On March 20th it will be one year since the US-led coalition of aggressors launched their massive attack on Iraq. Claiming to be acting to protect the world from "terrorism" and "weapons of mass destruction" they invaded a land already devastated by 8 years of war and further weakened by 10 years of economic sanctions that followed. Tens of thousands of Iraqis were wounded and killed at the hands of these "liberators". Millions continue to suffer terrible deprivation as the "liberators" persist in denying them basic human necessities.

All the lies that were told to justify this horror have been exposed a thousand times over, but the occupiers continue to describe their rule over Iraq as a new era of "freedom and democracy". They still dream of plundering the oil wealth of Iraq and turning it into a base from which they will strengthen their domination of the entire Middle East and Gulf Region (or "Greater Middle East" as they now call it). Beyond this have declared a "new world order" in which national sovereignty is obsolete and the big powers have the "right" to wage "pre-emptive" war against any country they choose. This worldwide "war against terror" has proven without doubt to be nothing less than a war of terror directed against the entire world!

A year ago millions around the globe staged powerful actions against the aggression that was about to take place. That display of true people's power shook the ruling elites and exposed their talk of "fighting terrorism" and "liberation" to be nothing more than a bloody grab for power. On March 20th, one year later, it is more important than ever that the on-going occupation of Iraq and the other acts of domination and oppression being carried out by the big powers and their surrogates - in Afghanistan, in Palestine, in Nepal and in other countries around the world - be actively opposed by as many as people as possible. Taking such action will also send a powerful message to the people of Iraq who are daily risking their lives to combat this occupation that we stand with them in their struggle for self-determination free of foreign domination.

The modern day crusade we are experiencing has had worldwide consequences well beyond Iraq and the Middle East: attacks on legal and political rights and the freedom to dissent in countries everywhere; the stirring up of hatred against immigrants and people of the Islamic faith; cuts in living standards and social services… all of these things and more have been justified under the phoney signboard of a "war against terror". Billions of dollars and thousands of lives have already been sacrificed to serve the greediest ends imaginable. While they fight and manoeuvre among themselves over how to split the spoils, the big powers - with the US in the lead - are actively planning even more of the same.

Therefore on March 20 we must give renewed expression to our resistance to this course of events. We must make it clear that we will not rest until the occupation of Iraq has ended and the other crimes that are being committed or are in planning have been stopped and the perpetrators punished. We must act on the understanding that no politician's promises or change of faces in high places will ever bring an end to imperialism's thirst for power and profit. We must take another important step in building a worldwide movement that stands for a completely different future than the one this system has in store for us: a worldwide movement that is determined to keep fighting until that other future is a reality.

People of the World Unite to Stop the US-led Imperialist Offensive!
North, South, East and West: Unite the People's Struggles!

Provisional Organising Committee
World People's Resistance Movement (Europe)
Contact: wprm@wprm. org