September 11, 2001
22 Years After 9/11 Tragedy

Reject U.S. War on Terror and Cuba’s Spurious Designation as “State Sponsor of Terrorism”

September 11 this year marks the 22nd anniversary of the day terrorist attacks were made on the Twin Towers in New York City, the Pentagon in Washington, DC and elsewhere. The Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist) mourns the loss of life from these attacks, including the many Canadians who died in the Twin Towers and related events. We deeply mourn those who died in the war of revenge launched by the United States after September 11, 2001 as a result of its military savagery and that of its NATO allies — including Canada.

In the wake of these attacks, then U.S. President George W. Bush, at a joint session of U.S. Congress on September 20, 2001, issued an edict to the peoples of the world, saying, “Either you are with us or you are with the terrorists. From this day forward, any nation that continues to harbor or support terrorism will be regarded by the United States as a hostile regime.” Bush stated in the same speech that the U.S. war of revenge “will not end until every terrorist group of global reach has been found, stopped and defeated.”

On this basis, the U.S. gave itself the right to carry out all manner of state-organized terrorist attacks aimed at regime change in other countries spuriously claimed to be harbouring terrorists. Within the U.S. and countries in its sphere of influence, broad campaigns of Islamophobia began, in which anyone could be declared a terrorist or potential terrorist until proven otherwise. Bush’s speech that launched the U.S. war on terror raised the question: Who exactly defines who are the terrorists?

As concerns the U.S., long before 9/11, it had established its so-called list of state sponsors of terrorism in 1979, on which it placed Iraq, Libya, South Yemen and Syria. In 2023, there are four countries on the list: Cuba, Iran, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and Syria. Notably, many of these are countries that are known for opposing U.S. imperialism and foreign interference in their internal affairs, and have been targeted by the U.S. through coups or outright military aggression, invasion and occupation. The list can thus be seen as a hit list of countries that block U.S. imperialist aims for hegemony in various parts of the world.

An especially blatant example of the spurious nature of this list is Cuba, for its support of other revolutionary movements, including those who had taken up armed struggle. Cuba was first placed on the list in 1982. Notably, on December 17, 2014, then U.S. President Barack Obama ordered a review of Cuba’s inclusion on the list. On April 14, 2015, Obama announced that Cuba was being taken off the list, and after a 45-day period of review it was officially removed on May 29, 2015.

Toward the end of the Trump administration, Cuba was re-added to the list on January 12, 2021. Then Secretary of State Mike Pompeo claimed that Cuba had “repeatedly provid[ed] support for acts of international terrorism” by harbouring U.S. fugitives as well as Colombian rebel leaders. Another accusation was Cuba’s support for Nicolás Maduro during attempts by the U.S., Canada and the Lima Group to overthrow his government. The U.S. claimed that the Maduro administration created “a permissive environment for international terrorists to live and thrive within Venezuela.”

To the contrary, revolutionary Cuba has a position of great prestige among the peoples of the world, not only for emancipating its people from U.S. domination, but supporting the same for all others, providing skilled collaborators in the fields of education and health care around the world for decades. Cuba’s inclusion on the list is indicative of U.S. revanchism toward this small country that has successfully defended itself from U.S. interference for more than 60 years.

The demand of the world’s peoples is for the U.S. to end its campaign of hostility against Cuba. In August, a global campaign was launched to submit one million signatures on a letter to U.S. President Joe Biden demanding that Cuba be removed from this list. The letter and signatures are to be delivered on December 10, International Human Rights Day. This campaign is part of broader efforts to end the U.S. unjust and genocidal blockade against Cuba and to demand that the U.S. restart the process to normalize relations with Cuba.

On the occasion of the 22nd anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, CPC(M-L) calls on everyone to reject the U.S. war on terror by joining this campaign.

Visit the LetCubaLive.info campaign website for all the information on the campaign.