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NEWS & LETTERS, November 2004Workshop Talks
Frontline resistance, then and now
by Htun Lin Nineteen soldiers from a reserve unit from Nasiriya,
Iraq, serving in the supply and transport mission for coalition forces refused
to deliver contaminated fuel from a convoy which they felt was inadequately
protected from attacks by insurgents. These soldiers called it a "suicide
mission," because the convoy lacked adequate armor, properly working
vehicles and an adequate armed force to guard the convoy. Revelations of the disappearance of 400 tons of
explosives from occupied Iraq and the reappearance of Bin Laden on election eve
buried developments in this story. It reminded me that real voting is done with
one’s feet, with one’s committed actions--actions which indicate that we are
ready for real lasting change: the kind of revolutionary change that could be
carried out only by workers. Never underestimate the power of committed action
carried out by rank-and-file workers or soldiers in the frontlines. Private
Joseph Darby caused an avalanche of exposes of the tortures at Abu-Ghraib, by
simply refusing to stay silent. But Darby was abiding by the military’s own
written code of conduct. The 19 soldiers who refused to follow orders are
challenging the military occupation of Iraq at a whole new level. Many young soldiers in Iraq express frustration towards
a lack of not only clarity in their mission--not knowing who is exactly the
enemy, but also a feeling of having been abandoned to do an impossible job
without adequate equipment, protection or direction. Ms. Lessin, mom of one of the 19 soldiers, said,
"People are saying, ‘This is the same thing that happened to my son,’
and if the Army tries to spin this as ‘just a few bad apples,’ people need
to know that these are common problems and what these soldiers did required a
tremendous amount of courage." When workers directly involved in war production go on
strike and refuse to follow orders, the military calls it a "mutiny."
It is so serious, it could carry a penalty of death. That’s because the
generals and civilian apparatchiks who maintain the structures of "law and
order," especially in times of war, know that there’s a fine line between
mutiny and revolution. It’s the spark which they fear could set off
potentially explosive social unrest. PORT CHICAGO That was also the case 60 years ago in another military
production incident--the "Port Chicago Mutiny" of 1944, when Black
enlisted men were court-martialed for refusing to return to work where over 300
of their comrades had died and over 400 injured in a devastating munitions
explosion, while they were at the docks loading two cargo ships headed for
battle. Fifty men were eventually convicted. To this day, the families of these
men refuse to accept a pardon, and continue to demand exoneration. They say that
this was not a mutiny but rather a labor strike, protesting unsafe working
conditions set by white officers commanding Black sailors in a segregated Navy. Today’s soldiers accused of mutiny in Iraq face a
similar unjust situation. It is in the context of resisting unsafe
work-conditions which we must defend the 19 resisters. Today’s military,
unlike the days of Port Chicago, has been "desegregated." Yet the
poor, Blacks, and minorities overfill its ranks with disproportionate
representation. Bush vehemently denies that he’ll bring back the
draft. It indicates how deep the opposition to his war is--those who
"voluntarily" serve as part of the "economic draft" are
showing signs of insubordination. To date, thousands of soldiers who have
already served a tour of duty are refusing to obey orders to extend their tours. Workers on the frontlines of war or of production are
familiar with speed-up and unsafe working conditions, whether they work in
Chinese assembly lines or American chemical factories, producing commodities for
trade or commodities for warfare. In war, as in production, we are the ones
performing the duties and the ones doing the suffering and dying. ECONOMIC DRAFT Workers often take up extremely hazardous jobs, like the
military, because there are not many options left. In Iraq, many Iraqis are
joining the new army, in spite of the threat of assassination. The ranks of
America’s own army are filled with economic draftees, unable to find adequate
employment in the civilian economy. The new revolts within the ranks in Iraq and the new
level of interest on the part of young workers in this election can radically
transform the movement against permanent war and terror endemic to militarized
capitalism. Only by reclaiming our own labor will we see fundamental change, and
no longer continue to die in capitalist wars of the future. |
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