The International Students for Social Equality is holding this public meeting, "Racing toward disaster: War, inequality and the crisis of American democracy", as part of a broader series of public meetings, open to the general public, being held in college campuses across the country. The meetings will elaborate a socialist perspective and response to the occupation of Iraq, the growing danger of a US-led war against Iran, the threat of world war, and the heightening of inter-imperialist antagonisms. The ISSE calls on students around the world to take up the fight against war and inequality, and help build an independent socialist movement of the working class.
Four-and-a-half years after the invasion of Iraq, the US government is laying the foundation for another bloody war, now against Iran. The basic pretexts for further military action in the oil-rich Middle East have already been worked out.
Over one million Iraqis have been killed as a result the invasion and occupation of Iraq, along with over 4,000 US and other coalition troops. How many more will be killed in the next stage of what Bush has called the “wars of the 21st century”?
US military aggression is stoking growing tensions between the great powers, with Bush alluding to the possibility of “World War III” and tensions between the US and Russia becoming more strained every day. The prospect of a military draft is again on the table, as the American military is overextended and the US ruling elite seeks more cannon fodder for its wars of aggression.
One year after the November mid-term elections, the so-called opposition of the Democratic Party has shown itself to be nothing more than a miserable charade. The American ruling elite is driving the population of the country and the world to the brink of disaster, and no section of the political establishment is capable of halting the mad race toward war. The eruption of militarism cannot be separated from the structure of American society. The top one percent controls the bulk of the country’s wealth and is willing to employ the most brutal means to defend its social position at home and abroad. The explosion of US militarism has been accompanied by a sustained attack on jobs, wages and social programs. At the same time, democratic rights are under attack, with the ruling elite bringing out into the open the barbaric methods associated with dictatorships: indefinite detention, drumhead military commissions, and torture.
This ongoing series of meetings organized by the International Students for Social Equality on campuses throughout the United States will examine the underlying causes of US military aggression and elaborate an international socialist response.
Ithaca College
Ithaca, New York
Tuesday, November 13, 5:00 p.m.
Textor Hall, Room T102
For more information, please send an e-mail ayang1@ithaca.edu
The International Students for Social Equality is the student organization of the Socialist Equality Party and the International Committee of the Fourth International, which publishes the World Socialist Web Site (www.wsws.org).
