The massive terror attack on the World Trade Centre, which has killed thousands of office and other workers, is indefensible in any terms, and should be condemned outright.
But the war that has been declared by the USA, and the carnage that will be unleashed by the world’s only superpower in the quest for military vengeance have nothing to do with "freedom" or "democracy": they are a reactionary attempt to reassert the right of US and world imperialism to exploit and dominate the poor and oppressed throughout the globe.
The political conditions which probably created the September 11 attacks are far from obscure. The perpetrators are not known at this time (despite all claims by the CIA), but the driving force behind them is most likely to be a deep hatred of US imperialism generated by US foreign policy – past and present.
We share the grief of the relatives of those who have lost their lives at their place of work. The civilian victims, like the great majority of the American people, cannot be held responsible for the barbarous policies of their government.
But for years the US government, and US multi-national companies, have been imposing their will on the world by military force and financial power. They have been destroying local economies, imposing structural adjustment programmes, overthrowing popular governments, and putting the Suhartos, the Pinochets, the Marcoses, and the Mobutus in power – dictators subordinated to the US, who did not hesitate to slaughter their own people in the cause of US policy.
Now for the first time in recent times the USA is confronted with a huge attack on its own territory. Previously this has been the fate of the Koreans, the Vietnamese, the Cambodians, the Iraqis, the Yugoslavs, the Somalis, the Nicaraguans … you could name a dozen more.
Under today’s globalised economy, the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer, and increased repression is used to keep the poor in their place.
The mass misery which US policy – backed by the major Western powers (particularly Britain) – has imposed on the majority of the world’s population has created the conditions for the new feature in terrorism and resistance: the suicide bomber, and now the suicide pilot.
In occupied Palestine there is no shortage of young men willing to sacrifice their lives in order to strike a blow against the Israeli oppressor. Again, although such acts, particularly against civilians, cannot be supported, it is easy to see how they come about.
Palestinians are dying every day at the hands of an Israeli war machine – a machine supplied, backed, and bankrolled by the USA. The war criminal Sharon is totally backed by George Bush – who is also no longer even interested in the so-called "peace process".
In Iraq a million civilians have perished through US-sponsored sanctions and the destruction of the infrastructure of the country, including the water supply and treatment plants. Today US and British planes continue to bomb Iraq on a daily basis.
None of these crimes by US imperialism justifies the killing of thousands of US civilians: but they do help to explain the anger which is felt against the USA and its symbols of power.
The fact is that whoever carried out the attacks in the USA, the result of all this will be a new period of reaction. New political conditions more conducive to global capital are being created on the back of the carnage on September 11.
But one thing is sure: the result of acts of war by US imperialism in the present circumstances will be to create the conditions for such acts of terror to be repeated.