Stop the War at Home and Abroad!

George Bush needs to be removed from office. He lies, he cheats and he steals. In Iraq and Afghanistan, Bush kills.

Bush lied about Iraq. He cheated the electoral process to get into office and he is stealing our future – spending billions on wars for oil while cutting programs we need. Bush is the flight deck commander for the rich and powerful. He aims to deliver on his promised ‘war without end’ while waving the flag for racist repression at home. Bush needs to be voted out of the White House! We must build a movement to stop the war at home and abroad!

The rich have more wealth than at any time in U.S. history. Their stock portfolios are growing fatter. For us – for working people – our standard of living is falling. Bush is bellowing about an economic recovery that no working-class people feel. Under Bush, 2.2 million workers have lost their jobs. The tax cuts for the rich are adding to a government funding crisis. Bush and Congress pushed the crisis on to the state governments which, whether Republican or Democrat, balance their budgets on the backs of those who can least afford it. Taking Reaganism a step further, Bush has run up a half-trillion dollar deficit. That is 500 billion dollars! “The economy is doing well,” Bush tells us, so he refuses to extend federal unemployment benefits to those out of work. Bush wants lower wages, weaker unions and worse healthcare.

Bush and his band of billionaires occupy Iraq and Afghanistan for oil and empire. There is one problem though: U.S. imperialism is sinking in the quicksand of the Middle East. The whole world, including the U.S. anti-war movement and the Iraqi people, told Bush what the results would be. With tens of thousands of Iraqis dead and injured and over 700 U.S. soldiers buried, each passing day brings more news of disasters and defeat for the U.S. occupation. The proud Iraqi people have a grassroots resistance that fights the colonization and occupation of their country. With over 110,000 U.S. troops stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan, there are few soldiers to spare – and four more years of Bush may well mean a wartime draft. Bush means four more years of war and occupation, misery and death.

Under Bush, the Patriot Act passed by Congress has raised repression to new levels. Bush promotes a campaign of fear and hatred towards Arabs and Muslims to help justify war abroad. Racist demonization at home helps the war effort. Round ups, detentions, deportations, the imprisonment of children both inside U.S. jails and on Guantanamo are part of the racist dehumanization that helps justify war and occupation abroad. Immigrants are fired from jobs they have held for years because they are deemed a ‘security threat.’ Racial profiling by police is the order of the day for Blacks and Latinos. Anti-war protesters are arrested by the hundreds in major cities. Political groups are spied upon. This is Bush’s America, not yours. Trade unionists protesting the FTAA (Free Trade of The Americas) in Miami watched their constitutional rights drift away on the tear gas. The Miami police came prepared for war, having received $8 million from the $87 billion that Congress voted for the Iraq occupation.

It is vital we continue to build the anti-war movement under the slogans, “End the occupation of Iraq! Bring the troops home!” Building the anti-war movement in the streets will strengthen all of those who are fighting for peace, justice and equality, and who want to see Bush defeated in the presidential elections. Big anti-war protests at home and abroad will weaken George Bush and the ruling class of billionaires he represents. Anti-war protests in America will embolden those who righteously resist and rebel against occupation and war, against oppression and poverty.

The U.S. electoral system gives the people limited choices. It’s a given that the Democrat Party – the other party of the rich – typically does the bidding of whoever gives them the most money. It is a political party of the corporate elite. In the final analysis, all really important political issues are decided by struggle. No one elected in the next presidential elections is going to bring the American people, or any one else for that matter, peace and prosperity. Over the long run we need independent political action that is hostile to the parties of the rich.

That said, the defeat of Bush would represent a rejection of the entire direction that this country is heading, and will create new and favorable conditions for the people’s movements to advance their agendas.

The November 2004 elections are a referendum on Bush and everything he stands for. Kicking Bush out of office will send a powerful message to the rich who rule this country and to people around the world who are resisting ‘empire.’ By building a movement against Bush – a movement that stands for peace, justice and equality – we will be in a better position to fight for the things we need, no matter who takes office in January 2005

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