18.3.2011

On the SA government betrayal of the masses in Libya

The South African government, by voting for the UN resolution to bomb Libya, has shown itself to be a total lackey of US imperialism. US imperialism has a history of letting others do the battle while it bides its time to pick up the lion's share- the second world imperialist war demonstrated this graphically. They turned a blind eye when French and Italian-backed mercenaries prevented Gaddafi from being toppled by the masses and then advanced against the armed masses in the east. At the same time they were working with ex-members of the Gaddafi regime such as the 'Justice' minister and his cronies until they secured absolute allegiance to US imperialism from the leadership of the so called 'Transitional Council'. This council is as about 'transitional' as the Mubarak military regime in Egypt, minus Mubarak- still a total lackey of US imperialism. Here the US imperialism sees a business opportunity to grab most of the oil of Libya for itself and to push out or at least marginalise the French and German imperialists.

Only a few months ago Hilary Clinton was embracing the butcher regime of Gaddafi as their partners; now they hedge their bets, realizing that he may have reached his sell-by-date( he is too discredited in the eyes of the Libyan masses to play the role of local lackey of imperialism.) The invasion of Iraq also started with a 'no-fly zone'. Its real purpose is to destroy any military infrastructure to prepare the ground for a full-scale imperialist invasion. To cover this the UN and the US are insisting that the Arab League (the gang of imperialist lackeys) are their partners when the bombing starts, so they can claim that this is not invasion but the 'locals are calling us in and leading the fight'.

The only reason why imperialism did not let the butcher Gaddafi and his mercenaries advance to massacre all in Benghazi is that they have secured the absolute loyalty and servitude of the 'transitional regime'- the transitional regime, under the guise of preparing better trained forces, have established centralised control over the arms, thus have set up a bourgeois regime, effectively disarming the masses. If Gaddafi had advanced into Benghazi with the transitional regime not lifting a finger, they would have been exposed and the masses would have toppled them. The masses, wtihout any training, won over the entire army in the East; they would have done the same in the West but imperialism intervened to delay this step. The main concern was to, at all costs, to prevent the masses from toppling Gaddafi, arms in hand, as this would set an example for the entire working class, over the world, even in the USA.

We call for mass protests from the world working class and its allies against the imperialist invasion of Libya (which comes as supposedly to protect human lives). the lies of imperialism is shown by their inaction over the years in the DRC, from 1996 to the current period, where over 6 million people were killed while US imperialism walks away with most of the plundered minerals.

We condemn the role played by the April 6 movement and other reformists in propping up the Egyptian military dictatorship and for calling for the recognition of the clearly pro-imperialist 'transitonal' regime in East Libya.

We call for the working class to paralyse the bases which are to be used as launching pads for the invasion. We call for armed workers brigades to go to support the Libyan masses. For councils of workers and soldiers in Libya to defeat the Gaddafi regime centred on a programme to expropriate all imperialist assets without compensation to the capitalists, establishing workers control; no confidence in the transitional council- out all officials who were part of the brutal Gaddafi regime- all power to the workers councils.

No to the no fly or no move zone of imperialism- no to any imperialist intervention, no to any intervention by any lackey regime of imperialism- should any proxy force intervene, we call on the masses to remove their regimes.

The brutal attacks by the Saudi army whch intervenes as part of the GCC (general co-ordination council) in Bahrain is a proxy intervention by US imperialism- the Saudi army has no independent existence from US imperialism- they give the orders. The killings of the heroic Yemeni masses is also an order from US imperialism. Ironically the GCC was set up to act as a defence against 'foreign invasion' and here it leads the charge for US imperialism.

Unions are banned or severely limited by the regimes of Gaddafi, king Abdullah, and other imperialist lackey regimes. The attack on the workers in Wisconsin, by banning real negotiation rights, show that the union bashing, the casualisation of the world's work force is part of the strategy of US and other imperialisms. We call on the working class in the USA and other imperialist centres, to unite with you class brothers and sisters from Mexico, from China, with all immigrant workers; realise this one thing that the enemy is at home- it is the 1% who take home 75% of the income while the rest are left with nothing but suffering and starvation.

Now is the time for the formation of a working class international (we say, refounding the Fourth International), to lead the fight against our common enemy.

Down with the dictatorship of the handful of capitalists! Forward to Socialism!

Workers International Vanguard League