IRAQI COMMUNIST PARTY
September
2014
Solidarity with the Iraqi people
and
their democratic forces
On the 10th of June 2014, the terrorist organization known as
“Isis”, and its allies including remnants and supporters of Saddam’s fascist
dictatorship, launched an attack on Mosul, seizing control of Iraq’s second
largest city and unleashing a wave of barbaric crimes against tens of thousands
of innocent civilians. In the days and weeks that followed, the whole world
witnessed crimes against humanity being committed against innocent Iraqi
civilians. Religious and ethnic minorities were targeted, especially
Christians, Yezidis,Turkmen and Shabak, with the aim of uprooting indigenous
communities that have peacefully lived and coexisted in Iraq for over two thousand
years. Atrocities were committed against Yazidis, including the abduction of
hundreds of young women and children, and tens of thousands were forces to seek
refuge on Mount Sinjar where they were besieged and faced a humanitarian crisis
of unprecedented proportions. The mass killing of around 1700 unarmed young
military recruits at Camp Speicher in Salahuddin province was another heinous
war crime aimed at igniting sectarian strife. The terrorist onslaught has
created a humanitarian catastrophe. More than 1.6 million people have been
displaced this year by violence in Iraq, with 850,000 fleeing their homes in
August, according to the UN.
These barbaric crimes and the
perpetrators must be unequivocally condemned by all progressive forces, with
effective support and solidarity extended to the Iraqi people.
Background to recent developments
The recent grave developments cannot be isolated from what
Iraq has lived through in recent years.
The country has
been in a deep and total crisis caused by the legacy of long years of tyranny and
dictatorship, the consequences of the U.S. occupation and the interference of
regional powers. Its roots lie in the sectarian-ethnic power-sharing
system that has existed since 2003. The crisis has also exposed the agenda of the
ruling political forces and their fighting to maintain positions in political
power and privileges, while the people’s suffering and anger intensify as a
result of rampant unemployment, corruption and poor public services, health and
education, in addition to the deteriorating security situation.
The infighting among ruling groups, over power and
privileges, has provided a fertile ground for extremist Islamist and shadowy
groups to intensify acts of terrorism, carrying out heinous atrocities, with
the aim of pushing Iraq into sectarian strife and civil war. More than 7000
people were killed in 2013, by waves of car and suicide bombings. During
the last two months, in July and August 2014, around 3000 people were killed.
The victims are mainly innocent civilians, including workers and the unemployed
in poor districts.
The Iraqi
Communist Party had repeatedly warned against the danger of the country sliding once again into
sectarian strife, and called for urgent action by the democratic forces, and
for popular initiatives, to safeguard Iraq’s national unity.
Social and economic factors
It is also important
to highlight briefly the socio-economic nature of the present political system
in Iraq. The country has a rentier economy that is heavily dependent on oil
revenues, with marginalized productive sectors, and is highly consumerist,
relying heavily on imports. As a result, there has been a growth of comprador
and parasitic strata accumulating enormous wealth from public money grabbed
through corruption, big contracts with the state, in collusion with influential
officials, as well as speculation, smuggling of funds and other parasitic
activities.
There is a tendency,
which is becoming increasingly obvious, of the tangling of interests between
influential political forces in power and the growing parasitic and comprador
strata. These forces as whole, with support from international institutions
such as the IMF, World Bank, organisations of the UN and others, stand for
transforming the Iraqi economy to a total market economy and breaking up what
is left of the public sector through privatization and other measures that are
inspired by the ideological arsenal of neo-liberalism. The Iraqi Communist
Party firmly stands against these policies, puts forward its alternatives and
works to develop alignments bringing together those have an interest in
resisting this neo-liberal orientation.
Root cause of the
crisis
The radical remedy for the problems of
the country and its intractable crisis
lies in getting rid of the sectarian – ethnic power-sharing
system, commitment to the values of true democracy, with its political and social dimensions and institutions,
and building the state in line with its principles.
The means of administration and governance must ensure respect
for human rights, politically and socially, to guarantee
equal citizenship, social justice,
independence and national sovereignty. This
is the path for the establishment of a democratic civil state which provides all the necessary prerequisites for sustainable economic, social, political and cultural development, utilizing the abundant wealth of the people and country
for the good of its citizens and their well-being, prosperity
and social progress.
How to deal with the challenges
In response to the terrorist onslaught of "Isis"
and its allies, the Iraqi Communist Party has stressed the need for speeding up
the formation of a broad national unity government on the basis of a
comprehensive national program. This is needed to heal the national fabric, resolve
the differences that have paralyzed the national effort, and adopt a host of
political, economic and social measures that will strengthen the armed forces
and enable them to regain control as soon as possible of the cities and towns
that were ravaged by the terrorists.
The party has also called for convening a National
Conference in order to review the political process and address the root cause
of the ongoing crisis, by ridding it of sectarian-ethnic power-sharing and
political sectarianism. This is the only path forward to build a unified
democratic and federal Iraq.
Communists and their party organizations all over Iraq
have been actively involved in the national effort to fight and defeat the
ultra-reactionary terrorists and provide humanitarian support to the displaced
communities. They are playing, along with other democratic forces, a vital role
in combating sectarianism, chauvinism and nationalist bigotry, preserving
national unity and upholding human and democratic rights.
Communists are also
firmly opposed to the schemes that are aimed at dividing Iraq along sectarian
lines. It is up to the Iraqi people to decide their own fate, democratically,
with their own independent will, without interference by any outside powers,
and rejecting attempts to impose designs that serve imperialist agenda for
hegemony and exploitation
International
solidarity
In this just
struggle, international solidarity is indispensible. All forms of international
support extended to Iraq in its battle against terrorism should be based on
international legitimacy and within the framework of the UN. In this respect,
it is of utmost importance to continue humanitarian help to the hundreds of
thousands of displaced people. Effective measures are needed to cut off the
funding from reactionary regional and Arab forces, as well as blocking all
external human resources and material support, flowing to “Isis” and its
allies.
We call
on all the peace-loving and progressive forces in the world to express support
and solidarity with the Iraqi people and democratic forces in their fight
against the ultra-reactionary terrorist forces and political sectarianism, and
for a unified democratic and federal Iraq.
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