Iraq-Syria & "Islamic State": Another Footmark of Imperialism in Middle-East
The much-proclaimed policies of "War on Terror" & "installing Democracy" in Middle-East have now back-fired. In 2003, US invaded Iraq to "protect Iraqi people" from Saddam Hossain & his "link with Al-Qaeda". Now, after 11 years of invasion, due to the policies taken by the "democratic" government led by Maliki & installed at the behest of US, Iraq has already been trapped into a civil war & is now disintegrating rapidly.
At the other end, a spontaneous mass-upsurge had erupted in Syria against its ruler, the dictatorial Assad regime. However, the fall-out of the way Assad regime at the one end & US and its allies in the Middle-East on the other end have handled this uprising, has been that Syria has entered into an all-encompassing civil war.
In both the countries the war is going on between Shia & Sunni communities. Apparently the war has been declared on behalf of the Sunni communities under the leadership of ISIS (or ISIL). The declaration of the formation of an Islamic Caliphate by ISIS and its offensive in both the countries has sent shockwaves around the world. The bloody violence unleashed by it thru' kidnap-murder-slaughtering-beheading as being revealed thru' the graphic videos spreading in the social networking sites like wild fire makes one's spine chilled.
It took just more than two years for ISIS to rise to such a situation. So, the question that demands a serious answer why such is happening?
Iraq after US Occupation ? Fertile Ground for Emergence of ISIS
In Iraq, 60-65% of the population belongs to Shia community & 32-37% belongs to Sunni community ? rest are others.
When US soldiers secured Baghdad in 2003 the Coalition authority opted for a neo-liberal "shock doctrine" that ripped Iraq apart. State benefits were slashed, industries closed or sold off to global companies, tens of thousands of former soldiers were demobilised without any pay or job prospects, social services collapsed and power cuts became routine. Large numbers of ordinary Iraqis lost their jobs in the so-called de-Baathification process that followed.
The first large demonstrations against all these surfaced early in the occupation. Western troops reacted with violence and repression. In April 2004 US soldiers in the western city of Fallujah opened fire on a peaceful demonstration. The killings triggered an uprising that quickly spread across the country. In Baghdad and western Iraq Sunni organizations played the major role in the uprising. Though Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, the most senior Shia cleric based in the holy city of Najaf favoured U S, in Shia majority areas tens of thousands flocked to join the Mehdi Army, a militia created by anti-occupation cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. The unified uprising left the occupation reeling. No sooner had military suppressed one neighbourhood, another exploded in anger. The casualty rate among occupation forces grew steadily. During elections in 2005 Sadr took an ambiguous approach to the elections. He opposed them in principle, but could not oppose Sistani directly. The elections were boycotted in Sunni majority areas, but there was a sizeable turnout among the Shias and Kurds. Thru' this election for the first time, differences inside the resistance forces came to surface.
Throughout 2005-06 the bulk of the resistance was reduced to the Sunni majority regions where there developed a prevailing sense of frustration and betrayal. It was during this period that radicals linked to Al-Qaeda began to emerge as a major force. At first fighters inside the resistance welcomed them. Al-Qaeda fighters, despite their small numbers, could launch effective attacks on occupying forces. However, due to its harsh interpretation of Islamic law, Al-Qaeda found itself increasingly at odds with the rest of the resistance.
The growing discontent within the resistance forces gave the occupation the opening it needed. The US was able to win over substantial sections of Sunni organizations into the so-called Awakening Council (also known as the Sons of Iraq). Awakening fighters almost wiped out the organization of Al-Qaeda in Iraq. But it came at a price. The US promised the Awakening Council a role in a future Iraqi government and security forces. But following the withdrawal of US troops in 2011, the government of Nouri al-Maliki reneged on the deal & Sunni regions have been further alienated.
At the other end, despite such social disintegration of Iraqi society, billions of dollars have poured into major investment projects, particularly developing the lucrative the oil fields. Business Week summed up the new Iraqi boom: "In 2012 [Iraq] passed Iran to become OPEC's second-largest oil producer, behind Saudi Arabia. This spring, Iraqi oil production hit a 35-year high at 3.4 million barrels a day. Government oil officials talked about being able to produce as much as nine million barrels a day by 2020. ... Iraq's borrowing costs were down; economic growth was up. Earlier this year the International Monetary Fund forecast that Iraq's economy would grow 6.3 percent this year and 8.25 percent by 2016, the fastest of all 22 economies it surveyed in the region."
But all these figures mask the simple ugly truth that the condition of the majority of Iraqi population is as bad today as they were at the time of invasion. This economic boom has bypassed the majority of its citizens. One study claims that the 15 richest Iraqis own more than ?10 billion in wealth. Meanwhile according to the United Nations over 23 percent of Iraqis, some 9 million people subsist below the poverty line. And, even though the disparity is prevalent among all sects and ethnic groups, both the Kurds and the Sunnis are affected most. Not only that, meanwhile, they have also been politically marginalised.
Once again, large protest movement erupted in December 2012. But a lack of concessions by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki & subsequent massacre in April 2013 by the Iraqi army resulting into the deaths of over 50 protestors transmuted the peaceful protests into armed resistance. It was here the ISIS took the centre-stage. It raised exclusively Sunni demands, and seeped in anti- Shia rhetoric. Over the past two years, violence has increased sharply, with nearly 10,000 Iraqi civilians killed in 2013 and almost 5,000 in just the first five months of 2014, according to Iraq Body Count. By way of US occupation, Iraq was converted to debris; now after 10 years of occupation, it is being disintegrated.
Brief Back-ground of ISIS
ISIS originated in Iraq around 1999. Since 2004 started to act as Iraqi wing of Al Qaeda & named itself as "Al Qaeda Iraq (AQI)". In February 2013, it severed its tie with Al Qaeda & on April 2013, it changed its name to the "Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant" (ISIL). Subsequently it gained access to Syria & subsequently changed to "Islamic State of Iraq and the Syria" (ISIS). On 29 June 2014, the group proclaimed a worldwide caliphate, and the group was renamed the Islamic State (IS). It imposes orthodox sharia law, relegates women to second class citizens, and regards Shia and Sufi Muslims as heretics and apostates to be persecuted along with Christians and Jews. Religious intolerance and political authoritarianism, along with frequent use of violence to subjugate any sort of opposition are its main traits. As caliphate al-Baghdadi claims religious authority over all Muslims worldwide, and aims to bring Muslim-inhabited regions across the world under its control, beginning with Iraq and the Levant region, which approximately covers Syria, Jordan, Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, Cyprus, and part of southern Turkey. Some Islamist Groups controlling territory in Sinai Peninsual, Libya, and Pakistan have also been joined ISIS. In Iraq and Syria, ISIS uses many of the existing Governorate boundaries to subdivide its claimed territory. As of November 2014, it claims provinces and
Syria
At the other end, in Syria Shia, Christian and Kurdish minorities are encompassed by a sixty-percent Sunni Arab majority.
Over the past decade, socio-economic & political life of Syrian people has significantly worsened. The process of economic liberalisation implemented by Assad govt has enhanced the disparity among the population. In rural areas, hardship has been caused by economic liberalisation & it has further been compounded by four consecutive droughts. Pauperisation has become widespread. At the other end, in Assad's regime, Syria has become a de-facto police state. The regime & its security forces are used to repress voices of the masses brutally and indiscriminately.
All these were making people resentful. In the early spring of 2011, a major uprising surfaced in Syria against Assad regime. It developed without any leadership or any central organization. Sole demand of the uprising was articulated as the fall of the regime. Initially protests were peaceful, but Syrian security forces cracked down the protests very brutally. In retaliation, soon the protests transformed to armed uprising. Varying shades of political groups, both inside the country as well as those living in exile entered into the arena. Among the protestors Sunni population was majority. Undoubtedly, there was an Islamist undercurrent in the uprising. But it is primarily a product of the Assad regime's decades of socio-economic neglect far more than an outside conspiracy by made religious fundamentalists as claimed by Assad.
Armed uprising was started primarily by Free Syrian Army (FSA), a group of defected Syrian Armed Forces' officers and soldiers. The main difficulty of the protestors is the extremely oppressive domestic environment; so it urged for external support, primarily from the forces already in exile with a motive to gain international support to topple the regime. They perceived that as regime violence escalated, imperialism would provide necessary military support. However, it boosted imperialism & its allies in the Middle-East to intervene into the uprising. In April 2013, the US promised $123 million aid to protestors, to be funnelled through FSA.
Though armed struggle began with a motive to protect civilian protesters from regime onslaught, the relationship between civilian activist bodies and armed militants shifted as violence escalated. The influence of urban activists declined, and Sunni armed fighters from poor suburbs and the countryside organized in different militant organizations increasingly came in the forefront of the uprising. However, due to the existence of different factions even among these organizations, it failed to co-ordinate the movement centrally.
Disarray among moderate militant organizations created conditions in which hardliner fundamentalists could thrive. As because these organizations are much more organized than the amorphous masses participating in the uprising and as also they have easy access to steady flow of funding from abroad, they emerged as the most effective rebel forces in parts of the country. The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) appeared as the most prominent among them. In the north of Syria, debate raged among the moderate militants over IS's rise. Through November 2013, animosity steadily rose across different sections of the militant forces -- whether to co-operate with IS, or to combat it ideologically & militarily. No consensus emerged; in the absence of a united front capable of containing it, IS became the dominant militant force throughout militant-held areas in northern part of Syria. And, Syria has descended into a nightmarish sectarian civil war. At the one end, the government on behalf of Shia population bombs on its own people as if they were in the enemy territory and at the other end, the armed hardliner fundamentalist organizations dominated by IS-like forces is slaughtering Shia and Christian population.
In lieu of a conclusion
It is well-known that imperialism has special geo-political interests in Middle-East, in particular for taking control of its vast mineral resources (including oil) as well as of its strategically sensitive geographical position. It is also well discussed by different sections how the global arms & reconstruction industry has expanded its fangs across Middle-East for the sake of making super-profit at the cost of thousands of lives of the common people of the Middle-East.
On the other hand, toiling masses of the whole of Middle-East including Iraq & Syria have a prolonged history of expressing their anti-imperialist stance in their own way. And in absence of true revolutionary organizations, right now the grievances of the masses of this region are mostly being represented by the extreme fundamentalist organizations.
So, under the given situation, in addition particularly when international communist movement is passing thru' a devastating defeat & there is no communist international to guide the struggle of the toiling masses of Middle-East, what should be the stand of the Communists of India, as part of the international working class, on emergence of IS & related issues? Undoubtedly, the questions are very complex in nature, and probably none of us is in position to provide a complete answer to these questions. However, some preliminary comments can only be made & we are trying below to do just the same.
The thriving of Islamic fundamentalist organizations with all its extremities during last 25-30 years across a large part of the globe, particularly in Middle-East & Indian Sub-Continent demand special attention. Undoubtedly, imperialist conspiracy for emergence & spreading of this sort of organizations needs no question. At the same time, we need to understand another aspect of the history.
In some of the Middle-Eastern countries like Egypt-Syria-Iraq etc, anti-colonial struggles during the end of 2nd World War had finally led to formation of nationalist governments having anti-imperialist role within a limited arena & took series of measures towards modernization including establishment of essentially welfare state economy. However, it did not lead towards ousting of feudalism from all spheres of lives of the masses & in essence, countries remained backward. The economic measures taken by these governments had initially improved the conditions of lives of the common masses to a certain extent, but since end of sixties of last century crisis of the economic model being practiced in these countries started to surface & restlessness among the masses started to increase.
The ruling cliques of these nationalist governments while declaring the states as ?Secular' had handled the then Islamic Fundamentalist forces through strong state & administrative measures so that these forces could not thrive. But that could not resist the growth of these forces & as soon as restlessness of masses against prevailing socio-economic conditions started to increase, Fundamentalist forces started to gain ground among the toiling masses.
In addition, at that junction of history, we should take into consideration the impact of the defeat of the first forward journey of the international working class towards socialism. In Middle-Eastern countries, the then USSR had backed post-2nd World War anti-colonial struggles. Subsequently, during post-Stalin era, Middle-East being one of the primary nerve-centres of cold war between US & USSR, the nationalist governments, from their anti-imperialist position, had chosen USSR as an ally. In fact, the measures of capitalist development from above first taken by Nasser in Egypt & subsequently implemented in other countries had then been designated as "Arab Socialism".
At the other end, due to severity of prolonged imperialist exploitation & oppression prevalent in these countries, which since seventies of last century had further been intensified, the confusion about how to combat the attacks of imperialism started to increase. To the masses, the path of confronting imperialism from above through government measures including military action & without active participation of the masses promulgated by the then nationalist forces under the guidance & support of USSR, had started to appear as failure and it pushed them to reverse end, i.e., to get organized on the basis of religion. And, the leaders of the fundamentalist organizations have become successful to organize the masses on aggressive fundamentalist line under the garb of "Jihad".
All these factors reflect that ? a) even after so-much bourgeoisie economic reforms made from above (keeping in mind that level of these reforms had been different in different countries of middle-East), root cause of most of the socio-economic problems lies primarily with the deep-rooted existence of feudal socio-economic relations, which is ideal fertile ground for Islamic Fundamentalism; b) the way the then nationalist ruling cliques handled Islamic fundamentalist forces through high-handed state & administrative measures had only helped in their emergence with greater strength; c) Imperialism & its local allies have utilized this situation for their own interest & created the situation where this division/rift among the toiling masses can only enhance.
Under the given circumstances, first of all we must take note of the fact that, undoubtedly imperialism & its local allies are the gravest danger for the vast population of Middle-East. But at the same time, the working class & the toiling masses not only of Iraq-Syria, but that of Middle-East need to understand that the exploitation going on over them is being perpetrated thru an unholy alliance of imperialism-feudalism and local ruling classes, and if they want to get liberated from all the exploitation & oppression, they have to overthrow the alliance of these three forces from the soil of Middle-East & establish a new society free from all exploitation. Since, Islamic fundamentalism is playing havoc in this region & keeping the people tied with all sorts of backwardness & in the final sense, acting as a pawn of the exploiter classes, for the sake of being free from all exploitation, they have to make themselves free from the clutch of all sorts of fundamentalism. Since, imperialism has a special design for a long time on the whole of Middle-East & is now playing a further dangerous game to disintegrate this region, this struggle for liberation from all exploitation cannot be just the struggle of the working class & toiling masses either of Iraq, or of Syria, but that of the whole of Middle-Eastern countries, irrespective of all national-religious etc division & in connection to anti-imperialist struggle of the working classes & toiling masses of all countries. Right now it may appear as far-fetched, but, this can be the only option for future survival of the vast population of this region.
However far-fetched it may appear right now, it can't be said it's impossible. And, the people of Middle-East themselves are providing its indication, though definitely at a primary level. Since bursting out of the waves of "Arab Spring" first in Tunisia, then in Egypt & thereafter in different corners of Middle-East from 2011, it has now been evident that IS-Al Qaeda like reactionary forces are not the only one dominating the Middle-Eastern political arena, waves of a progressive & democratic mass upsurge are developing steadily in this politically volatile region. While at the one hand, this movement represents opposition to authoritarian ruling cliques tied up with imperialism, at the same time it also has the element of opposing the religious fundamentalist forces, the fall of Morsi from the position of Egyptian President, a Muslim Brotherhood member, after a mass-rebellion is its biggest example. So, while IS-Al Qaeda like forces are spreading its fangs across Iraq-Syria etc & definitely it is alarming, at the same time, masses of the Middle-East are also in their own way trying to combat all the exploiter & oppressive forces spontaneously through their own struggles. In addition, it is also now known to many how Egyptian working class is also trying to stand independently in the arena of their own economic struggles. Herein lies the future of Middle-East.
What role we the Communist Revolutionaries of India, as part of International Working Class, can play in this context? Working class of India is still passing thru' the phase of assimilation of the experience of defeat & betrayal, a new beginning has just been started in them in the micro level, & that also in the level of economic struggle, the divergent trends among the communist revolutionaries are being widened every other day & their isolation from the working class & toiling masses is beyond any question ? in the given situation the actual conscious role that we can play is ?
a) We must take all efforts to conscious the advanced sections of the working class of our own country about the conspiracy imperialism & its allies are playing in Middle-East. Since the working class & toiling masses of our country is also a victim of imperialist exploitation & since after the implementation of neo-liberal policies in all spheres of life, this exploitation has further been aggravated, working class & toiling masses have an inherent anti-imperialist stance ? hence from this position, the advanced section of working class of India must realize that the majority of the toiling masses of Middle-East are their comrades-in-arms for the united struggle to oust imperialism from the world.
b) At the same time, we must leave no stone unturned to oppose the activities of extreme Islamic fundamentalist forces like IS-Al Qaeda etc. The path of terrorism, in any form, cannot be the path of liberation of the working class & toiling masses anywhere in the world. On the other hand, the ideology they preach is essentially reactionary in nature as it opposes progress-modernizations that the history has already attained internationally. So, we also need to conscious advanced section of the working class of India about this role of these organizations which ultimately serves none other than imperialism & its allies.
c) In addition, we must bring forward the incidents of spontaneous mass movements including the workers' movements going on in Middle-East to the advanced sections of working class of India & show them how the working class & toiling masses of Middle East are slowly trying to gain its own strength thru' which, in the coming days, it would be able to combat not only the extreme Islamic Fundamentalists, but also imperialism & its all allies.
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