People's Democracy

COMRADE C H KANARAN BIRTH CENTENARY

‘USA Torpedoing People’s

Uprisings in the Arab World’

C P Aboobacker

THE people’s uprisings in the Arab world are being torpedoed by the United States of America, charged CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat while inaugurating Comrade C H Kanaran Birth Centenary seminar in Kozhikode recently. The topic of the seminar was “US War on Terror, An Agenda on the Arab World?” and it was hosted by Kelu Ettan Padana Gaveshana Kendram, the educational institute of the CPI(M), Kozhikode district committee.

Karat said that West Asia has a special place in the strategic designs of US imperialism. Being the repository of the bulk of the oil resources of the world, the control of this region is a crucial pillar in maintaining imperialism’s hegemony in the world.  Throughout the 20th century, imperialist powers have vied with each other to gain access and control over the Arab lands in order to exploit its rich oil resources.

That history of colonial aggression and imperialist wars continues even in the 21st century with the United States engaged in three wars at present – in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya. The United States invaded Afghanistan in 2001, ten years ago, declaring its war against terrorism. The Americans and their allies next attacked Iraq in 2003 and their troops continue to occupy that country.  President Obama has now got his own war going in Libya.  It is the second Arab country which the US has attacked after Iraq. Karat underlined the fact that both are oil rich countries that had governments which were not prepared to toe the line of the United States and its western allies. 

LONG HISTORY OF

INTERVENTIONS 

The US-NATO military intervention in Libya is only the latest in the long history of military interventions and steps to topple governments in West Asia. Karat said that if one looks at the countries with the largest oil reserves, six countries have more than 90 per cent of the oil resources in West Asia.  They, in the order of ranking, are:  1 - Saudi Arabia; 2 – Iran; 3 – Iraq; 4 – Kuwait; 5 - United Arab Emirates and 6 - Libya.  Out of these six nations, Saudi Arabia that has the largest oil reserves is a firm ally of the United States.  So are Kuwait and the UAE.  Of the three remaining countries, Iraq has been occupied and now Libya is under attack. Only Iran remains outside its purview and the United States is targeting Iran on the nuclear issue and working to isolate it. The history of US interventions in the post-Second World War period began with the toppling of the Mossadegh government in Iran in 1953 by the CIA. The Mossadegh government was nationalist in orientation and had decided to place restrictions on the western oil companies. More than five decades later, the United States and its western allies are working overtime to isolate Iran and effect a regime change there once again, said Karat.

The September 2001 attacks by Al Qaeda provided the pretext for the then US president Bush to declare a ‘global war against terrorism’ and invade Afghanistan.  But much before that, the United States had begun its undeclared war on Iraq with the military intervention in 1991 and the continuous bombing and sanctions on Iraq. It is estimated that half a million children died due to malnutrition and other diseases as a result of the sanctions that lasted for over a decade.

FUELLING

TERROR

Karat said there was no Al Qaeda in Iraq. The Ba’athist regime in Iraq from the 1970s was a secular regime which did not tolerate Islamic fundamentalists. Yet, Iraq was targeted because it was the second biggest oil producer. It was accused of maintaining links with the Al Qaeda and possessing weapons of mass destruction. He said this was a clear example of how the war on terror was created to fulfill and advance American imperialism’s strategic interests in West Asia.  At that time, the neo-conservative circles in the United States had declared that after Iraq, Iran and Syria would be the targets. These had regimes that were not willing to kowtow to US imperialism. 

Under the guise of the war on terror, the United States has built up military facilities in Oman, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.  Even eight years after the war on Iraq, American troops are still stationed in that country. It is this imperialist presence and aggression that provides a fillip to extremist ideologies and terrorism in the Arab world.

The CPI(M) general secretary asserted that it was the US invasion and occupation of Iraq that actually brought terrorism into Iraq, a country that had no such history.  The US encouraged sectarian and divisive forces in Iraq in order to tighten its grip. Shia-Sunni sectarian violence and terrorist groups of various hues caused widespread violence and destruction in Iraq after US invasion. Under the client regime it set-up, US has got the oil sector privatised and thus opened the way for US and other multinational oil companies to re-enter Iraq.

Karat reminded the audience about how American imperialism had always, in order to further its strategic interests, supported and backed the fundamentalist and reactionary forces in the Arab world against the secular, nationalist and Left forces in this region. The Ahab fundamentalism of Saudi Arabia was fully backed by United States and exported to counter secular nationalism which was represented by Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt. This backing of Islamic fundamentalism against the influence of the Soviet Union and the progressive nationalist forces in the Arab region continued till the 1980s when US backed the Mujahideen fighters in Afghanistan.   It was in this period that the CIA and the Pentagon financed the likes of Osama  bin Laden, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and other extremist groups.  Later, it declared its so called war against terrorism against these very forces which it reared and financed.

Karat made it clear that the terrorist violence indulged in by Al Qaeda and similar outfits cannot be seen as part of anti-imperialist struggle.  They are reactionary and divisive. Their fundamentalist vision can view the struggle in terms of only fighting western civilisation and Christianity without tackling the imperialist structure and its system of exploitation and aggression. Terrorist acts disrupt the possibility of developing mass movements and forging wider anti-imperialist unity.

REAL INTENTIONS

STAND EXPOSED

The recent popular uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt took the United States by surprise. The Mubarak regime was a bulwark for the United States in the Arab world.  The Israeli-Egyptian Peace Accord had become the fulcrum around which the United States worked to control the entire region. The fall of the Mubarak regime alarmed the United States and Israel. The popular uprising was motivated by secular and people’s issues, not by any religious or fundamentalist ideology.  The threat of such popular uprisings against authoritarian regimes in the Arab world, most of them allies of the United States, had to be countered urgently.

The US-NATO intervention in Libya was the response, felt Karat. They used the protests by a section of Libyan people against the Gaddafi regime to start a  full-scale civil war. The NATO has been bombing Libya for the past five months.  By the intervention in Libya, the US wants to show that they are backing a “movement for democracy” and to hijack the Arab awakening.  At the same time, the rebels have taken control of Eastern Libya which has all the oil reserves.  The aim is to put in place a pro-western government in Libya. At the same time, the US has backed the Saudi army’s suppression of the people in Bahrain who were protesting against the Sheikh.

Clearly, the occupation of Iraq and the aggression on Libya have exposed the real intensions of US imperialism, felt Karat.  The Arab masses are in ferment.  They are rising up in revolt against their authoritarian rulers.  Because of the revolt in Egypt, its alliance with Israel is now in jeopardy. The new Egyptian regime has helped the unity of the rival two Palestinian organisations – the Fatah and the Hamas. Despite decades of oppression by authoritarian regimes backed by the United States, the Arab people are showing resilience and the will to struggle to throw away the yoke of imperialism and authoritarianism.

Karat also alerted the audience about how the US is seeking to influence the policy making of the Indian government.  US secretary of state, Hilary Clinton, has asked the government of India to take a stand against Syria. In all issues related to the Middle East, India is being compelled to stand by Israel and the US imperialism. This is the reason why India so abjectly rejected the project for Iran-India natural gas pipeline. Even the BJP-led NDA government had realised the importance of the pipeline which would have helped India to ease the scarcity of power so essential for diverse projects in agriculture and industry.

In conclusion Prakash Karat called upon all to pledge their solidarity with the unprecedented upheaval of people in the Arab world and strengthen popular movements against imperialism and autocracy.

The inaugural session was also addressed by Dr K T Jaleel MLA. It was presided over by T P Ramakrishnan, CPM Kozhikode district secretary who reminded the audience that the seminar is a prelude to the year long birth centenary celebrations in memory of Comrade C H Kanaran, who was a pioneer in the building of the communist movement in the state. He also said that the seminar is a run up activity to the 20th Congress of the Party scheduled to be held at Kozhikode in April 2012.

Besides the inaugural session, the seminar had three other sessions. The theme of the second  session was “Post-cold war developments in the Arab world”. Dr K N  Ganesh of the University of Calicut moderated the session. Dr A K Pasha presented a paper on “Palestine, Zionism and Oil Politics”. Others who presented papers include Venkatesh Ramakrishnan of Frontline  on “Anti-terror war and the media” and Dr Bijulal of the Mahatma Gandhi University on “Neo Americanism- intellectual and institutional forms”.

The third session was moderated by Professor P T Abdul Latheef, deputy mayor, Calicut Municipal Corporation. The session was on “The developments in the Arab world and Kerala”. It was attended by  Dr Fazal Gafur of  MESO, Abdur Rahman of Madhyamam daily,  Dr Hussain Randathani of MES College Valanchery and KEN Kunhahammed. The valedictory session was addressed by former industries minister Elamaram Kareem and presided over by Professor C P Aboobacker.

A large gathering packed the Tagore Centenary hall of Calicut to attend the seminar. A souvenir commemorating Comrade C H Kanaran’s contributions to Kerala and the formation of the communist movement in Kerala was released by  Prakash Karat. M Kelappan, veteran communist leader of the district, received the first copy of the souvenir. The relatives of Comrade C H Kanaran, including his daughter Sarojini teacher, attended the seminar.