Thursday, July 21, 2005

conditions necessary for ending the war












most of this was inspired by an article i read in a recent issue of International Socialist Review (isreview.org). The prerequisites for the ending the war in iraq, as based on observations of Vietnam and elsewhere:
1. Resistance at home, within the occupying country (aka US!)
2. Resistance within the occupying armed forces
3. Resistance within the occupied country.


It seems that resistance at home is small, but persistent and slowly gathering strength. Resistance within the army, navy, etc. is very small, but definetly present.
As we all know, regardless of whatever disagreement we have with them over tactics, resistance within Iraq is alive and well, despite a lack of a unified front. It seems to have been proven throughout history that popular insurgencies within occupied countries always win out in the end, simply because of their ability to grow despite strategical and military setbacks.

(that last bit was paraphrased from the great Noam Chomsky.)

Tuesday, July 12, 2005

More News From the EZLN


Again, none of the work here is mine, but reproduced from www.indymedia.org. This is sort of a follow up to my previous post.


EZLN announces new strategy

From June 29, the EZLN started to publish the results of its internal consultations, as a series of texts that form the Sixth Declaration from the Lacandon Jungle. They made it clear that the Red Alert declared on the 19th was a preventive measure to be able to consult their support bases with security. The new political initiative is based on an approach to social movements, from Mexico and elsewhere, that share the same aims as the indigenous zapatistas and are fighting the effects of neoliberal globalization. "Perhaps united with other social sectors who suffer from the same wants as we do, it will be possible to achieve what we need and what we deserve," says the Declaration.
The EZLN made a commitment to send support material, according to their capabilities, to the peoples and organizations in Mexico and abroad that struggle against neoliberal globalization. The support consists of coffee and crafts, so that fighters all around the world have a way to finance their struggles. Inside Mexico, the General Command of the EZLN will start a peregrination for an indefinite period of time to search for allies in the struggle of resistance to neoliberalism and for a new constitution that guarantees: home, land, work, food, health, education, information, culture, independence, democracy, justice, freedom and peace. They also declared the intention of holding a new Intercontinental meeting by the end of the year.
Before the Red Alert, the other indigenous communities of Mexico that were assembled at the National Indigenous Congress (CNI) in Yucatan released the Declaration of Zirahuen, which reveals the intention for more coordination of the indigenous struggle though the adhesion of all ethnic groups that are part of the CNI to the La Realidad-Tijuana Plan, created by the EZLN in 2003. The La Realidad-Tijuana Plan has as one of its agreements the promotion of self-government and self- management forms in all of the Mexican territory, according to each one's ways.