War Creates Refugees! Stop the War on Syria, Novorossiya, Russia and China!

WAR CREATES REFUGEES! STOP THE WAR ON SYRIA, NOVOROSSIYA, RUSSIA AND CHINA! MOBILISE THE WORKING CLASS AGAINST CAPITALIST BRUTALITY!

21-02-15 – It is impossible not to be profoundly affected, and deeply disturbed, by the findings of the latest report into the detention of children in Australia’s refugee detention centres. These sites are simply torture cells rivalling any historical comparison to World War II, or any current war. The fact that new born children and toddlers are subjected to the same horrific treatment meted out to adults in detention beggars belief – but it is all too true. Amongst other things, the Australian Human Rights Commission’s report The Forgotten Children details things such as: 3 year olds being diagnosed with clinical depression, 34% of children detained need psychiatric assistance for severe mental illness, children are involved in self-harm and self-starvation incidents, and are living with adults who are mentally unwell. Many honest workers simply cannot believe that this level of brutality is being implemented as a matter of government policy. Yet it is a bi-partisan Liberal and Labor policy, and has been for years. And while the Australian Greens may speak out about the inhumane conditions endured by asylum seekers and refugees, they were a part of the former Federal government which carried out these abuses, and more.

Commentary on the report by the authors themselves, and many other refugee rights campaigners who toil endlessly doing solidarity work, often contain the phrase “Australia is better than this”. While we agree with the sentiment behind such a view, this plea in fact points to the real reason why unspeakable abuse of human beings is taking place. For the Australian government is not “our” government, in the sense of a government that represents the “people” of Australia. The government that exists has been, and remains, a capitalist government resting atop a capitalist state, which is set against, and is used to suppress, Australians who are workers, unemployed, or otherwise poor and marginalised. It is a government, and a state, which rules for a tiny elite, which is well aware that it must keep workers divided in order to rule. This is especially the case during the worst crisis of the capitalist economies in memory, with no relief in sight. The ruling class in such circumstances must divert blame from themselves onto more vulnerable targets, so workers can be misled into thinking that their woes are caused by virtually anyone who appears to be a foreigner. This justifies the brutal treatment of those that seek asylum – as well as the current and future wars being waged overseas.

If we recognise that the Australian government is not “our” government, we must also adjust our political campaigning orientation for the refugee rights movement. We refer to “pressure politics” – attempting to pressure the government into “doing something” – because it “should do its job”. In fact, it is doing its job – it is dividing the working class so that it is powerless to rebel against capital. And now it is clear that the government is prepared to brutally torture innocent human beings, including children, in order to divide workers. Hence, no amount of seeking to pressure the government to “do the right thing” will be effective. In fact, pressuring, or trying to appeal, to the government actually strengthens its hand, for it focuses even more attention on itself as the ruler. In a similar way, appealing to some of the parliamentarist parties, such  as the Labor Party and the Greens, to “free the refugees” actually strengthens, rather than weakens these parties – and ultimately strengthens the capitalist state.

Gosford Anglican Church taking up the “Australia: We are better than this” slogan. This slogan blurs all class distinctions, dissolving workers into a false “national unity”. It inadvertently strengthens the institutions that currently represent “Australia”, giving them a free hand to continue to whip up jingoistic patriotism, which in turn is one of the false justifications for the abuse of refugees and asylum seekers.

Despite the unquestionable commitment and untiring work of the Refugee Action Collective (RAC), it shares the approach of pressure politics. In fact, RAC is encouraged in this direction by some left parties which predominate within it, such as Solidarity, Socialist Alternative and Socialist Alliance, who themselves carry out a pressure, or lobbyist, approach to politics. Yet appealing to the Labor Party or the Greens, or to the government, or to the capitalist state itself has ultimately failed, and will continue to fail. The treatment of refugees and asylum seekers becomes ever worse, not better. What is required is the mobilisation of workers, who can boldly declare that we, the workers, will take whatever action is required to free the refugees; close the detention centres, and in the process unite workers in opposition to the government.  This will require the independent mobilisation of the trade unions against, not lobbying, the government. Only in this circumstance will the government feel any “pressure”, because then it must compete with the workers’ movement for leadership of the broad masses. In the process, the workers movement will grow stronger in unity which will allow it to also address many other urgent political issues.

Such a struggle will entail challenging the conservative leaders of the Unions, who have the resources to mobilise workers. There is no doubting how difficult the internal Union struggle can be, especially during a dire economic crisis. Yet the refugee rights movement can pressure the trade unions, by, for example, appealing to workers to mobilise in defence of refugees. Here is the only instance where “pressure” has a chance of succeeding. Because for all of the crimes of betrayal by Union leaders against their own members, Unions are actually organisations composed of workers, and which, in however a distorted way, represent workers. Unions are organisations of the working class, whereas a capitalist government is an organisation of the ruling class. And workers have a direct interest in defeating attacks on refugees, and not just for humanitarian reasons – although these are reason enough in themselves. Workers need to defeat attacks on refugees so that they can defeat the attacks on themselves!  Workers’ unity, across all national boundaries, is vital for this struggle.

Make no mistake, RAC is composed of many people who genuinely desire an end to the abominable treatment of refugees, and work tirelessly to this end. Yet its political strategy is not only misguided in the national political context. Its international outlook is also waylaid onto a self-defeating path by the leftist parties that drive it. For example, for at least 4 years the Syrian Arab Republic has been the victim of a proxy war carried out by the funding, arming and training of ultra-reactionary jihadists by the governments of the United States of America, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey. The Australian government now has 600 troops and six F/A 18 Super Hornet jets in Iraq, acting in concert with the proxy US forces. Their clear aim is the overthrow of the Syrian government, despite all the transparent rhetoric about “fighting ISIS”. It is yet another US led war against a Third World country. Yet the same leftist parties who divert the refugee movement into ineffective channels here, divert the struggle against war into one which is pro-war, under the guise of backing the mythical “Syrian revolution”.  This is a “revolution” which has little or no popular support, given that 88.7% of Syrians voted last year in favour of the Presidential leadership of Bashar Al-Assad.

Cartoon depicting the United States and Israel pushing ISIS fighters into Syria, being repelled by the Syrian government. Left parties who dominate RAC, such as Solidarity, Socialist Alternative and the Socialist Alliance, have all backed the US/Israeli armed and funded jihadists in their murderous rampage across Syria. The Syrian government has fought them off, leading many people to flee the fighting as refugees. However, these leftist parties blame Syria instead of the source of the jihadists – the US, Israeli and Saudi govts.

War, of course, creates refugees – millions of them. So it is self-defeating for a refugee rights movement to back imperialist wars. Yet via RAC, under the tutelage of some left parties, this is effectively what has occurred. It began with the war on Libya in 2011, moved on to Syria later that year, and it then spread to Ukraine in February 2014, and then to the US backed “Occupy Hong Kong” in September of that year. The fascist coup which began a war against Novorossiya  is part of a NATO campaign for war against Russia, as “Occupy Hong Kong” is a part of the US led war, albeit not yet a shooting war, against the People’s Republic of China. In all of these conflicts, Solidarity, Socialist Alternative and Socialist Alliance have effectively backed imperialist intrigue against the world’s workers and oppressed. This is not just a matter of criticising others. It is having a disastrous effect on the refugee rights movement, disabling its abilities to “free the refugees”. For if we ally ourselves with the Australian government in its backing of US led wars, be it Syria, Novorossiya, Russia or China, we don’t have much chance of rallying in opposition to this same government in order to force it to drop its horrific mistreatment of refugees. In the same way, if we appeal to the ALP and the Greens domestically – even under the veil of criticism of one or two particular policies of these parties – we end up strengthening the very state of which the ALP and the Greens are an integral part. 

Unspeakable psychological and physical damage to refugees and asylum seekers continues apace. The capitalist state is well aware that it must divide workers if it is to salvage its tottering system. Divided workers will not only be unable to defend refugees – they will be unable to engage in effective struggle against a capitalist system which is no longer able to provide permanent jobs with decent conditions, decent healthcare, education, affordable housing, functioning public transport and other services.  What we desperately need is an anti-war, pro-working class refugee rights movement. Such a movement would appeal to the interests of workers, seeking to mobilise workers with, and if necessary, against conservative Trade Union leaders. It would seek to mobilise workers independently of the capitalist state and its parliamentary parties. It would oppose the Australian government and its murderous prosecuting of US led imperialist wars in the Middle East and Eurasia. Ultimately, in order to cease imperialist wars and their creation of refugees, the workers will have to sweep away the Australian capitalist system and establish a workers’ republic. This is why we say: Abolish the detention centres! Full citizenship rights for all who have made it to these shores! For workers’ rule!

MARXIST-LENINIST FRONT

Marxistleninistfront.blogspot.com

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SYRIZA: Third Party of Greek Capitalism

SYRIZA: THIRD PARTY OF GREEK CAPITALISM!     SOCIAL DEMOCRACY CANNOT SAVE EUROPE.  FOR WORKERS’ RULE!

04-02-15  It only lasted a few hours. Within that time, SYRIZA – the “Coalition of the Radical Left”, which had won the majority of votes in the January 25 elections, began negotiations with the Independent Greeks (ANEL), in order to form a capitalist government. ANEL are an ultra-nationalist, xenophobic anti-immigrant party of the far right. SYRIZA, which began as a split from the Communist Party of Greece (KKE), has now morphed into a classical social democratic formation, which has been moving steadily rightwards since 2012. Despite constantly employing all kinds of anti-austerity, social justice and progressive rhetoric, SYRIZA has been at pains to assure the Greek and European ruling class that its administration will pose no danger to their wealth and power. The unprincipled manoeuvre with ANEL was a part of this.  The Greek working class, which has endured 5 years of horrific attacks on what remains of their living standards, and remain in a precarious situation, are offered only crumbs from SYRIZA.  Despite this, many Greek workers see little other option, and have cast a vote for SYRIZA in vain hope.

Social democracy is never the correct option for the working class, but it is a positively dangerous option in times when capitalism is looking for ways to contain and prevent the workers from moving towards taking state power themselves. Social democracy, i.e. using the capitalist state to redistribute wealth, will not be able to improve the living and working conditions at this historical juncture, when world capitalism finds itself mired in the worst economic crisis it has endured, perhaps ever. It is not an option for the capitalist rulers now, as it was, for example, in the post Second World War period. Then, with the massive destruction of human and physical capital as a result of the war, AND with the counterweight of the Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc – the Western capitalist ruling classes felt they had no option but to deliver a form of “welfare state” for workers – relatively free healthcare, education and social security generally. Moreover, wartime destruction meant that capital was able to expand rapidly in that time, ultimately causing a labour shortage, and thus plentiful employment. Yet even these conditions only lasted until the mid-1970s, when world capitalism began once again to enter recession like conditions. Since then, to varying degrees, the workers in the capitalist West have endured some level of austerity. 

The austerity that Greek workers have endured is, of course, much more drastic since 2009. Yet it is a mistake to believe that the classical period of social democracy  - the post Second World War period – can now be revived, or that social democratic policies can simply be put in place by a more “left” government, such as one led by SYRIZA.  For one thing, the devastation of workers’ living conditions in Greece caused by a decrepit capitalist system has led to the rapid growth of the fascist Golden Dawn. Golden Dawn is now the third largest party in the Greek parliament, and has well known support amongst the police and armed forces. Between 40 and 50 per cent of police officers are said to have voted for Golden Dawn at the last two elections. If SYRIZA does not deliver on its anti-austerity rhetoric, the resultant despair could well lead to Greek workers turning towards fascism. After all, it was the failure of social democracy in Germany in the 1920s that was a huge factor in the coming to power of the Nazis – who are the historical idols of Golden Dawn. This dangerous scenario is now more likely given that Panos Kammenos of the ANEL, has been appointed Defence Minister by SYRIZA.

Perhaps the central issue in relation to the austerity measures brought against the working class, is membership of the European Union (EU). The infamous troika of the EU, the European Central Bank (ECB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), have been the initiators of the unrelenting savagery against workers on behalf of capital. The EU is essentially a capitalist trading bloc which is used for intra-ruling class backing for the suppression of workers all over Europe. This intra-capitalist state is the mortal enemy of the workers of Europe, and indeed the world. Yet SYRIZA fully backs the EU, and thoroughly rejects the notion of leaving or resigning from it. It is the case that SYRIZA questions German leadership of the EU, but it goes on to uphold the fantasy that the EU can be “democratised”, or made to work in the interests of the less affluent southern European states. Greece’s debt to the EU, which has been accumulated by the capitalist state attempting to prop up ailing Greek businesses, stands at around 300 million Euro. This debt, which previous New Democracy (ND) and PASOK (Pan-Hellenic Socialist Movement) attempted to lump on Greek workers, has not been accumulated by workers and therefore should not be paid by workers.  Yet Yanis Varoufakis, the new SYRIZA Finance Minister, rejects any suggestion that they will seek to write off even half of Greece’s debt. He declared “…there won’t be a duel between us and the EU….there won’t be any threats.” 

SYRIZA Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis in a warm embrace with the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Christine Legarde. The IMF, along with the European Union (EU) and the European Central Bank (ECB) comprise the hated Troika – the architects of austerity and mass misery for Greek workers. SYRIZA claim to be against the Troika and against austerity, while at the same time working with parts of the Troika to implement austerity with minor alterations.

Varoufakis has form. He wrote an op-ed for the New York Times with James K Galbraith in 2013. In it, he wrote that if SYRIZA was elected “nothing vital would change for the United States”. He went on: “SYRIZA doesn’t intend to leave NATO or close American military bases”.  This says all that needs to be said about the international outlook of SYRIZA – not so much “all the way with LBJ” but all the way with the US Empire. Unfortunately, this position in an op-ed was effectively put into practice within a few days of SYRIZA’s election “victory”. After initially sounding some caution, SYRIZA folded and voted for extended EU sanctions on Russia. That is, SYRIZA is effectively standing with the illegal fascist Kiev government, which is backed by the US, Germany and NATO against the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics as well as Russia. This is at a time when the US is openly discussing arming the Nazi Kiev government to the tune of 3 billion dollars – or the amount they are admitting to. Yet for SYRIZA, the prospect of world war is less important than its loyalty to the capitalist EU.

SYRIZA supporters hail its “Thessaloniki Program” as evidence of its commitment to break with the austerity imposed on Greece over the last six years. In reality, the Thessaloniki Program barely chips away at the house of horrors Greek workers have endured. According to the Greek Centre for Progressive Policy Research, 62.5 billion Euro worth of austerity measures were dumped on Greece from 2010 to 2014. However, SYRIZA’s Thessaloniki Program only proposes to spend 1.8 billion Euro of the 11.3 billion Euro total cost of the program on “confronting the social catastrophe”. This will barely reach the millions of Greek workers, pensioners and unemployed as a result of the capitalist onslaught. What is more, SYRIZA leaders are already backing away from the extremely modest proposals contained in their program. On January 26, SYRIZA Central Committee member Stathis Kouvelakis wrote that “the financing plan set out in the Thessaloniki Program was based on very over optimistic estimates (or even simply wrong ones).” This is the social-democratic program that SYRIZA was elected on – and already it is preparing to water it down!  This should put paid to any notion that SYRIZA are somehow in a different category to the usual parliamentary parties.

Here in Australia, some left parties have been falling over themselves to opportunistically make mileage out of the SYRIZA election win – despite its alliance with the ultra-right. Most prominent amongst these are the Socialist Alliance and Socialist Alternative. These organisations do not appear to see any contradiction between claiming adherence to Marxism on the one hand, and building political support internationally for the clearly electoralist and liberal methods and aims of SYRIZA on the other. “SYRIZA is Greek for hope”, proclaims the Socialist Alliance. Yet “hope” is precisely why many Greek workers have cast a vote for SYRIZA – they “hope”, as a last resort, that SYRIZA may do something which may alleviate their suffering. It’s not as if it’s a vote of confidence or a ringing endorsement. And if SYRIZA insist on staying within the capitalist EU at all costs, it will be virtually impossible to seriously curtail any of the austerity measures. Likewise Socialist Alternative has hailed the SYRIZA victory as a “stunning victory for the left”. Their sister organisation, the Internationalist Workers Left (DEA), works within SYRIZA, as part of the “Left Platform”. So in a sense it is bound to talk up SYRIZA, while making some suggestions about continuing the struggle to retain left credibility. Yet from all reports within Greece, it is not uncontroversial to refer to SYRIZA as a reformist party – people on the ground there experience this. 

The KKE correctly criticise the liberal reformism of SYRIZA, and their electoral slogan “Don’t trust SYRIZA” has proven to be remarkably apt. Yet while the KKE have refused to join this bourgeois government with SYRIZA, they have in the past, and indeed they hold the local administration of the port city of Patras. ANTARSYA – the coalition of the anti-capitalist left, also correctly criticise SYRIZA for not being anti-capitalist, but also want to act as a left pressure group on SYRIZA. There may be an organisation in Greece which is attempting to form a group or a party based on Marxist-Leninism, which fights for workers’ rule by organising workers to seize state power. In any case, this should be the central aim. In the meantime, we would suggest that Marxist-Leninists continue to recruit to their own banner, while attempting to drive a class struggle perspective forward in the current period. 

The lessons for workers internationally should be clear. SYRIZA’s rapid sell outs – forming government with an ultra-right party, voting for sanctions on Russia, proceeding with the privatisation of the port of Piraeus – on top of pledging allegiance to the EU and NATO – once again demonstrate the folly of the call for a “government of the left”. A capitalist government, even with a “left” one led by SYRIZA, will be incapable of seriously addressing the dire needs of Greek workers. Indeed, the call for a “government of the left” is a call for a new capitalist government. Waiting for a reformist government to deliver reforms is like waiting for increased funding for the fire department while your house is burning down. Instead, workers need to push aside all liberals, and fight directly for state power. No trust in social democracy! For workers’ rule in Europe!

MARXIST-LENINIST FRONT

MLF20701@GMAIL.COM

Marxistleninistfront.blogspot.com

0421 408 692

No Support for Fascism in Ukraine

NO SUPPORT FOR FASCISM IN UKRAINE! US/AUST/NATO OUT OF EASTERN EUROPE! NO WAR WITH RUSSIA! DEFEND NOVOROSSIYA! VICTORY TO THE ANTI-FASCIST RESISTANCE!

The hypocrisy could not be more stark. The US government has for at least four years, armed, trained and funded barbaric fundamentalists in an attempt to overthrow the Syrian Arab Republic, in the form of ISIS (Islamic State in Iraq and Syria) and the ultra-reactionary FSA (“Free Syrian Army” – 80% of which is not Syrian). Yet it has the gall to accuse Russia of arming and backing Eastern Ukrainians, who are defending themselves against the murderous onslaught of an ultra-nationalist, fascist infested, neo-Nazi government installed via an illegal coup backed by the US government and NATO powers on February 22 last year. Here in Australia, Liberal PM Tony Abbott and ALP “Opposition” leader Bill Shorten, have been united in threatening war against Russia, while politically backing the fascist-infested Ukrainian government.  As Australia does not have the size to combat the Russian armed forces, these moves seem designed to press the US to go to war against Russia, whereby Australia would quickly join in. This repeats the pattern of the Vietnam War, where the Australian government then was more belligerent than the US with regard to starting hostilities. Abbott and Shorten have claimed, without a shred of evidence, that the anti-fascist resistance in the East of Ukraine shot down Malaysian Airlines flight MH17, using Russian supplied weapons. In fact, all evidence available so far, points to a conclusion that Ukrainian government fighter jets shot down MH17 from behind, trailing behind them in the open sky.

Again and again, the Western corporate media baldly state that Russia “annexed” Crimea.  The implication is clear – “annexation” is most prominently used to describe such acts as the Nazi Adolf Hitler’s real annexation of the Sudetenland prior to the official start of World War II, which is, according to them, comparable to Russia and Crimea today. Nothing could be further from the truth. It is ironic that the West uses allusions to the Nazis when real Nazis are part of the illegal fascist coup government occupying Kiev, which they support. In fact, a referendum was held in Crimea on March 16, soon after the fascist Maidan coup in Kiev. The result was arguably more overwhelming  than any referendum in history. Crimeans were given two choices: 1. Reunification with Russia with rights as federated republic, or 2. The restoration of the 1992 constitution which states that Crimea is a part of Ukraine. The results were that 96.77% of Crimeans voted for reunification with Russia, with an 83.1% turnout.  This almost universal decision reflects the fact that Crimeans are almost entirely ethnically Russian and/or Russian speaking. But this is not the type of democracy that is accepted by US imperialism, and certainly not Australia as a junior partner.

On the contrary, the Abbott government, with the support of the ALP and the Greens, have moved to establish an embassy in Kiev, and has been sending “non-lethal” aid to the Ukrainian coup government. Abbott mentioned that he was pleased that Australia’s flag would be flying alongside that of Ukraine’s, an indicator that a government where Nazis occupy ministerial posts is just the type that the Australian ruling class wishes to be associated with. Abbott further announced that uranium sales to Russia had been suspended.

Left: Alexander Zakharchenko takes an oath as Prime Minister of the Donetsk Peoples Republic.

In response to the war being unleashed by the US/EU/NATO backed coup government against “rebels” in the East of Ukraine, the People’s Republics of Donetsk and Lugansk have been established. Often referred to as “separatists”, the resistance in the East of Ukraine is in reality an anti-fascist resistance, which has taken the step to declare independence simply as an act of self-defence. It is false to assert, as the US and AUST governments do endlessly, that Russia is assisting the anti-fascist resistance in the East, or is actually preparing to invade Ukraine. Russia, as the case of Crimea, is simply acting to protect its territory despite extreme provocation from NATO, supported on the ground by domestic fascists. These fascists have a history, going back to the Second World War, where followers of Stepan Bandera were formed into a militia in collaboration with the Nazi Wehrmacht, in order to fight against the then Soviet Union.

Alexander Zakharchenko takes an oath as Prime Minister of the Donetsk Peoples Republic.

In fact, the whole crisis in Ukraine now is a direct result of the counter-revolution which destroyed the Soviet Union in 1991. Ukraine has never been able to restore the standard of living, the jobs or the security achieved since the destruction of socialism. This is not to say that there were no political issues for working class citizens of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, for there certainly were. However those problems pale in comparison with the social devastation wrought by the restoration of capitalism around 23 years ago.

While there are some within the leadership of the resistance in the East of Ukraine who have anti-Semitic, pro-Russian nationalist or even pro-Tsarist views, this is not the case for the whole of the anti-fascist resistance, nor the whole of the population. In fact, they would not be able to garner the support they have if they were. It is a contradiction, but the fact is that the anti-fascist resistance is stalling the advance of NATO, and thus hampering the plans of US imperialism, with its overall goal of the overthrow of Russia. It is for this reason that workers here, and internationally, need to stand with the anti-fascist resistance in Donetsk, Lugansk and elsewhere it may exist in Ukraine – and stand against the relentless advance of US imperialism, spearheaded by NATO. Potential world war is lurking in the shadows of this latest conflict, which is ultimately driven by the perilous state of the world capitalist economy.

5400 people have perished so far in the war led by the fascist US backed Kiev “government” against the Donbass region. Many of these have simply been bombed to death in their houses or in the streets of their home towns.  This horrific toll has horrified Ukrainians in the West as well as in the East. The website newcoldwar.org in fact details the extent to which Ukrainians are opposed to the war. The ultra-nationalist Kiev regime has attempted to conscript large numbers of Ukrainian men into the army to wage war on the East. Yet the Kiev junta has little basis of social support, apart from the fascist Nazi thugs who form the terror militias. As a consequence, there has been ongoing acts of draft resistance, demonstrations, and some riots, including some led by women. Some Ukrainians are literally packing up and moving to Russia to avoid the draft. This is the supreme irony, given that the coup junta as well as the United States are claiming, without a shred of evidence, that Russian troops and tanks are moving into Ukraine!

This lack of social or working class support for the NATO backed Kiev junta, together with  the heroic resistance of the Donbass region, has meant that the US led war has largely been defeated. The Donetsk and Lugansk Peoples Republics have been fighting with a volunteer force, and it has proven to be superior in battle to a largely conscript Kiev army which does not really want to be there, let alone in a war. In response, Washington politicians have been openly discussing arming the Nazi Kiev regime with $3 billion dollars worth of heavy weaponry.  It is needless to say that if this occurs, Russia will not simply be able to stand idly by. At its worst, it could lead to nuclear war. There are many who claim that nuclear war between the world’s most powerful states is impossible due to the sheer self-destruction on all sides that would result. Yet this view does not take into account the fact that the world’s capitalist ruling classes have no plan, and are not able to re-start a stalling capitalism, which is wretched and in its most dire predicament in its history. They are more than capable of risking everything to preserve their power, or bring about almost total destruction – which would perversely provide a stimulus for profit based production.

Recently German leader Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande met with Russian President Putin in Moscow, in an attempt to head off full scale war. On February 6 the UK Guardian reported that the Europeans are almost universally opposed to the arming of the Ukrainian government, fearing it would lead to full scale war. Moreover, they feel that if there was to be a war with Russia right now, Russia would win. This does not mean that German and French imperialism are for peace, whereas the US is for war. It merely means that German and French imperialism share the same aims, but want to employ different methods to bring Russia to heel. The meeting was evidence of a minor split between European and US imperial interests.

Here in Australia, to our knowledge, there has been no active opposition to the war on Russia via Ukraine, by leftist parties or others. Unfortunately, most left parties here hold the extremely erroneous view that Russia is an imperialist state, and therefore cannot be defended. Some other left parties do defend Russia from the main imperialists – the US and Europe – but do so only on paper, while doing nothing in action. This must be rectified. The Marxist-Leninist Front is prepared to work alongside all those who want to avoid an aggressive war by the NATO powers against Russia via Ukraine – a war which will almost certainly be a world war. 

The prevention of a shooting war would be an immense relief to the working people of the Ukraine, Russia, Europe and the world. However, the main driving factor of this potential war remains – the dire economic crisis of capitalism. Only the socialist states – China, Vietnam, the DPRK, Cuba and Laos – whose economies have been removed from the capitalist orbit – are more or less safe from this crisis. But that cannot last if the world is once again plunged into World War. The only way to take world war permanently off the table is the overthrow of capitalism via the workers seizing state power and initiating the rule of labour over capital. This task will be especially necessary in the industrialised countries of Europe, the United States, Canada, Japan and Australia. This task requires the urgent forging of Marxist vanguard parties, with all the national peculiarities these formations may entail.

In the meantime, we suggest that some of the demands that the workers must put forward should be:  NO SUPPORT FOR FASCISM IN UKRAINE! NO AUSTRALIAN “AID” TO KIEV! NO WAR WITH RUSSIA! LIFT THE SANCTIONS! VICTORY TO THE ANTI-FASCIST RESISTANCE! DEFEND NOVOROSSIYA, THE DONBASS, THE DONETSK AND LUGANSK PEOPLES REPUBLICS!

MARXIST-LENINIST FRONT

MLF20701@GMAIL.COM

GOOGLED22.WIX.COM/MARXISTLENINSTFRONT

0421 408 692