Whose war is this?

By: Sergio Latorre

This is the war of those who set fire in 1914 and of those who fed it with fuel in 1939. This is the war of empires, of those who need to expand their markets to new frontiers with bullets and bombs. This is the war of the media loudspeakers who, sheltered with the verbiage of patriotism and dignity, justify the bloodbath. This is also the war of all capital, for every shell, tank, bomber, every uniform and every ration, is a systole of its agonising arrest. Every wrecked house, every destroyed school, every collapsed hospital, every blasted street and road, are the diastoles that promise a future of investment. This is the war of a capitalism in crisis. This is the war of political parties barking loudly and pushing to send more weapons to the battle front. This is the war of those who use fantasies of czarist nostalgia to beat the drums. This is the war of the oligarchs of the East but also of the oligarchs of the West. It is the war of the entire bourgeoisie. This is the war of NATO and of all the armies under the same flag: the flag of shame.

But this is not the war of the workers of the world, nor Ukrainian workers, nor Russian workers. Even if they have dressed themselves up in uniforms, this is not the war of the workers on either side. This is not the war of the ordinary poor, who are forced to paint their tears in patriotic colours as they mourn their beloved ones. This is not the war of the peoples, who, speaking even the same languages, are enlisted as enemies. This is not the war of the labourers of Europe, who are now stretching their wages to pay the ever-rising energy bills. This is not the war of the families who have been told by politicians not to use the heating in the midst of winter. This is not the war of the peasants and farmers, to whom fertilisers are reaching unattainable prices. Nor is it the war of those who, for lack of food, suffer starvation in the middle of the carnage. This has never been the war of the international proletariat nor of their organisations. It was never the war neither of Lenin nor of Karl Liebknecht, nor of Rosa Luxemburg. This is not our war.