22.04.1999

Balkans war unites internationalists

The realities of the Balkans war put many of the abstract positions of the left to the test. The longer this war goes on, the clearer it will be to masses of people that imperialism has no democratic solution to the crisis in the Balkans. It is essential therefore for the left to unite around a consistently democratic and revolutionary position.

As revolutionaries operating in one of the main imperialist states, we must also take action beyond propaganda. This matter is doubly urgent, given that the largest group on the left, the Socialist Workers Party, has collapsed into social-pacifism.

In a promising development, a number of groups met in London on Friday April 16 to begin to coordinate joint activity around the slogans, ‘Stop the Nato bombing’, ‘Nato out of the Balkans’, ‘Stop the ethnic cleansing’, ‘Self-determination for the Kosovars’ and ‘Open the borders to the Kosova refugees’. The organisations present were: the CPGB, Workers Power, Socialist Outlook, Workers International (organisers of Workers Aid for Kosova), Workers Action, Socialist Democracy, Workers Party for Socialism (Argentina) and the Communist Party of Iraq. The Socialist Party and the Communist League were absent despite being invited. Nevertheless, a process unifying internationalist forces in Britain around principled slogans has begun.

Practical unity began to develop at the first large demonstration against the war on Sunday April 11 called by the Committee for Peace in the Balkans. While this committee’s pacifist approach is primary exemplified by the SWP’s “War leads to catastrophe” slogan it also has a significant ‘red-brown’ pro-Serbian component. This has meant that Serb nationalist elements are prominent at meetings and demonstrations. Significantly, no Kosovar speakers were allowed at the rally on April 11 in Trafalgar Square.

Comrades marching under the slogans, ‘Self-determination for the Kosovars’ and ‘Nato out of the Balkans’, were subject to abuse. Some of this - allegedly from ‘Chetniks’ - took the form of threats of violence. Spontaneously, a number of comrades from the Communist League, Socialist Outlook and others joined forces behind the Workers Power banner, for reasons of collective security as well as political unity.

Last Friday’s meeting gathered with the aim of transforming this spontaneous solidarity into conscious political action. It was called by Socialist Outlook, with concrete proposals moved by Workers Power. What this points to is the need to form an Internationalist Committee with a public face. While the April 16 meeting took no decision to form such a body, it has done so de facto. The CPGB will be urging comrades from the other organisations to take the further step of formalising the committee.

The meeting agreed to approach the Committee for Peace in the Balkans, asking them to ensure that supporters of the national rights of the Kosovars be given a platform at all meetings. It is expected that any response will be equivocal and this will hopefully push the more hesitant internationalist forces to declare for the formation of an Internationalist Committee. The Committee for Peace in the Balkans, made up of Tam Dalyell, Tony Benn and other MPs, meets in parliament. The SWP has opportunistically adopted the pacifist line, hungry for acceptance - while the parliamentarians have been eager to use the SWP and prevent them forming a rival campaign.

In addition to uniting on the three slogans above, the organisations fighting for a principled response to the war have come together with a view to:

“(i) act as a contingent on demonstrations, coordinate security on pickets or at meetings; ... (ii) coordinate our efforts to get resolutions with an anti-Nato, anti-ethnic cleansing position through trade unions and other labour movement bodies; and (iii) try to get speakers from the platform or the floor at all the meetings or the demos called by the Committee for Peace in the Balkans or other local bodies”.

The meeting also agreed to organise a public meeting in London on May 4 around the agreed slogans.

There was also debate and a vote taken on whether to include ‘Arm the KLA’ as one of the slogans around which to unite. The main argument against this was, typically, based around appeasing phantom rightwing elements who would not accept this position. Apart from the Communist Party of Iraq - which does not seem to recognise the right to self-determination of the Kosovars - all organisations present claimed to support the slogan, ‘Arm the KLA’. Indeed, most groups already include it in their own propaganda.

Comrade Simon DeVille of Socialist Outlook raised the absent Socialist Party as his excuse for urging a vote against the slogan: “They may not support it.” Comrade Dave Stockton of Workers Power emphasised the need to have broad appeal - he voted against ‘Arm the KLA’ despite it being included in Workers Power’s own material.

Only the CPGB and Workers International voted for ‘Arm the KLA’. Socialist Outlook, Workers Power, the Communist Party of Iraq, Socialist Democracy and Workers Action voted against.

A tendency to rightwing conciliationism is not the only political problem an Internationalist Committee would face. While we can and must unite around the principled slogans, we must use the opportunity of close practical unity for discussing broader politics. A united front against the war cannot be a pact of ‘live and let live’. Discussion of differences, alongside effective practical action, should be welcomed and be seen as normal political culture.

Workers Power, for one, have a mass of contradictions to deal with. In order to fit reality to their dogmatic stand that rump-Yugoslavia is a ‘moribund workers’ state’, Workers Power have decided that there are “two wars” in the Balkans. They call for arming the KLA and military defence of Yugoslavia - oh, except for the bit that is Kosova. Just how they would direct any military units they had on the ground is anyone’s guess. Workers Power’s other problem, its residual auto-Labourism, is leading it to actually vote for the war while campaigning against it. For the Scottish and Welsh elections, the comrades (except in Glasgow) are backing New Labour and the candidates chosen by Bomber Blair.

Another possible, though currently hidden, problem is a tendency to anti-Serbism. Our approach must start from the position that the main enemy is at home. Yes, the Yugoslav government is thoroughly reactionary - we say there is nothing to defend in Milosevic’s regime. Yet to go overboard and say the main enemy is in Belgrade is untenable for consistent revolutionary internationalists fighting for peace through revolution in the UK. While this has not emerged as a political feature of the current internationalist bloc, the impulse to equate the Bosnian conflict of 1991-95 with the present war - from Workers International Press in particular - is worrying.

The Alliance for Workers’ Liberty has taken this to extremes. According to Sean Matgamna, writing on the AWL’s website, “If Nato troop landings put a stop to the Serbs’ genocidal drive against the Kosovars, we will be glad of it” (April 2).

The AWL did not attend, despite being aware of the meeting. It is not clear whether the organisers, Socialist Outlook, declined to invite the AWL (there is an ongoing gripe over the Welfare State Network) or if the latter decided not to attend. As the war unfolds, there is a danger of the AWL collapsing into a ‘first camp’ position. The general approach of the CPGB towards this and other imperialist wars is that of revolutionary defeatism - the main enemy is at home. In reply to this, the AWL’s Mark Osborne told me: “That is not the case for this war.” Comrade Osborne’s justification for this appeared to be based on moralistic ‘politics by numbers’. He said that Nato bombs have only killed tens or hundreds of Serbs, whereas thousands - if not more - of Kosovars have been killed and raped by Serbs, with hundreds of thousands forcibly exiled.

Comrade Osborne was not too disappointed by the AWL’s absence from the April 16 meeting. If Nato sent in ground troops, he expected that the AWL position would diverge from the rest of the left. In view of comrade Matgamna’s position that would certainly seem to be the case - unless you include Ken Livingstone in your definition of the left.

Any move away from revolutionary defeatism can only be a capitulation to imperialism. This tendency must be resisted. Organisations and individuals standing on internationalist principle must unite for practical action against the reactionary war.

Marcus Larsen