2-15-05, 7:55am
AFTER THE JAN. 30 ELECTION: END THE OCCUPATION, BUILD SOLIDARITY WITH THE IRAQI PEOPLE!
Statement of the Central Executive Committee, Communist Party of Canada
The Jan. 30 election in Iraq was an important event in the political life of Iraqis and in the struggle to end the occupation of the country. Early, partial results refect the massive opposition to this occupation. However, the election itself will not bring a quick end to the tragic events in Iraq. The Communist Party of Canada condemns the gross interference by the U.S. in Iraq's internal affairs seen in this election campaign, and renews our demand for an immediate end to the US/UK occupation as the best way to allow the Iraqi people to begin rebuilding their shattered homeland.
The overwhelming majority of Iraqis oppose the occupation, but the complex situation in the country led to different strategic and tactical approaches. Some forces called for a peaceful rejection of the vote; a small number tried to impose a boycott, using attacks on candidates and voters. Most took part in the campaign despite such intimidation, estimating that the election could deal a blow to the occupation. The Iraqi Communist Party campaigned for a broad slate of candidates around the issues of sovereignty, secularism, working class rights, and Kurdish autonomy, with the goal of electing candidates committed to using their position to help expand the struggle for democracy and freedom.
In the view of the Communist Party of Canada, the Iraqi people themselves must ultimately judge the advantages or shortcomings of these tactical options. Of course, an occupied people has the legitimate right to strike back against foreign troops which have turned over Iraq's sovereignty to the imperialist powers and the big transnational corporations. The rising death toll among U.S. troops in Iraq is becoming a major factor in turning public opinion in the United States against this dirty war of aggression, which has already cost the lives of over 100,000 Iraqi civilians.
At the same time, many others have been killed in the struggles among contending sections of Iraqi society. We condemn the brutal killings of trade union activists and other progressives, including those who had returned home after long periods in exile from Saddam Hussein's dictatorial regime to help build a better future. Many such activists used the election process as an opportunity to campaign for equality, democracy and social progress.
Such decisions were made in full awareness of the deeply flawed nature of the election, ranging from the shocking intrusion of U.S.-based 'non-governmental organizations,' to the inability of the occupation forces and the interim government to protect candidates, and even the distribution of election materials by U.S. troops. Despite these realities, there was a large turnout in many areas for the Jan. 30 election. This does not prove, as the Bush Administration claims, that the Iraqi people support the occupiers' version of democracy, but rather that millions of Iraqis are determined to use any available method to try to regain some degree of sovereignty. We note that elections are also far from being 'free and fair' here in our own country. Canada is dominated by transnational capital, both foreign and domestic, with one of the highest concentrations of corporate media control in the world, and an electoral system heavily biased in favour of the big capitalist parties.
For most of the last century and except for periods of direct colonial control, U.S. and British imperialism supported all of Iraq's Kings and dictators, including the government of Saddam Hussein. Imperialism has always tried to crush democratic and revolutionary movements in Iraq.
Faced with a massive popular resistance, imperialism is trying to retain its influence and the loot acquired from the most recent occupation. A truly sovereign Iraq will never tolerate such an imposition, and instead should receive from the U.S. and Britain reparations for countless deaths and destruction caused by many decades of occupation, colonialism and brutal sanctions.
The Communist Party of Canada continues to extend our full solidarity to all those in Iraq struggling to regain their country's sovereignty and to build a better future for working people. We will do everything possible to help achieve maximum participation in the March 19-21 demonstrations marking the second anniversary of the illegal war against Iraq, and to build a broader and more powerful anti-war movement across Canada. This struggle will achieve victory when the US and Britain are forced to withdraw from Iraq, and when imperialist aggression is rolled back by the united strength of the peoples of the world.
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