Imperialism And Resistance

I hope that they will carry out real revolutionary reforms in Nepal – including, and not limited to addressing the root causes of poverty – huge landlordism, and capitalist exploitation – and that they will give some real meaning to the hammer and sickle and that it does not just become empty symbolism. And that they have some understanding of US imperialist forces that is the cause of so much of the war and violence we see around us these days.

The western Islamophobic media (left right and corporate types) have been going into a tizzy over the Iranian elections – making all kindsa claims, and trying their best to dismiss, demonize, and/or discredit the 65% + turn out, and the fact that the neo-liberal, somewhat pro-west candidates were soundly defeated. There has emerged within Iran a third powerful group, noted not just ’cause they might be allied with President Ahmadinejad, but those who are serious about the Islamic Revolution’s promise of justice for the oppressed.

It remains to be seen how much this third force (other than the traditional conservatives and the useless half-baked neo-liberal “reformists”) can accomplish, given the forces that are allied against ‘em. (Those allied against the Islamic Republic include the neo-liberals, the anti-Islam, and anti-people ruling class of the “west” – along with the Islamophobic liberal-left, that demonizes the Islamic Republic, and supports the neo-liberals within Iran). But it is encouraging to see an attempt at revival of Islamic principles within Iran. Inshallah, the forces for justice with peace within the Islamic Republic will prevail.

And then there were the elections in Pakistan that have been widely hailed by the ruling classes of the “west” – because the pro-west, ultra neo-liberals supposedly “won” the elections. The fact that the turn out was barely 30-35%, and barely 20% in the Pakistani and US armed forces occupied autonomous regions of the north … did not figure in this hail.

The fact is that most of those seated in the Pakistani parliament are crooks of the first order, ranging from huge landowners to completely corrupt industrialists – and other assorted US empire worshiping technocrats – and ethnic sectarians. This is, of-course, why Pakistan is considered now a “democracy” while Iran, that has a significant number of Islamic revolutionaries in their parliament, is considered a threat.