Against Imperialist Massacres: No War but the Class War!

Capitalist class rule sits atop a mountain of corpses. Syria continues to be a battleground for imperialist interests scrambling to gain a foothold in the region, as well as a potential site for the start of a Third World War. In response to this deepening crisis, June will see a series of meetings to launch a revolutionary alternative to the bosses’ war drive. The meetings will mark the re-emergence of a platform for struggle under the slogan of “No War But The Class War” (NWBCW).

Submitted by Internationali… on May 30, 2018

Capitalist class rule sits atop a mountain of corpses. Syria continues to be a battleground for imperialist interests scrambling to gain a foothold in the region, as well as a potential site for the start of a Third World War.

That conflict so far has claimed the lives of nearly half a million people, the sacrificial lambs of the rival imperialisms in their struggle to maintain their profits at the expense of our world-wide working class. It is that embedded dynamic of capitalism which drives the hostilities between different nation-states. This struggle for control of the planet has only intensified with the economic crisis for which they have no solution.

When the Soviet Union’s bloc collapsed the triumphant powers poured out tripe about a bright new future – the end of history, no less. Contrary to that nonsense, imperialist rivalries have produced an escalation in open wars with the big powers adding their own military might to that of their regional proxies. It is clear that the big three - USA, Russia and China - are no longer content with “sabre-rattling”. The escalating military conflicts, primarily in a huge arc from Yemen to Ukraine, as well as the rise of xenophobic nationalism everywhere, increasingly point towards preparations for a more general global conflagration.

Neither pacifism nor preferred states

In response to this deepening crisis, June will see a series of meetings to launch a revolutionary alternative to the bosses’ war drive. The meetings will mark the re-emergence of a platform for struggle under the slogan of “No War But The Class War” (NWBCW).

The purpose of the initiative has nothing in common with the rag bag of liberal, left and religious interests that cluster around the likes of the Stop the War Coalition (StWC).

For the StWC, and similar offshoots, neither the real causes of war nor the real solution can ever be addressed. Stage villain politicians such as Bush or Blair, or now Trump, are presented by them as the source of the problem. Other politicians, such as Corbyn, will be praised as the hope for humanity. Such coalitions can never afford to “call out” global capitalism as the root of the current bloodshed. Even when some of the leftist participants have some recognition of that reality their desire to cobble together popular fronts obliges them to hide any such understanding in favour of cross-class unity. That unity is not based on the working class but deliberately constructed to include elements who, for example, see religious identity as the starting point for political understanding.

While being happy to accommodate pacifist understandings of both humanist and religious varieties the craft of StWC means that their “broad church” fosters other pernicious poisons. Under the guise of bogus “anti-imperialism” or support for slogans such as national liberation these coalitions of confusion are breeding grounds for ideas that are diametrically opposed to efforts to strengthen a revolutionary understanding.

One strand of these counter-revolutionary constructs revolves around the meaning of modern imperialism. For those seeking to unify working class resistance, Imperialism is the global reality of fully evolved capitalism. Every part of the world and all the national states are irrevocably enmeshed in that framework. Working class revolution is the only remedy to a world of exploitation and increasing barbarism. That view is totally alien to the StWC’s and their followers.

Particularly fed by groups of leftists is the myth that somehow some existing nation states are “lesser evils”. Elements such as the CPGB-ML, blatantly call for support for the Assad regime in Syria and its Russian state sponsor as part of their “anti-Imperialist” camp. Of course, they are not alone. Many others on the left present endless bizarre justifications to support other Stalinist fossils such as North Korea or Cuba.

There is also a further strand which has also ensnared some Anarchists and Anarcho-Syndicalists. In Europe, there has been a growth in the nationalist arguments around “small nations”, particularly Catalonia and Scotland. Such nationalisms, in equal measure with the arguments to retain the status quo, certainly serve to weaken working class Internationalism. Thankfully, to date, only limited state violence has resulted from these inter-bourgeois conflicts and full scale war has not developed. The experience around the issue of an independent Kurdish state has had far more tragic consequences.

From Britain and elsewhere, liberals of many persuasions and even, sadly, some self-styled anarchists have rallied to the various militias fighting as part of the project headed by Ocalan’s PKK.1 It is no consolation whatsoever that the weakness of their political understanding has led not just to cheerleading from afar but to avowed anarchists volunteering for slaughter in the bloodbath at the heart of the Syria, Turkey, Iraq triangle. It is an appalling small scale replication of the ruling class’s strategy for preparing workers for the horrors of war. Against all the siren calls around anti-fascism, defence of democracy or the rights of small nations, workers have to remember that “the main enemy is at home”.

The internationalist response

Our analysis is straightforward, whether within each nation or in conflicts between states and blocs – the epoch of any progressive element of capitalism has long passed. Those who look for a progressive element in the conflicts between factions of capital will be sorely disappointed. Internationalists affirm that the way to put an end to imperialist carnage is not to line up for any side, but for the world working class to organise ourselves in our own interests and fight against our exploiters.

We appeal for active support for these initial meetings and NWBCW’s subsequent development. Our call is addressed to all who believe that working class revolution is the only path to destroying capitalism’s recurring drives to war and that working class Internationalism is incompatible with support for any existing or would-be national states. “Workers have no country. You cannot take from them what they have not got.” (Marx)

Workers of the World Unite!

No War but the Class War!

Communist Workers’ Organisation

28 May 2018

Comments

WithDefiance

5 years 10 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by WithDefiance on May 31, 2018

I agree with some of the content of this piece, but in the end it comes down to yet another drive of sectarian blabber

Have you even ever read a piece by any of the anarchists who are actually there? Have you engaged in any (honest) debate with them instead of just preaching (from a the comfortable position back home) that 'the revolution should like this and that'. The comrades down there are positioning themselves clearly in an internationalist position, trying to promote internationalism there and here, putting back on the agenda imperialism and showing that revolutions aren't walking down a predetermined path, but require a lot of work and a sharp eye and ear to keep it on track and not let it be influenced by reformists, statists and other opportunists. The processes in Syria are very complex and indeed, Rojava has its problems. Abandoning struggles that have to potential to also deepen themselves to direct struggles against capitalism that can inspire back home have never brought the revolution closer - revolutions requires to get your hands dirty... face the contradictions and try to overcome them.

This also goes for the seperatist strives of Catalunya and Scotland, we should mingle in the debates, bring forward our internationalist and revolutionary positions and not isolate ourselves...

R Totale

5 years 9 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by R Totale on June 5, 2018

Any thoughts on how the London meeting went?

Dyjbas

5 years 9 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Dyjbas on June 8, 2018

Thanks to the comrades from the ACG for spreading the word about the Newcastle meeting.

@R Totale: I thought the London meeting went well. Good presentations, about 20 people were present, from a number of organisations (CWO, ACG, GSG & the ICC). Too early to say what will come out of it, but I hope those based in & around London can build on this.

rat

5 years 4 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by rat on November 29, 2018

The next meeting is going to be in the new year:

No War but the Class War!
Discussion meeting.
Sat 26th Jan.
1pm — 3pm.
The Function Room.
Lincoln Arms pub.
Next to Dorking Main station and only 2 minutes from Dorking Deepdene station.

There will be introductory talks by an ACG member and a CWO member.

Hosted by Surrey Libertarian History Society.

Edit: Trains from London Waterloo and Victoria to Dorking take about 50 minutes and are cheap on a Saturday with a Network Card, Disabled Persons Railcard, 16-25 Railcard etc.

rat

5 years 2 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by rat on January 7, 2019

Just blatantly bumping this to advertise the meeting in Dorking on Sat 26th.

The ACG has details of this on Facebook too:
https://www.facebook.com/events/480618269013061/

And on the Surrey ACG group's blog:
https://surreyanarchistcommunistgroup.blogspot.com/2018/11/no-war-but-class-war.html

There is also going to be a No War but the Class War meeting in Leicester; further details to follow.

rat

5 years ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by rat on March 28, 2019

Thanks.

The details are now on the ACG's site too:

https://www.anarchistcommunism.org/2019/03/26/leicester-meeting-6-april/

rat

4 years 8 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by rat on July 13, 2019

There's another NWBCW meeting in Birmingham on Saturday 27th July at 7pm.
The event is organised by Birmingham Revolutionary Anarchist Group with speakers from RAG and Leicester ACG.
Venue: The Anchor. 308 Bradford St. Birmingham. B5 6ET.