The often repeated line by reactionaries in the west, and their servile agents in other parts of the world, is that colonialism and imperialism are no more, that they are only a thing in the past, history. Of course this is not true, and an even cursory look at current events would yield this answer. One can see this in countries free from foreign military presence, as well as those under occupation, although obviously the latter are much better and more clear examples of this. This brings up an issue which is often debated, especially by socialists. This issue is what stance should be taken in regards to the soldiers who are part of the imperialist militaries which currently occupy Afghanistan, Iraq, etc…

The main divide among socialists is whether or not to support the resistance and be happy to see the imperialist soldiers be killed. Some “socialists” use the excuse that most of these soldiers are from lower class backgrounds, and thus deserve our sympathy. First off, I would like to say that this had some legitimacy when the amerikkkans were massacring the Vietnamese in the 1960’s and 70’s because at that time there was a draft, and thus the men who would become soldiers had little choice about whether or not they would be a part of the imperialist rape of Vietnam. But even then they could have refused, and at worst be faced with years in prison, which sounds a lot better than becoming an imperialist murderer and possibly dying. So even then I would say that this type of view was wrong, and that the chant “One sides right, one sides wrong, victory to the Vietcong” was the right point of view.

Nowadays there is no draft in any of the countries which have their murdering soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq. So you would think support for the resistance would be greater…but it is less. But the main point to debate is this: most of the soldiers are lower class. OK, let me give a little parable to begin my attack: Let’s say a group of police raid a lower class apartment block. These police are all from proletarian backgrounds, like most police are. The tenants, on their side, have done nothing wrong, and have no reason to deserve the violent raid, although the police say that it was being used to produce drugs. So, if the tenants were to violently resist this police raid, and manage to kill every last one of the policemen, would we mourn the policemen? NO! We would be glad they were dead, and we would praise the resistance of the tenants. This is the right attitude. The police were criminals, murderers without conscience, they deserved nothing but violent death.

Likewise with the imperialist murderers in Afghanistan, Iraq, and every other occupied country. These soldiers may be lower class, but when they are also destroying and occupying another country, no quarter or sympathy can or should be given. A further issue is this: as human beings, sentient beings, we have the responsibility to be aware of our actions, their implications and their consequences. And if someone decides they are going to be indifferent to their own actions, and not judge themselves, not to mention if they consciously approve of their own disgusting deeds and actions, then they have no reason to complain (and nor does anyone else!) when the effects of their actions catches up to them with a bullet in the head. I would like to add a quote from an amerikkkan soldier who explains why, during the Vietnam war, he testified before a court martial against the other members of his patrol, who had abducted, raped, and then deliberately murdered a Vietnamese girl: “The idea was simply that we had to answer for what we did. We had to answer to something, to someone – maybe just to ourselves.” This is exactly the point, and if someone refuses to answer for what they did or are doing, and this thing which they are doing is raping a country and murdering innocent people, then they deserve to die and nobody should mourn their death. On the contrary, when these psycotic fucks are killed, it should do nothing but make you happy.