On last October 4/5 an international conference took place in Stuttgart, Germany, to prepare the protests which issued the call below. The Anti-imperialist Camp not only endorses the call but urges everybody to massively participate.
During the deliberations of the conference the Anti-imperialist Camp proposed to add following demands to the call in order to make it more concrete and to the point:
x Withdrawal of all foreign troops from Afghanistan
x No to the extension of NATO to the East
x End occupation and war in the Middle East
Although this seemed to be consensus among the participants it nevertheless was not reflected in the conclusive text. We will continue to fight for those slogans to be adopted by the movement.
As Anti-imperialist Camp we, however, go much further as we insist that we need to support the popular resistances against imperialism which sprang up in the last decade first of all in the Middle East but not only. Exactly this incapacity to clearly take side, expressed in the erroneous equidistant formula “no to war, no to terror” which implicitly equated the resistances to terrorism, eventually led to the decay of the anti-war movement.
Actually only thanks to these resistances — first of all in Iraq, but also in Afghanistan, Lebanon and Palestine — the American Empire could be put into question. Only these resistances let to the continuous postponement of the war on Iran and convinced Moscow to put a brake on NATO’s expansion in the Caucasus. Now the financial crisis of the capitalist centres fortunately adds momentum to their troubles.
That does, however, not mean that the US’s and NATO’s war drive will come to a halt. As Washington is electing a new emperor it will get ready also for new wars to defend its hegemony regardless which candidate will make it. While the war against Iran is not from the table, the US is pushing its allies to go against Russia. At stake is the Ukraine. The US wants to bring it into NATO while Russia is categorically opposed to that. If Washington continues its aggressive stance they inevitable will provoke new wars in Eastern Europe.
This is exactly why we believe that the struggle against NATO’s extension to the East is decisive for the struggle for peace (see the Anti-imperialist Camp’s call).
Appeal agreed in Stuttgart 5th October 2008
No to war
No to NATO
On the occasion of the sixtieth anniversary of the NATO military organisation, we appeal to all people to come to Strasbourg and Kehl in April 2009, to protest against NATO’s aggressive military and nuclear policies, and assert our vision of a just world free of war.
NATO is an increasing obstacle to achieving world peace. Since the end of the Cold War, NATO has reinvented itself as a tool for military action by the “international community”, including the promotion of the so-called “war on terror”. In reality it is a vehicle for US-led use of force with military bases on all continents, bypassing the United Nations and the system of international law, accelerating militarisation and escalating arms expenditure – NATO countries account for 75% of global military expenditure. Pursuing that expansionist agenda since 1991, designed to advance strategic and resource interests, NATO has waged war in the Balkans, under the guise of so-called “humanitarian war”, and has waged seven years of brutal war in Afghanistan, where the tragic situation is escalating and the war has expanded into Pakistan.
In Europe NATO is worsening tensions, feeding the arms race with so-called “missile defence”, a massive nuclear arsenal and a nuclear first strike policy. EU policy is increasingly tied to NATO. NATO’s ongoing and potential expansion into eastern Europe and beyond, and its “out of area” operations are making the world a more dangerous place. The conflict in the Caucasus is a clear indication of the dangers. Each advance of the NATO border increases the possibility of war, including the use of nuclear weapons.
To achieve our vision of a peaceful world, we reject military responses to global and regional crises – these are part of the problem not part of the solution. We refuse to live under the terror of nuclear weapons, and reject a new arms race. We must decrease military expenditure – directing resources instead to meeting human needs. We must close down all foreign military bases. We oppose all military structures used for military intervention. We must democratise and demilitarise the relations between peoples and establish new forms of peaceful cooperation to build a more secure and just world.
We call on you to spread this message in your communities and movements, to come to
Strasbourg and Kehl and to make this vision a reality. We believe that a world of peace is possible.
No to war
No to NATO.
The activities during the anti-NATO protest will include a demonstration on Saturday 4th April, an international conference from Thursday 2nd April to Sunday 5th April, direct action and civil disobedience, and an international resistance camp from Wednesday 1st April to Sunday 5th April.
