The issue of the 2003 Bush War on Saddam is fundamental. It is key. I return to this issue all of the time.
The opposition to the 2003 Bush War from the “Left” was clearly
1. part of the Alliance of the “Left” with Islam
2. a negation of the Jihad
i can show easily that this Alliance of the “Left” with Mohammedanism stands in contradiction to the great socialist founders, and most specifically with positions of Leon Trotsky.
The “left” refuses to believe that there is a Jihad in the world by the forces of Mohammedanism. But that should have been the real reason for opposing the Bush War on Saddam. Let me explain.
Saddam was at every point prepared to enter into Alliance with Bush and US for one reason and one reason only. Saddam saw as the main danger to himself and to his state as being the Jihad. Thus the FBI/CIA interviews with Saddam post capture tell a lot (Wikipedia has report)
“…had resisted U.N. weapons inspections because he “was more concerned about Iran discovering Iraq’s weaknesses and vulnerabilities than the repercussions of the United States for his refusal to allow U.N. inspectors back into Iraq,” according to the reports.[5] The former leader reportedly maintained that he did not collaborate with Al-Qaeda, as had been suggested by George W. Bush administration officials in support of its policy of regime change in Iraq.[6] Hussein said he feared Al-Qaeda would have turned on him, and was quoted calling Osama bin Laden a “zealot.”[3]
The opposition of Saddam to the UN Inspections was also to show Iran that he was still strong. (Honour in Arab politics, loss of face…see Richard Landes on this) Saddam also had reason to fear Iran.
Thus there was a clear opportunity for the US and Britain to créate an Alliance with Saddam against Iran and against the Jihad in particular.
Bush did not take that road. There is obviously no question about that.
Was Gadhafi afraid that Bush would do the same to him? Yes (after Desert Storm who would not be!) but to pose it like that is to miss the other reality (that other reality!) which is far more important. These are secular Arab rulers who fear the Islamic Jihad. That was far more important in pushing Gadhafi into an Alliance with Bush and Blair agaisnt the Jihad.
The “Left” misreads, misunderstands, and now is an agent of Islam, and the “Left” opposition to the Bush War was leading all of those millions of youth and workers into a specific AND REACTIONARY direction. Under leaders like Chomsky and probably ALSO under the influence of state agents in their ranks the “Left” was becoming a problem for the working class itself…still is.