OPPOSE THE U.S. WAR AGAINST THE PEOPLE OF IRAQ; UNITE IN THE GLOBAL STRUGGLE FOR PEACE & JUSTICE

by Rep. Crispin B. Beltran

Speech of Bayan Muna Congressman Crispin Beltran before Faculty and Students of the  College of Arts and Sciences, University of the Philippines, Manila, Feb. 14, 2003.  Beltran is also the Chairman of the Kilusang Mayo Uno or May First Labor Movement and Chairs the International League for People's Struggles.

I am very glad and encouraged to see so many young Filipinos involved in this most pressing issue concerning the United States' government's most inhumane plans to launch war against the people of Iraq.  It gives me hope that young Filipinos continue to be involved in social concerns that go beyond the confines of classrooms and universities.

I wish to share with you now a few insights I have regarding the planned war against Iraq.  In the second week of October last year, I went to Iraq to observe a referendum upon invitation of the Baath Party, on behalf of Bayan Muna.  The main objective of my trip there was to issue the Philippine progressive people's movement's unconditional support to the Iraqi people and their fight against US aggression and atrocities.

In Baghdad, the Philippine government's affirmation of support for the United State's planned war of aggression against Iraq was viewed with much surprise and some sorrow by civilians in the country. Ordinary civilians there have only the vaguest idea of where the Philippines is, thus it is with a level of consternation that they react to reports that the Philippine government is determined to support the US in any and all of its moves against Iraq.

These are civilians who live ordinary lives, but they are the very ones who are being threatened by the US' war of aggression against their country.  It's easy to discuss the strategies and tactics of war when one does not see the very human component in it; when one refuses to acknowledge that hundreds of thousands of people stand to suffer and die as a direct cause of it. The Iraqi people are well aware of why the US wants to attack Iraq, and it's because the US wants to control the country's oil resources as well as generate a full-scale demand for the production and sale of weapons and ammunition.

What they cannot understand, however, is what drives the Philippine government to support a war against Iraq. They are asking -- what is in it for the Philippines?  Why is Philippine Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo so determined to back a war against another nation with whom it shares no history of quarrel or disagreement?

Now, here in the Philippines, we are faced with the challenge contributing to the efforts to stop the US from going through with its war plans.  This we must do even as we insist that the US troops immediately leave the country.  For instance, I find the assertion of American spokesperson of the Balance Piston 03-5 Military Exercise American Master Sgt. Michael Farris that the American troops are not in the country to train for gradual and eventual deployment to his country's war against Iraq.

Some 500 soldiers have recently arrived in the country for the first joint military exercises for the year.  The troops are all members of the US Special Operations Pacific Command.  It is my view, and I am not alone in this, that the American military can never and should never be trusted.  Like its government, it says one thing and means another when it comes to foreign relations and the conduct of their operations overseas.  Even as Farris says that they are not here to train in preparation for the US war of aggression against Iraq, he says that they are prepared for any eventuality.  This is doublespeak.

The assertion that their presence in the country is in now way related to the US government's war campaign against Iraq is a lie.  The US does not deploy its troops to various countries just to conduct training exercises with locals.  No one is kidding anyone here.

In a nutshell, the Philippine government cannot in clear conscience support the Bush administration's war against the people of Iraq.  Philippine officials and leaders who will declare support for the US war should be held responsible for any and all war crimes that the US military and their allies will be perpetrating against Iraqi civilians.

There is no justifying its campaign to maim, butcher and destroy a civilian populace and their nation.  Philippine officials and leaders who chose to take the side of the US in this war campaign will be guilty of crimes against humanity -- the same as their American counterparts.

In the name of those tens of thousands of innocent people in Iraq, Filipinos should take a stand against the war and join the millions of other citizens and world leaders in their call for peace and against war.  We must not stand idly by and watch while innocent lives are murdered by the most powerful military force in the world.

Now there is the issue of attracting more enemies.  There is a need to register the possibility that a US-led war against Iraq will increase the likelihood of terrorist attacks against America and other countries allied with it such as the Philippines. National Security adviser Roilo Golez himself has floated the possibility, and really, it is not so far-fetched.

When the most powerful nation on earth unleashes a premeditated, offensive attack against a poor and relatively defenseless nation, killing thousands of innocent people and occupying that country, there will be massive resentment not only among billions of Muslim citizens, but among people throughout the entire world. This could set off more wars between nations in the Middle East against the US , and consequently, against its allies such as the Philippines.

By siding with the US in its immoral and inhumane war, President Arroyo herself has put the Philippines on the target map of anti-US terrorist groups and other enemies of the US.  Closing Philippine embassies and consulates in the Middle East will not remove looming threats.  The best and only solution is for the Philippine government to recant, and withdraw its support for the war.

It's patently obvious that the repercussions of Pres. Arroyo's support for the US war are serious and dire, and that the negative impact will be ultimately on the Filipino people.  The safety and security of OFWs in Iraq and in the Middle East are threatened; and given the government's track record, our OFWs will not be secured and taken out of harm's way in time.

The image of the Philippines in the eyes of the world is also irreparably damaged.  President Arroyo's yester woman attitude towards the justifications of the US government regarding its campaign of aggression is an international scandal.  In the midst of massive protest actions all over the world, as well as the firm critical stance taken by other global political and religious leaders, her immediate approval of the US war is disgraceful.

There is not even the smallest or slightest indication that Pres. Arroyo has studied any of the arguments pro or against the US war; she has clearly just adopted Pres. Bush's position and parroted his arguments.  And by cooly ignoring the call of Church leaders to oppose the war against innocents, she has lost moral stature.

In the meantime, I would also like to point out that the President's lack of circumspection and failure to consult Congress before declaring support for the US war is an impeachable offense. She has abused and is abusing her powers as executive. The economy is in serious trouble because of her insistence on market-based reforms, there is strong public anger over deteriorating quality of life, increasing prices and mounting taxes, a worsening peace and order situation.  Now, she has added to her list of transgressions against the people, she has thrown her lot with the promulgators of an unpopular, immoral war.

President Arroyo's support for the US war violates Article II of the Philippine Constitution, or the Declaration of Principles and State Policies.  Section 2 of the said article states that, "the Philippines renounces war as an instrument of national policy, adopts the generally-accepted principles of international law of the land and adheres to the policy of peace, equality, justice , freedom , cooperation and amity with all nations."

At the same time, the poor and the working people have long before laid down the judgment against her by calling for her ouster.  Regardless of how few the remaining months of her term are, her style of governance and the very policies and measures she enforces sinks the Philippines deeper into economic degradation and political strife.

Given all this, our tasks are laid before all of us here.  The Filipino youth, the Filipino people must unite with the rest of the world in condemning the imperialist agenda of the United States as the main source of war.

Everywhere in the world , the people are demanding the disarming, dismantling and destruction of all existing nuclear, chemical and other genocidal weapons and a total ban on their manufacture, development and deployment.

And on the local and regional front, there is the call for the immediate pullout of US troops, and an end to military access and servicing agreements such as the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) and the Mutual Logistics Support Agreement (MLSA) that are an affront to national sovereignty and territorial integrity of independent countries.

The real tests lie ahead.  The most important question today is what antiwar activists, people's organizations and mass and liberation movements can do locally to broaden the active opposition to the US war drive through various venues such as fora, symposia, petition-signing campaigns, lobblying in the Houses of Legislature, and most effective, massive protest actions.

In closing, I would like to share one more insight.  In all the solemn statements by government officials and newspaper columnists about a coming war against Iraq, there is something missing.

The talk is about strategy and tactics, geopolitics and personalities.  It is about air war and ground war, weapons of mass destruction, arms inspections, alliances, oil , and "regime change."

But what is noticeably  missing is what's most important. What is being ignored, neglected relegated to the background is what the US' war on Iraq will do to tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of ordinary human beings who are not concerned with geopolitics and military strategy.  These human beings just want their children to live, to grow up.  they are not concerned with "national security" but with personal security, with food and shelter and medical care and peace.

Let us not allow the Philippines to be a party to a most unjust, immoral and inhumane war.  Let us oppose the US' war of aggression against Iraq.