Capitalism is the most bloody and warlike society in human history. The 20th Century in particular has seen enough people killed in wars to have depopulated the world in previous eras. At the end of World War 2 the major powers dusted themselves down and once again began preparing for the next war. Spending on arms reached unprecedented levels. Nazi rocket scientists were quickly brought to the US and Britain to help perfect the weapons they had begun work on under Hitler. Within five years the Korean War was under way, at a cost of 1.5 million lives. Within a decade of its end the Vietnam War had begun, in which 55,000 US troops would die. The Vietnamese struggle for liberation, eventually cost 2.5 million dead, many of them peasants murdered by US soldiers, carpet bombing and napalm attacks.

But Vietnam and Korea are only the two best known wars to hace gripped the world since the peace celebrations in 1945. In fact the world has not been at peace for a single day since then. Over 80 wars have kept the generals and the munitions industry busy. The death toll is somewhere between 15 and 30 million people. Today some 40 countries are in the grip of war, or civil war or are being destabilised by their neighbours. In the 1990'2 the conflict in former Yugoslavia saw war return to the centre of Europe for the first time since 1945.

So why is our system so bloody? Why does the carnage grow with every succeeding generation? Could there be a capitalist system without war? The key feature of capitalism, as right wingers constantly tell us, is competition. Competition drives the  least efficient to the wall, we are told, so that only the most profitable survive. Firms, be they the corner shop or the Ford corporation, are constantly looking for new customers or markets, for cheaper suppliers and to pay their workforces less than their rivals. The "national interest" is defined as the defence of "our" markets and "our" industry.

To rid society of war we have to rid it of the system that fosters war. To get rid of military competition we have to get rid of the economic competition that succours it. For the generals to be forced from the battlefield, the capitalists who arm them and on whose behalf they do battle must be forced from the factories and offices.

(Adapted from John Rees's Socialism And War)

- This page is committed to the abolition of war all over the world -

Six days a week, US military fighter planes drop bombs a mile from the South Korean village of Maehyang-ri. The bombing range isn't run by the US Air Force and it isn't run by the US Army. It's been privatized and is under the management of Arctic Slope World Service.

Not only does war affect those fighting, children are also caught in the fighting. In Iraq, the amount of innocent children injured or killed in the fighting is ridiculously high. Coalition forces say they are freeing them, do these images show faces of people who believe they are being liberated?

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Faces of the liberated?

 Investigation by 9-11 Commission Blocked

The pain and grief of September 11, 2001, is etched into all of our memories. To move on as a nation, and to honor the victims, we must uncover the truth behind what happened leading up to the terror attacks to prevent further attacks in the future. For these reasons, Congress wisely created an independent, bipartisan commission in late 2002.

But the White House is withholding important intelligence information from the commission, information that is directly relevant to this investigation. The panel's chair, Republican Thomas H. Kean, is considering issuing a subpoena and risking a courtroom battle with the White House if the documents are not released within the next few weeks.

Sign this petition to demand that the White House release ALL documents requested by the 9-11 commission: http://www.care2.com/go/z/8471/1034

How can our government refuse to cooperate with this bipartisan commission, which was established, in part, at the request of the families of the September 11 victims? How can President Bush continue to guard secrets that could put this nation at risk for further terror attacks?

Help us urge President Bush to do the right thing: sign this petition to demand full cooperation with the 9-11 Commission! http://www.care2.com/go/z/8471/1034