperialist war.
And Hussein would never have had the power that he did without the benefit of massive amounts of arms the U.S. supplied to him during the Iran-Iraq war. The U.S. backed Hussein in this conflict in the hopes of neutralizing the Iranian revolution, a rallying point for a brand of fundamentalist anti-imperialism that posed a serious threat to U.S. interests.
Of course Bush is trying to use the seizure of Hussein to shore up support for the occupation and justify the war that preceded it. But what meaning does Hussein's capture have for those who are bearing the costs of Washington's aggression? None.
The people of Iraq will still struggle to survive without enough food, electricity, and water; Iraq's resources will continue to be privatized into the hands of foreign profiteers; demobilized Iraqi soldiers will remain without retirement benefits or jobs. And the military occupation will continue to take on, day by day, the chilling character of Israel's suppression of Palestine — hooded detainees, humiliating checkpoints, and collective punishment of entire families for the "sins" of a single member.
It is not only the Iraqis who will continue to suffer. How will Hussein's capture help young U.S. soldiers who are being forced to extend their tours of duty in Iraq, greatly increasing their chances of being killed or maimed? What will it do for U.S. working people, who are paying with their social services and schools for a criminal occupation that costs $210 million a day?
As always, both in Iraq and the U.S., it is women and children who are bearing the brunt of the turmoil and deprivation that U.S. policy has caused.
End the wars on working people at home and abroad!
The antiwar movement in the U.S. has a unique responsibility in continuing to unmask Bush's lies and press for the victory of Iraqi resistance against the occupiers. A good first step would be to support and encourage the protests by G.I.s and their families. These have been growing over the past months. The experiences of the Vietnam War show how crucial this component of antiwar organizing can be.
Antiwar forces should also demand that Hussein be tried by the Iraqi people themselves. Any trial stage-managed by the U.S. will be a nothing but a political showpiece of the victors over the vanquished.
The antiwar mobilization will have the opportunity to make its voice powerfully heard on the national level during protests of the Democratic and Republican Party presidential conventions. These protests can connect the struggle of the Iraqi people for liberation to the struggles here at home, where people's security has little to do with the threat of anti-U.S. terrorism and everything to do with attacks on workers' jobs, education, pensions, social welfare, and civil rights.
A diverse, representative antiwar movement with radical demands and no illusions in the twin-party politicians can make a difference. It's happened before, and it can happen again.
Western imperialists out of the Middle East! U.S. out of Iraq. No U.S. wars against Syria or Iran. Free Palestine!
No to religious control of the Iraqi state! For a secular society with equal rights for women.
For freedom of the press, association, speech, and religion. Self-determination for all national minorities.
For Iraqi workers' and neighborhood councils, organized on a national level, to call a national assembly charged with writing a new constitution.
For war reparations to Iraq and Afghanistan paid by U.S. war profiteers!
Issued by Freedom Socialist Party
4710 University Way NE, #100
Seattle, WA 98105 USA • Email: fspnatl@igc.org
FAX: 206-985-8965 • Tel: 206-985-4621