INTERNATIONAL SOCIALIST RESISTANCE

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School Students Against the War

After the terrible attacks in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania on 11th September, the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, and the president of the USA, George Bush, started bombing Afghanistan. 

This is where the American No.1 suspect for organising the attacks, Osama bin Laden, the leader of the AI-Qa'ida terrorist network was thought to be hiding.

We condemn and are opposed to terrorist attacks and the indiscriminate killing of innocent people. But at the same time we do not support Bush and Blair's war. 

Military action is no solution. This war is killing and will continue to kill many thousands of innocent people in Afghanistan.

Why does ISR oppose the war?

This war will make many of the problems that exist across the world worse. 

For example, the war has meant an increase in racism across the world; many people have been attacked and verbally abused due to an anti-Muslim feeling being whipped up by the media and politicians immediately after the attacks. 

Also due to the war the poverty that already exists in Afghanistan will become worse. Already an estimated 8 million people, the same size as the population of London, are facing starvation.

Blair and Bush talk about a 'humanitarian' war. There is obviously no such thing as a humanitarian war, as many innocent people are being killed. 

Blair and Bush deny this and are trying to win support for the war by saying they are dropping food parcels as well as their bombs. 

But this will have little to no effect in the country. Even if 37,500 food parcels were dropped daily they would still only just about manage to feed the population of Afghanistan with one meal after six months!

The leaders of America and Britain are hypocrites talking about ending terrorism.

They support terrorist governments and their actions when it suits their interests. For example Britain and the US have stood by and done nothing as over 50,000 people have been killed in Chechnya by the Russian government in order to suppress the Chechen people's fight for their rights.

Lois Austin, a member of ISR and the Socialist Party was quoted in the Times as saying: 

"This is a war by the richest nations against the poorest nations; we condemn the atrocities in New York, but the solution lies with the Afghan people themselves in toppling the Taliban and rooting out the terrorists."

We can stop the war by organising school, university and college students, and workers against the war. Through demonstrations, meetings, leafleting a huge anti-war movement can be built throughout Britain and the rest of the world, which can put a stop to the war.

But to get rid of terrorism and war for good you have to get rid of the conditions that war and terrorism are borne out of.

The system we live under - capitalism - is run by a minority who exploit the majority of the worlds population to get wealth and power. Capitalism can't even provide the majority of the worlds population with the basics in life; clean water, food, housing, education and health care. This system clearly doesn't work.

We believe that it is only through mass action to end capitalism and to replace it with a democratic socialist system, based on need and not profit, that everyone can be provided with a decent life and a real and lasting solution to these problems can be found.

War is not a solution

Stop Bush and Blair's military plans

Don't let workers pay the price