Preparations are well advanced in Washington and London for war against Baghdad. Having already faced one devastating onslaught in 1991, and more than a decade of economic strangulation that has caused the deaths of tens of thousands of people, Iraq faces complete devastation. The question is not whether, but when—senior US officials have admitted that United Nations resolutions on weapons inspections are nothing more than a smokescreen, and that Washington will act unilaterally to achieve its ends.

Yet, without any serious public examination of the motives behind the drive to war, the Blair government has signed up unconditionally to US-inspired aggression. Disregarding the catastrophic consequences of such action, Blair insists that it is in the “national interest”. This is the same argument used by the government to justify destroying the living conditions of millions of working people within Britain itself. At home and abroad, the Blair government displays the same reckless arrogance and ruthlessness as its Washington counterpart.

Chris Marsden, editorial board member of the World Socialist Web Site and the national secretary of the British Socialist Equality Party, will address a series of public meetings on the historical background to Washington’s war drive, and the real reasons for the alliance between Blair and Bush.

Public meetings

London
Sunday, 8 December, 3.00 p.m.
University of London Union (ULU), Room 2B
Malet Street, London WC1E 7HY
(Nearest Underground stations: Russell Square, Euston Square and Goodge S.)

Manchester
Tuesday, 10 December, 7.30 p.m.
International Society, Oxford Rd.,
Opposite Manchester University Students Union
Manchester M13 9PL

Sheffield
Wednesday, 11 December, 7.30 p.m.
St. Matthews Rooms, Carver Street, Sheffield