The Socialist (Feb 2008) - Socialist Youth News (north)

Socialist Youth News - North
Iraq five years on: End the Occupation - Fight for a socialist solution

Paddy Meehan, Socialist Youth Regional Organiser

In 2003 Bush’s top commanders met to discuss the invasion and occupation of Iraq. They concluded then it would take four years to “normalise” the country. Yet from this March, US and British troops will have been in Iraq for five years with no end in sight to the conflict.

Bush’s intention is to dump the mess of Iraq onto his successor. It is estimated that the war and occupation of Iraq has claimed the lives of over one million Iraqis and 4,000 US troops. No US presidential candidate has committed themselves to a complete withdrawal from Iraq. Both Republicans and Democrats represent the interests of companies like Haliburton and Blackwater who have made billions of dollars from the suffering and destruction in Iraq.

The US mission to ‘stabilise’ Iraq has failed miserably as 70% of Iraqi’s are without access to adequate water supplies and in total 4.6 million people have been forced to leave their homes. Living standards in Iraq are getting worse despite contracts of over $20 billion being paid to companies to rebuild Iraq. The US Congressional hearings in February 2007 stated that $10 billion was either “wasted or mismanaged” in Iraq. Along with this hardship, Iraq is descending into sectarian war. US forces lean on different ethnic and religious groups attempting to keep their control of the country. The Sunni Awakening Councils are being recruited extensively into the police and army. This is an attempt to challenge the control of Shia militias such as the Mehdi army by backing sections of the Sunni forces. But the real outcome is a fracturing of the police and army along religious lines, which can increase the likelihood of civil war.

US imperialism’s divide and rule strategy is directly contributing to the increasing sectarian divisions. Imperialism has no progressive role to play in the future of Iraq, and the longer the occupying armies remain the greater the chances of civil war and a break up of the country. Socialist Youth and the Socialist Party believe that a united movement of working class Iraqis of all ethnic and religious backgrounds could drive out the occupying armies. A struggle by such a movement of the working class against imperialism and for a socialist solution is the only way to guarantee freedom, democracy and a decent life for all.

On 15 March thousands will protest around the world against the occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan. Socialist Youth is aimimg to collect 5,000 signatures before the anniversary to show the opposition to the war. If you can help collect signatures or can build support for the protest please contact Socialist Youth at socialist.youth@btconnect.com or 02890232962.

Join the Socialist Youth contingent on the protest, Sat 15th March, 2pm Arts College, York St. (beside St Ann’s Cathedral)

Socialist Youth News - North
Campaigning against the Occupation of Iraq

Socialist Youth

To mark the 5th anniversary of the occupation of Iraq, Socialist Youth is building for a protest on 15 March in Belfast. SY members have been energetically campaigning outside schools and on the streets with an aim of collecting 5,000 signatures of young people against the occupation of Iraq. The Socialist spoke to SY members Leontia Madden and Conor Barr about how their campaign is going so far.

“Over the past five years the arguments of the anti-war movement have been proved correct. Many young people today may not be too sure of all the facts and figures, but when we get talking to them they have strong feelings against the war” said Leontia. Conor added “The war for oil is a terrible example of capitalism’s constant drive for profits. Hundreds of thousands of people have been killed, all for natural resources.

“We get young people to sign our petition outside schools across Belfast to demonstrate the opposition which exists but also to raise awareness of what is going on in Iraq. We have received an excellent response with most people signing the petitions and buying our very popular anti-Bush badge. The important thing is we get to speak face to face with people on stalls to put forward a socialist solution.” said Conor, who has been organising very successful stalls at his technical college.

Leontia, a school student from North Belfast said “There is still a feeling of anger against Bush and Blair. But with the occupation lasting five years and no end to the conflict in sight people want to do something more than just sign a petition. We’re holding public meetings in the run-up to the anniversary to explain what is going on in Iraq now and how a socialist solution can be found. As well as this, we want to give an opportunity to people to show their opposition by protesting on 15 March.”

Public Meeting: End the Occupation of Iraq
4.30pm Wednesday 13th Feb. SY Offices, 13 Lombard Street, Belfast

PROTEST against the occupation
2pm Sat 15th March, Arts College, York St, Belfast

Socialist Youth News - North
No canteen closure at UUJ

Danny Donnelly, University of Ulster Socialist Society

Catering staff at the University of Ulster in Jordanstown have voted unanimously in favour of industrial action to fight the proposed closure of both canteens on the campus.

Management have proposed that the canteens are done away with to make room for more private eateries, such as ‘Streat’ and ‘O’Briens’ who already occupy prominent positions in the main mall, with the loss of up to 30 catering jobs.

Although no deal has been announced yet it is rumoured that a local franchise of American sandwich chain ‘Subway’ may be coming to the University.

Eileen O’Neill, a Unison shop steward representing all the affected workers, stated that management are now trying to blackmail the workers into accepting redundancy terms by the end of February or risk relying on statutory redundancy – which in some cases means a difference of £2,000.

Eileen pointed out that managements’ actions are a real slap in the face for many loyal workers and are even harder to swallow now that the University is unveiling its new multimillion pound high performance sports centre.

A protest committee has been established which is asking staff and students to boycott the private eateries and help them to fight against cuts and defend their jobs. But the use of industrial action alongside solidarity protests from other staff and students also needs to be organised in order to force management to retreat. The UU Socialist Society has pledged to support all the canteen workers in their fight against closure.

For further information contact uusocialistsociety@yahoo.co.uk

Socialist Youth News - North
Why I joined

Nichola Bogues, Co. Down

I was first introduced to left wing ideology when learning about the Russian Revolution in history class, but I think my interest in the subject at that time can be summarised when twelve weeks into the course I turned to the person beside me and asked ‘Who are the Bolsheviks?’

However as I became more aware of the politics that made up my own life, and those of the wider world, I soon realised that what Lenin wanted seemed a lot more attractive than the lies and corruption that make up our own political system. With growing interest I began to study some of Karl Marx’s writings, and although I didn’t understand all of what I read I was convinced by what he said.

I started to see that capitalism is built on corruption, and this corruption has led to events such as the invasion of Iraq and the deceit surrounding it, and the lack of funding to vital services such as the NHS. The needs of ordinary working people are clearly not a priority when they should be, and the only solution I can see to this is socialism.