Below are five statements from the lead up to the war in Ukraine and after hostilities began, February 28th from the Coordination Committee of the International Conference of Marxist-Leninist Parties and Organizations [ICMLPO, cipoml.net ], around February 20th from the European Meeting of the ICMLPO, February 24th from the PCOF, February 25th from the PCMLE, and March 4th from the Kings Bay Plowshares Seven Catholic protesters.
Also, Chapel Hill-based Balance and Accuracy in Journalism will be showing The Magnitsky Act: Behind the Scences online tonight, International Women's Day, Tuesday March 8th.
ICMLPO, February 28th, cipoml.net/en/?p=319
No war in Ukraine, no to all kinds of warmongering!
The tension in Ukraine, which has been on the agenda of Europe for several months, has become alarming with the military intervention that Russia launched in this country from air, land and sea after recognizing the two self-declared “republics” in eastern Ukraine.
The tension began when Russia annexed Crimea and supported the two self-declared “people’s republics” (Donetsk and Lugansk) in eastern Ukraine in response to Ukraine turning to the West with the US-and-EU-backed “Maidan Coup”. And when, with US encouragement, Ukraine’s ambition for NATO membership and the deployment of long-range missiles on its territory were on the table, Russia has declared these its ‘red lines’.
The long-standing tension was rekindled as Russia amassed a large number of troops near Ukraine, and was fuelled even further by its decision to move troops into Donbas (Donetsk and Lugansk). However, Russia did not stop in Donbass and proceeded to destroy Ukraine’s military infrastructure in order to force Ukraine and the West to give up their plans on that country’s NATO membership, claiming that this poses a security risk for Russia. NATO countries, especially the US and UK, are content with the economic (and political) sanctions, which they said would intensify. Russia, on the other hand, forces Ukraine, whose ruling bourgeoisie has been divided for a long time, for a change of stance through military pressure. Russia seems to aim to persuade the Zelensky government to a compromise that will accept Russian impositions,or bring about a change of government that will do exactly that.
We have witnessed a new “cold war” intensified by the US until Russia recognized the Donbass “republics” and launched a military intervention. The US and its close allies such as the UK had been suggesting since early January that Russia would invade Ukraine, even giving approximate timelines such as ‘soon’ or ‘within 48 hours’. Although Russia’s entry into the territory of Ukraine with its military units seems to have justified the US-UK centered western imperialists, these two countries and NATO openly provoked a war by insisting on Ukraine’s NATO membership and hightening the propaganda of a “Russian invasion”.
*
The Ukraine issue certainly concerns this country in particular and Europe, but it is not an isolated problem. It is is part of a “big picture” just like the current Syria problem, the “trade wars” that the US has initiated against China in particular, but also against Europe, and more recently, China’s arming of artificial island bases in the South China Sea, where Japan and Vietnam also claim rights. The “big picture” is the struggle for the economic and territorial redivision of the world between the major imperialist countries, with their own zones of hegemony. Russia participates in this rivalry, first by pushing back the West’s advance in Georgia, and then by confronting it head-on in Syria, and now in Ukraine.
The two main actors in the inter-imperialist struggle for the redivision of the world are the US and China. Although the US has been weakening, it maintains its leading position both economically and political-strategically. China is advancing with giant steps and has already extended its economic influence to all continents. It still lags behind the US, but the US is aware that China will overtake it in the near future, perhaps within a decade.
China has pushed back old problems with Russia and has shown solidarity. It needs Russian energy resources as well as the protection of Russian nuclear weapons as a counterweight to the US. Russia, for its part, needs China’s economic might. Together, they pose a major threat to the United States.
In the face of China and Russia, the US is trying to gather its former European allies, who strongly signal to go their own way and tend to pursue independent policies because of their different interests.
And the US knows that it has to defend itself against the threat posed by China and Russia to its global dominance, before China becomes too strong to be stopped. Therefore, by showing them the tip of a gun, the US is applying power politics and is trying to force them into a battle before they are strong enough or back down and accept its terms. The fact that Russia did not only sent troops to Donetsk and Lugansk but also advanced into the rest of Ukraine, at the risk of being the target of the reaction of the peoples of Europe and accused of being an “invader”, shows that it does not hesitate to follow power politics either.
*
The tension in Ukraine makes sense with this full picture.
The US wants to divide the rival bloc and target and repress the relatively weaker one by surrounding it. After the disintegration of the USSR, the US took steps to weaken Russia and encircle it, by turning the former Soviet and people’s republics to the west through “colourful revolutions” and adding them to NATO one by one. The US and its close allies, especially the UK, seek to isolate Russia and force it to back down by severing all ties with EU countries and portraying it as an aggressive power with a tendency to start a war in Europe. With this, the US also aims to destabilise Russia economically, as its main source of income is oil and natural gas sales.
If it succeeds, it will not only have Russia set back, but will also succeed indirectly against China. China is aware of this and while it has avoided getting fully involved in the Ukraine problem, it stood alongside Russia against the US’s “cold war” tactics.
The US also aims to cut off the flow of gas from Russia to Europe, especially to Germany, whose industry needs relatively cheap Russian gas, via Nord Stream1 and Nord Stream2. By doing this, the US wants to force Germany, which has always pursued a different ‘ostpolitik’ (Eastern policy) towards Russia, and other European countries to close ranks with the US. With Germany having reluctantly halted Nord Stream2’s approval process after Russia’s entry into Ukraine, the US appears to have succeeded to a certain extent, even though temporarily. On the other hand, it is obvious that Germany and France, the leading powers of the EU, are also imperialist countries that pursue their own interests, arm for that purpose, and have made Ukraine change its axis with an uprising to join the EU.
Just like Syria and Libya before, now Ukraine is the scene of the inter-imperialist conflict for the redivision of the world. In these confrontations the workers and peoples of Ukraine, Syria and Libya are involved as troops and cannon fodder in favour of one or the other imperialist country, they are dragged along by the different sides and suffer the consequences of the war.
*
None of the parties involved in the Ukraine issue pursue policies that are in favour of people: neither the US and its main allies, which are the main forces pursuing power politics, nor Russia and China or the European imperialists led by Germany and France, which do not prefer an all-out war today, despite reacting from time to time, as in the case of Russia in the Ukraine problem. None of thees parties can be supported for any reason. The thesis that Russia and China are friends of the peoples is as much a lie as is the idea that the West is the “defender of sovereignty and democracy”.
The peoples of the imperialist countries that are party to the problem do not have the slightest interest in the Ukraine policy pursued by their ruling classes. Moreover, the peoples of all countries, especially those of Europe, suffer from rising inflation, falling wages, deteriorating working and living conditions – driven by arms spending – and the growing trend of fascism. Added to this is the chain price hikes triggered by rising energy prices, already aggravated by cuts in transport routes as a result of Russia’s attack on Ukraine.
While the US and its allies continue to use proxies (the Zelinsky regime) in Ukraine, the direct use of weapons by Russia reveals that the inter-imperialist fight for the redivision of the world is getting tougher. At the same time, this shows how easily this imperialist fight can turn into an armed conflict, completely ignoring the people’s struggle for their livelihoods.
The international working class and the peoples of the world are undoubtedly in favour of peace, where they can work and live humanely without exploitation and oppression. We, the Marxist-Leninist communists of the world, whose only concern is the interests of the international working class and the peoples, are, of course, in favour of peace. It is also for this reason that we oppose military interventions, invasions and wars that cover up and complicate the struggle of the working peoples of all countries against exploitation and tyranny, as well as the obligation to defend the right of each nation to self-determination. We condemn the Russian attack on Ukraine.
The working class and the peoples of all countries need to unite their forces and struggles for socialism, demanding jobs, bread and political democracy as well as an end to the imperialist fight for the redivision of the world – not limited with Ukraine – and an end to the rattling of weapons for that purpose.
Russia must unconditionally withdraw from Ukraine.
No more war spending!
Dissolve NATO-type military pacts and withdraw foreign troops from all countries!
Long live the struggle of the international working class and the oppressed peoples for jobs, bread, democracy, peace and socialism!
The Coordination Committee of the International Conference of Marxist Leninist Parties and Organisations (CIPOML)
European Meeting of the ICMLPO, around February 20th, pceml.info/actual/index.php/internacional/1032-intensificar-la-lucha-contra-la-politica-de-guerra
Intensify the fight against the policy of war!
European Meeting of the International Conference of Marxist-Leninist Parties and Organizations
Unity of the workers and the people for social progress, for democratic rights, for respect for popular sovereignty and for peace!
The winds of war are again blowing in Europe. War propaganda is intensifying. In and around Ukraine, the largest concentration of armed forces since World War II is continuing to rise. The situation of acute tension could turn into an outbreak of war that would spread in other countries.
This current conflict is an inter-imperialist one; this is its fundamental character and puts its signature and imprint on all the events that occur daily.
At the origin of the current conflict, they stoke the inter-imperialist contradictions between the US and Russia together with China; such as the intensification of the struggle for markets and spheres of economic and political influence, for the plundering of natural resources, the control of energy resources, especially gas, and the export of capital, for a new division of the world. It is a struggle that was amplified in the midst of the economic crisis and pandemic that has created more division and serious instability in international relations.
The existing conflict did not arise suddenly. It has been prepared for decades of the policy of war, the expansion of NATO and the EU to the east, sanctions and provocations, regime changes and local conflicts in Ukraine, the arms race and the deployment of missiles, aggressive nationalism and the training of fascist militants and making use of the refugee crisis.
The main proponents and animators of the war are the United States. Its strategy is to maintain and strengthen its hegemonic position in the world. Accordingly, its policy of war is aimed at:
– Conquering regions and countries that were previously under Russian influence and include them in NATO;
– Encircling Russia militarily, weakening it economically in order to prevent it from participating as a powerful actor in the inter-imperialist struggle;
– Increasing the legitimacy of NATO and the internal cohesion of the bloc, disciplining uncertain allies such as German imperialism that has strong economic relations with Russia and China;
– Inflicting a blow against the commercial and energy relations of European countries with Russia (for example, with the blockade of the North Stream 2 gas pipelines), in order to weaken states and monopolies that need to modernize their industrial base;
– Creating the opportunity to sell gas, oil, weapons and fighter jets to Ukraine and EU countries.
We must not forget that the main rival of US imperialism is Chinese social-imperialism. They cannot contain and confront China without the support of their imperialist "ally." So they are looking to create a cold war atmosphere to bolster their leadership in Europe.
The historical decline of US imperialism, its defeat in Afghanistan, the slowdown of its economy, its high debt and inflation, the loss of importance of the dollar, the dramatic consequences of the pandemic, the racial tensions and loss of confidence of the people in their government are all factors that induce US imperialism to concentrate on the war in order to divert attention from its problems.
US imperialism is on the offensive, but Russia is not an "angel of peace"; it is an aggressive imperialist power as well. The capitalist contradictions are deepening in Russia and its ruling imperialist clique is seeking salvation in militarism. Its interest in Ukraine is not to liberate its people from the reactionary regime that governs them, but to consolidate its position and save its sphere of influence in the region.
At the same time, Russia is strengthening its relationship with China to stand up to its Western rivals. They are acting together in the economic, political, technological and military spheres. The agreement signed by its giant monopolies for the supply of oil and gas represents a direct warning to EU countries that rely heavily on Russian energy resources.
The US says it wants to "work" in unison with the EU, but it is obvious that there are contradictions between the EU member states and the US. The bourgeoisie of different European countries do not want to be sacrificed in a US/NATO war against Russia. It is also clear that several EU/NATO vassal governments are supporting the Biden-Blinken plan and are sending troops, tanks, warplanes and ships into the area around Russia.
The EU is part of the policy of war
In this context, some governments, political and social forces, are presenting the European Union as an entity that could act in favor of "peace in Europe". In reality, the EU in the military field is closely linked to NATO; this is affirmed in each Treaty, as always, especially since the Lisbon Summit in 2011, which decided to develop the European defence policy, closely linked to NATO.
The EU, as an imperialist construction, is participating in this policy of war, and many EU member states have sent military forces in NATO's deployment around Russia.
We must also denounce the increasing militarization of northern Europe, where US imperialism is openly reinforcing its military presence "against the Russian danger." US imperialism is regrouping its military bases in Europe since the Cold War era, now wishing to place military bases in Denmark and Norway.
We warn of the danger of the spreading of illusions in the EU and we denounce all attempts to create a "national union" with the bourgeoisie. We must have no confidence in imperialist "pacifism" that paralyzes the masses and really prepares for war. Only the working class and the working masses can stop the imperialist war, fighting decisively against the ruling classes.
Our tasks
We, as Marxist-Leninist parties and organizations in Europe, denounce the imperialist character of the war and reject the warmongering policy of all the imperialist and capitalist forces involved.
We call on the workers and peoples to stop the war and the dangerous arms race, explaining that their main enemy is at home, in their own countries: it is the bourgeoisie!
For the working masses, the youth, the women, the war means more and more cuts in social spending, stronger pressure to increase exploitation and reduce wages, the destruction of workers' rights, as well as the building of police states and thus increasing pressure to recruit young people for the military services.
The struggle to meet the needs of the working class and the popular masses is closely linked to the struggle against war and militarism, for real democracy, for peace and international solidarity.
We call on the working class of all the countries involved in the conflict to intensify unity of action against the bourgeoisie of their own country that profits by selling arms and represses workers' protests.
Bread, work, social services, housing, not war!
We call for a struggle against reactionary, chauvinist and fascist ideology and the policy of hatred and division between proletarians and oppressed peoples of different countries, developing proletarian solidarity and internationalism.
We denounce and condemn imperialist military alliances, such as NATO and the EU. Let us reject the policy of war in any form and pretext, to support "our" imperialism, or to support one imperialist power against the other.
No to military credits and expenditures; the money should be used for health, education and public transportation, for stable and secure work, to raise wages and reduce the high cost of living.
Immediate withdrawal of troops, weapons and military "advisers" sent to other countries. Down with the warmongers and their policies. Stop the international military maneuvers.
End the warmongering and anti-democratic alliances such as NATO and the EU. No to the expansion of NATO but yes to the dissolution of this organization of terrorism and war; close all US bases in Europe!
Let us develop the protests and struggles in the workplaces and factories, in the mass associations, in the streets, on all sides. Let us mobilize the working class and the broad masses in the popular fronts against the warmongers, condemning the capitalist-imperialist system that brings the workers and peoples only exploitation, poverty, disease, oppression and war.
A REVOLUTIONARY WAY OUT OF THE GENERAL CRISIS OF CAPITALISM IS INCREASINGLY NECESSARY!
February 2022
Declaration of the European Meeting of the International Conference of Marxist-Leninist Parties and Organizations
Communist Workers' Party – Denmark
Communist Party of the Workers of France
Communist Party of Albania
Organization for the Construction of the Communist Party of the Workers of Germany
Communist Platform for the Communist Party of the Proletariat of Italy
Marxist-Leninist Revolution Organization – Norway
Revolutionary Labor Alliance of Serbia
Communist Party of Spain (Marxist-Leninist)
Labor Party (EMEP) – Turkey
PCOF, February 24th, www.pcof.net/ukraine-non-a-la-guerre-imperialiste-reactionnaire/
Ukraine: No to the reactionary imperialist war
Russia's leaders decided to launch an attack on the cities in Ukraine. We denounce this decision and this escalation. We stand with the forces, the peoples who are struggling to stop this spiral, and we refuse to join our voices to the "warmongers".
The general context of the current events in Ukraine is the confrontation between the US and its NATO allies on the one hand and Russia, supported by China, on the other.
Russia wanted to put a stop to the expansion of NATO, whose objective is to integrate Ukraine into this imperialist military alliance, and to strengthen NATO on its borders.
The US has escalated the tension to get its European allies to line up behind them in this confrontation.
For weeks, intense propaganda has been carried out to prepare people’s minds for the possibility of war in the center of Europe.
Tensions have focused on the regions of Ukraine populated mainly by Russian populations: the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics. Putin announced the recognition of the independence of the two republics with which he has continued to strengthen ties. He announced that the Russian army would deploy to these republics to protect them from any intervention by the armed forces of Ukraine, the very active anti-Russian paramilitary groups, and to deter the US and NATO from intervening.
The leaders of the US and those of NATO member states, which have increased their military presence in Romania, Poland and the Baltic countries, are announcing economic and political sanctions against Russia, but say they do not want to intervene militarily against Russian forces.
We are entering a new phase of confrontations between imperialist powers in Europe, but affecting all regions of the world.
We reaffirm our opposition to the policy of confrontation driven by the US and followed by the leaders of NATO member states, in particular that of French imperialism.
We continue to demand France's withdrawal from NATO and the dissolution of this aggressive military alliance.
We refuse to put ourselves behind the imperialist powers, including Russia and a fortiori behind French imperialism, US imperialism, etc.
We denounce Russia's military escalation in Ukraine.
We work to mobilize workers and peoples against the imperialist policy of war, in solidarity with all peoples and organizations, movements, parties, who are fighting for these goals.
Paris, February 25, 2022
Communist Workers' Party of France
Our party signed an international declaration against the policy of war in Europe:
https://www.pcof.net/resolutions-adoptes-par-les-partis-et-organisations-marxistes-leninistes-deurope-membres-de-la-cipoml/
Website: www.pcof.net
Email: [ pcof <at> pcof ]
facebook.com/PartiCommunistedesOuvriersdeFrance/
En Marcha, Central Organ of the Marxist-Leninist Communist Party of Ecuador, February 25th,
pcmle.org/EM/ [posted in English and Spanish]
We condemn the imperialist war;
we stand in solidarity with the workers and people of Ukraine
February 25, 2022
The Russia-Ukraine conflict has reached a new level, with the mobilization of Russian troops to the territories of the newly proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics and with the initiation of military attacks on various points on the territory of Ukraine. What until now had the form of a "cold war" has led to an open military confrontation. Russia shields this invasion as a "special military operation", which has already caused civilian and military casualties, as well as damage to the infrastructure of several Ukrainian towns.
In the midst of the political tension heightened in recent months, it has become clear that in this conflict the interests of several imperialist powers are at stake, both due to the strategic location of Ukraine, and for the enormous wealth existing in its territory: the United States, the United Kingdom, the member countries of the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, on the one hand, and Russia and China on the other hand, which are increasingly strengthening their relations and operating as a bloc. The European imperialist powers and the US seek to incorporate Ukraine into NATO, to continue encircling Russia, which after China they consider their greatest enemy. Several of these countries have mobilized troops to strategic points close to the region in conflict,in order to warn of their willingness to intervene in the event of an aggression against Ukraine — however now they say they will not do so — and have provided heavy war material to the reactionary regime of Volodymyr Zelensky. Russia, for its part, mobilized troops on the border and displayed that power through "military exercises." This action has been called the most significant military mobilization since World War II.
In any political-military conflict in which the interests of the owners of capital, of the imperialist powers, are in dispute, the fundamental victims are the workers, the youth and the peoples. We cannot take sides in favor of one or another imperialist power that promotes hatred and war, for by their nature they are enemies of the peoples; we are in favor of the workers and peoples of the world who are fighting together to achieve their emancipation. In these particular circumstances, we express our solidarity with the workers, youth and people of Ukraine who are in the midst of inter-imperialist disputes and are victims of war.
We reiterate our opposition and condemnation of imperialist war; Marxist-Leninist communists fight for peace; we demand the dissolution of the military pacts established by the powers for war for the redivision of the world in spheres of influence.
Marxist-Leninist Communist Party of Ecuador
KINGS BAY PLOWSHARES 7 DENOUNCE THE WAR IN UKRAINE
March 4, 2022
The following statement has been prepared by Mark Colville [ ]
Today the Kings Bay Plowshares Seven join our prayers with the global community for the people of Ukraine, at this deeply terrifying historical moment. We watch with moral outrage and horror as another nuclear weapons-wielding state is emboldened to abandon diplomacy in favor of international gangsterism. Killing indiscriminately with impunity; environmental destruction without boundary or responsibility; the plunging of millions into refugee status; the flouting of the very fundamentals of law, human rights, international cooperation and the authority of the United Nations – these are the common threads that tie together Iraq, Afghanistan, and now Ukraine, during this most blood-stained of centuries. They are also constitutive elements of the unmitigated evil that is constantly unleashed through the design,development and existence of nuclear weapons in any nation or people. As US Catholics, therefore, we believe that the starting point of our response should be to highlight the lesson of last Sunday’s Gospel reading, Luke 6:39-45, which reads in part:
“How can you say to your brother [or sister], ‘let me remove that splinter in your eye’, when you do not even notice the wooden beam in your own eye? You hypocrite! Remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter in your brother’s eye.”
As we unequivocally condemn the deranged behavior of Russia’s dictator Vladimir Putin and his minions, we are obliged also to acknowledge our own government’s role in creating this crisis. For more than thirty years now, US foreign policy in that region of the world has been pursued with a provocative agenda of destabilization, imperiling Russia’s national security through the expansion of NATO right up to its borders. This project has been intensified in recent times by apostate evangelical Christian factions in Washington, which have openly admitted their desire to provoke world events that they believe will bring about the second coming of Christ. And over all of this madness and slaughter preside its silent partners, the only winners in any war today: US-based weapons contractor corporations like Raytheon, Northrop Grumman,General Electric and United Technologies (to name just a few), whose profits increase with every cluster bomb and missile launched, every body torn to pieces.
For our complicity with all of these forces that are literally driving the world insane, we beg the forgiveness of God and neighbor. While affirming our solidarity with both the Russian and Ukrainian peoples, we pledge noncooperation with any armed faction in this senseless conflict. To all soldiers we say: lay down your weapons. Your courage and sacrifice belong at the service of peace for the future of the human race, not to be spent in bloodshed on the altar of the national security state. Together, we can let the words of Martin Luther King Jr. echo through these times until they shake the world back into reality: “The choice today is between nonviolence and non-existence.”
Amen.
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