Condemning the Terrorist Attacks Against the People of the United States
- Statement of the Manitoba Regional Committee of the Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist), Sept. 15, 2001
The Manitoba Regional Committee of CPC(M-L) condemns, unequivocally, the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and other targets in the United States and extends its sympathies to the victims of this crime against humanity. Those who support the cause of social and human progress will never agree with violence against innocent people regardless of the so-called "noble" aims claimed by its perpetrators.
While speculation is rife about which group of terrorists is behind the attacks, at this point there is no clear evidence of who organized them. However, regardless of who is behind these attacks, it is clear that they are not a blow against U.S. imperialism. Far from it, they are an attack against the people - the American people and the people of the world.
Already we are seeing the consequences of this act of terrorism. The Israeli government is using it to justify increasing terror against the Palestinian people in the name of "combatting terrorism". The U.S. government is gearing up for military assaults against various Middle Eastern countries in the name of "bringing to justice" those responsible. And the U.S. and many other countries are openly talking about the further fascization of their states and the further fascization of life, all in the name of "collective security".
U.S. President George Bush in his address to the nation on September 11 claimed that the U.S. was a target of terrorism because it is "a beacon of democracy". Nothing could be further from the truth. The U.S. has committed countless acts of terror against the world's people. It has supported and financed the terrorism of the Israeli state against the Palestinian people. Within just the past decade, it has waged wars and campaigns of terror against the Iraqi people, the people of Yugoslavia, the people of Sudan and the Afghani people. It has financed and allowed its territory to be used by anti-Cuban terrorists, as well as terrorist organizations throughout Latin America. Terrorism organized directly or indirectly by the U.S. state has claimed the lives of millions of people over the past several decades. In fact, it is well-known that the United States organized, trained and financed the very organizations which it now points to as the main suspects in the World Trade Center atrocity.
It is also a fact that during the 20th century it was the major imperialist powers - the U.S., Britain, Germany, Japan, etc. - that were responsible for making civilian populations "legitimate military targets" in the numerous wars which they organized. Those who murdered thousands of innocent people in New York and Washington on September 11 must be held responsible for this crime against humanity. But the U.S. and other imperialist states are not innocent and must also be held responsible for creating both the disease of terrorism and its breeding grounds.
The Manitoba Regional Committee of CPC(M-L) condemns this act of terrorism and agrees that the perpetrators should be brought to justice. However, it is totally unacceptable that these criminal acts by a group of individuals are being used to justify the collective punishment of entire nations and regions of the world. In addition, the atmosphere of hate-mongering being whipped up in the U.S. and parts of Canada, as well as all stereotyping and racist attacks against people in the Arab and Muslim communities must be ended. What is required now, more than ever before, is an atmosphere in which people can discuss the causes of and solutions to the problem of terrorism in a calm and rational manner. Any other course of action is fraught with dangers for the peoples of the world.