Stand up and raise your voice
"As long as one of us is in chains
None of us are free"*

Tom Pearson

Two connected developments, far apart, took place during the past 
two weeks. Last week the photo of an Iraqi prisoner in Abu Ghraib 
prison, naked and surrounded by US soldiers with snarling guard 
dogs straining at the leash, caused shocked recognition around 
the world. And another shock that may be in the pipeline was 
raised this week by General Tommy Franks, former commander of US 
forces in Iraq, who suggested that George W Bush plans to give 
himself dictatorial powers if he wins the next election.

The means to absolute power are provided for in the US 
constitution and were used for the first, and only time, by 
Abraham Lincoln, who invoked them for a short period during the 
American Civil War. But as Franks noted, "George Bush is no 
Abraham Lincoln".

The potential for American fascism arises out of the power of the 
corporations that are now enmeshed in the political system, 
indistinguishable from the two major parties. The latter can be 
characterised as "two parties, one class".

Here in Australia the arrogance of the Howard Government — its 
opportunism and utter contempt for working people — is a 
reflection of a shift toward authoritarianism. Its allegiance to 
the capitalist class is deep and unswerving and bound up with 
reactionary Christian fundamentalist beliefs.

Typically, the Australian Government denied any responsibility 
for the torture of prisoners in Iraq, as though the Australian 
troops — who have taken more than 100 prisoners — are somehow 
not part of the occupation forces.

Said Defence Minister Robert Hill: "The Australian Defence Force 
did not manage the prison. The Australian Defence Force did not 
interrogate the prisoners." The main public stance of the Howard 
Government is now denial.

The reality is that we are being prepared for endless war and 
told we must accept the loss of freedoms such as the right to 
privacy; freedom of association; to speak out in dissent; to 
protest; to know someone who knows someone else who may have once 
been associated with an individual or organisation that has since 
been put on a banned list — and so on it goes.

We have our own prison camps where men, women and children who 
have come here seeking refuge, are locked up. We have a $50 
billion plus war chest (over and above ongoing military spending) 
and a free trade agreement to allow US corporations to plunder 
our labour and resources.

The introduction of laws which allow for the total seizure of 
power under a "national emergency" or some such pretext is the 
next logical step.

Which brings us again to the "F" word. The description by the 
Communist International in 1933 of fascism in power, that it is 
"the open terrorist dictatorship of the most reactionary, most 
chauvinistic and most imperialist elements of finance capital", 
remains relevant today.

Georgi Dimitrov** added that it is a "government system of 
political gangsterism", a "system of provocation and torture", of 
"unbridled aggression in relation to other nations".

And so to the shock of recognition of a man cornered and 
helpless, terrorised by guards and their baying dogs.

In a letter to the Sydney Morning Herald (May 12) a former 
prisoner of the Nazi Buchenwald concentration camp said that the 
photo brought back "horrific memories" for him. He pleaded — 
"Please stand up and raise your voices in protest. It shames us 
all, as human beings."

The war has been sanitised so far as images are concerned. The 
mutilation and slaughter of innocent Iraqis have not been allowed 
to taint our television screens and enter our living rooms. Those 
photos of humiliation, abuse and torture confirm the barbarity we 
know is taking place beyond the censored version of events.

In a way those photos have humanised the war. They say to us, 
"See that human being — that's you and I, that's what they have 
planned for all of us". This is not mere empathy. It is 
recognition that ordinary people the world over share a common 
humanity, and a common enemy.

As we now know, from reports (the pictures were censored), a few 
seconds after his photo was taken the dogs were let loose on that 
man in Abu Ghraib prison so they could tear at his flesh.

* * *

*From the blues song The Indebtedness Of Love by Fred 
Pruitt

**Georgi Dimitrov, Against Fascism and War