No War But The Class War

On 26th January Surrey ACG jointly hosted a No War But The Class War meeting with the Communist Workers' Organisation in Dorking. Fifteen people were there which was a pretty good attendance. Members of the SPGB came down from London and the CWO had members attend from Surrey and London. It was a decent discussion and after the formal meeting, people stayed on for some beers. The meeting was part of the ongoing NWBTCW initiative by the ACG and CWO and we agreed to produce a brief statement to attract other internationalists to future meetings around the UK.

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.
______________________________________________________________________________

A hundred cruise missiles were launched against the military installations of the Assad regime on 14th April 2018. In the aftermath the US Ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, stated that the United States was “locked and loaded”. Together the US, France and Britain engaged in bombings that will be of no benefit to the Syrian masses suffering under the murderous regime of Bashar Assad.

It can be seen that all three regimes in the USA, France and Britain have their own domestic 

problems, and that a military adventure is always a good ploy to divert attention. 

Trump is wrestling with the ongoing Muller investigation, the revelations of ex-FBI Director Comey, and ongoing legal wrangles with porn star Stormy Daniels and polls that show his lack of popularity and the mid-term elections where the Democrats wrested back the House of Representatives. The ruling Conservative Party in Britain is faced with serious divisions in its own Party, with deepening problems over Brexit. Macron in France faces increasing unrest at home. 

Trump was elected President on a populist programme, but part of that programme was that he would withdraw troops from Iraq and not be involved in military adventures in the Middle East. This was in stark contrast to Hillary Clinton who maintained an aggressive stance towards Russia and calls for a no-fly zone over Syria that would have caused confrontation with Russia, Assad’s ally. Now Trump has betrayed his populist base, to the horror of some of his previous conservative backers. Haley has stated that the US would maintain its troops in Syria and would start sanctions against Russian firms doing business with Assad. 

Some of the most virulent critics of Trump have been papers like the Washington Post. In a lead editorial just after the bombings it criticised the joint US, French and British attack as inadequate and attacked Trump for saying that he had been ready to withdraw American troops from Syria. Similar views were aired in anti-Trump paper the New York Post. It is clear that a substantial part of the US ruling class wish to pursue a more aggressive attitude towards Russia and its allies. They are concerned by the new alliance between Russia, Turkey and Iran and the weakening US influence in the Middle East. 

For the last quarter of a century, the US and its allies have been engaged in constant warfare, using fabricated excuses like the bogus weapons of mass destruction to dismantle the regime of their former ally Saddam, overthrow Gaddafi in Libya because of an ‘imminent’ massacre of civilians and now the gas attacks by the Assad regime. 

The attacks on the Syrian regime were not a last minute response but the result of plans prepared over many months as can be seen by the high level of coordination between the three state powers.

Large sections of the US ruling class including the leaders of the military have little confidence in Trump being able to oversee moves against Russia and its allies. That is why the campaign against Trump is increasing in intensity at the same time as aggressive moves by the US and its allies. This has been explicitly stated by neo-conservatives who link the removal of Trump to the expansion of war moves. 

In the USA, France and Britain there is widespread anti-war feeling and this has been aggravated by the bombing attacks. In Germany, sections of the ruling class there have expressed the need to re-arm and, at the same time, pursue foreign policies less dependent on the USA. This turn is justified by lauding German “high moral and humanitarian standards”. 

Assad is a bloody dictator and it is highly possible that he used gas attacks against the Syrian population. However those who condemn Assad are the same States that justified mass bombings of Hamburg and Dresden and two atom bomb attacks on Japan during World War Two, the use of the chemical Agent Orange in Vietnam, as well as the deployment of napalm there and previously in Greece, and the use of white phosphorus in Fallujah by the US Army in November 2004, or the deployment of chemical weapons in 1988 in Halabja by the Iraqi Baath regime, then the ally of the West. More recently, the British government has had few qualms about providing the weaponry used by the Saudi Arabian military to kill numerous civilians in Yemen. 

The USA realised it has lost influence in the Middle East. It and its allies initially backed the Islamist militias in their attempts to overthrow Assad. Now ISIS is a shadow of its former self and Assad controls 75% of Syria. Russia had been warned before the bombing attacks with the hint that its own forces and bases there would not be touched. 

Nevertheless it was implied that the USA was still the only surviving superpower and that Russia should not overstep the mark. 

Russia will not easily abandon its ally, Syria. It needs the Mediterranean ports that Syria provides. On the other hand the USA would like to confine Russia to the Black Sea and is seriously concerned about the new alliance, temporary though it may be, between Turkey and Russia and the increasing strength of the Shiite axis in Iran, Iraq and with Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Israel launched its own attacks on its old enemy, Syria, obviously with the approval of the USA. For its part, Turkey is looking to increase influence and presence in Syria and has moved against the Kurdish controlled enclave of Afrin, exploiting the tensions between the great powers. 

Whatever the outcome, it is clear that the different world and regional powers are gearing up for more armed conflict. In Syria over 400,000 people have been slaughtered and many more have been displaced. The situation is the same in Iraq. The masses there have nothing to gain from the murderous and barbarous depredations of the different armed gangs, whether they be Russian, American, Turkish or Islamist etc. Only revolution to overthrow all these regimes offers any alternative. 

For now, we call on all internationalist and class conscious workers, communists, anarchists and revolutionary socialists to come together under the ‘No War but the Class War’ banner to promote working class resistance to the bosses’ war machine.

No War But the Class War. Public Meeting. Newcastle.

Graffiti from imprisioned First World War conscientious objector held in the cell block at Richmond Castle.

"By any criteria the world is in a problematic state. There are ominous signs of worse to come. The rise of Trump and other populists is the outcome, not the cause, of a life-threatening crisis for world capitalism which started decades ago and which has seen the working class share of GDP decline ever since. Since the 2007/8 financial crash the pretence that international bodies like the UN can keep the peace or that the IMF can resolve the problem of a world economy paralysed by debt has worn more than thin. The ground is now being prepared for the ‘final solution’ to the crisis: war – large-scale, world war. There isn’t a set of progressive policies which can alter this course."

"But the alternative is not to do nothing. The alternative is not to be dragged into support for the lesser imperialism. The only alternative to capitalist barbarism and towards a civilised future is for the working class of the world to raise its head and reject all war but our own class war for a new world of peace and prosperity where borders, wars, states, and the financial speculation and production for profit which cause them, are a thing of the past."

"The capitalists think the working class is dead as an international political force. But there is a groundswell preparing to challenge their complacency. If you are interested in being part of this, come and discuss how we can launch No War But the Class War in the North East."

Organised by the Communist Workers’ Organisation.


Public Meeting.
Friday 9th of June.
Hosted by Communist Workers' Organisation.
Bar Loco. 22 Leazes Park Road.
Newcastle upon Tyne.
NE1 4PG 

No War But The Class War!

A hundred cruise missiles were launched against the military installations of the Assad regime. In the aftermath the US Ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, stated that the United States was “locked and loaded”. Together the US, France and Britain have engaged in bombings that will be of no benefit to the Syrian masses suffering under the murderous regime of Bashar Assad.

It can be seen that all three regimes in the USA, France and Britain have their own domestic problems, and that a military adventure is always a good ploy to divert attention. Trump is wrestling with the ongoing Muller investigation, the revelations of ex-FBI Director Comey, and ongoing legal wrangles with porn star Stormy Daniels and polls that show his lack of popularity. Theresa May is faced with serious divisions in her own Party, deepening problems over Brexit, not to mention that she is hanging on to power thanks to an alliance with the DUP. Macron faces increasing unrest at home with what looks increasingly like a re-run of May 1968.

Trump was elected President on a populist programme, but part of that programme was that he would withdraw troops from Iraq and not be involved in military adventures in the Middle East. This was in stark contrast to Hillary Clinton who maintained an aggressive stance towards Russia and calls for a no-fly zone over Syria that would have caused confrontation with Russia, Assad’s ally. Now Trump has betrayed his populist base, to the horror of some of his previous conservative backers.
Haley has stated that the US would maintain its troops in Syria and would start sanctions against Russian firms doing business with Assad.

Some of the most virulent critics of Trump have been papers like the Washington Post. In a lead editorial just after the bombings it criticised the joint US, French and British attack as inadequate and attacked Trump for saying that he had been ready to withdraw American troops from Syria. Similar views were aired in anti-Trump paper the New York Post. It is clear that a substantial part of the US ruling class wish to pursue a more aggressive attitude towards Russia and its allies. They are concerned by the new alliance between Russia, Turkey and Iran and the weakening US influence in the Middle East.

For the last quarter of a century, the US and its allies have been engaged in constant warfare, using fabricated excuses like the bogus weapons of mass destruction to dismantle the regime of their former ally Saddam, overthrow Gaddafi in Libya because of an “imminent” massacre of civilians and now the gas attacks by the Assad regime.

The attacks on the Syrian regime were not a last minute response but the result of plans prepared over many months as can be seen by the high level of coordination between the three state powers.
Large sections of the US ruling class including the leaders of the military have little confidence in Trump being able to oversee moves against Russia and its allies. That is why the campaign against Trump is increasing in intensity at the same time as aggressive moves by the US and its allies. This has been explicitly stated by neo-conservatives who link the removal of Trump to the expansion of war moves.

In the USA, France and Britain there is widespread anti-war feeling and this has been aggravated by the bombing attacks. In Germany, sections of the ruling class there have expressed the need to re-arm and, at the same time, pursue foreign policies less dependent on the USA. This turn is justified by lauding German “high moral and humanitarian standards”.

Assad is a bloody dictator and it is highly possible that he used gas attacks against the Syrian population. However those who condemn Assad are the same States that justified mass bombings of Hamburg and Dresden and two atom bomb attacks on Japan during World War Two, the use of the chemical Agent Orange in Vietnam, as well as the deployment of napalm there and previously in Greece, and the use of white phosphorus in Fallujah by Saddam, then the ally of the West. More recently, the British government has had few qualms about providing the weaponry used by the Saudi Arabian military to kill numerous civilians in Yemen.

The USA realised it has lost influence in the Middle East. It and its allies initially backed the Islamist militias in their attempts to overthrow Assad. Now ISIS is a shadow of its former self and Assad controls 75% of Syria. Russia had been warned before the bombing attacks with the hint that its own forces and bases there would not be touched. Nevertheless it was implied that the USA was still the only surviving superpower and that Russia should not overstep the mark.

Russia will not easily abandon its ally, Syria. It needs the Mediterranean ports that Syria provides. On the other hand the USA would like to confine Russia to the Black Sea and is seriously concerned about the new alliance, temporary though it may be, between Turkey and Russia and the increasing strength of the Shiite axis in Iran, Iraq and with Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Israel launched its own attacks on its old enemy, Syria, obviously with the approval of the USA. For its part, Turkey is looking to increase influence and presence in Syria and has moved against the Kurdish controlled enclave of Afrin, exploiting the tensions between the great powers.

Whatever the outcome, it is clear that the different world and regional powers are gearing up for more armed conflict. In Syria over 400,000 people have been slaughtered and many more have been displaced. The situation is the same in Iraq. The masses there have nothing to gain from the murderous and barbarous depredations of the different armed gangs, whether they be Russian, American, Turkish or Islamist etc. Only revolution to overthrow all these regimes offers any alternative.

For now, we call on all internationalist and class conscious workers, communists, anarchists and revolutionary socialists to come together under the ‘No War But The Class War’ banner to promote working class resistance to the bosses’ war machine.

War Is The Health of The State!

No War But The Class War!

No War but the Class War

Afrin: an internationalist position.

French Translation.

Afrin : Une Position Internationaliste – Déclaration de l’ACG

Nous déplorons l’invasion de la ville d’Afrin par l’Etat turc et ses forces armées. La principale raison de cette aventure militaire est que le gouvernement turc soit préoccupé par le fait que les Forces Démocratiques Syriennes (FDS) – principalement contrôlées par des forces kurdes comprenant le PYD (Parti de l’Union Démocratique), les Unités de Protection du Peuple kurde (YPG) et les Unités de Protection des Femmes (YPJ), étroitement liées au PKK, le parti nationaliste kurde opérant à l’intérieur des frontières de l’Etat turc – ait tenté de créer une zone d’influence proche des frontières de la Turquie. Avoir une zone kurde si proche fait peur au régime d’Erdogan en Turquie, qui redoute les encouragements que cela donnerait aux 16 millions de Kurdes vivant à l’intérieur des frontières de la Turquie.

Pour sa part, la Russie a conclu une alliance avec la Turquie, ce qui représente des problèmes pour son satellite, le régime d’Assad en Syrie. Les forces aériennes russes contrôlaient l’espace aérien au-dessus d’Afrin, ce qui signifie que la capture de cette ville par l’armée turque n’a pu se faire qu’avec l’approbation tacite de la Russie.

Le régime d’Assad est préoccupé par le soutien américain aux YPG. Les Etats-Unis ont soutenu les FDS dans ses attaques contre les djihadistes de l’EIIL, tout en renforçant leurs intérêts et leur influence dans la région. Ils ont établi dix bases temporaires afin de faciliter ces objectifs.
Le régime d’Assad veut voir le retrait de toutes les forces d’occupation en Syrie, y compris celles des Américains et des Turcs. La Russie, qui jusqu’à présent a pleinement soutenu Assad, a établi des relations avec la Turquie et souhaite la fin de la guerre dans la région qui, jusqu’à récemment, impliquait sa propre intervention dans la région avec des frappes aériennes et le déploiement de forces spéciales. Le régime d’Assad est lui-même préoccupé par le développement des enclaves kurdes mais il est conscient que l’Etat turc ne souhaite pas seulement détruire ces enclaves mais démanteler la Syrie, avec son soutien aux forces armées djihadistes.

Les Etats-Unis ont soutenu les forces kurdes non pas par souci de « démocratie », mais afin d’utiliser ces forces pour combattre l’EIIL et d’accéder aux ressources pétrolières et gazières. Les YPG, quant à eux, étaient assez heureux de ce soutien. Cependant, les Etats-Unis craignent que leur alliance avec l’Etat turc ne soit compromise par les relations de plus en plus cordiales entre le gouvernement turc et la Russie, ce qui explique la décision des Etats-Unis de mettre fin au soutien aux Kurdes.

Pour nous, en tant qu’internationalistes, notre premier objectif doit être de condamner et de mobiliser contre l’invasion turque et contre la poursuite des livraisons d’armes britanniques à l’Etat turc.
Comme nos camarades du groupe communiste anarchiste en Turquie, Yeryüzü Postası, le notent :
« Nous pouvons voir que les détenteurs de pouvoir dans différents pays se frottent les mains en jubilant à propos de l’opération Afrin. Il est entendu que la Russie et les Etats-Unis sont en train de construire leur plan de division de la Syrie en fonction de leurs sphères d’influence et ils se sont probablement mis d’accord à ce sujet. Pour ce qu’on peut en déduire des déclarations de l’Angleterre, ils sont prêts à prendre une part des réserves de pétrole et d’autres ressources naturelles – peut-être, encore une fois, grâce à un partenariat entre Shell et Koç Holding. La France veut rétablir son activité dans la région. »

Pour sa part, l’auto-administration démocratique de la province d’Afrin, qui est le gouvernement de facto de la région et contrôlé par les FDS, a demandé à Assad de leur venir en aide. En d’autres termes, le soutien d’un régime meurtrier dont ils veulent s’autonomiser.

Comme l’a remarqué un anarchiste kurde,
« Je peux conclure qu’au Bakur et au Rojava, deux partis politiques fortement disciplinés et autoritaires, le PKK et le PYD, sont à l’origine de la construction du confédéralisme démocratique dans deux parties du Kurdistan, le Bakur et le Rojava. Ce sont ces partis qui prennent les décisions les plus importantes, qui planifient et conçoivent les politiques, et qui établissent aussi des relations diplomatiques avec d’autres pays et d’autres partis politiques. Ce sont eux qui négocient avec leurs ennemis ou les Etats, et font la guerre ou la paix. Bien sûr, ce sont de très gros problèmes et extrêmement importants car ils façonnent la destination future de la société. Cependant, ce sont malheureusement les partis politiques qui prennent ces décisions et non les gens dans leurs propres assemblées et réunions de masse, ou par l’action directe. »

Comme d’habitude, les puissances impérialistes prennent parti en fonction de ce qui convient à leurs intérêts et non de ce qui est le meilleur pour les gens au Moyen-Orient. En tant que communistes anarchistes, nous ne soutenons aucune faction dans une guerre inter-impérialiste, même si certaines d’entre elles semblent se ranger du côté de ceux qui sont attaqués par l’Etat islamique ou par la Turquie. Nous ne soutenons pas non plus les partis politiques nationalistes qui ont pour but d’établir de nouveaux Etats, peu importe à quel point la rhétorique peut être libertaire. Il peut bien y avoir des exemples d’auto-organisation dans des zones du Rojava mais le problème, c’est qu’ils sont toujours contrôlés en fin de compte par des partis politiques autoritaires qui ont voué un culte à leur chef Öcalan. Ce n’est pas un mouvement vers une véritable auto-organisation si vous êtes capable de le faire parce que le grand leader a dit que c’est ce que vous devriez faire. La situation est très compliquée et bien que nous soyons solidaires avec tous ceux qui sont tués et qui résistent aux forces turques, aux forces syriennes, à Daech, etc., nous ne soutenons pas pour autant sans réserves les partis nationalistes tels que le PYD qui a assumé la direction de la résistance.

Ce sont les masses de la province d’Afrin et de Syrie, les paysans et les ouvriers qui souffrent des déprédations de tous ces gangs meurtriers, que ce soient ceux de l’Etat turc, des différents groupes djihadistes, des USA et de la Russie, du Hezbollah et des unités iraniennes. Ce sont les masses qui subissent les déplacements, les massacres, les bombardements, les viols de masse et la destruction de leurs terres et de leurs maisons. On ne peut pas non plus compter sur les nationalistes kurdes qui cherchent à maintes reprises à former des alliances avec différentes puissances régionales et mondiales, pour être finalement trahis à chaque fois et sans exception. La seule réponse à cette situation, c’est le développement d’un puissant mouvement ouvrier contre la guerre et contre le capitalisme lui-même.

Source en anglais : https://www.anarchistcommunism.org/2018/04/03/afrin-an-internationalist-position-acg-statement/

Traduction française : BLESK 

French Translation provided by BLESK on Libcom.org

Turkish Government Assault on Afrin

Turkish anarchist communist group Yeryüzü Postası's statement on the assault on Afrin by the Turkish government.

Here's the orginal statement on Yeryüzü Postası's website

Led by AKP government, an operation of invasion against Afrin has been started with a consensus between all factions inside the state. Boss organizations such as TÜSİAD, MUSIAD, TOBB, unions that defend the interests of bosses against workers and all the constitutional parties have made statements with “national reconciliation” supporting the operation. They became so wild that some bosses dared to say “You can take from workers of my factory to military operation as much as you want.”.By this way, a new phase in imperialist fantasies of state has begun, which is represented by AKP who has been aiming at suppression of the opposition and wild implementation of denial and extermination policies regarding Kurdish question.

We can see that power-holders in different countries are rubbing their hands with glee about the Afrin operation. It is understood that Russia and USA are constructing their plan on dividing Syria in line with their spheres of influence and probably they have agreed on it. As far as we’ve inferred from statements of England, they are willing to take a share from oil reserves and other natural resources – possibly, again, via a partnership between Shell and Koç Holding. France wants to re-establish its activity in the region. Probably, European governments facing refugee crises are quite happy with the statement of Erdoğan that “3.5 million of Syrians will be settled in Afrin.” And can there be any better opportunity for Turkey to prevent forthcoming strike of metal workers?

The war in Syria that motivated capitalists and powers of the world about greater profits haven’t brought anything other than death, destruction and poverty to laborers of Syria. And with this operation, the war will intensify more and the chaos will deepen in the region. This means more death, more poverty and more misery for us.

Powers, who seemed to be accompanying Kurdish national movement until now, made contradictory and unclear statements. From this fact, not surprisingly, we’ve seen again that dominant classes and their servitude countries are not acting with ethical motivations or supreme goals. As it was in the World War 1, imperalist powers’ are conducting their competition of spheres of influence via enforcing people in Syria and Middle East to fight each other. Even though they establish strategic alliance with Kurdish movement, they don’t really care what will happen to Kurdish people in the end. Although we aren’t able to know the content of secret and dirty diplomatic negotiations between states, it is obvious that they only care about their interests and this war is dragging not only the region, but also the world into an unknown situation.

None of the dominant classes or states that are serving to their interests has intention to stop this war. Statements of UN and EU allow us to see that they don’t have any strategy to do it and they don’t have troops they can use. Structural crises of capitalism are pushing dominant powers to make crazy moves that will drag the humanity into a barbarism era. Just like the same as the period before World War 1 and 2.

The only power that can stop this course of events is the working-class. For now, war drums’ voice might be drowning the sigh of young soldiers forced to fight in fronts and their families’ secret cries; it might be drowning the scream of the people in Afrin that are killed or forced to leave their home. Today, voice of politicians from different parties, voice of clowns that call themselves experts in TVs and voice of warmongers’, in general, might be overshadowing the voice of people who are opposing war. They’re all sitting on their comfortable seats and while children of the laborers are dying, they are distributing heroic ranks to themselves.

However, they also know that it will not continue in this way. Therefore, the state is trying to prevent the reaction of mass of people, who are killed, impoverished and forced to leave their homes, by increasing the oppression. Police is wildly attacking press statements in public places, people are handcuffed just because they made posts in social media against war and arrested. Against all these attacks, as anarchists, communists from Turkey and other international comrades, we should stick together and altogether continue to raise our voice against war.

Furthermore, people of Afrin and people of Turkey who are fighting against this invasion are in need of international solidarity more than ever. This international war, in which the only winners are capitalists and the only losers are laborers of all nations, can only be stopped with international solidarity.

We think that to struggle against this war is a historical duty for anarchists, communists and other internationalists all around the world. We are calling all of our comrades to struggle against the operation of Afrin, against AKP’s oppression to war resisters and against all states that are responsible for the actual situation in Syria.

Internationalist Class Solidarity or Capitalist War and Barbarism
War to Palaces, Peace for Slums!
No to war between nations
No war but class war

Yeryüzü Postası

Communist Anarchism