Fight global war – out to the streets for a lively and visible resistance against the Munich NATO- War-Conference
Fight global war – out to the streets for a lively and visible resistance against the Munich NATO- War-Conference and the so called „Finance-Conference NorthAfrica/Mideast“ on the 11th/12th of February 2005
Friday – 11th February: Actionday in Munich´s City
Saturday – 12th February: International Mass Demonstration
Munich – the big city with a heart, the venue of the „NATO-Security-Conference“, is not only known as Yuppie-Stronghold and as one of the – in the sense of the Police – m most pacified cities in the world. It is also the town, where Siemens, EADS, MTU, Krauss-Maffei and others are located – they are all important parts in the European Military-Industrial Complex and export lethal commodities around the world. The other side of repressiv „Security“ Policies, in form of omnipresent Police and private security companies, shut-out of non-commercial ways of living, racist controls, deportations and camp internment of refugees and city-wide camera surveillance.
Every year ministers, military strategists and experts of the Military Industry assamble in the Hotel Bayrischer Hof, to plan wars and arrange new arm contracts, to enjoy shopping and dining in Munich and to present their wars as peace-keeping.
On Friday, February the 11th, before the NATO-War-Conference begins, there will for the first time take place a so called „Finance Conference Northafrica/Mideast“. The Association of German Industry (BDI) and the Association of German Banks (BdB)are inviting to this conference under the motto „more security through investment“ to debate german capital strategies for these parts of the world.
We will be on the streets this year again. We want to show, that we are fed up with war, militarism, law & order – madness and capitalist utilization logic. We want to make the days these Ladies and Gentlemen are in Munich as uncomfortable as possible for them. We want to move together towards a world of solidarity without exploitation and masters.
Finance-Conference Northafrica/Mideast
Some 250 Representatives from companies, banks and politics are meeting at the finance-Conference to discuss about ways how german ambitions of getting World-Power can economicaly be better translated in to action, also in these regions, after the German Foreign Minister caused some fuss with his suggestion for a „transatlantic initiative for the whole mediterranean area“ on the 2004 NATO-War-Conference. They will also discuss how to push forward the creation of a freetrade-area in that region. Which is strived for by the EU since 1995 and should reach from Marocco to Syria. Such a freetrade-area means profits for big corporations and the growth of a rich elite, while the food sources of the people get destroyed and poverty rises. The goal of this is not wealth for all but the creation of a economically dependent backyard.
Authoritarian regimes (like those who rule in the arabic mediterranean states) are hereby welcome partners, because they care for peace and quiet, so economy can function smoothly.
The organizers of both conferences make no secret of the fact, that economic exploitation and its military protection are two sides of the same coin. Therefore the War-Conference is the coorganizer of the Finance-Conference. The participants of both get welcomed in the Hotel Bayrischer Hof on Friday evening and even the topics of the conferenc programs coordinated with each other. One of the main topics of the War-Conference will be the “mutual relationship between economic development and security”. “Partly specific security risks minder trade and investment in this region” as the Association of German Industry (BDI) says in its invitation.
Enough reasons, that we make the Finance-Conference of the BDI to a focal point next to the NATO-War-Conference of creative protests and resistance.
Together against capitalist “free”trade, german super-power ambitions and EU military policy.
Infobox: The world`s war elite at the Munich War-Conference:
The NATO …
Since the beginning of the cold war NATO has been the most important military alliance of the rich industrial states. The history of NATO stands for things like nuclear armament, the rearmament of western Gemany as an anti-communist front-state, terror against social and revolutionary movements through intelligence agencies, the support of Turkey`s war against the curds and the war of aggressioin against Jugoslavia.
Worldwide warfare became the future Maintopic of NATO in 1999 when they declared their new strategy.
Even if any of today´s wars are led without a NATO-Resolution, it´s the NATO-Members which send their troops around the world. Important military cooperations are still based on the NATO-Partnership. Like Germany´s logistic support for US-Troops during the war against Iraq. The membership of easteuropean countries in NATO made it possible for the USA to install military and naval bases in Poland and Romania.
EU and German Armed Forces …
Germany also is more involved then ever: even if most people don´t regard Germany as a country being at war, this state has one of the biggest contingents opf soldiers in international military actions. German soldiers “defend! – as war minister Struck called it – the country´s borders at the Hinducush, in Cosovo and probably soon not only in Dshibuti but on the whole african continent. While the leading states of the EU used the war as publicity to create an image of a peaceful alternative to the us-policy, the EU is working hard on becoming a military global-player. A 60.000 soldiers strong EU- Intervention Force will soon be ready for Military action. Even outside of the NATO the peace-states of Europe support the wars of their allies, like the russian War on Terror in Chechenia.
Against the global war …
We have seen long enough, that the world didn´t get peacefuller with the implementation of capitalist domination without concurrence. The scene of modern wars are all continents. The actors: nation´s armies, international war alliances, mercenary troups of private security companies, local warlords, paramilitary groups… .They fight for natural resources, imperial spheres of interest, their share of market and also partly for control over areas, in which capitalism has been unable to offer the people a perspective for a long time. Modern wars are no “archaic tribal feuds”, but part of the capitalist worldmarket. For the people living in in the warzones this means massacre and expulsion, rape and forced prostitution, camp internment and the boom of everyday violence – espacially against women. The authoritaian and patriarchal logic of war and the Military creates the division of people in soldierly men ready to kill and “defenceless”, helpneeding female victims. This logic does not get better, if also women can stand their ground in a modern army as human desert robot or computer expert. And it is also not getting better when world-wide military actions nowadays are legitimized as “peace-keeping”, “democratization” or “protection of women´s rights”.
and the so called peace …
It is impossible in this world to seperate world-wide wars and domestic social attacs and internal restructurrings. The so called peace – which does not include more than the momental absence of military actions – means under the dominating conditions, that millions die of starvation or curable diseases, that many workers have to work more than 13 hours a day in sweatshops ad worldmarket-factories, that essential ressources like water become privatized, and that a big part of humanity has no access to land and living space. It includes also, that sexist division of labour and role modelling are daily produced and defended through physical and psychological violence. Even if the conditions here in western Europe are far away from those in the global south: also here capitalism is showing more and more bluntly it´s ugly face. For example the german government is running with “AGENDA 2010”, HARTZ-laws and “Healthreform” the biggest cutbacks in the social system, since the existence of the FRG. One-Euro-Jobs, forced labour or 60 hoursa week – there are no limits for the phantasy set, how to pick on and discipline the unemployed, how to aggravate working conditions and how to make illness aprivate risk. Such repressive laws are first tried and tested on refugees and migrants, because they didn´t have any lobby. These measures now are extended to the next marginalized groups: unemployed and senior citizens, this sweeping attack also endangers already heavily skilled labour workers.
Parallel to the worldwide aggravationof the social contradictions the Schilys, Bliars and Berlusconis are working heavily inside the EU to strengthen the racist migration-regime and the criminalizationof disobidient people. They export the war on refugees and migrants in form of camps outside the borders of the EU – five of these shall be installed in Northafrica. Italy consideres the deportation of people who fled over the meditarrean sea, to Lybia – without a asylum trial – to be a consequent and human migration policy.
World-wide warfare, social cutbacks, camp-regime, “inner security”: all this is standing for an unstable development, in which state and capital revoke fundamental and human rights and the so called social-partnership and ressurect more and more repressive and authoritarian ways to control social conflicts.
Let´s fight together – resistance now and every day!
In many places, even in Europe, resistance is rising against the more and more impudent attacks from above. Still not enough is happenning, too many people are captives of nationalist logic of the market-place and racist exclusion, the connections between the different social movements are way to weak. But a struggle for social rights must be a struggle against war – and the other way around. One more reason that we leave rigide niches and bring the contradictions to a head – in the sense of amovement, for which everything is at stake.
