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ARTICLES & SPEECHES, 2001 - Present |
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The Bush War of Terror and Attacks on
Revolutionaries and Progressives I thank the Initiative Committee to Defend Filipino Progressives in Europe for organizing this forum on human rights and the so-called war on terror of Bush. I thank all those present for coming to manifest their solidarity and support for the Filipino progressives under fire. I assume that I am the most deeply pleased by your manifestation of support because so far I am the chief target of the attack among the Filipino progressives and I am the one most in need of your moral and material support and assistance. As you know, my civil rights have been grossly violated. I have been criminalized as a "terrorist" without due process, I have been subjected to defamation and incitement of public hatred, I have been deprived of the basic necessities of life and my basic human right to life is violated. These are the consequences of the 9 August 2002 decision of the US State Department designating the CPP and NPA as "terrorist" organizations and the 12 August decision of the US Treasury Department targeting the CPP, NPA and myself for the freezing of assets. The Dutch authorities have acted like robots of the US government to undertake repressive measures. The purpose of the slanderers is to intimidate, not only me, but all the panelists, consultants, staffers and supporters of the Europe-based NDFP negotiating panel. The vilifiers speak of there being 30 terrorists in Utrecht in order to generate a climate of fear in the Filipino community. The bilateral strategic objective of the US and Macapagal-Arroyo regime is to terrorize and put under duress the NDFP negotiating panel in order to coerce the NDFP into capitulating to the GRP. A still higher strategic objective of the US, its unilateral objective, is to scuttle the GRP-NDFP peace negotiations, throw fuel into the flames of the civil war in the Philippines, escalate US military intervention and tighten the all-round US stranglehold over the Philippines. The US is taking renewed interest in confirmed sources of gold, oil and deuterium in Mindanao. It considers its control of the Philippines as the key to the control of Southeast Asia, which is at the gateway to the rest of Asia. The Philippines is an important base for the rapid deployment of US forces from the Pacific Ocean to as far as the Middle East. US imperialism is superterrorism. It has victimized billions of people through the superexploitation of the people of the third world and other parts of the world. It has launched wars of aggression, instigated puppet regimes of open terror, pushed systematic massacres and other barbarities, resulting in the brutal death of millions. In the Philippines, 1.4 million Filipinos were killed from 1899 to 1914 and 200,000 were killed by the US-directed Marcos fascist regime. The atom bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan cost 200,000 lives, the Korean War 4.5 million Korean lives, Indochina more than 6 million Indochinese lives, the massacre in Indonesia cost the lives of more than 1 million, and so on. The US is using the September 11 attacks as the excuse for increasing military spending and military production, launching wars of aggression against countries assertive of independence and against national liberation movements. The Bush regime is whipping up repression in both imperialist and dominated countries. It seeks to suppress dissent and the development of progressive forces under the guise of combating terrorism. It calculates that war and military production are the way to keep itself in power and to lift the US and global capitalist economy from the current crisis. The US is internationalising its war of terror and its so-called anti-terrorist laws in order to demonize and attack revolutionary and progressive organizations and individuals and to widen the road for its aggressive, repressive and super-exploitative schemes. While gearing up for a renewed war of aggression against Iraq and threatening other countries assertive of independence, the US is pushing counter-revolutionary offensives in Palestine, Philippines, Nepal, Colombia, Turkey and many other countries. The US can find itself in further serious trouble by engendering armed struggles in which the high-tech weapons of the US are incapable of destroying the revolutionary forces and people. The US boasts of the principle of preemptive action and nuclear first strike, puts itself above all countries and above the UN Charter and has kept itself out of treaties that either control or ban weapons of mass destruction. It is providing a bad example to countries like India and Pakistan that have nuclear weapons and have violent disputes. While engaged in grandscale terrorism, the US insists on immunity for its officials and military personnel and impunity for all their war crimes, crimes against humanity and crimes of genocide. It is using the UN Security Council and bilateral agreements with government to exempt itself from the coverage of the International Criminal Court. The US will ultimately isolate and weaken itself by violating the national sovereignty and independence of other countries, carrying out wars of aggression, suppressing revolutionary movements and violating the democratic rights of progressive forces, amidst the worsening crisis of the world capitalist system. The economic crisis and the currents of fascism and war are the prelude to the resurgence of the anti-imperialist and socialist movements of the people of the world. The current situation is extremely harsh for the people. But they are being driven to do their best in fighting for their democratic rights and interests# |
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