Michael de Laine

Cry for welfare, not weapons, as protesters marked start of Iraq war 6 years ago

By Michael de Laine, Copenhagen, 21 March 2009

Welfare, not weapons, was the slogan as a couple of hundred protesters today celebrated the sixth anniversary of the start of the Iraq war.

The slogan – a throw-back to the ‘welfare, not tax cuts’ catchword in the domestic political debate in Denmark late last year and earlier this, as possible tax cuts were being discussed – illustrated both the amount of money Denmark has been spending on its military presence in Iraq and Afghanistan and the need to give development aid to the two countries in an attempt to win the hearts of the people in Iraq and Afghanistan.

With the prospect of many years of military presence in Afghanistan – if the west can actually ever prevail there – and a weak political situation in Iraq, the protesters underlined many people’s feelings that war is not the solution.

Frank Aaen, parliamentary spokesman on defence and security affairs for the Red/Greens in Denmark, told the Copenhagen Voice that what is needed is dialogue. It’s a long process and it takes courage to start a dialogue and continue it in the face of adversity – but the process seems to have worked in Northern Ireland and South Africa.

In a speech to the protesters, Aaen revealed that Danish military spending on munitions and arms last year was 40% to 80% higher than 2006. Combined with plans to buy new fighter aircraft and other military hardware, the protesters see this as a high price to pay at a time when welfare needs strengthening in Denmark and when much-needed reconstruction and development in Iraq and Afghanistan does not take place.

Another speaker, Athanasios Zikas, who has a background in the Greek Communist Party, said British pollster Opinion Research Business believes 1.2 million Iraqis have died as a result of the US-led invasion of Iraq. The US and its allies have also lost thousands of soldiers, while families have been destroyed and troops returning home suffer from psychological problems.

“In Afghanistan,” Zikas said, “the situation is terrible. War hits the civilian population very hard, and the economy and the possibilities for civilian lifestyle have been destroyed. Over 4,000 people – mainly woman and children – died last year because of bombing errors. More than 90% of the women in Afghanistan are illiterate, 70% have been married against their will, and one in six die during childbirth.

“Despite regular reports of how well things are going in Afghanistan, reconstruction and development never get off the ground,” Zikas added. The only production is of opium – more than 5,000 tons a year, or 95% of the world’s heroin, comes from Afghanistan.”

Zikas warned that NATO has assumed new functions on the basis of its new doctrine and its decision to carry out “preventive attacks on people and countries that are not subject to the imperialist agenda”.

“This is taking place under the cover of fighting terrorism or defending so-called minorities, promoting border changes, creating new states,” Zikas said. “This will be the cause of further loss of life.”

Calling on the peace movements to liberate themselves from parties and political powers that support NATO, the European Union (EU) and other imperialist tools in one way or another, Zikas said, “The peace movement cannot create results when it is wrapped up in right-wing or social democratic parties. We must gather our work in peace movements with a clear anti-imperialist attitude against NATO, the EU and the right-wing or social democratic parties.”