International Socialists

A lot can happen in three months. Less than 24 hours after the last issue of this magazine was posted out to subscribers, the 11 September attacks on Washington and New York took place.

 

Within days, we were selling a special issue of Socialist Review, "Don't turn tragedy into war." We have taken a consistent and active anti-war stance, arguing that whoever was behind the mass murders in the US, its rulers and those of other Western countries would use them as an excuse to attack countries like Afghanistan for their own geopolitical goals. On p. 4 American socialist Lance Selfa looks behind the fog of deception, while on p. 21 Colin Heath examines Afghanistan's fate as the victim of centuries-old imperial rivalries.

 

The International Socialists have played a role in building the beginnings of an anti-war movement. On p. 20 we look at NOWAR, whilst on p. 14 we ask whether the United Nations can really be an alternative for peace, as many in the anti-war movement have argued.

 

As we go to press (early December) the media is triumphantly hailing the Northern Alliance's victory, conveniently ignoring the fact that the Soviets held onto most of Afghanistan for the period of their occupation - but were also defeated in the end. Because of the rapidly changing situation, we are providing longer and more detailed background material than normal in this issue, to help our readers wade through some of the media fog and make up their own minds.

 

Next issue we'll also be looking at our own Alliance - the party formed out of left-wing Labour dissidents that now seems to be going along the same path as old Labour itself.