Andrew Stone questions the claims of some dubious representatives of the Iraqi working class.
Rarely have a people been so patronised as the Iraqis. They want us to bomb them, the shock and awe liberals told us, they will greet us with flowers. And when this didn't happen? They want us to stay, Blair's bombers insist, despite all poll evidence and a rising tide of resistance suggesting the contrary.
Events in Iraq today are familiar, argues Michael Paris, if we look at the country's past.
At dawn the bombers came. As the first RAF machines came in low over the hills surrounding the village of Rowanduz, the people left their homes and ran for the nearby hills, hoping to escape the "birds of death" by hiding among the gullies and caves. The village was partially destroyed in the raid, but two hours later, just as the villagers had returned to what was left of their homes, a second wave of bombers arrived and completed the destruction. Many of the houses had been completely destroyed, but all had suffered major damage, and several villagers had been killed or wounded.
There is a rich history of workers' struggles in Iraq.
'There was no alternative' was the familiar mantra of liberals supporting the US and British juggernaut as the only force capable of ridding Iraq of Saddam Hussein's tyranny. However, even a cursory examination of 20th century Iraq reveals an alternative - a working class whose combativity was belied by its youth and small size.
