April 17, 2003: The Struggle over the Postwar Order has Started

1. On 15 April the US military leadership declared the end of the "hot phase of the war". This marks only the beginning of the struggle over the postwar order. While US president Bush demagogically declared that "the region has become more secure" by the war, the contradictions are in reality intensifying. Bands pillaging the country were given free hand in order to justify the establishment of a US military protectorate by the ensuing chaos. This is also a means to legitimize afterwards the war of aggression that was condemned worldwide.

2. Under the direct control of the USA US general Tommy Franks and ex-general Jay Garner are forming the supreme military and civil command in Iraq. On 15 April the first meeting took place to establish a future interim government. Only marionettes determined by the USA – mostly exile-Iraqi – participated in this meeting. The leader of the "Iraqi National Congress" selected as future chief of government, Achmed Dschalabi, is a London banker who is wanted by the police in Jordan in connection with criminal banking transactions. This procedure has been rejected by the "Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq" (SCIRI) under the leadership of the Shiite chief Mohammed Baker al Hakim as a regression to the time of colonialism. With the words "We refuse to be dominated by the Americans or any other country" the SCIRI defends the national sovereignty and independence of Iraq.

3. The USA has won the war against the Saddam Hussein regime, but it failed miserably in its attempt to be tolerated by the people as "liberators" or "good-natured imperialism". On 15 April 20,000 people demonstrated in Nadschaf under the slogan among others: "No to America, No to Saddam". Demonstrations have been taking place in Baghdad since several days demanding: "We want real freedom!" In order to get the protests under control US troops opened fire on demonstrators in front of the seat of the new US governor in Mosul killing 20 people and injuring many others. This massacre demonstrates the imperialist character of the neocolonial military rule of the USA.

4. With the establishment of the military protectorate the USA pursues the goal of securing the sole control of country’s economy, and demands the immediate lifting of the UN sanctions imposed on Iraq by themselves. The former Shell director Carroll has been appointed as coordinator for the reconstruction of the oil industry and all orders for the infrastructure (bridges, roads, power stations and damaged oil pipelines) are being awarded by the US office Agency for International Aid (USAid). This means that Russia and France will lose their oil concessions and Germany will be cut off from its expanding export dealings. This sharpens the contradictions concerning the future influence in Iraq. For this reason Russia, France and Germany demand that the political and economic reconstruction of Iraq has to take place under the umbrella of the UN. However, the USA is not willing to share its imperialist victory with its rivals.

5. Millions of people in Iraq are still cut off from water, electricity and sufficient medical care. However, what counts for the imperialists is the restoration of "law and order as soon as possible" (German chancellor Schroeder) in order to enforce their plans on the back of the peoples. The postwar order in the sense of a perspective worth living for the masses will not be realized by any UN resolution, but only by the struggle of the peoples for national and social liberation from imperialist exploitation and oppression.