The Other America
Left Reactions to the War
Canada
"Nine years ago, when in opposition, Lloyd Axworthy opposed military action against Iraq without the backing of the United Nations. Yet now, as Foreign Affairs minister, he is fully supporting a war without UN sanction, as are all five major political parties. Canada has committed 12 CF-18 Hornets to the bombing mission. As Belgrade burns under the impact of the bombing Canada's self-promoted image as a "peacemaker" is going up in flames too.
"The Canadian state stands revealed as part of Western imperialism pure and simple.
"Perhaps most disappointing has been the capitulation of the New Democratic Party to NATO's war effort. In 1991 NDP leaders waffled while Western military forces devastated Iraq, killing tens of thousands.
"Even some in the peace movement have responded in the same way as the NDP. These people forget that Western bombing is no more a solution now than it was in Iraq. NATO's intervention has only strengthened the hand of the ethnic nationalists on both sides of the conflict.
The only real solutions in the region will come from people there who are struggling for peace, social justice and democracy-including the democratic right of the people of Kosovo to independence."' * New Socialist Group Box 167, 253 College St., Toronto MST 1R5 Tel: 416-969-3209 Email: <[email protected] Homepage: <www.web.net~newsoc> Quebec
"There have been huge demonstrations in European countries, where many people refuse to believe that war will lead to peace!
In Canada, though, little serious debate has taken place. However, the government of Canada needs to reflect on what it has been doing. Our image as "peacemakers" has been dealt a severe blow. Our blue berets have been replaced by the F18s which participate in destructive action.
"Without doubt, US pressure is influencing decisions made in Ottawa. But the consequences 14 International Viewpoint #312 June 1999 could be very grave for a country which, in the past, has been best known for its role in defending international law, and for its role as mediator. Yet it is still not too late to think of switching hats." * Pierre Baudet, Alternatives Action and communication network for international development, 3680 Jeanne-Mance Street Suite 440 Montreal (Quebec) H2X 2K5 www.alternatives-action.org/docs/ejourn.html Mexico
The oligarchy of North American finance so sensitive to the military and armaments industry-has brought to their knees not simply the people and governments of the Balkans, but the governments of western Europe too.
The government of Clinton, the government of the financial oligarchy, is sending a message to the world. There is no problem, big or small that is beyond the reach of the United States.
Clinton is sending a warning to Europe: any process of European integration must be subordinate to the US foreign policy. In this sense, the main losers in the current war will be France and Germany. Before it is even born, the new European pole which could compete with the United States has been subjugated to US interests * Zapatistas (FZLN), Mexico best, and (probably for that reason vastly overestimated its prospects for military success against Milosevic's army. But it is fighting a justified war for independence and against a threatened genocide.
We demand that all the Kosovar refugees receive immediate asylum wherever they wish to come. For those who choose refuge in the United States, that means the right to come here—with unconditional rights to permanent residency or citizenship or return to their homeland whenever they may choosenot the unspeakable plan to put them in detention in Guam or Guantanamo.
Equally important, we must do everything in our power to reach out to the doubly besieged democratic opposition activists in Serbia, who are being bombed from the air by NATO and hunted down by the regime on the
L ground, in some cases threatened with being drafted into the Serb army or the ethnic-cleansing paramilitaries for duty in Kosovo.
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The imperialists and the Milosevic regime will seek to exploit, by blaming each other for, the suffering of the ordinary people of Serbia and the destruction th of democratic forces. Thanks to the
BI internet and to the distribution the international progressive media can provide, dissidents in Serbia have some chance to all continue to speak for themselves.
Their uncensored voices must be
PR heard, and all possible material and political solidarity must be extended as they seek to rebuild a democratic opposition that will be neither a tail to Milosevic or a pawn for imperialist occupiers.
Finally, in the military conflict that sp now dominates the ruins of former Yugobe slavia, let's be clear: There is no side to support, neither Milosevic's genocidal op post-stalinism nor NATO imperialism.
Neither side is a lesser evil. Freedom for
Kosovo! Abolish NATO! * an tic eq to m
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