[L-I] [ INDIA ] ML Update Vol. 6 No. 44

ML Update
A CPI(ML) Weekly News Magazine
Vol.  6          No. 44    29 October-4 November 2003

 Editorial:

BUSH SLIPS ON BABYLONIAN QUICKSAND

The prayers of Ramadan began last week in Baghdad amidst a series of heavy
bombings targeting the US occupiers and their puppet establishment. Paul
Wolfowitz, US Deputy Secretary of Defense and one of the most notorious
theorists of American Empire, had a nightmarish visit to Baghdad, narrowly
escaping a volley of rockets on the most heavily fortified Rashid Hotel. The
hotel is part of a compound on the west bank of the Tigris river used by the
U.S.-led administration and is a symbol of the U.S. occupation to Iraqis.
While Wolfowitz escaped unhurt but visibly shaken, an American colonel died
and several soldiers suffered serious injuries.

Wolfowitz's boss, Donald Rumsfeld had warned a few days ago of a 'long, hard
slog' facing the US in Iraq. "We did not expect it (the resistance in Iraq)
would be quite this intense this long," admitted Colin Powell, the US
Secretary of State on the American television. L. Paul Bremer, the chief
American administrator in Iraq too accepted that the US was faced with a
"major terrorist problem in Iraq." While American televisions reported these
cautionary remarks, al-Jazeera broadcast two new Osama tapes just when
George Bush was winding his way through his hectic Asia tour provoking
strong protests in the Philippines and Thailand.

As the resistance intensifies in Iraq, the Bush administration is having a
tough time trying to convince the American public that Iraq is not quite
another Vietnam, at least not yet. More than 100 US soldiers and army
officials have died so far since May 1 when Bush arrogantly declared that
the major combat in Iraq had been over. Attacks on US-led coalition forces
have roughly doubled in recent months, averaging 25 or more a day between
October 8 and 22.

But the American people are just not convinced. On October 25, key US cities
on both coasts witnessed a significant revival of anti-war protests as tens
of thousands of marchers called for an immediate end to US occupation of
Iraq. While the march was not as big yet as the pre-war demonstartions, the
voice calling for 'bringing the troops back home' and 'saving America from
another Vietnam' is clearly getting louder with every passing day.
The mood could not be suppressed even by the dominant US media. The
Washington Post, for example, mentioned one Bill Perry, 56, a construction
worker who had served in Vietnam, who had this to say: "About six blocks up
the street, there's a beautiful memorial for 58,000 of our brothers and
sisters who died in Vietnam . Already, we've lost about 350 of our own
brothers and sisters in this war. One can't help but wonder how big the
memorial for this war is going to have to be."

The anger of US war veterans and the American people at large is shared no
less by the 1,50,000 US troops now trapped in Iraq. A broad survey of U.S.
troops in Iraq by a Pentagon-funded newspaper recently reported that half of
those questioned described their unit's morale as low and their training as
insufficient, and said they did not plan to reenlist. The survey, conducted
by the Stars and Stripes newspaper, through 1,935 questionnaires presented
to U.S. service members throughout Iraq, also recorded 40 per cent
complaining that the jobs they were doing had little or nothing to do with
their training.

While the US sinks deeper into the Iraqi quagmire, more and more Americans
also feel the economic pinch of Pentagon's military misadventure. Nearly 2.6
million jobs are estimated to have been 'lost' or destroyed since George
Bush took office in January 2001. Budget deficit has also surpassed the
previous 1992 high of $ 290 billion, the latest estimate being of the order
of $ 374 billion. The US war economy is of course soaring high - the US has
more than 40% share of world arms sales followed by Britain (18.5%) and the
investment of $ 87 billion as America's 'war and reconstruction' budget for
Iraq is expected to generate enormous profits. But this is little
consolation for those Americans who are acknowledged to be living in poverty
whose number has increased by three million in the past two years.

The tide therefore continues to turn against the Bush administration both at
home and abroad. As the wrath of the American and world people grows, giving
sleepless nights to Bush and his men, can his Indian lackeys remain any more
'assured'?


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