The attack on Basra is an attack on Labor

OK, we've finally done it. We made a video that supports the enemy.

Somebody had to do it, because in Basra, the US government's "enemy" seems to be the people of that southern town and region of Iraq.

And not just anybody, and not some dark-of-the-night terrorist militia, but rather the unions of Basra, particularly the oil workers and dock workers unions.

It all boils down to this: big oil wants to be the sellers of Iraqi oil, not the buyers. The stakes in Basra are privatization of Iraqi oil and ports.

No matter what other differences they might have, pretty much all Iraqis understand that the question with respect to these "birthrights" is who will own them, giant multinational corporations, or the Iraqi people.

In the last few months there have been occasional articles telegraphing the attack on Basra. Articles complaining that the dock workers refuse to work more than 8 hours a day. Articles about how some British corporate executive has been appointed "Basra Development Commisioner" to head up corporate efforts to privatize the Iraqi ports and oil companies. Articles, like the one in the Guardian of London entitled "Oil giants are poised to move into Basra." (Feb 24, 2008)

After the initial attack faltered, General Petraeus testified to congress that Maliki (US puppet ruler of the Iraqi government) had launched the attack on Basra without letting the US military know what the plan was. Too bad General Petraeus hadn't read the article in the NY Times from March 13, 2008 headlined "Iraqi Troops May Move to Reclaim Basra's Port."

So in this week's "Indymedia Presents", we feature interviews with Iraqi labor leaders, who tell the story of some of the union battles that have occurred in Southern Iraq since the US/British occupation began, combined with some footage we got from our friends at "Labor Beat" in Chicago to bring you the story that corporate media is carefully avoiding, the on-going attack on the trade unions of Basra, and what is behind it.

By the Way, American Longshoremen (ILWU) http://www.ilwu.org, who have been very supportive of their Iraqi union bretheren, have called for a one day strike up and down the west coast on Mayday in opposition to the war. We expect more information regarding Basra and the fight against privatization to emerge in the course of that job action. Join a Mayday action, and stay tuned for more from the independent media, who bring you the stories corporate media would rather you not notice.

"The Dow's Down"
We finish off this week with the duo Rebel Voices singing at the benefit concert for Utah Phillips. http://www.rebelvoices.com

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Basra
• iraq
• labor
• unions
• oil
• Petraeus
• Maliki
• ILWU
• ports
• war
• peace