We invite anyone who supports the views expressed in this Open Letter, whatever political party they support, to sign it - email us at info@labourfriendsofiraq.org.uk
Signatories include the following and the list is still open.
Harry Barnes MP, Peter Tatchell, Professor Sir Bernard Crick, Meg Munn MP, Wayne David MP, David Aaronovitch, Kawa Besarani (Iraqi political activist), Joanna White (Amicus national political committee), Kate Ahrens (UNISON National Executive, personal capacity), Maria Exall (CWU National Executive, personal capacity), John Mann MP, Dennis Bates (Barnsley Central CLP), Alan Johnson (South Lakeland Stop the War, Research Officer of Labour Friends of Iraq, NATFHE), Jane Ashworth (Chair, Labour Friends of Iraq, Reading East Labour Party, PCS), Gary Kent (Director, Labour Friends of Iraq, also personal capacity TGWU/NUJ), Martin Pagell (Labour Councillor, Manchester City Council), Simon Pottinger (Middlesbrough and East Cleveland Labour Party), David Harry, Dr Jeremy Stangroom (The Philosophers' Magazine, www.philosophers.co.uk), Councillor Clive Furness (London Borough of Newham), Ben Harris, Barry Winter (ILP, North East Leeds CLP, NATFHE personal capacity), Clive Bradley (anti-war activist), Nigel Bunyan, John O'Farrell, Belfast (personal capacity, NUJ), Nick Cohen (writer), Phil Dore (LFIQ and Cardiff North CLP), David Boothroyd (Labour Councillor for Westbourne Ward, Westminster City Council), Debbie Williams (South Lakeland Stop the War, TGWU personal capacity) Sacha Zarb (PCS and Greenwich Labour Party), Dan Paskins (Labour Councillor, Oxford), Paul Anderson. Nathan Yeowell (Battersea CLP), David Toube, K M Tyrie (Community and Public Service Union, CPSU personal capacity), Chris Martin, Stephen Marks (Oxford East CLP), Rich Watts, James Kettle (Westminster & City CLP), John Medhurst (PCS personal capacity), Declan McVeigh (NUJ, London - personal capacity), Graham Lloyd, Norman Geras, Kevin Sturr (Regional Food for Peace Officer, USAID Senegal), William Brown (ILP, Sheffield Central CLP - personal capacity) Anthony Cox (AMICUS member), Oliver Kershaw, Cllr Andrew Brown (Blackheath Ward, London Borough of Lewisham), Eric Lee, Bert Ward (Middlesbrough),Councillor Gareth Davies (Blyth Valley Borough Council, Chair. Cramlington West Branch, Blyth Valley CLP), Richard Sanderson (Labour Party member, Lee Ward - Lewisham CLP), Antonia Bance (Labour Prospective Parliamentary Candidate Oxford West and Abingdon), Ophelia Benson (www.butterfliesandwheels.com), Nick Brereton (anti-war activist and socialist, Newcastle), David Grant (Teacher of History/Modern Studies, Glasgow), Dr Conrad Russell (Senior Lecturer in Sociology, Leeds Metropolitan University, personal capacity), Christine A.Howell (member Reading East CLP), Alliance for Workers Liberty ("without politically endorsing the current electoral and reconstruction efforts"), Joe Baxter (Edinburgh Iraqi Solidarity Activist)
“The StWC reaffirms its call for an end to the occupation, the return of all British troops in Iraq to this country and recognises once more the legitimacy of the struggle of Iraqis, by whatever means they find necessary, to secure such ends”. Statement issued by the officers of the Stop the war Coalition, signed by Lindsey German, Convenor, and Andrew Murray, Chair of the StWC.
“Right now, the STWC supports “the resistance” in Iraq by any means necessary – a tacit endorsement of the suicide bombing, hostage-taking and execution of innocent civilians, including brave, selfless aid workers, election supervisors and ordinary Iraqis on their way to school and work. The STWC justifies this carnage in the name of “national liberation” (sic). Motivated more by hatred of the US and British governments than by love for the Iraqi people, many so-called leftists support a “resistance” that, if victorious, would bring to power Baathists, Islamic fundamentalists and pro-al-Qaeda militants. Is that what the left now stands for? Neo-fascism, so long as it is anti-western?” Peter Tatchell, ‘The Left’s Retreat from Universal Human Rights’, December 18 2004
The murder of Hadi Saleh and the silence of the Stop the War Coalition Leaders
The torture and murder of Hadi Saleh, International Officer of the Iraqi Federation of Trade Unions on January 4 was part of a wave of attacks on Iraqi trade unionists by the ‘resistance’. Make no mistake about it, the ‘resistance’ are pursuing a campaign of physical eradication of leaders of the Iraqi left and Iraqi democrats. The death of Hadi Saleh is the latest of a number of actual and attempted political assassinations which have been condemned by the international left and labour movement. The exception has been the Stop the War Coalition which has remained effectively silent on Hadi’s brutal murder.
The international left and labour movement has spoken with one voice – global and unequivocal – to say that Hadi Saleh was a courageous socialist and trade unionist brutally murdered by the ‘resistance’, enemies of democracy and the working class. He was our comrade, they are our enemies. Letters condemning the killing and supporting the IFTU have poured in. This list is only a partial one.
• The Trades Union Congress (TUC)
• The International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU)
• The National Association of Teachers in Further and Higher Education (UK)
• The National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers – RMT (UK)
• The AFL-CIO
• The Canadian Labour Congress
• United States Labour Against the War (USLAW)
• The International Transport Federation (ITF)
• The International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers' Associations (IUF)
• The All Pakistan United Federation of Trade Unions
• Confederazione Generale Italiana Del Lavoro (CGIL)
• The Federation of Workers Councils and Unions of Iraq (FWCUI)
The key exception to this united front of solidarity has been the begrudging utterances from you at the Stop the War (StWC) Coalition. It is indisputable that your Coalition is a significant umbrella organisation for socialists and trade unionists in the UK. It also contains many of the lefts most powerful and oft heard writers and broadcasters. So why are you all but mute on such a significant and terrifying development? We imagine that many of your membership are asking the same question.
Here is what Andrew Murray, the StWC Chair wrote on Independent journalist Johann Hari’s own website, hidden away in a ‘comments’ section. This is the only comment from StWC leaders on the murders - one line, in one post, on one blog, while writing about another topic - ‘We condemn this killing and its perpetrators, whoever they are.’ That’s it.
With this sentence Murray reveals his political dilemma. On the one hand he is unable to clearly condemn the 'resistance' and their practice of political assassination. To do so would contradict his expressed support for the ‘resistance’ to oppose the occupation, 'by any means they find necessary’. On the other hand he dare not come out in support of the murderers or reiterate his 'by any means they find necessary’ position because the backlash would surely split the StWC. Not knowing which way to turn, Murray tries to take cover behind the pseudo-sophistication of the commentator who pretends he knows too much to go with the widespread knowledge that the 'resistance' are to blame. But no amount of 'whoever they are' will get him off the hook.
We know who did the killing, so do the IFTU, and so does Murray. The ‘resistance’ that Murray defends killed these trade unionists and will continue their campaign of political assassinations until we democrats and socialists can build a movement strong enough to help defend our Iraqi comrades. In these circumstances, when what we need is a clarion call from the leadership of the StWC to all its supporters to stand shoulder to shoulder with the IFTU against the ‘resistance’ it may have been better for Murray to have maintained an Omerta.
The Stop the War leaders have ignored the warnings of Mick Rix
The murder of Hadi Saleh demands the most serious political and moral accounting by every member of StWC leadership. For the StWC leaders were warned months ago. The ex-Aslef leader, Mick Rix, when he resigned from the Stop the War Coalition Steering Committee in October 2004, commented on the “deliberate, archaic, violent, and plain downright stupid” language the StWC leaders used when describing Hadi’s organisation. The IFTU had been called ‘collaborators’ by the StWC officers, ‘quislings’ by leading StWC member George Galloway MP (comments picked up and published in the Arab Press), and a ‘fake’ union by the newspaper of Lindsey German, the Convenor of the Stop the War Coalition, Socialist Worker.
Mick Rix argued presciently that these irresponsible statements by StWC leaders had “placed these good trade unionists and socialists at a terrible risk”.
The Stop the War leaders have romanticised the ‘Resistance’
StWC leaders view the “resistance” as a legitimate national liberation movement. StWC leaders view as ‘collaborators’ the IFTU, all election workers, and all democratic parties participating in the January elections, whether Iraqi Communists, Kurdish Parties or Shia.
This view is quite wrong. The leaders of the ‘resistance’ are an amalgam of Baathists, Islamic fundamentalists, pro-al-Qaeda militants and criminals. There is nothing progressive about their political programmes. If they were ever to take state power then it would be a disaster for every worker, woman, lesbian and gay, Christian, Jew and democrat who would be left in Iraq. There would be years of unbridled reaction.
The UN-backed elections draw near. These elections are supported by the vast majority of Iraqis, 75% of whom expressed a ‘strong intention’ to vote. The vast majority of Iraqis have decided the UN backed political process offers their best chance to win sovereignty and democracy. In response the ‘resistance’ have targeted democrats, election workers, socialists, trade unionists, the leaders of the Shia, the Kurds and the Communists, and the schools that will function as polling booths.
Details of political assassinations and attacks conducted by ‘the resistance’ against Iraqi Trade Unionists
* 27/28 October 2003
The resistance tortured and murdered 4 IFTU members when their train was attacked by mortar fire on the railway line between Mosul and Baghdad. The 2 train drivers, a train controller (guard) and a security guard working for Iraqi Railways (IRR) were killed and their bodies mutilated and burnt by terrorists. The freight train that was attacked was reported to have been carrying consumer goods. The leaders of four important British trade unions organising workers in the transport sector, joined Andy Gilchrist, General Secretary of the Fire Brigades Union in sending messages of support and sympathy to the families of the murdered Iraqi railworkers. They pledged to support the IFTU in the struggle to rebuild independent trade unionism in Iraq. Kevin Curran, GMB General Secretary, Tony Woodley, T&GWU General Secretary, Keith Norman, ASLE&F Acting General Secretary and Bob Crow, RMT General Secretary all wrote messages of solidarity to the IFTU.
13 November 2004
The ‘Resistance’ murdered the Iraqi Communist Party leader Wadhah Hassan Abdul Amir (Saadoun), a member of the Interim National Assembly, along with two of his comrades, while travelling from Baghdad to Kirkuk.
* 25 December 2004
The ‘Resistance’ attack a freight train travelling from Basra to An-Nasiriyyah and kidnap the two train drivers, Salah Mehdi Taher and Salih Chiyehchan Harbi. The other five workers on the train were severely beaten and left in a life-threatening condition, Abd’ al-Emir Abd’al-Malik, Mustapha Kamel Mehdi, Amer Shamaan Amer, Ali Abd’al-Radh and Basil Abd’ Ouwd.
* 26/27 December 2004
The ‘Resistance’ launch an RPG attack on the headquarters of the Transport & Communication Workers’ Union. The ‘resistance’ shelled the building with rocket-propelled grenades and mortars which caused a large whole in the wall of the building and a crater in the ground. Luckily there were no fatalities.
January 4 2005
The ‘Resistance’ tortured and murdered Hadi Salih, International Officer of the Iraqi Federation of Trade Unions. He was tied and blindfolded and severely tortured before being forced to kneel and strangled by electric cord. The International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) has said "This vicious murder is nothing less than an attack on the right of Iraqi worker
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