International League of Peoples' Struggles
ILPS Office of the Chairperson
The current military action in Ukraine has reached its 12 months mark. Over that time the people of the world have been the subject of an extraordinary and ongoing barrage of U.S.-NATO propaganda in the mass media, underpinned by the usual nonsensical claims that they are fighting for the freedom, democracy and independence of Ukraine.
This military action in Ukraine began many years ago due to U.S.- NATO expansionism.
The U.S.-NATO propaganda covers up the long history of U.S. aggression, military base building around Russia and deliberate breach of agreements particularly by the U.S. and NATO. It makes no mention of the illegal overthrow of the pro-Russian elected President of Ukraine by the U.S. in 2013 and 2014.
The U.S.-NATO war mongers have deliberately generated this unacceptable military outrage by using Ukraine. They are prepared to use their puppet Government in Ukraine as a proxy to engulf the region and potentially the world in war to further their Imperialist ambitions.
To quote our dear departed Comrade Joma Sison, from a report he wrote last year: “Is the special military operation of Russia simply a unilateral and unprovoked act of aggression? Or is it after 8 years of Kyiv puppetry to US and NATO, and brutal fascism against Russian Ukrainians, a delayed response of counter-aggression by Russia to the prior NATO expansion in violation of the Minsk Agreement of 1991?
“Is it not a fact that Russia followed international law by first recognizing the people’s republics of Donetsk and Lugansk and co-signing with them treaties of mutual security and defence before Russia acted accordingly?”
“Are not the majority of the people of Russian nationality in Donbas region entitled to the right of national self-determination against anti-Russian chauvinism and fascism, which has resulted in the death of 14,000 people of Russian nationality, the devastation of Donbas and Lugansk and the exile of 3 million Russians from Ukraine since 2014?”
“The US and NATO and Western propaganda completely ignore the rights of the Russian nationality within the pre-fascist as well as pre-2022 context of Ukraine.”
We must not forget or ignore this history, pointed out to us above, by Prof. Sison, which is a main driving force in creating this conflict surrounding Ukraine.
It is important for the world’s people to examine the cause of each and every war and military outbreak in order to analyse just who is responsible for it.
Even if one is dubious about who is to blame for this latest military conflict, just examine the history of the world since the second world war at least, in the context of U.S. imperialism and its record.
Judge the self-styled defenders of “freedom and democracy,” by their illegal, inhumane, vicious and despicable conduct in overthrowing and/or attempting to overthrow governments in Iraq, Libya, Venezuela, Syria, Vietnam, Nth Korea, Cuba, Afghanistan, Somalia, Chile, Yugoslavia, Nicaragua, and many others.
They act illegally under international law, and they act totally in their own self- interest, in their own imperialist interests which have nothing to do with so-called freedom and democracy of the people, but everything to do with their constant drive for more profit and more super profits.
Are we to accept that despite the horrific record of U.S. Imperialism since at least the Second World War, they have now changed their spots and are acting in Ukraine and the region in the interests of peace, democracy and human rights, etc?
Please spare us this nonsense.
To quote the International Peoples Front (IPF), “Many have predicted that NATO expansion would lead to this war. They were ignored. Western leaders had once assured the erstwhile Soviet Leadership that NATO would not move an inch east-wards, after German reunification. By 2004 NATO had reached Russia’s border. NATO expanded into Poland, Romania, and Bulgaria and even into former parts of the Soviet Union, such as Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. American rockets were placed in Poland and Romania, and Ukraine armed with Western weaponry. Separatists were provoked in Georgia.”
As usual, U.S. Imperialism-NATO lie about their intentions and their ambitions. Although on rare occasions they do blurt out their real intensions. A White House press briefing on the 25th January 2022, before the Russian intervention, stated that “the U.S., in concert with its European partners, will weaken Russia to the point where it can exercise no influence on the international stage.”
To quote Mike Whitney, author at the Global Research Centre. He says “The war in Ukraine is not about Ukraine. America’s articulated strategic objectives are as follows: To weaken Russia, topple its leader, take control of its vast natural resources and move on to containing China. Simply put, Washington’s escalating aggression in Ukraine is a Hail Mary pass aimed at containing emerging centres of economic power in order to preserve its waning position in the global order.”
Capitalism and its expansionary ambition always mean war or threats of war. Clearly evident today is that U.S. imperialism is by far the main global aggressor and has been so for a long time now.
The other problem for the world’s people is that Russia, since the overthrow of socialism in the U.S.S.R., has become a capitalist country and is also part of the global imperialist system.
There is conflict and competition between the U.S. Imperialist block of capitalist nations, and a developing block of capitalist nations to which Russian capitalism is a part.
This block of nations is known as BRICS, and includes Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.
Since the start of the military action in Ukraine there has been no substantial talk of ceasefire and negotiations, particularly not from the U.S.-NATO side.
Today, however, the BRICS countries have recently underlined support for “multilateralism” and the principles of the United Nations Charter which includes respecting the “legitimate” security concerns of all countries.
The BRICS nations have now called for negotiations between Russia and Ukraine to resolve the Ukraine crisis.
The U.S. camp has so far believed that making war through a proxy protagonist such as Ukraine, heavily armed and supported by the Western nations, is a winning formula. At the same time the Russian Government has believed it can prevent U.S/NATO encroachment by military force against Ukraine.
As it stands there is a constant threat of a wider war and even the possible use of nuclear weapons. The impact of the conflict on the people of Ukraine, the people of Russia, and the people of the world, as usual in capitalist warfare, is of little or no concern.
The world’s people must demand that military action in Ukraine and the region be replaced by a ceasefire and urgent negotiations to achieve security guarantees and peace in Ukraine and Russia. The people must unite in the struggle against U.S./NATO wars and aggression.
As the International People’s Front (IPF) recently stated,“We cannot beg governments for peace, but we can win it through grass roots action”.
Scrap NATO!
Oppose imperialism and imperialist wars!
Signed:
Len Cooper
ILPS Chairperson
March 15, 2023
