SENZA CENSURA n.12
Italy, october 2003

EDITORIAL

The recent Conference of donor countries for the re-building of Iraq (Madrid, 23-24 october 2003) maybe represented the best occasion to show the real role of the great imperialist powers: the international jackals (deciding or reticent) showed themselves as friends of the Iraqi people, on the basis of a UNO's resolution which tried to decide improbable sums to divide the re-building of a "democratic" Iraq. However, the democratic powers showed their real intention to divide the Iraqi booty.
So, USA's claim to directly manage the funds given by the democratic powers, began a sound reduction of the foreseen "global investment" (reduced to 33 thousand million dollars because of Russia's , France's and Germany's refuse to the management by the USA).
First, we need only to think that the financial engage of European imperialist countries (EU, Great Britain, Spain and Italy) represents the 10% of the North American engage, while the Japanese is the 25%.
Secondly, we know that the USA' administration, trying to limit the Russian and other countries' request to establish one only donation fund to be managed by the UNO, assumed a strength position on the field: the State Secretary, Colin Powell, repeated that the USA are decided to manage directly their own "donations", promising that the others have to be managed by the World Bank and the UNO together. But it's clear that every investment in the Iraqi area made in short, can only be managed directly by the USA's military administration, and in a perspective of middle period, by the future government installed by it.
It's also clear that , beyond the control of Iraqi sources, the USA's administration has got the strategic interest to give steadiness to the monetary equivalent of the products from those sources inside future world trades: the USA dollar.
In spite of the Russian threat to accept the Euro as payment money for future international transactions on oil, it's clear that the main powers have the common interest not to leave fall down that "international uniform".
In this sense and like since time we are repeating, in spite of apparent pressures it is confirmed a long period perspective for the strengthen of the euro-Atlantic relationship as attempt to balance power in relation with new emerging continental powers (in particular China and India).
A perspective which realizes the difficulty suffered by the bourgeois Italian Left (the "historical" one as the most radical and antagonist) in front of strategic positions in favour of Europe taken by the most criticized government to be by the American side more then the English one: the second government of Berlusconi.
In fact, now it's clear the "neutralist" position taken by the Italian executive in front of the military forcing by the imperialist driving country in the Gulf area. A position which before was expressed by a substantial refusal to take part directly in the invasion of Iraq ( agreeing only with a later intervention of peace-keeping); and after, it was expressed by the position taken during the Italian six-month presidency of the EU, about a rapid establishment of the European Defence Entity with an European Command separated even if coordinated with the NATO (Bruxelles, 16th October 2003).
Beyond the claim to give Italy a privileged seat at the table of the Iraqi booty's division, the Italian executive is distinguished by the adhesion to the idea that the main aspect of the setting Europe is to have an autonomous military power. Despite of well-thinking supporters of a social Europe as "moderator power" inside international conflicts.
To understand this, it's enough to look at the "road map" presented at the solemn opening of the CIG , with the aim to approve the European Constitution: it provides for five meetings of the European Foreign Ministers and two summits of the Heads of State and Government.
Under the auspices of the Italian Minister of Defence and the High E.U. representative for foreign policy and common safety Mr. Javier Solana, at the end of the first informal meeting of EU Ministers of Defence (Rome, 3rd October 2003), within the end of the year it will be operative the European Agency for armament and strategic research. And the European Parliament itself on 24th October 2003 recommended the Union Government to make operative the "Rapid Reaction Force" within 2004 (with 5,000 men and for "humanitarian operations") and to establish an European army within 2009, which is able to conduct an "operation similar to those ones carried on in Kosovo together with the NATO or autonomously".
It's clear that this will involve a greater financial engagement by Europe and its members about armament, which will balance the north American one.
But the most clear thing emerging from last year's tragic events, is the strategic inadequacy of the USA as unique command of imperialist powers. During the last world war among imperialist powers, the USA expressed a military capacity to face "two wars" simultaneously: on the Atlantic and on the Pacific Ocean.
The occupation of Iraq showed the inadequacy of the present military USA apparatus to govern (out of a war economy) autonomously and in "peace", even single sub continental areas of crisis.
By this way, the increasing Iraqi resistance represents the better demonstration of that political and military inadequacy. In consequence of the failure of a rapid building of a "new democratic regime" in Iraq, able to influence the reform of Arab regimes and the solution of the Palestinian question, they are not able even to create a perspective in the middle east similar to the Balkans one.
The rising resistance of the Iraqi people and the international Brigades into the operations of disarticulation of the occupation forces, makes the occupation itself ever more expensive, in economic and political terms. The imperialist driving country, claiming its right to the "preventive war", has shown itself as a "declining power".
For example, let's look at the most recent events regarding South America.
The rising political and military engagement of the USA all over the world, obliged the north American administration to accept compromises to grant a temporary steadiness in the area and to contain the freedom struggles of south American peoples. The popular resistance to the north American imperialism in these countries and, in particular in Venezuela, Colombia and Bolivia, show, together with the affirmation of the Iraqi resistance, that resisting to the north American declining power is still possible for oppressed peoples.
For this reason, the imperialist hierarchy needs a realignment, with consequences on the constitution of the different imperialistic poles and in particular the European one.
The European proletariat's perspective is to undertake the cost of the rising European militarism and, on the internal front, to face a renewed and massive political-judicial-military repression.
In this situation, it's necessary that the metropolitan proletariat makes an adequate opposition to the constitution of the imperialist European pole.
The policy of national economic development, into the European sphere, is the heritage of the Italian trade unionist and political reformism, which called "concerting" the politics of class cooperation with the government majority carried out in the 90s ; the last chance for Italian reformism is every kind of "europeism" to link to its project not only the working aristocracy but also wide parts of the proletariat (through factory and trade unions meetings, while the shy parliamentary opposition was relegated to the role of opinion minority party, ready to form alliances with the Centre-Left if necessary: the present electoral choices are the direct consequence of these policy).
The trade union unity has been used as mean to allow a pacific European integration, even in case of war choices as those regarding the Balkans.
The cooperation in elaborating economic choices at every level, the control of retirement funds, the possibility of co-management of the job trade (from training to manpower intermediation, to enterprise services granted by the "unique counter") were and are again the compensation for the role of "Police internal to the working class", which is a fundamental function on the internal front of the preventive counter-revolution.
The political backwardness and shyness towards the confrontation with the present social changes dissolved with the first separated strike made by the FIOM, during the renewal of the national contract of engineering workers in the summer 2001 and also with the days of Genoa, a little after the settlement of the Centre-Right government.
But, since that time, the forming European imperialistic pole has always been considered as a possible interlocutor by the "Right" of movement as by all the political and trade unionist institutional organizations; or it has been little considered by the critic agenda of the multiform antagonist area, while few efforts have been made to understand, to debate and to organize inside and against this geo-political area, although its objective determinations enter firms, quarters and the lives of most active proletarian, like police in the houses.
The work made by "Senza Censura" , with its modest but continuous contribute, tries to link proletarian attempts to radically change the present production system, in way to favour the confrontation among the comrades most interested in the themes it deals with, for the development of a political work which is now ready.
We limit to underline some interesting developments of this work.
The push of the real workers Left into per-contracts of the engineering sector, above all in Emilia- Romagna (which had found new capacity of initiative yet with the referendary committees and in part with the strike against the war) , seems to open a glimmer which yet interested the State and which can be a positive example to re-launch the initiative on business and territorial ground.
The explosion of the house question linked to social precariousness, faced by ever more proletarians through the practice of squatting, and in some cases with its adequate self-defence and control against police provocations (like in Milan or Padova) is going to create an effective problem of management of the restructuring process into imperialist metropolis; and it represents also the conquer of better conditions of life.
At least, it's emerging the necessity to support the Iraqi resistance which has given nourishment to the Intifada; these are practical examples that it's possible to oppose the capitalistic globalisation, and they show that imperialism is not invincible, preparing also the ground for the internationalist hypothesis on the other side of the euro-Mediterranean area.