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Resist US-Led War Movement condemns US-NATO aggression and military build-up to war with Russia over Ukraine. We stand with the people of the world demanding genuine engagement in diplomatic negotiations paired with tangible action toward de-escalation of the conflict. For any negotiations to be taken seriously, they must include an end to U.S.-NATO moves that contribute to hostilities in the region. This includes ending NATO multi-lateral naval exercises such as Neptune Strike 22 in the Mediterranean Sea this week involving a U.S. nuclear aircraft carrier; plans for Mission Clemenceau 22 in February involving French, Italian and U.S. aircraft carriers and a nuclear-armed submarine; and plans for Defender Europe 22 from May to mid-June involving 33,000 troops from 26 countries rehearsing rapid deployment of large combat units. This also includes putting a stop to the massing of arms to Ukraine; not only have at least $650 million worth of weapons been provided directly by the U.S., but NATO members Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland are also transferring U.S. tanks, missiles and other weapons to Ukraine. The U.S.-NATO military advisors already in Ukraine must be removed and the 8,500 troops that U.S. President Joe Biden recently ordered to be on “high alert” for deployment to Eastern Europe must be called off. Actions must be taken to cool off the conflict now, but long-term peace will not be achieved without dismantling NATO. One of the most contentious points is the threatened expansion of NATO right at the border of Russia, should Ukraine join the alliance. Since its founding in 1949, NATO has acted as an armed wing of US-led war and imperialism, mobilizing its member states in North America and Europe to unleash lethal military campaigns in the name of “collective defense, crisis management and cooperative security” with an explicit purpose to surround and contain Russia. This has led to the building up of bases and military installations in the Black, Baltic and Mediterranean Seas; recruitment of former Soviet member countries such as Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania; and the propping up of U.S.-friendly and fascist governments in nearby Poland, Hungary and Ukraine. Select NATO countries like Germany and France critical of Ukrainian weapons transfers are silenced to maintain the facade of a united NATO attitude of war posturing. It’s clear the US seeks to maintain NATO as the same military trump card against Russia as it was used during the Cold War. To uphold Ukraine’s sovereignty we must end U.S. intervention. Earlier this week, U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken stated: “We make clear that there are core principles that we are committed to uphold and defend, including Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and the right of states to choose their own security arrangements and alliances.” This couldn’t be further from the truth. Given the geopolitical and economic importance of Ukraine in the region, the U.S. has been trying to exert influence over the country since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. Through threats of sanctions, to stoking Russophobia in the academe and among NGOs through billions of dollars in grants, pushing Ukraine to join NATO, and heavily arming Ukraine, the U.S. has contributed to destabilization under the guise of democratizing the country, securing its economy, and protecting it from invasion. Resist US-Led War Movement joins the people in demanding U.S.-NATO Out of Ukraine! Respect the Sovereignty and Self-Determination of Ukraine! Dismantle NATO! We call on the people to Build Solidarity and Fight for Just Peace! Sign the pledge against NATO | Conduct actions against war over Ukraine ON THE AUKUS DEAL: JOINT STATEMENT OF ASIA PACIFIC RESEARCH NETWORK AND RESISTOn September 15, the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia announced their newly forged trilateral military alliance-- AUKUS. A stated aspect of the agreement is the modernization of military assets to address growing “security challenges in the Indo-Pacific region.”[1] The Asia Pacific Research Network (APRN) and the RESIST US-led War Movement (RESIST) consider the AUKUS as a threat to genuine security in the region. We stand in solidarity with the peoples of the Asia Pacific demanding that AUKUS be immediately scrapped. The security pact sets its eyes on improving cyber capabilities, artificial intelligence, quantum technologies, and other technologies. But, the most contentious initiative under AUKUS is Australia’s acquisition of, at minimum, eight nuclear-powered submarines through BAE Systems PLc.[2] The Australian Defence Force’s arsenal will also be augmented with Tomahawk Cruise Missiles, Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missiles (Extended Range), Long-Range Anti-Ship Missiles (Extended Range), hypersonic missiles, precision strike guided missiles, and developing a sovereign guided weapons manufacturing enterprise. These enhancements are integrated into the existing military systems of the three countries in the region. These bolster the hundreds of military bases in the Asia Pacific region; the US-Australia Pine Gap base used for intelligence and drone strikes; the USS Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group recently sailing into the South China Sea; and Britain’s recent announcement that they will permanently station two warships in contested waters.[3][4][5] According to the joint statement by the leaders of the three AUKUS countries, the deal was made with “international rules-based order” in mind. They also claimed that AUKUS would contribute to the “peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region.”[6] History, however, has taught us that these countries think “peace and stability” means manifest destiny; using their military might to influence world affairs to their favor. China, more than anyone, is aware that this new military alliance between and among its rivals is surely aimed at limiting China’s influence and economic control and directed towards neutralizing their military dominance over the region. China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson condemned the alliance’s “outdated Cold War zero-sum mentality and narrow minded geopolitical perception”.[7] Global Times, the Chinese Communist Party-owned international media outfit, called Australia a “running dog of the US” for its involvement in the “US-led strategic siege of China.” The Global Times’ editorial went on to assert that “if Australia dares to provoke China more blatantly because of that, or even find fault militarily, China will certainly punish it with no mercy.”[8] Both Washington and Beijing have given their continued fidelity to keeping the peace and avoiding war, but the advent of the AUKUS pact clearly aggravates tensions. What is so important in Asia that key global players would risk compromising relations with allied countries and war with rivals? The answer is economic dominance and trade route control. The AUKUS countries would benefit from securing key supply lines away from global competitors. It would mean, siphoning the Global South’s natural resources, and further penetrating domestic markets of weak democracies where they can dump their surplus goods. In particular, the Straits of Malacca and the global superconductor shortage seem to be primary considerations for key global players’ deepened interest in the region. The Straits of Malacca is a major waterway where “[a] quarter of the world’s trade, half the world’s oil, and two-thirds of its natural gas trade pass through”.[9] Specifically, “70 percent of Japan’s oil” and “80 percent of China’s trade” traverses the Malacca Straits. Anyone who can monopolize control over the waterway could dictate the flow of global commerce and use it to leverage further influence over rival countries.[10][11][12] Moreover, the worldwide microchip shortage is causing major plunges across several industries such as automobile, smartphone, and computer component production. The automobile manufacturing industry anticipates a total loss of at least USD 60.6 billion for this year alone.[13] The shortage-induced economic downturns compounded with the alarming competitiveness of China in microchip production during the past couple of years are prompting Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (QUAD) member countries (US, Australia, Japan, India) to improve their production processes. They recently expressed their intention to establish “a safe supply chain for semiconductors.” [14] For instance, Australia, as one of the leading sources of essential minerals for microchip production, is advised to further integrate with the supply chain. Meanwhile, the R&D-focused US receives the manufactured chips from East Asia and prepares them for distribution.[15] Certainly, the multi-billion electronics supply chain involving Australia and the US will benefit from the AUKUS military pact. The economic objectives of the QUAD are buttressed by its military objectives, and here is where the AUKUS pact comes into full force. China’s claim to maritime territory of five different countries and territories (Taiwan, Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei) threatens the traditional economic corridors of the QUAD members. While China’s construction of military bases in the region is an existential threat to the US-led military dominance of the Indo-Pacific. AUKUS arrives as a technological upgrade to the military capabilities of the QUAD countries in containing China’s territorial expansion. The AUKUS pact has far-reaching implications that would introduce added friction in a region that is already tense from territorial disputes.
The APRN and RESIST! stand in solidarity with the people of Asia Pacific not just in abolishing the AUKUS pact, but in dismantling all manifestations of imperialism in the region-- may it be from the US, China, or any other country. We are uncompromising in our commitment to end all imperialist conflicts across the globe-- putting an end to their insatiable hunger for Third world resources. In addition to opposing armed conflict, we are also devoted to establishing pro-people national economies in underdeveloped countries replacing existing neoliberal policies. The freedom and liberation of the Global South comes not just from the absence of war, but also from the presence of a sustainable, independent, and mass-oriented system of governance. Ultimately, we demand that China and the US and their allies respect and observe national sovereignty and patrimony of all nation-states. If they are truly sincere in ensuring regional “peace and stability,” then they must withdraw their military troops, assets, and bases from the Global South. REFERENCES:
Biden Administration, Hands Off Indo-Pacific! Peace, Justice and Sovereignty, Not More Militarization!The Asia-Pacific network of the Resist US-Led War Movement condemns the recent visits to the Asia-Pacific region by high-ranking cabinet members of the Biden administration. While these visits were presented as promoting “freedom and a rules-based order”, the Resist US-Led War Movement exposes these for what they genuinely represent: the continuity of US military strategy in order to maintain US-friendly economic and political policy at the detriment to sovereignty and human rights of the people of the region. US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Defense Secretary Loyd Austin visited Japan and South Korea in March. The two then subsequently returned in July, with Blinken visiting India and Austin visiting Vietnam, Singapore and the Philippines. Vice President Kamala Harris just finished her August tour of Singapore and Vietnam. Each of these countries represents a fortified political-military “base” for the United States in the region, and the policies reaffirmed by these visits reflects this unequal relationship. Japan has been a favored location for US military bases since the country’s defeat in World War II. The US-Japanese security treaty provides ‘legal basis’ for stationing the US troops there for ‘peace and security of the Far East’, even though the Japanese Constitution outlawed the use of an offensive Japanese military. Japanese taxes would be used to fund the US military bases that dot the island nation, today amounting to 81 US-owned bases in addition to at least 52 Japanese facilities used by US forces. The majority of these bases are on the island of Okinawa, where a 2019 referendum showed 72% of residents are against the construction of new bases. Yet the country’s elite who make up the government continue to push for US military agreements that match their economic interests, including the implementation of harsh crackdowns against mass anti-base protests. Japan is the fourth largest U.S. trading partner and largest source of foreign direct investment into the United States, and its investors are the largest foreign holders of U.S. Treasury securities. South Korea remains a key US buffer state to counter the policies of the Democratic Peoples’ Republic of Korea (North Korea). The US has continuously stationed the THAAD missile system in Seongju since 2017, against the demands of thousands of consistent protesters but to the benefit of THAAD producer Lockheed Martin’s annual billions of dollars in profit. Blinken and Austin’s visit reaffirmed the placement of the unpopular missile system, the retention of the 15 US military bases and support for other state policies designed to keep the current order. One of these polices, the 1948 National Security Law, has been used to quash free speech and label calls for sovereignty and peace as support for terrorism, especially around the calls for peaceful reunification of Korea, a move that would make the US military presence in the country a clearly moot point. Austin’s visit to the Philippines came right after an approved $2+ billion weapons sale and the one-year anniversary of the country’s widely condemned Anti-Terror Law, which has been used to extrajudicially arrest and execute hundreds of activists. The key point of discussion was the Visiting Forces Agreement that has allowed the US to circumvent constitutional bans on foreign bases, troops and facilities on Philippine soil, thus enabling US troops to station at Philippine military bases following the popular movement which led to the ejection of US bases from the country in 1992. The Agreement was rescinded by the Duterte regime in retaliation for human rights concerns expressed by some members of the US Congress, assigning Austin’s meeting the objective of winning the Agreement back through promises of further military support. Over 600 US troops are regularly stationed on a rotational basis in the Philippines to counter what the US sees as the encroachment of China and the suppression of mass actions for sovereignty against the billions of dollars in US foreign ownership in the country’s economy. Vietnam and Singapore are two other countries the US seeks to maintain strong influence with. Austin’s speech in Singapore proclaiming that, “no one can go it alone” marked a turn from the unilateralism of President Trump and towards the multilateral Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Yet ASEAN has from its start been used to promote foreign monopoly control through capital investment via US-friendly trade agreements. Singapore also renewed the US’s use of domestic military bases. Vietnam has long expressed concern over Chinese claims to territorial waters, and the US used this opportunity in 2019 to approve the first sale of Boeing weapons to the country since its war of liberation. An extra stop in Hanoi for Austin reaffirmed the US’s posture in the region. Harris promised over $100 million in new USAID funding for Covid-19 relief, energy infrastructure, higher education, support for people with disabilities and business innovation, funding that historically has been used to further privatize once-public industries. Blinken’s visit to India was intended to strengthen the so-called Quadrilateral Alliance (Quad) between the US, India, Japan and Australia against the posturing of China. This was in the shadow of massive nationwide demonstrations of farmers against neoliberal agricultural laws favoring foreign agribusiness and one of the world’s most devastating Covid-19 outbreaks due to government inaction. Blinken said nothing about the Indian military’s well-documented human rights abuses in its occupation of Jammu and Kashmir nor its crackdowns on activists and national and religious minorities in the country. Australia was not visited, however its government’s long time subservience to US military and economic interests in the region guarantees Australian government’s support for US aggression. More than 2,500 US marines are now permanently stationed in Darwin (North Australia) on a rotational basis. Pine Gap in Central Australia remains the largest US intelligence base outside of the US itself, and the US is allowed access to any Australian military base in the country. Australia’s military spending is slated to reach $570 billion over the next 10 years and multinational weapons companies such as Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Raytheon have been given more than $22 billion in weapons manufacturing contracts over the past four years, whilst requiring to pay only minimum tax. This demonstrates Australia’s low priorities for public funding of health, education and social services in order to maintain the highest military capacity to fulfil the escalating requirements and unequal relationship of the Anzus Treaty with the US. In the wake of these high-profile US cabinet visits, the people of Asia Pacific resume their calls for sovereignty, justice and independence from all big powers imposing economic and military dominance. The US Indo-Pacific Strategy will continue to pit the region against itself for imperialist gains. Austin made the US’s objectives clear while en route to Japan in March: “Our goal is to make sure that we have the capabilities and the operational plans and concepts to be able to offer credible deterrence to China or anybody else who would want to take on the U.S.” In this statement, the US clearly delineates China as its existential threat while labeling anyone rejecting US-centered policies an equal threat. This justifies US support for fascisized policies such as the Philippine Anti-Terror Law and the Korean National Security Law, bringing the heavy arm of the state down on people mobilizing for their rights. Harris’s suggestion for the US to host the 2023 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference further exposes how this militarist agenda strives to achieve the economic agenda of an Asia-Pacific in the pockets of US monopolists and financiers. As the ruling elites of Asia-Pacific governments choose their sides in the new multi-polar world order, the people stand united against US-led war and militarism, be it in the form of foreign military bases, joint military exercises, arms sales or US-funded state violence. We have seen the people mount widespread protests for years against the US military bases in Okinawa; the provocative joint US-South Korea military exercises; and the enactment of military agreements which trample on Philippine sovereignty. The Resist US-Led War Movement calls on all those who stand against wars of aggression and for a just and lasting peace to link arms with the people of the Asia Pacific and stand firm against the destructive war preparations of the US and its superpower rivals. FROM BUSH TO BIDEN: WAR PROFITEERS WIN BIG IN THE US WAR ON AFGHANISTANIn the wake of the US drone strike against the ISIS-Khorasan group in Afghanistan mere weeks after the US military “pull-out”, the Resist US-Led War Movement condemns this blatant attempt to reassert power through aggression in the country. When Biden declared at a White House press conference that, “We will hunt you down and make you pay,” he was acting as the mouthpiece for the monopoly weapons corporations who have worked hard over the last 20 years to maintain the occupation of Afghanistan as a pool of constant superprofits.
$2,000,000,000,000--two trillion dollars was poured into the US war and occupation of Afghanistan, resulting in 171,000 people killed, four million people displaced, tens of thousands of new refugees, and heightened instability in Afghanistan and the region. After 20 years of the US “War on Terror” waged on Afghanistan, it is clear that the only winners have been the war profiteers who reaped hundreds of billions of dollars by waging this war and are poised to continue benefiting from the instability left in its wake. Money-Making Venture for Monopoly Capitalists One look at the balance sheets of the top five largest US corporations in the weapons industry shows how they capitalized on the war on Afghanistan to turn enormous profits. According to research conducted by The Intercept, since the start of the war in 2001, investment returns skyrocketed 331.49% for Raytheon; 625.37% for General Dynamics; 974.97% for Boeing; 1,197.14% for Northrup Grumman; and 1,235.60% for Lockheed Martin. Private military contractors outnumbered US military troops 3 to 1 in both Afghanistan and Iraq since 2017, with over $220 billion spent between the two countries. L3Harris (formerly the Harris Corporation) was awarded a $1.7 billion contract to supply Afghan security forces with communications technology. Testing Ground for Future Wars For 20 years, the US used Afghanistan as a military testing ground for war tactics and technology. Using Afghanistan as an international “base” for carrying out the War on Terror, the US secretly operated numerous black sites to disappear and torture alleged terrorist detainees from around the world. Control over Afghanistan ensured a strategic center for the torture program in Asia. Under Trump, the US dropped the so-called “Mother Of All Bombs” on Afghanistan, in the largest non-nuclear bomb attack in history. Perhaps most notoriously, the US war on Afghanistan became synonymous with drone warfare. With the use of drones for everything from surveillance to missile and bomb attacks, the US honed its done technology through 20 years of application in both all-out aggression and counterinsurgency operations. From 2001-2017, the Bureau of Investigative Journalism estimated at least 16,000 people killed by drones in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia alone, with tens of thousands more injured or otherwise impacted by the trauma of drone surveillance and attacks. The Center for the Study of the Drone reported that 102 countries now use drones for military purposes, with the US far surpassing any other country in the use of weaponized drones and production of drones for export. US weapons TNCs such as Boeing also lead the world in developing weaponized jet-powered drones, drones with the capacity to carry large and heavy weapons, micro-drones, and drones with artificial intelligence technology to guide drone “swarms.” Drone warfare and surveillance is an integral part of the militarization of the US-Mexico border wall. The US Navy is now investing hundreds of millions of dollars in the development of unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs), pointing to the expansion of the US’s use of drone technology from Afghanistan to its new focus--the Indo-Pacific and China. War for Geopolitical Gain While the US used the rhetoric of fighting terorrism and fighting for the rights of women as justification for launching its war on Afghanistan, its true intentions were never humanitarian. For decades leading up to the war, the US sought to surround Iran militarily from Afghanistan on the Eastern border and Iraq on the Western border. The US also aimed to control the vital trade routes that crisscross Afghanistan, essential for billions of dollars in trade across South Asia. Before the current “Pivot to Asia” doctrine, it was crucial for US strategy to have a “center” for the borderless War on Terror. In the new multi-polar situation, while the new “center” for the US is shifting to the Indo-Pacific, Afghanistan remains important to the US’s geopolitical priorities and will continue to be subject to US aggression and destabilization through sanctions, surveillance, espionage, military strikes and the like. International Solidarity with the People of Afghanistan The US resoundingly failed to achieve any of the objectives it outwardly expressed for invading and occupying Afghanistan. No sustained peace was won, the people suffered for twenty long years under air strikes, nighttime home raids and arbitrary arrests, and national unity was not achieved through the US-backed government. Yet, the Afghani people still stand united in the call for a just and lasting peace in their country. US weapons monopolies and their supporters in government destroyed any semblance of peace so as to continue lining their pockets. The only way to fight back against their power is by supporting the Afghan peoples’ struggle for self-determination against foreign domination. The US war machine was defeated after 20 years of struggle against a force determined to eject it from their homeland by any means necessary. Now is the time to support grassroots movement building on the ground so that the entire Afghan people can win a say in their country’s future. International solidarity is the strongest weapon against the power of US-led war and the military-industrial complex.
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