London’s transport system was brought to a standstill last Thursday by a wave of terror bombings that killed scores of innocent working people and wounded hundreds more. The New Communist Party of Britain condemns outright the terror bombings of 7th July and expresses its deepest sympathy for all the victims, their families and friends.
No-one knows who was responsible for the terror attack but the Government, from Tony Blair downwards, is assuming it was the work of supporters of Osama bin Laden’s Al Qaeda movement. If so, the maelstrom of terror that has encompassed the Middle East for decades has now swept Londoners into its path.
Blair and Bush justify Anglo-American imperialism’s offensive against the peoples of the Middle East as a “war against terror”. They claim to be fighting to “root out” the causes of global “terrorism”. But the causes are of their own doing and their names are Palestine, Iraq, Afghanistan and Oil.
Last Thursday innocent London workers experienced the terror that has been part of everyday life for millions of Iraqis, Afghans and Palestinians. Blair denies any link between the invasion of Iraq and the London bombings but even he conceded that “old injustices, poverty and the democratic vacuum” in the Middle East had to be addressed if terror was to be countered effectively. He also praised Muslim leaders at home and abroad who have joined in the public condemnation of London bombings and the shadowy movements that incite and plan these acts of terror. But their remarks went much further than those of the Prime Minister.
In a sermon last Friday, Ayatollah Mohamed Emami-Kashani, dismissed Al Qaeda as a “fake version of Islam” but then added: “Has the British Prime Minister forgotten who Al Qaeda’s parents are? I remind him then that the United States is Al Qaeda’s father and Israel is the mother of that illegitimate child…it was you yourselves who created this group in the name of Islam and therefore the conduct of a child whose father is global arrogance and whose mother is the Israeli butchers should not surprise anyone”.
Fifty years ago the Arabs were breaking the chains of colonialism and dreaming of creating modern democratic states built on the vast oil wealth their lands possessed. Imperialism destroyed that vision by working with feudal elements to smash the communist parties and the national democratic movements led by Nasser and the Baath that stood in their way. Imperialism allied itself with the feudal kings and princes and the reactionary movements in the region, rewarding them with a tiny fraction of the vast profits made from the oil industry. Imperialism nursed and succoured reactionary groups like Al Qaeda to destroy the people’s democracy in Afghanistan. Now the carnage has blown back with a vengeance.
Imperialism is not concerned one iota about the “human rights” they claim to defend. Working people are just expendable pawns to be used whether they live in Baghdad or London.
The overwhelming majority of the world’s known oil reserves are in the Middle East and imperialist control and plunder of this vast source of energy has been the root cause of conflict in the region since 1948. This is what it’s all about.
The Government will, no doubt, be using the bombings to justify the introduction of ID cards and other repressive measures in the next few months. Fascists and Zionist elements will be striving to fan the flames of anti-Arab and anti-Islamic sentiment in its wake.
Only when the real root causes of terrorism are dealt with will the cycle of violence end. There must be a just solution to the Palestinian problem; an end to the occupation of Iraq and the recognition of the right of all countries in the Middle East to control their own natural resources
