Joint Statement
May 1, 2004

The National Resistance Against the Imperialist Occupation Is Growing!

The unconditional withdrawal of all the imperialist forces is the demand of the Iraqi people and the peoples of the whole world.

1) It has been a year since the inhuman and barbaric aggression against the Iraqi people by the U.S. imperialists and its reactionary allies. The goal of the U.S. with the occupation of Iraq is to achieve strategic and economic superiority in the world. Using the pretext of a war against terrorism, of a threat to world peace by Saddam, of human rights and freedom, and of the rights of nations to self-determination, the U.S. imperialists have violently occupied Iraq with the goal of dominating the energy resources of the region, opening new markets, eliminating barriers to complete control by the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and the World Trade Organization, and to seek new markets for its military products. To overcome their economic difficulties the U.S. imperialists have occupied Iraq and have fought a war of aggression in the Middle East.

2) In order to justify their aggression against Iraq and to convert the country into a colony of the U.S. in the region by falsifying documents and propagating lies, the U.S. imperialists and their reactionary allies have violated all the laws, norms and international treaties on the right of nations to self-determination. The imperialist criminals accused Iraq of having atomic bombs and threatening world peace. It is now clear (for the communists, it was clear from the beginning) that Iraq does not have atomic bombs and that Saddam was not a threat to world peace. The U.S. imperialists are the greatest State terrorists and the greatest threat to world peace. They accused Saddam’s regime of having weapons of mass destruction and of having relations with Bin Laden and the terrorists of Al Qaeda. Today is clear that these were also lies. The objective of the U.S. invasion of Iraq becomes clearer each day to the masses of people in the world. The politics of the U.S. imperialists in the Middle East and the pretext of the possession of weapons of mass destruction have been continuously unmasked by the communists and the revolutionary forces of the world. The "war against terrorism" of the U.S. imperialists and the Israeli Zionists is to continue and intensify the oppression against the Palestinians, Iraqis, Afghanis and all peoples of the region.

3) The U.S. imperialists believed that the Iraqi people would welcome the occupation forces with flowers and that the colonialist-imperialist plan of Bush and company would be implemented peacefully and with minimum losses. But the heroic struggle of the Iraqi people has frustrated the sinister machinations of the imperialists, and the extension of the armed struggle there has terrified the occupiers.

The struggle of the Iraqi people, who have adopted the form of popular and mass resistance, is the harbinger of the victory of the Iraqi people and the shameful defeat of the imperialist occupiers. The growing popular opposition to the occupation of Iraq in the U.S., United Kingdom, Spain, France, Italy, Turkey, etc.., has caused tremendous difficulties to the reactionary imperialist powers in implementing their oppressive politics. A strong international anti-imperialist movement will force the imperialist and pro-occupation powers to withdraw and will have a significant effect on the fight of the peoples of the Middle East for liberation and independence.

The Yankee imperialists are sinking deeper into a quagmire of defeat each day. The U.S. and its allies will resort to every conspiracy and every crime in order to impose their reactionary domination of Iraq. The attempts of Bush and Blair to involve to the UN and NATO in the war and to legitimize and perpetuate the occupation of Iraq are in vain and will undoubtedly be defeated. The U.S. imperialists are trying to remove the burden of the occupation from their shoulders and to avoid answering for the crimes they have committed against the Iraqi people. The occupation of Iraq is illegitimate with or without the involvement of the UN in the war. The continuation of the occupation of Iraq serves only the interests of the imperialist powers. The people of Iraq and the region must have the right to decide their own destiny.

The masses of Iraq are fighting against the occupation forces by all possible means and their demand is the unconditional withdrawal of all the imperialist forces from their homeland. The struggle of the Iraqi people, just as the struggle of the Palestinian people, against occupation is legitimate and just. We support these legitimate struggles. We condemn the U.S. attempts to divide the Iraqi people, and we emphasize the need for unity of all the anti-imperialist, anti-occupation, patriotic and revolutionary forces. No matter what their reasons and justifications, all forces that collaborate with the occupiers and its puppet Council are at the service of imperialism and reaction, and the people of Iraq will not forgive such sell-out forces.

4) The expulsion of the imperialist occupiers of Iraq is the first prerequisite to resolving all other social contradictions within Iraq. The people of Iraq are fighting for their independence. The establishment of socialism in Iraq is impossible with the presence of the military forces of the U.S. and the other imperialist countries. In Iraq, the national struggle and the revolutionary struggle for independence overshadow the other questions. It is only through the active participation in this national and anti-imperialist struggle that the Marxist-Leninists can gain the confidence of the masses, organize the working class and working masses, take the leadership of the movement, lead the movement of liberation to a higher level and establish socialism in Iraq. Otherwise, the ground will be laid for the fundamentalist and Islamic forces to gain strength in Iraq and lead the anti-imperialist struggle of the Iraqi masses down a bad road and cause irreparable damage to the movement of the working class. The participation of the so-called Communist Party of Iraq in the Governing Council set up by the U.S. is another betrayal of the revisionists and has promoted the Islamic forces. The reactionary politics of imperialism and the war of occupation have created a climate that allows the reactionary Islamic forces to gain influence. The imperialists prefer to promote the Islamic forces instead of confronting the genuine opposition of the people to the occupation. It is by the active presence in the movement of liberation of the masses that the Marxist-Leninist communist and the secular revolutionary forces will reinforce their bases and will overcome the barriers erected against the movement of the working class of Iraq.

Victory to the Struggle of the Iraqi People for Liberation and Independence!
Unconditional Withdrawal of All the Imperialist Forces from Iraq!
Payment of Extensive Reparations to the People of Iraq!

Party of Labor of Iran (Toufan)
Marxist-Leninist Organization "Revolution" of Norway
Communist Organization "October" of Spain
Communist Party of Germany
Organization for the Communist Party of the Proletariat of Italy
Communist Party of the Workers of France
Action for Unity and Socialism of Chad (ACTUS)
Proletarskaya Gazeta (Russia)
Zaschita Truda (Defense of Labor) (Russia)

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