How the
mighty have fallen! Whatever the truth of the allegations of sexual
assault and rape brought against him in New York, Dominique Strauss-Kahn
is guilty of horrific crimes. As the head of the IMF, he is guilty of
the political rape of the working people and the poorest sections of
society in many underdeveloped countries. He is guilty of the rape of
Greece and Portugal. Before finding himself in prison, he contributed to
locking millions of people into a living hell. His brutal “remedies”
inflict suffering and hardship on the poor in order to protect the
interests of the bankers, the capitalists, the rich.
How the
mighty have fallen! Whatever the truth of the allegations of sexual
assault and rape brought against him in New York, Dominique Strauss-Kahn
is guilty of horrific crimes. As the head of the IMF, he is guilty of
the political rape of the working people and the poorest sections of
society in many underdeveloped countries. He is guilty of the rape of
Greece and Portugal. Before finding himself in prison, he contributed to
locking millions of people into a living hell. His brutal “remedies”
inflict suffering and hardship on the poor in order to protect the
interests of the bankers, the capitalists, the rich.
Dominique Strauss-Kahn Photo: IMF/ Michael SpilotroThere
is absolutely nothing “socialist” about Dominique Strauss-Kahn. At the
time of his arrest, he was on his way to Europe to finalise the
austerity measures to be imposed on Portugal and also discuss plans with
Sarkozy and Merkel for new attacks on pensions and public spending cuts
throughout the “eurozone”. For Greece, he demanded a draconian policy
of public spending cuts, wage cuts, sackings, attacks on pensions and
benefits, and privatisations. The Papandreou government carried out the
policy, but not fast enough for Strauss-Kahn. He sent his emissaries to
Greece to insist on speeding up the privatisations and the attacks on
workers’ living standards. This was the only way, he said, to restore
the confidence of capitalist investors.
Dominique Strauss-Kahn was
not only Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund. If
opinion polls are to be believed, he was also the “favourite” for the
presidential elections next year in France. He was certainly a
“favourite” of the capitalist class! No efforts have been spared to
promote the image and build support for “DSK”. The intention behind this
campaign was quite clear. The capitalists wanted to secure his
nomination as the presidential candidate for the Socialist Party. Of all
the “left” candidates, the media told us, he was in the best position
to defeat Sarkozy. This was a classic case of manipulation of public
opinion with a view to national elections. In 2007, the media industry
promoted Ségolène Royal, one of the most blatantly pro-capitalist of the
leading figures in the Socialist Party, and then, once she had won the
nomination, turned against her and campaigned to ensure victory for
Sarkozy. In the event that the SP had won the elections, the capitalists
would have a reliable representative in power, whose policies were
almost identical to those of Sarkozy himself. Now, after four years in
power, Sarkozy is discredited, and a victory for the Socialist Party in
the 2012 election is a real possibility. The capitalist class wanted to
ensure that whatever the result of the elections, the government would
be in the hands of proven defenders of their interests. They counted on
Strauss-Kahn as a man who, at the head of a “socialist” government,
would apply the same reactionary policies in France as he applied to
Greece, and who would firmly resist pressure “from below” to carry out
measures in the interests of the workers. Now Strauss-Kahn is out of the
picture, and possibly for a long time. His downfall has delighted
working class militants throughout France.
