As we go to press, Bush’s military machine is preparing for action. Air-strikes against Afghanistan are imminent.

No to Bush and Blair’s war!

The overwhelming majority of people feel that something must be done; that further devastating terrorist attacks must be prevented.Christine ThomasBut bombing and sending troops into Afghanistan offer no solution. It will be ordinary workers and poor people who ultimately will pay the price. Military action threatens more instability and turmoil which could fuel further terrorist outrages.

Bush says: "You’re either with us or with the terrorists" and Tony Blair agrees. But there are thousands of people who oppose terrorism without backing Bush and Blair’s war aims. There is unease about the consequences of military action. And a growing minority are demonstrating opposition in protests in the US, Britain and around the world.

Working class people have no trust in Bush and Blair to defend jobs and services. So why should we trust them to wage a ’war against terrorism’? Even before the 11 September attacks, thousands of workers faced losing their jobs. Now thousands more will pay the price for a crisis not of their making. At the same time innocent Afghans will be killed, maimed and starved to death, so that US imperialism can defend its interests.

Bush and Blair are the representatives of an unequal and exploitative system which has condemned millions to poverty, war and oppression. These are the conditions which lay the basis for the kind of terrorist attacks which took place in the US. While the capitalist system remains in place, terrorism will not be eradicated.

We have to organise in opposition to military action against innocent people in Afghanistan and elsewhere.

We have to build an anti-war movement to challenge Bush and Blair’s war aims.

But we also have to build mass socialist forces in the US, Britain and internationally to end the horrors of capitalism.

Only a socialist society would ensure an equal, co-operative and peaceful world.

National anti-war demonstrationSaturday 13 October. Assemble 12 noon, Hyde Park, central London. March to rally in Trafalgar Square.

This article first appeared in The Socialist

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