Democratic Palestine : 25 (ص 28)

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عنوان

Democratic Palestine : 25 (ص 28)

المحتوى

The Gulf War
Towards Internationalization
Iranian bellicosity and intransigence have combined with the attack
on the US warship Stark to invite more imperialist involvement in the
Gulf, opening a new chapter in US-Iraqi relations.
On May 17th, the US guided missile
frigate Stark was hit by an Iraqi missile.
Thirty-seven US sailors were killed and
twenty-one injured. This coincided with
Iran’s threats to the Kuwaiti govern-
ment for supporting Iraq in the Gulf
war. The Iranians also threatened the
United States and Soviet Union for
responding to the Kuwaiti requests to
have their oil tankers escorted as pro-
tection against any Iranian attack.
Tension has been high in the Gulf
since the attack on the US warship,
focusing increased international atten-
tion on the conflict there. Among the
major world powers, it is perhaps only
the Soviet Union that has genuine in-
terests in a solution being found to the
war. Besides the overall Soviet line for
peace and _ stability internationally,
there are two major reasons for this.
One, the Soviets are interested in
friendly relations with the Gulf coun-
tries, leading to mutual benefit, rather
than seeing the two major Gulf powers
squander their resources in this
senseless war. Two, the Soviets are
concerned that the war gives im-
perialism added pretexts for reinforcing
its military network just south of Soviet
borders.
The Soviet policy can be embarrass-
ing for the imperialist countries, and
spoil their plans for exploiting the Gulf
war to their own advantage. While
publicly espousing solutions, the im-
perialist countries are playing their role
of war capitalists to the hilt - selling
arms to one side or the other, or to
both. In contrast to the Soviet Union,
the capitalist countries are delighted to
make money while Iran and Iraq
destroy each other, making both more
vulnerable to imperialist domination
and ultimately strengthening ‘Israel’
and other pro-imperialist regimes in the
area.
The US, however, is still smarting
under the Iran/contragate scandal, and
thus especially atune to the need for
[|
giving its Gulf policy a degree of
coherence and respectability. So when
the Soviets offered to protect Kuwaiti
vessels, the US was quick to match the
offer. Under the guise of working for
peace and stability, the US is seeking to
utilize the situation as an excuse for in-
creased US naval presence in the area,
strengthening the imperialist military
network against any _ revolutionary
movement and the socialist community.
JOINT EFFORTS?
The Stark accident along with the
threats to the Kuwaiti government led
to the activation of United Nations’ ef-
forts to seek possibilities for ending the
Gulf war, forcing the two sides to enter
into reconciliation talks. The five per-
manent members of the Security
Council have presented a draft resolu-
tion to the council on ending the Iraq-
Iran war. It contains a paragraph on
imposing an arms embargo on either of
the two sides that does not abide by the
resolution.
The states of the Gulf Cooperation
Council consider that the situation in
the Gulf has reached its most critical
point yet in the seven years of war. At
the Venice Summit, the main capitalist
countries demanded effective UN
measures to stop the Gulf war. This is
what was announced, yet no practical
steps have been taken, making it ob-
vious that there is not actual joint in-
ternational work to stop the Gulf war.

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Democratic Palestine : 25

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