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[Resolution of the Fourth Internationalist Caucus in the National Committee submitted to the December 4-8, 1982, plenum]
On June 12, 1982, over a million people took to the streets in this country to demonstrate their opposition to the military policies of the U.S. government. The organizers of that demonstration focused their efforts on tapping the mushrooming opposition to nuclear weapons and channeling that sentiment into the movement around the “bilateral freeze.” But the demonstration itself broke through all attempts to limit its perspectives, and those who attended raised every conceivable demand and slogan, overwhelmingly directed against the United States government and its policies.
In the November elections the American people voted massively in favor of the “freeze” propositions where they were on the ballot. This vote in no way reflects an interest in the maneuvers of the Democratic Party politicians who tried, through these referenda, to enhance their prestige and take advantage of the anti-Reagan and antiwar sentiments among working people. The vote on this question fundamentally reflects the depth of the feeling which has developed in this country for the abolition of these weapons of mass destruction, and the referenda offered an opportunity for the organized expression of that sentiment.
These elementary pacifist feelings of the masses in this country today — which constitute a progressive force — don’t limit themselves to the question of nuclear weapons. All polls show a continued opposition to the use of U.S. troops in Latin America to prop up the Salvadoran and Guatemalan military dictatorships, or to overthrow the FSLN government in Nicaragua. The same people who marched on June 12 are the ones who will join any protest against Reagan’s war moves in Central America and the Caribbean. There is also massive opposition and noncooperation among American youth on the question of the draft.
The American government is far from its goal of overcoming the “Vietnam syndrome,” and being able to use its troops freely for counterrevolutionary interventions as it did, for example, in Guatemala in 1954, the Dominican Republic in 1968, or in Vietnam itself. It will continue to try to test what is possible, use covert operations, and send massive aid to reactionary governments and counterrevolutionary bands. When it considers that the stakes are high enough it will be compelled to intervene directly with its own army. But the fact that the American people still remember the lessons of the Vietnam experience will always be a limiting factor. This considerably increases the risks involved in any direct use of troops by Washington.
There is also a growing consciousness among American working people that one of the biggest contributors to the economic problems they face is the gargantuan Pentagon budget, which fuels inflation and diverts much needed money from necessary social expenditures. This too was reflected in the November elections, with the massive “yes” vote on “jobs with peace” referenda around the country. These proposed the use of some of those funds for other government programs and services. The slogan “jobs not war” or “fund human needs not the Pentagon” can provide a unifying perspective which links the increased opposition of American workers to the attacks on their standard of living — a growing awareness of the need to fight back — with their sentiments on the war question.
These are the themes which revolutionary Marxists in the United States must encourage, reinforce, and help organize in our union work and in other mass organizations. Conditions are favorable for us to help build and influence broader coalitions with our specific programmatic perspectives:
* Complete and total opposition to all nuclear weapons, and support for the demand that our own government be the first to begin the process of eliminating them.
* One hundred percent opposition to any use of U.S. troops, in Central America or any other country in the world.
* No draft, no draft registration.
* A complete end to U.S. aid for reactionary dictatorships.
In addition, we as revolutionary Marxists call for the total abolition of the imperialist military budget. But we will not hesitate to work with others who are willing to fight around specific demands for the elimination of individual military programs (such as the MX missile) or for the partial reduction of the war budget in order to fund socially useful programs.
These different aspects of the fight against war today are not contradictory, but complementary. We believe that a serious antiwar organization cannot avoid taking up all of them. However, this understanding cannot be an excuse for a sectarian approach toward forces which begin to emerge around one or another part of the struggle, and which do not yet see the whole picture. We should welcome every manifestation of opposition to the U.S. government’s war plans, no matter how limited. Where we have the ability to participate in such struggles we should do so with all enthusiasm. One of our tasks must be to educate in the context of active involvement in the movement—to explain the interconnections and unity of different sides of the question. But we will not get a serious hearing for our ideas from those we are trying to influence if we seem to be sideline critics who refuse to involve themselves in the real day-to-day tasks of building an antiwar movement in this country.
One of our primary contributions is an approach to organizing which does not tie the movement into one or another wing of the Democratic or Republican parties. The lack of understanding on this question today is one of the biggest obstacles to mobilizing an effective antiwar fight. It has allowed the capitalist politicians to parade as champions of peace, particularly on the antinuclear issue. We recognize that although there are specific proposals we can make to antiwar activists about how to organize an independent struggle even within the present context of a bourgeois electoral monopoly, the fact of that monopoly creates severe limitations. This situation provides important opportunities for us to explain our ideas on independent working class electoral action to those activists.
The biggest challenge the antiwar movement faces is the creation of an organizational vehicle which can provide a real alternative to the posturing of the politicians and can break out of the framework created by the bilateral freeze. There is no ready-made solution to this problem. In some places committees which formed around the freeze will be receptive to our ideas on how to develop the antiwar struggle on the basis of a broader and more correct political focus — one clearly mobilizing opposition to our own government. It is likely that we will especially find forces receptive to this perspective in campus committees. It will be necessary to develop a serious set of proposals for teach-ins, rallies, demonstrations, etc., around specific political slogans such as those mentioned above which can provide a positive alternative to bilateralism.
A major focus for this effort in the next few weeks, especially on the West Coast, should be the call issued by the Tijuana solidarity conference for demonstrations in San Diego and Tijuana on January 22. In those parts of the country where distance will make travel to San Diego difficult we should make every effort to have solidarity actions called by local groups and coalitions.
It is also important that we not ignore the role of already existing solidarity groups like CISPES. Although the perspectives of this organization have been limited, and it has not by and large seen the need to tap the broad anti-interventionist sentiment in this country (focusing on political support to the goals of the Salvadoran revolutionists), it nevertheless has a great deal of authority, a layer of healthy activists, and has staged some impressive actions. CISPES varies quite a bit from one city to another. Also, there is a large milieu of religious, pacifist, and civil liberties-type organizations and individuals which, given a proper perspective, can play a role in building the movement.
Such a correct perspective, which can mobilize the American people in effective action against war, will not arise spontaneously. If revolutionary Marxists do not participate fully, in every way we can (even within organizations which do not yet have a clear political outlook) undertaking a serious effort to educate and win people over to that correct perspective, we cannot expect any other force to emerge which will do it for us.
One of the most important components of this work, which can have a big impact on our overall effectiveness, is the role which will be played by our industrial fractions. There are important new opportunities on the question of war within the labor movement. We want to tap and help organize the sentiment that exists.
All union bodies, from the local through the international levels, should be encouraged to participate actively in the antiwar struggle by joining coalitions, sponsoring demonstrations, organizing educational activities for its own membership, etc. Individual union officials can also be involved in antiwar activity. The Labor Committee in Support of Human Rights and Democracy in El Salvador is an example of what is possible in this area.
But even where we do not actually involve the unions as organizations in the antiwar fight, our advocacy of this will put us in the best possible position to involve our co-workers and other rank-and-file trade unionists. This we will want to do in any case. We must encourage them to work actively in whatever antiwar groups we are involved with. Together we can organize union contingents in demonstrations, as well as participation in other kinds of activities. It may also be possible to form antiwar committees in some unions, either as official union committees which could involve the rank and file, or at the independent initiative of the rank and file itself. This is a possibility which should be considered by each of our industrial fractions and by other union comrades.
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