>>The Iraqi Communist Party has no future -- it not only fails to
>>lead street demonstrations to the occupation:
>>
>>Lacking in numerical strength, it has ended up becoming the
>>rearguard even on the electoral front within the Iraqi Governing
>>Council:
<snip>
>John Lacny has already pointed out how the ICP has support where it
>_really_ counts --- in the workplaces.
John wrote, though, that "70% of Iraq is formally unemployed!" (at <http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/pipermail/lbo-talk/Week-of-Mon-20040209/003143.html>). When the country is under the foreign occupation and 70% of the labor force are formally unemployed, workplaces may not be where "it _really_ counts" (even aside from the problem of economism). Workplaces count, but only if workplace organizing is linked to organizing on other fronts for a post-occupation Iraq.
It would make sense if Communist (organizing the still employed) and Worker-Communists (organizing the unemployed) could work out a common program and strategy to end the occupation and take power together, as the parties' strengths and weaknesses appear to be complementary. What's blocking them from creating a united front?
>And so the answer is Shi'ite Islamism or Ba'ath nationalism?
I'm not stating my likes and dislikes. Also, I don't think that street demonstrators and resistance fighters are necessarily all Islamists or Ba'athists. I'm simply saying that the ICP has ended up ceding the ground on the national question to other forces (clerics on the electoral front, resistance fighters on the armed struggle front).
>Only if you aren't picky about your anti-imperialists.
I think that analysis gets more objective if analysts don't look at Iraq in particular and imperialism in general as if the point is simply picking parties whose politics is the most palatable to us. -- Yoshie
* Bring Them Home Now! <http://www.bringthemhomenow.org/> * Calendars of Events in Columbus: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/calendar.html>, <http://www.freepress.org/calendar.php>, & <http://www.cpanews.org/> * Student International Forum: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/> * Committee for Justice in Palestine: <http://www.osudivest.org/> * Al-Awda-Ohio: <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Al-Awda-Ohio> * Solidarity: <http://www.solidarity-us.org/>