The winter holidays are here. While many of us warmly celebrate with family and friends, Colombian revolutionaries Ricardo Palmera and Anayibe “Sonia” Valderrama continue to sit in lonely prison cells because they chose to fight against poverty and oppression in their own country. Ricardo Palmera and Sonia are political prisoners held hostage by George Bush and the U.S. empire. They have committed no crime; they have only rebelled against injustice and misery, poverty and death. Ricardo Palmera and Sonia dedicate their lives to the Colombian people and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

Like nearly half of the 28,000-plus FARC members, Sonia is a brave woman from a peasant family who learned to read and write with the rebels and went on to become a leader of other fighters. A guerrilla commander, she was captured by the Colombian military, imprisoned on a Navy ship and then extradited to the U.S. Sonia’s trial was a blizzard of accusations and false testimony by drug traffickers, paid informants and rotten government officials. Sonia never stood a chance in a process fixed to convict her and she is now serving 17 years in a Texas prison, which is where George Bush belongs. The National Committee to Free Ricardo Palmera continues support Sonia.

Ricardo Palmera, a peace negotiator for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia is in solitary confinement – now for a third year – allowed no family, no friends, no supporters and no interviews with the press. Still, Ricardo knows he is not alone, because when he enters the courtroom to testify he sees dozens of North American supporters raising their fists in solidarity. The smiling Colombian revolutionary knows we stand with him against the Bush administration’s military adventure, money and corruption. Palmera faces down his accusers with truth and the conviction of a revolutionary. When paid informants make up their stories, Palmera gives the defense lawyers questions that expose the lies to the American jury. When the ludicrous FBI agent Alejandro Barbeito claims Palmera and his Colombian lawyer agreed to an interrogation with no lawyer present. Palmera shouts, “You are a liar!” The U.S. government claims Palmera is a ‘criminal,’ but Professor Palmera is held under ‘special administrative measures’ and the trials are endlessly bizarre.

The Washington D.C. trials are like grade school winter pageants gone wrong – Palmera is allowed no witnesses, Judge Hogan was forced to step down after he was caught cheating, Palmera beat the latest drug trial where there was no physical evidence – only ‘testimony’ from paid liars who can’t keep their lines straight, convicted drug traffickers looking for get out of jail free cards and wickedly corrupt Colombian military and government officials. The jurors have chosen again and again to believe Professor Palmera over the Bush and Uribe regimes. In the latest ‘drug trial’ seven of the American jurors wanted to set Palmera free because there was no evidence, only accusations and slanders. The U.S. government claiming the FARC is involved in drugs is the same as the ‘weapons of mass destruction’ in Iraq. It is simply a lie to further U.S. military intervention. It is no wonder that Professor Palmera has beaten all but one of the charges – the one saying he belongs to a conspiracy, the FARC. If most Americans understood the oppressive realities of Colombia, they might consider joining the conspiracy too!

So this holiday season, while George Bush acts the part of Scrooge, we ask you to reach out and warm the heart of the brave revolutionaries Ricardo Palmera and Sonia (Anayibe R. Valderrama). Send holiday cards and greetings to:

Anayibe R. Vaderrama

#27990-018

FMC Carswell

Federal Medical Center

P.O. Box 27137

Ft. Worth, TX, 76127

Ricardo Palmera

C/O Federal Public Defender for D.C., Robert Tucker

625 Indiana Ave., Suite 550

Washington D.C. 20004

Because this is a political trial with ‘special administrative measures,’ we must mail Palmera’s cards to the U.S. court appointed attorney who can only tell Palmera about them. Please send a copy of your message to the National Committee to Free Ricardo Palmera at www.freericardopalmera.org. We will pressure the U.S. government to restore the rights of prisoners. By sending these messages of holiday solidarity, you are sending a clear message to Ricardo’s jailers that you are concerned about the fate of this Colombian freedom fighter.

In solidarity,

The editors and staff of Fight Back!

#UnitedStates #Editorial #Colombia #RicardoPalmera #PoliticalPrisoners #RevolutionaryArmedForcesOfColombiaFARC #AnayibeSoniaValderrama

Born into a peasant family, Marulanda joined Colombia’s Liberal forces fighting against the Conservatives. He became a guerilla in La Violencia, the civil war following the 1948 assassination of presidential candidate Gaitan, a popular and national democratic leader despised by the U.S. government. This civil war continues to this day, with the U.S. intervening on the side of the Colombian elites. As Marulanda said, “I did not go looking for war, war came looking for me.”

In the late 1950s Marulanda joined forces with Jacobo Arenas, a Marxist fighter and admirer of Che Guevara. They became the important leadership team of the newly founded FARC in 1964. From a small, tightly knit group of revolutionaries, the FARC today is a formidable force that threatens the whole of U.S. imperialism's plans in Latin America. Marulanda is largely responsible for the revolution's success.

Marulanda was ideologically firm, a Marxist-Leninist applying the scientific theory of revolution to the conditions of Colombian society. He was a great strategist, like Mao in China or General Giap in Vietnam, understanding the capabilities of his own revolutionary people's army, the FARC-EP, while anticipating the moves and capabilities of his enemies – U.S. imperialism and the Colombian oligarchy.

Marulanda and the FARC learned from the peasants and working classes, studying and struggling. They remained tactically flexible, moving forward and retreating according to the situation, whether in military conduct or with political initiatives like the Patriotic Union or peace negotiation. Always, Marulanda kept politics in command. In times when other revolutionaries stumbled or faltered, the FARC took strides forward, methodically cutting a path through the layers of confusion and disinformation sowed by the enemies of revolution and socialism.

The last decade of Marulanda's life was dedicated to defeating Plan Colombia. Plan Colombia is the U.S. Pentagon's dirty war, bringing death and destruction to the doorsteps of peasants and workers in Colombia. Like the Vietnam War, the U.S. government is waging a large-scale counter-insurgency war. Colombia's armed forces have more than doubled their size over the past eight years. The Colombian military murders peasants in cold blood, driving millions off their land, villages are destroyed, death squads assassinate trade unionists, and U.S. planes spray chemical agents across wide areas of the countryside to scorch the earth. Funded by U.S. taxpayer at nearly $5 billion, planned by Pentagon generals, and conducted by U.S. military advisors and private contractors, the war is brutal and fierce but rarely reported on by the U.S. media. Still Marulanda was able to organize an orderly retreat by the FARC and they are hitting back at the U.S. intervention, with many small battles every week.

Plan Colombia, like the invasion and occupation of Iraq, is a failure. Lapdogs like President Uribe may announce bigger and greater victories, exaggerating and crowing, but their gains are temporary and futile. The Colombian people, like the Iraqi people, will triumph.

Freedom Road Socialist Organization honors the life and leadership of Manuel Marulanda, commander in chief of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People's Army. Marulanda, nicknamed, Sure-shot, passed away in the arms of his partner, surrounded by guerrilla fighters. He died from natural causes at the age of 77 after leading the life of a revolutionary warrior since the late 1940s. We are all living things and all that lives must pass on. The ideas and example of Marulanda will continue to live in the minds of all those continuing the fight to end barbarism and win back our humanity. The FARC has chosen from amongst its many capable leaders the veteran fighter and Marxist-Leninist Alfonso Cano.

Long live the sprit of Marulanda!

Victory to the FARC!

#UnitedStates #Editorial #Colombia #Editorials #RicardoPalmera #Remembrances #PlanColombia #ManuelMarulanda #RevolutionaryArmedForcesOfColombiaPeoplesArmyFARCEP #LaViolencia #MarxistLeninist

El ataque sobre Irak empezó con un fallído golpe sorpresa. Minutos antes de que los bombarderos cruzaran la ciudad, las sirenas ululáron con fuerza para dar el aviso a un Baghdad adormecido. Eran las 5:30 a.m. del 20 de Marzo, 2003. La fuerza total militar mas grande del mundo empezó su guerra de terror, a la cual le dieron el nombre de “Shock and awe.” (impacto violento sin aviso y respeto por temor o miedo.)

El mundo fue sorprendido violentamente por la brutalidad de los ataques. Dos mercados de Bagdad fueron bombardeados, matando a 100 civiles; tropas estadounidenses mataron 7 civiles al disparar a una familia en uno de sus reténes militares. Periodistas que recidían temporalmente en el Hotel Palestina, en Baghdad, sufrieron un ataque mortal, así como el que sufrieron los periodistas que trabajaban en la oficina de Al Jazeera, la red informativa del Medio Este. Estos actos ilegales e inmorales no pueden ser apoyados, al igual que las tropas que los cometen.

La invasión imperialista a matado 35,000 civiles iraquíes y herido a miles mas. En lugar de liberación, la guerra en Irak ha llevado destrucción y muerte. El pueblo Iraquí no tiene nada que decir sobre el futuro de su propio país, el cual está siendo patrullado por decenas de miles de tropas estadounidenses y saturado de retenes militares. El petróleo Iraquí está bajo el control directo de corporaciones norteamericanas.

Desastre Humanitario

Con 340,000 tropas en la región, y 125,000 en Irak, las fuerzas comandadas por los Estados Unidos lanzaron casi un millar de misíles crucero Tomahawk, dejaron caer 50 bombas de racimo, y descargaron alrededor de 12,000 de las llamadas bombas inteligentes. Aun antes de que el sitio a Bagdad empezara, 1,300 civiles habían muerto y más de 5,000 habían sido heridos. La mayoría fueron victimas de las bombas dejadas caer del cielo por pilotos cobardes que nunca enfrentaron a los hombres, mujeres y niñas cuyas vidas ellos destruyeron.

El bombardeo norteamericano dejó sin energía a una estación de agua que suplía a la sureña ciudad de Basra, poniendo en riesgo las vidas de un millón y medio de civiles. La guerra paró el envio de asistencia alimentaria a 17 millones de Iraquíes que dependen de esta. Simultaneo a los ataques terrestres de las tropas estadounidenses sobre la ciudad capital, la Cruz Roja Internacional reportó que los hospitales de Bagdad estaban saturados con cientos de pacientes llegando a cada hora. Millones están aun sin electricidad, agua potable o alimentos adecuados.

Irak se enfrentó al enemigo (si peleó)

El gobierno y pueblo de Irak hicieron todo lo que estaba de su parte para resistir este ataque brutal. Civiles y milicias voluntarios inmovilizaron o destruyeron tanques, y atacaron helicópteros y aviones por todo Irak. Estos actos de valentía y patriotismo inspiraron a los pueblos Árabes del Medio Este. Ellos inspiraron al mundo.

En el sur, donde el apoyo al gobierno Iraquí se suponía era débil, el pueblo defendió su país y luchó heroicamente en contra de las fuerzas Británico – Estado Unidenses. Marine Colonel Ben Saylor dijo: “Nosotros hemos sido contestados a cada pulgada, cada milla que conduce a Bagdad.”

Una semana despues de que las fuerzas estadounidenses llegaron a Bagdad, Bush declaro que el régimen de Sadam Hussein había caído. Pero aun así, las tropas norteamericanas no estaban a salvo si caminaban desarmados por las calles, y los equipos de camarógrafos no podían encontrar las celebraciones jubilosas de los Iraquíes que se habían prometido. En las imágenes hemos visto no más de doscientas personas que se han congregado en algún lugar de Irak para aplaudir y celebrar la invasión de los Estados Unidos. Al contrario, mas de 8,000 prisioneros de guerra Iraquíes fueron capturados mientras peleaban para defender su tierra en contra de la invasión.

Construyendo un mando militar Estado Unidense sobre suelo Iraqui robado

Ahora, la administración Bush planea establecer una ocupación militar completa, y un gobierno controlado por los Estados Unidos en Irak Las sanciones impuestas a Irak en los últimos doce años mantuvieron a Irak fuera del Mercado petrolero y de la arena política, pero el nuevo Irak será una base de la cual se expandirá el control económico, militar y político de los Estados Unidos sobre el Medio Este.

Desde el primer día, los soldados norteamericanos hicieron guardia sobre 600 pozos petrolíferos Iraquíes. Compañas petroleras de los Estados Unidos han sido contratadas para hacer funcionar estos pozos. Usarán dinero de las ventas del petróleo para reconstruir el devastado país, y tomarán parte de las ganancias para sí mismas. Antes de que empezara la guerra , el presidente Bush le pidió a los Iraquíes que no quemaran los pozos petrolíferos, ya que estos pertenecen al pueblo Iraquí. La nueva política petrolera sugiere que Bush nunca tuvo la intención de permitir que los Iraquíes retengan el control de sus propios recursos nacionales.

No hay planes del ejército de los Estados Unidos de dejar Irak. Tropas Estadounidenses todavía luchan activamente para controlar el país. En muchas ciudades la resistencia popular continúa con ataques diarios en contra de las tropas invasoras, sus aviones y bases militares. Retenes militares están siendo establecidos a lo largo de caminos importantes y en cada ciudad de Irak. Estos son los primeros puestos de una ocupación militar, y estos sitios continúan siendo el blanco de bombarderos suicidas (bombas humanas). Para implementar los planes de Estados Unidos, se necesitará que decenas de miles de tropas permanezcan en Irak por muchos años más. Irak, podría venir a ser la más grande base militar de los Estados Unidos en el Medio Este.

El futuro político de Irak es incierto. En estos días el ejército Estadounidense gobierna Irak. Dirige los medios de comunicación, la policía y otras dependencias civiles. Ni un solo Iraquí toma decisiones por su país. En los meses siguientes, un gobierno interino controlado por los Estados Unidos tomara el lugar del ejército. Voces oficiales de los Estados Unidos dicen que podría tomar años antes de que el correcto sistema de gobierno propio sea restaurado al pueblo de Irak. Esta no es liberación de un pueblo.

Los pueblos del mundo dicen ¡no!

Antes de que empezara la guerra en Irak, millones de personas tomaron las calles de las ciudades y barrios a lo largo y ancho del globo. Estas protestas hicieron imposible que se ganara la aprobación de la mayoría de los gobiernos del mundo a tal guerra. Imposibilitaron a la administración de Bush para que empezára la guerra en Febrero o a principios de Marzo. Hicieron imposible el que se dijera que ésta guerra se estaba llevando a cabo con el consentimiento del pueblo estadounidense.

La administración Bush tenía que responder. Primero, cambiaron planes – toda vez la guerra empezó, y las tropas no encontraron evidencia de Armas de Destrucción Masiva, el plan numero uno paso a ser la liberación del pueblo Iraquí. Luego, cuando la guerra empezó, los medios de comunicación pidieron a los manifestantes que dejaran de protestar, o por lo menos que apoyáramos a nuestras tropas. Algunos manifestantes empezaron a sacar carteles o rótulos en los que se leía: “Apoyemos nuestras tropas, tráiganlas a casa.” El pentágono trabajó muy duro para esconder el costo en vidas civiles de la guerra – casi no habían imágenes de Iraquíes muertos o heridos, o bombardeos en áreas civiles. Todo esto fue dirigido a desmoralizar y dividir al movimiento y mantener a los manifestantes contra la guerra fuera de las calles.

A pesar de todo esto, las protestas continuaron en los Estados Unidos. Los números fueron menores pero la militancia creció. Muchas ciudades organizaron campañas masivas de acciones directas y desobediencia civil. Miles de arrestos fueron hechos en acciones que bloquearon caminos y puentes, cerraron oficinas federales, y se puso presión a los que profitan de la guerra. Activistas en contra de la guerra a lo largo y ancho del globo insistieron que los negocios no iban a ser lo que usualmente son mientras las bombas caerán en Basra o Baghdad.

Mantener la lucha

Mientras la ocupación se establece, activistas en contra de la guerra no están preguntando si las protestas deben de continuar, pero están buscando dirección y trabajando para asegurar los logros obtenidos en meses recientes. Cientos de miles de personas formaron parte de la lucha en contra de la guerra en Irak. Estas personas necesitan mantener la lucha, seguir envueltos en otras luchas anti-imperialistas, y pelear la guerra en casa.

Mientras que el sector militar y los varónes de la industria petrolera están en contubernio de bandidos, el costo de la guerra para la gente trabajadora en los Estados Unidos continúa creciendo. En Abril, 2003, el Congreso aprobó ochenta billones de dólares para apoyar el esfuerzo de guerra, mientras se preparaba el recorte de beneficios y asistencia social, educación y salud. Casi cada estado está afrontando una crisis presupuestaria, y planean resolver estas crisis con mas recortes, y despidiendo trabajadores del sector estatal. Por todo lo que se ha dicho, la guerra no salvó la economía.

La guerra racista en Irak acarreo mas ataques racistas en casa, incluyendo la investigación y detención de Árabes y otros grupos de inmigrantes, diferencias raciales en los aeropuertos, y crímenes de odio. Y cuando se trata de corte presupuestario, comunidades oprimidas y los programas que les asisten, serán los más afectados.

En lugar de permanecer en silencio, el pueblo debe de hacer que la Administración Bush pague un alto precio por todo esto – por los pozos petrolíferos de Irak, y por los asaltos en contra de los pobres y la clase trabajadora aquí en casa. Activistas en contra de la guerra, deben de luchar aun más duro, para poner fin a la ocupación militar en Irak, en contra de la agresión Estadounidense en contra de Koréa del Norte, Colombia o donde sea, y finalmente por la igualdad y necesidades humanas aquí en casa.

#AntiwarMovement #Editorial #Occupation #Iraq #Editorials #IraqWar #MiddleEast

Líderes de comunidades de color, organizaciones en contra de la brutalidad policiaca, grupos homosexuales e iglesias de Chicago también hablaron sobre sus luchas en contra de la brutalidad policiaca. “No más víctimas de brutalidad policiaca” fue la tema común de los discursos.

Hace algunos años que la lucha por la responsabilidad personal de la fuerza policiaca en Chicago se está calentando. Los casos de muchas víctimas y la conducta de la policia implicada han sido examinados atentamente. También, la atención está en el sistema de gobierno de la ciudad de Chicago donde estos casos se supone que reciban una investigación imparcial.

Es claro que el problema de la brutalidad policiaca y la violencia racista no es solamente un problema de algunas “manzanas malas” en el departamento. El sistema tiene que castigar las manzanas suficientemente.

Las demandas para comenzar este proceso de cambio fueron reflejadas en los discursos y las pancartas de la demonstración en el 22 de Octubre: “Rompa el código de silencio,” “Grabe en video las interegaciones de la policia,” y “Castige policias brutales.” La energía que fue generado en la demonstración del 22 de Octubre inspire a los activistas a continuar su lucha hasta el proximo 22 de Octubre y más allá.

Caryl Sortwell es una miembra de Vecinos En Contra De Brutalidad Policiaca.

#ChicagoIL #Editorial #PoliceBrutality #MayorDaley #VecinosEnContraDeBrutalidadPoliciaca

Los republicanos están desesperados para parar su caída, después de su gran derrota en la elección del congreso en noviembre 2006. Más recientemente los republicanos perdieron tres elecciones especiales, uno en Mississippi, otro en Louisiana, y otro puesto que antes era del ex-líder de la Casa de Representantes Dennis Hastert de Illinois. El pueblo estadounidense está frustrado con la guerra en Irak, está preocupado con la economía, y está enojado con la corrupción de la administración actual. Ya queda claro que la ocupación militar estadounidense de Irak va a la derrota y los republicanos van a caer junto con la ocupación.

En este contexto surge John McCain para recibir la corona republicana. McCain es el candidato de la guerra y la ocupación. El está empecinado en seguir con la agenda de Bush y está dedicado a la ocupación de Irak por “tal vez 100” años. “Estaría bien conmigo,” dijo McCain en un evento de campaña en enero 2008. Más recientemente McCain cambió su mensaje, presentando un plan para regresar las tropas a casa en 2013 – justo a tiempo para la próxima elección presidencial. Nosotros nos preguntamos a quien está intentando engañar McCain. El representa una continuación de la misma política de Bush – más guerra, represión, desigualdad y recortes de impuestos para los ricos. La misma política ya descartada. Y por cierto ¿han visto a McCain cuando está enojado?

El 4 de noviembre 2008, abogamos por un voto en contra de McCain. El escenario está listo para derrotar a los republicanos y rechazar su agenda reaccionaria de guerra, ataques contra los inmigrantes, ataques contra los derechos de las mujeres, la desigualdad racista, la discriminación en contra del pueblo gay y lesbiana, y la pobreza. Un voto en contra de McCain va a crear mejores condiciones para que los trabajadores y los pueblos oprimidos cambien la sociedad. Aún más importante, estamos abogando por un voto en contra de McCain porque la elección va a ser considerada en el ojo popular como un referendo a favor o en contra de la ocupación estadounidense de Irak. Cuatro años es demasiado para esperar, sin hablar de los cien años que habló McCain.

Barack Obama está en camino de ser el candidato del Partido Demócrata, el otro partido de los grandes negocios. Eso es a pesar de la campaña racista de demonización que hizo Hillary Clinton en contra de Obama y sus partidarios, por ejemplo los ataques distorsionados en contra del reverendo Wright y las ideas de la teología de liberación afro-americana, las falsas campañas de inscripción de voto designadas para confundir a los votantes afro-americanos y restringir su voto, y la proclamación racista de Hillary a favor de los “blancos americanos que son muy trabajadores.” (¡Dejando clara la implicación racista que los trabajadores que no son blancos son perezosos o no trabajan duro!)

Mientras la campaña de Hillary Clinton ha bajado de una manera que da pena, Barack Obama se ha levantado para contestar a los ataques y ha impulsado conversaciones buenas sobre temas difíciles e incómodos en cafés y cafeterías, y en las mesas de cena en casas en todo el país. Estados Unidos fue construido con la opresión nacional: el robo de tierra a los nativo-americanos, la labor robada a través de la esclavitud de los africanos, y la explotación de inmigrantes de Asia y Latinoamérica. La lucha en contra del racismo y a favor de la igualdad no es una lucha del pasado, sino que sigue hoy en día, como podemos ver en la lucha por los derechos de los inmigrantes, la lucha por la justicia para los sobrevivientes de Katrina, y la lucha para parar los ataques contra los árabe-americanos y los americanos musulmanes.

La realidad es clara, hasta cierto punto Obama se diferencia de Clinton en aspectos como la guerra en Irak, los acuerdos de libre comercio y el racismo. Él tiene un mensaje de esperanza con amplio respaldo. Es un hecho que Obama opera dentro de los límites de los demócratas y sus partidarios de las grandes empresas. Pero su elección crearía un mejor clima para el movimiento anti-guerra, el movimiento pro-inmigrante, el movimiento de trabajadores, y los movimientos de las nacionalidades oprimidas. Y sin importar quien este en la Casa Blanca, la cosa importante es que la gente progresista sigue activa, luchando a favor de la agenda que pone las necesidades del pueblo en primer lugar.

¡Digamos un 'No' a la guerra, el racismo, la discriminación y no a los reaccionarios!

¡Votemos en contra de McCain!

#AntiwarMovement #CapitalismAndEconomy #Editorial #JohnMcCain #Editorials #BarakObama #Elección2008

This is the end of an era, the end of Republican rule. For more than 25 years the racist, reactionary, anti-working class agenda of the Republicans dominated the political life of this country. Since Reagan, everything progressive and good was under attack – from women’s right to choose, to public education, to social security. The social movements were very much on the defensive and fighting off attacks. We will need to continue to invest ourselves in movements for social change, but the political atmosphere will be different.

The big shift for the Republicans came not at home, but over in Iraq. The Iraqi resistance fought with their lives to defeat the Bush/Cheney plans for domination and oil profits. This stopped Bush and the Republican agenda dead in its tracks on the home front too. There were no more big attempts to roll back the reforms like social security, which working people won decades ago. For people at home and abroad, the defeat of McCain represents the American people’s rejection of the ‘Bush doctrine’ and the U.S. occupation of Iraq.

Across America, African American people and others are noisily celebrating the victory of Barack Obama, the first Black president. Did you see the victory celebration in Chicago? A great pride is bursting forth from African American communities and throughout the Black Belt South. African Americans are not alone in their joy either; all types of people are doing fist bumps and feeling good. Other oppressed nationalities that suffer racism and discrimination – Chicanos and Mexicanos, Puerto Ricans, Native-Americans and Asian- Americans are sharing the moment. Obama’s election represents a blow against racism and white chauvinism.

Obama’s victory is stunning and it also brings tremendous benefit to the Democratic party. It builds on elections two years ago when the Republicans suffered defeat and lost congressional majorities to the Democrats. The Democrats swept this election too, making their majorities stronger. Democrats will truly rule – hardly needing to consult with the Republicans to pass legislation.

There is a problem however, and it is not that one party is too strong. The problem is that the Democrats are the other party of big business. The Democrats are favored at this time by the billionaires and millionaires who actually rule the U.S. The wealthy elite rules the U.S. through the two-party system. It is true there is competition, but elections are largely predicted by who has the most money from the rich people. The defeat of the Republicans certainly marks a big shift, but it does not fundamentally alter the system or challenge the rule of the rich. The Democrats are the party of the $700 billion bailout that will tax working people to save bankers. The Democrats are the party that could have cut war funding and brought the troops home already. A million Iraqis are dead and the Democrats continue to fund the occupation.

So we need to continue the motion that defeated McCain and delivered the White House for Barack Obama. We need to build an understanding that a vocal, independent and active anti-war movement will be needed to bring ALL the troops home now. We need to bring the immigrants’ rights movement into the streets again, defeating both fear and the dreaded deportations that are breaking apart families. We need to prepare to rally and march and protest so workers can win legislation to make forming unions a simple democratic process without intimidation from bosses. And we need to fight every attempt on the part of the rich to shift the burden of the economic crisis on to the backs of poor and working people.

Who gets elected is important, but it is the masses that make history. We cannot just return to our living rooms to watch the History Channel. We must build every movement that demands peace, justice, equality and liberation.

#UnitedStates #CapitalismAndEconomy #Editorial #Obama #EconomicCrisis #Editorials #PeoplesStruggles #2008Election

Make no mistake about it, John G. Roberts, Bush’s nominee to the Supreme Court, is a clear and present danger to your rights. He’s a right-wing corporate lawyer with a reactionary agenda. Everyone concerned about what is fair and just should object to his confirmation by the Senate.

The stakes are high. In the years ahead, there is no doubt that the Supreme Court will make decisions on a lot of big issues that effect our lives, including reproductive rights for women, the rights of gays and lesbians, the criminal justice system, voting rights and our democratic rights in general.

Anyone who doubts the importance of the Supreme Court and its decisions should think back to presidential race of 2000 when the Court handed the White House to a Texas governor who lost the election.

Some Democratic Party politicians and a lot of the media pundits are saying it’s too early to take a stand against Roberts because not enough is known about his record. In fact there is more than enough evidence to indict this character.

Roberts started his career as a corporate lawyer. He attacked the rights of workers injured on the job. He then went on to the administrations of Ronald Reagan and George Bush, Sr. He wrote legal briefs attacking reproductive rights and the voting rights of African Americans and other oppressed nationalities. What’s he done lately? As a federal judge he voted against any real legal process for those held at the prison camp in Guantanamo Bay. This is no small matter. Prisoners at Guantanamo Bay are tortured. Some prisoners were just kids. And along comes Roberts, puppet of the Bush administration, who says that neither the Geneva Convention nor the Bill of Rights applies to the detainees.

Everyone knows that right-wing politicians are determined to overturn Roe vs. Wade – the Supreme Court decision that acknowledged abortion rights – and this vital issue will take center stage in the Roberts confirmation process. John Roberts and his supporters are trying to muddy the waters and make it seem like he is a fair-minded man with an unclear position. That’s a lie. He wrote a legal brief saying Roe vs. Wade should be overturned. No serious person can say that his decisions on the bench would do anything other than erode reproductive rights.

The Republican Party and the right wing generally understand what John Roberts is about. That’s why they are preparing with millions of dollars and a media campaign, along with whatever political capital they can muster, to get his nomination through the Senate.

And consider this: No one on the Supreme Court is getting any younger. Bush might well get another chance to nominate yet another justice. The battle over Roberts will shape and inform the fight over future nominees.

In the final analysis, anyone who is appointed to the Supreme Court is going to serve the rich and powerful. It’s anything but the people’s court. That said, standing up and saying no to Roberts is a rejection of injustice and an affirmation of the rights that all oppressed and working people are entitled to. Whether it is abortion rights or anything else that matters, society’s really big issues are going to be settled in the streets, by our collective action and determination to win. We can’t let Roberts, Bush or their backers turn us around or turn the back the clock.

#UnitedStates #InJusticeSystem #Editorial #Editorials #SupremeCourtJustice #JohnGRoberts #RonaldReagan

Ricardo Palmera, also called Simón Trinidad, has done nothing wrong. He has committed the whole of his life to making this world a better place. Colombia is a country that cries out for change. It is a hell on earth. The Colombian people are ruled over by a government of death squads, a vicious elite that could not retain power without the backing of Washington D.C. U.S. tax dollars and troops protect a regime that routinely murders trade unionists, peasant leaders and student activists. Now Bush and company have ‘extradited’ a fighter for Colombians’ emancipation – Ricardo Palmera.

The Colombian government imprisoned Ricardo Palmera. Palmera had often served as spokesperson for the FARC and was a part of the peace talks that collapsed when the Colombian government pulled out under U.S. pressure. The FARC controls more that half the countryside and is active in all departments and cities.

The U.S. government claims that they have the right to extradite and try this freedom fighter in a U.S. federal court. Any way that one wants to look at it, this is outrageous. It can only be described as a kidnapping. Ricardo Palmera is a Colombian who was fighting in Colombia for Colombia. Just because U.S. troops and mercenaries are fighting in Colombia to protect the profits of oil companies does not make the Colombian people subject to U.S. law.

We have no doubt that the U.S. government will try to smear the reputation of Palmera and the FARC with the charges they are drug dealers and terrorists. This talk has the same level of credibility as the talk about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. It is a lie to justify military intervention in defense of Washington’s empire.

There is an ongoing attempt to criminalize the national liberation movements by sticking the terrorist label on them. Every progressive should oppose this. We should embrace organizations like the FARC, and give our political backing to those who want to free their countries from foreign domination.

We demand that the U.S. government release Ricardo Palmera at once. He does not belong behind bars. He belongs with his brothers and sisters fighting for a free Colombia.

Free Ricardo Palmera!

U.S. out of Colombia!

#UnitedStates #Editorial #Colombia #Editorials #RicardoPalmera #RacismInTheCriminalJusticeSystem #FARC #SimónTrinidad #PoliticalPrisoners

FTAA: Poverty and Misery for the Americas

The FTAA is a plan for poverty, misery, and ruination. The FTAA does to all of Latin America and the Caribbean what the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) did to Canada, the U.S. and Mexico. In all three countries workers’ standard of living is driven down, wages are lowered and work conditions have deteriorated.

Union workers in Canada and the U.S. have been undercut by NAFTA, while peasants in Mexico have been driven off their land by the ‘competition’ of unfairly subsidized corporate farming in the U.S. These peasants are forced to move to city slums or migrate north to the U.S., where the same corporations take advantage of them. Workers are forced to compete with each other in a race to the bottom, while the rich, mostly in the U.S., stand back and count their profits.

For evidence, look at the maquilladoras that NAFTA created along the Texas-Mexico border. Jobs are moved there and the corporations take no responsibility for the neighborhoods – no streets, no water supply, no electricity, no schools, no local government. In short, chaos and desperation!

The FTAA will do away with trade protections that U.S. big business finds unfavorable to its corporations and financial investments. The FTAA is NAFTA on crack. The FTAA will put into practice a program that undercuts national independence abroad while giving U.S. corporations more power.

Privatization will be the order of the day in Latin America. The FTAA will accelerate the sell-off of profitable state industries, such as the state oil company in Colombia, ECOPETROL, which provides over $2 billion (or 23% )of the Colombian government’s revenue every year.

Pollution control standards at all levels will be trampled over. As with NAFTA, if a government body puts up a fight over pollution issues, then corporations will sue them in court and demand millions. The Canadian government paid a U.S. corporation called Ethyl $13 million in damages, and the company’s legal costs, to settle a $251 million lawsuit over a gas additive called MMT that Canada had banned. Canada also agreed to proclaim that MMT is safe even though Canada’s own health department does not think so.

The rich man’s democracy that exists in the U.S. and all its neo-colonies in Latin America and the Caribbean will be strengthened by a negotiated contract called the FTAA.

Growing Resistance

When protesters in Miami turn up the heat on the FTAA, they will have a large array of supporters throughout the hemisphere. In Colombia, where the freedom fighters of the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) and ELN (National Liberation Army) govern half the country, a recent joint communiqué proclaimed unity in “Pushing forward all the political processes that favor peace with social justice and the pursuit of political alternatives in opposition to Plan Colombia and the FTAA.”

In socialist Cuba, the people are building an alternative political and economic model that contrasts with the hunger and suffering that imperialist globalization forces on its neighbors. In Brazil, over 10 million working-class people have signed petitions against the FTAA, and the Brazilian government is attempting to create a separate market bloc with other Latin American countries.

The government of the Bolivarian revolution in Venezuela has taken a tough stance against the FTAA. Venezuelan President Chavez said, “Signing the FTAA as it is now is like saying ‘Rest in peace for the republic. It is not worth it,’ and ‘We still have a colonial-model economy.’” Chavez told Reuters press, “Venezuela is on the side of the people and we propose a new integration system that is definitely not the FTAA, which, as it has been put forward, is a perverse mechanism that would be a death order for the future of the region.”

Across Latin America and the Caribbean, the workers movements, the peasants and farmers associations, the student movements, the left and nationalist political parties, indigenous peoples and revolutionary guerrilla armies are actively opposing the FTAA.

When young people and workers in the U.S. unite to fight the FTAA in Miami, they will speak and act for millions whose voices will not be featured on CNN or Fox news. Like the Battle of Seattle, where the dreams of the big capitalists went up in smoke, the street heat in Miami may bring a victory for the people throughout the Americas.

#UnitedStates #Editorial #Editorials #Americas #WorkersAndGlobalization #FTAA #miamiProtest

Nearly every major airline corporation has gotten, or is trying to get, out of their existing union contracts. Government, particularly at the state and local levels, is demanding wage freezes and givebacks. The steel corporations are refusing to meet their obligations to retired workers.

The backdrop to this accelerating war on working people is the prolonged period of economic decline and stagnation. U.S. capitalism is stuck in a protracted crisis of overproduction – the capacity exists to produce far more goods and services than the corporations can profitably market. The result is more layoffs and endless economic restructuring, where the leanest and meanest corporations emerge as the winners.

And the leanest and meanest in corporate America want more. So they come to our unions demanding concessions. They point to some other corporation in their industry, at home or abroad, that pays lower wages or has fewer benefits, and then say they cannot compete if the proposed concessions are not accepted. The result of going along with these concessions is self evident – a downward spiral, pitting worker against worker in a race to the bottom. And the corperate bosses laugh all the way to the bank.

These are challenging times. The government promises us a 'war with out end.' Unemployment is going up. An ongoing economic crisis is falling hardest on oppressed nationality workers: African Americans, Chicanos and Latinos, Asians and Pacific Islanders.

It is vital that the most active, militant and foresighted in the labor movement come together and build a movement that rejects concessions. The heads of corporations are not worried about our fate. Many of us are just getting by, and now these fat cats come along and say we should make do with less. We cannot afford a mindset that puts the profits of the companies we work for ahead of our familes and our selves. The truth is, the rich have plenty of cash and resources. If times are bad, and the economy is down, let them pay for the crisis. We can't afford to.

Unfortunately, more than a few union leaders have bought in to the approach that puts the corporations' interests ahead of everything else. These bureaucrats tell us we need to accept these concessions. They tell us that we need to care more about the owning class that we do about ourselves. Why should we care about a group of parasites, which lives off our hard work?

We need to put our unions on a class struggle basis. We need unions of, for and by the workers, that take up the fight against the discrimination and stand for equality. We need to put an end to the situation where many of the unions are little more than businesses run for the benefit of bureaucrats. We need unions that will fight.

In the face of an avalanche of demands for givebacks, takeaways and concessions, activists and organizers in the labor movement need to take a hard line. We should insist our unions do likewise. In the process of doing so, those of us who have a common view of beating back concessions need to be communicating with each other and building organization – inside and outside the existing union structures – that stands for real resistance to employer demands.

#UnitedStates #Editorial #Editorials #concessions #classStruggleUnionism

In Europe, millions will gather and place demands on the rich and powerful. In Moscow and the cities of the former socialist countries, workers will take to streets, condemning the disaster that capitalism has unleashed. In fields, villages and cites of Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East, those who yearn for a better way of life will assemble and assert their demands for freedom, justice and equality.

In some countries, it’s a crime to celebrate May Day. Working people observe it anyway, either outside of the eyes of the authorities or in battles with the police. Where our class, the working class, has sway over government, be it Cuba or Democratic Korea, May Day is a national holiday – a bitter past is condemned, solidarity with the worlds oppressed and exploited is reaffirmed, and there is a recommitment to building a society that is just, free and fair.

An American Holiday

May Day was born in the U.S.A. It began with the struggle of the Chicago working class in May of 1886. Workers there fought and died for the 8-hour day. That battle of heroes gave rise to the tradition of demonstrations, strikes and celebrations by working people around the globe.

During the depression years of the 1930’s, millions of workers rallied in U.S. cities on May 1 – to demand unemployment insurance and trade union rights, and in support of the gains made by workers in the Soviet Union. This scared the hell out of Wall Street and the White House, so they ranted and raved that May Day was ‘un-American.’

In truth, the tradition and practice of celebrating May Day as a workers’ day – a day of struggle, where our class looks forward to a better future – is something that the people of this country have every right to be proud of.

A Failed System

For the working people of this country, capitalism is a failure. It enriches a handful of billionaires at the expense of the many. Caring only about getting the highest rate of profit on their investments, the rich do not give a damn about our health care, our housing, our children’s education or those of us who are growing older. They are looting our pension funds, attacking our unions, forcing those of us who have jobs to work harder and have pushed millions into the unemployment lines.

America’s wealthy – its capitalists – are not the ‘beautiful people’ they think they are. They are parasites who inherited their money and live off of our labor. They know that the secret to staying rich is not hard work; it’s having other people work hard for you. To protect their power and privilege, they have a host of bought-and-paid-for politicians to do their bidding.

Most people think that most politicians of both parties are liars. And they are right to think that. We have politicians saying things like, ‘getting rid of public assistance is good for the poor’ or that the minimum wage is bad for working people or that our social security dollars should be handed over to the rip-off artists on Wall Street. Most states are facing huge budget deficits. So how do the politicians respond? From California to New York, lawmakers advocate balancing the budgets on the backs of poor and working people. Many politicians are going further; they want to cut taxes on the rich.

The judges who preside over U.S. courts are cut from the same cloth as the politicians, only they are more pompous. They took a loser like George Bush, made him president, and then they turn around and tell us everything is fair and just. Klansmen aren’t the only people in this country who wear long robes. The judges who wear them are, and will be, deciding on cases that affect affirmative action, reproductive rights and our democratic rights.

Our country has become one big jailhouse for the oppressed nationalities within U.S. borders. According to our rulers, racial profiling is fine – in the airports or on the streets of the cities. Racist discrimination is a fact of life. Death rows, packed with Black people, Latinos and poor people – many of them innocent – give lie to talk of 'justice for all.' Nations have a right to determine their own destinies. For the African-Americans and the Chicanos, self-determination is a right denied. So is the right for genuine equality for Asian and Pacific Islanders and others who face systematic discrimination and oppression at the hands of those in power. Black and Latino youth are targeted by military recruiters to be used as cannon fodder in imperialist wars and by police who harass, beat, and kill.

Evil Empire

The capitalists who run America have built an empire of exploitation that expands across the globe. They steal the land, labor and natural resources of others. The rich have the gall to say that the sons and daughters of working people should go fight and die for them – in Afghanistan, Iraq, Colombia and the Philippines; and tomorrow in Syria, Iran or Korea.

In reality, working people here have no interest, material or otherwise, in supporting these wars. These wars have nothing to do with our peace, security or anything else that could be construed as just or reasonable. They have everything to do with oil, the theft of resources, exploiting people’s labor and domination of the entire world. To the extent that Bush and his backers are successful in attacking others, things are worse for us. Our enemies – the monopoly capitalists – become stronger. But the opposite is true as well.

Every setback dealt to U.S. imperialism is good thing for working and oppressed people here. The rich are attacking us. Many of us have decided to fight back. People and countries around the world are resisting the empire of the dollar. Collectively, we have a common enemy and common cause.

May 1, International Workers’ Day, is a time for working people to renew our solidarity with everyone who is fighting injustice and oppression – be it the steadfast men, women and children of Iraq and Palestine, who are giving their lives so that they can free their lands from occupation, or the freedom fighters in Colombia or the Philippines.

Bright Future

Any time that we stand together and fight for what we need and deserve – on the picket lines or in protests and demonstrations – we can see a glimpse of our future. Our best qualities emerge: courage, determination, and a willingness to make sacrifices for what is positive and right. And the greed, selfishness and cruelty of the elite stand out in stark relief.

To be sure, May Day is about our struggle now, but it’s also about what can be, about our future. The White House and Wall Street are leading us to poverty and war. We can do better. A lot better. Working people make this country run. There is no reason why we should not run this country.

There is a name for the way of life that is better than capitalism – it is socialism. We do not need the rich. We don’t need them to run the places where we work. We know better than any supervisor how to get things done. We do not need the government of our oppressors, or their cops, in our communities. We do need each other. We need power over the political and economic life of this country. This is what socialism is all about.

May Day is our day.

#UnitedStates #CapitalismAndEconomy #Editorial #Editorials #PeoplesStruggles #CommunistHoliday #internationalWorkersDay #Haymarket

Even former weapons inspector, Scott Ritter, agrees that Iraq is no military threat. He says, “The reality that, from a qualitative standpoint, Iraq has in fact been disarmed has been ignored. The chemical, biological, nuclear, and long-range ballistic missile programs that were a real threat in 1991 had, by 1998, been destroyed or rendered harmless.”

Since UN inspectors returned to Iraq, they have investigated over 200 sites; they are authorized to turn the country inside out looking for weapons that may not even be there. Most of the inspectors are military experts from the U.S., Britain and other western allies. The intelligence they gather on their missions can be used during a later military attack on Iraq.

The inspections are based on the lie that Iraq doesn’t have the right to weapons. In truth, every oppressed nation is entitled to arm itself in its own defense. The inspections themselves are a crime – no nation should be subject to search by enemy spies. We must defend Iraqi sovereignty by calling for the inspectors to get out of Iraq. The U.S., with its bloody history, has no right demand that Iraq disarm.

One Iraqi newspaper recently supported Korea, for insisting on the right to possess a technology used by the Americans against the Japanese in World War II, and which is still being used to blackmail the world. If the UN inspectors were really looking for threats to peace and global security, they’d inspect the Pentagon and not Iraq.

At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what the inspectors say in their January report. The Bush administration has already declared Iraq in ‘material breach’ of UN resolution 1441. That’s another way of saying Iraq is guilty with no chance of being proven innocent. The U.S. says that anything short of a perfect record is grounds for war. And with UN looking the other way, Bush is preparing for just that.

Iraq’s deputy prime minister, Tariq Aziz, said, “Despite the presence of the inspectors, U.S. aircraft carriers are heading to the region and U.S. and British soldiers are arriving and making preparations.” In fact, when inspectors report to the UN on January 27, the U.S. military will be ready for war. There will be over 100,000 well-armed U.S. troops near Iraq in early January.

#UnitedStates #AntiwarMovement #Editorial #Iraq #Editorials #Sovereignty #WeaponsOfMassDestruction #UNInspectors #MiddleEast

People in the United States have no interest in supporting this war. Big oil companies, weapons manufacturers, and their bought-and-paid-for politicians are gunning for Iraq, ready to throw billions of dollars into this war, while they're cutting welfare, money for schools and healthcare, and cutting our jobs. Working people in the U.S. will get nothing out of this war, except more cutbacks here at home. The racist demonization of Iraqi people as terrorists will cause racist attacks in the U.S. We will see more hate crimes, more racial profiling and more INS and FBI harassment of Arab, Muslim and immigrant communities.

The Gulf War Never Ended

In 1991, the U.S. dropped tons of explosives on Iraq; more than 100,000 Iraqis were killed. The nation was devastated – every road, bridge, date plantation, power plant, water or sewage facility was hit. Homes, schools, mosques, churches, hospitals, even clearly-marked civilian bomb shelters were targets for American bomber pilots. Twelve years of sanctions are depriving Iraqis of food, medicine and the capacity to rebuild. Drive-by bombings in illegal no-fly zones are rarely reported in mainstream media, but continue the terror war that never ended. The United States government is responsible for the deaths of over one and a half million Iraqi people. A massive bombing campaign and a large-scale invasion will mean even greater loss of human lives.

Weapons as a Pretext for War

U.S. claims of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction are outrageous. If the U.N. wants to look for weapons of mass destruction, they should start by inspecting the Pentagon, not Iraq!

Many reports have established that there is no evidence of nuclear or other weapons production in Iraq. The U.S. and UN have no right to insist that weapons inspector spies be allowed into Iraq. No country, least of all the United States, would allow foreign inspectors unlimited access to government buildings, industries, and military sites. Inspections are a violation Iraq's sovereign rights. On many occasions, inspectors have instigated conflicts that serve to justify U.S. military attacks in Iraq.

We also need to defend the right of all nations to arm themselves in their own defense. The Iraqi government has rightly identified major military threats from Israel and Turkey, both armed with billions of dollars in U.S. weaponry.

Why War? Why now?

While the policy of sanctions and small-scale bombings has kept Iraq out of the oil market and political scene for twelve years, that's not enough anymore. While the current Bush Administration has vast ties to the U.S. oil industry, and is hungry for open access to Iraqi oil reserves, the aim of the Bush policy in Iraq is to expand U.S. political, military and economic control in the Middle East.

The current Palestinian Intifada has caught the attention of the world, and serves as an example of resistance to U.S. objectives in the region. Israel's focus on smashing the uprising makes it a distracted ally, and Israeli brutality has made Arab neighbors less accommodating of U.S. demands. As the most outspoken ally of the Palestinian cause, Iraq has fanned the flames of Arab resistance, supported Palestinian freedom fighters, and threatened to attack Israel. Both because Israel has become an unstable ally, and because Iraq stands up for Palestine, the U.S. is moving to establish another puppet regime in Iraq.

The Middle East is key to maintaining U.S. political power – there are important resources (like oil), and the region is strategically located south of Europe and west of Asia (the homes of our two main global competitors). U.S. imperialists want military bases in the Middle East, friends in the Middle East, and business in the Middle East.

Iraq is a barrier to those goals, and it serves an example to Arab neighbors. Iraq has remained resolute since 1991 – it has not become an American outpost or puppet. Iraq is an example that the U.S. can no longer afford.

Economic interests and pressure from anti-war movements have weakened many governments' support for U.S. policy against Iraq. The same is happening in the U.S. Congress, where Iraq has been made the number one pawn in the upcoming elections. Lacking support for old policies, the Bush Administration is left with only two options: Give up, or attack. The Administration has chosen to attack.

Regime Change Means Occupation

According to the Bush Administration, 'regime change' is the immediate goal of a U.S. attack on Iraq. This is different from campaigns in 1991 and 1998, which aimed to weaken and isolate the country. The first thing we need to understand about 'regime change' is that the United States has no right to dictate to Iraqi people who their leaders should be. We must uphold the right of self-determination for Iraq. It is clear that on a daily basis, the primary attack on the freedom of every Iraqi woman and man comes from U.S. sanctions, bombings and threats of war.

Next, we must understand that in order to eliminate the current Iraqi government, and install a puppet regime, the United States won't be able to bomb and run. The U.S. will need to seize Baghdad and every major city in Iraq – an operation that will risk the lives of a huge number of U.S. troops. The Iraqi government, aware of this new strategy, has promised to defend its cities. Taking the cities will take a long time, and likely result in civilian deaths on a massive scale. If the U.S. is able to seize the cities, Iraqis will continue to fight. To maintain power for an unpopular puppet government will require years of military occupation.

Stop the War at Home and Abroad

This is why we must to work to stop this war before it starts. We have to build a strong movement that brings together all the communities who recognize the criminality of this war. Students, long-time peace activists, Iraqis and all other people of conscience need to place clear demands on the U.S. government. We must oppose the murderous sanctions in all forms and we must call for an end to U.S. patrols in the illegal no-fly zones. We must support Iraq's right to oppose inspections by foreign spies, and we must demand that the Bush Administration commit to no war with Iraq, today or in the future

#UnitedStates #AntiwarMovement #Editorial #Afghanistan #Iran #Editorials #sanctions #GulfWar #regimeChange

The April 20 demonstrations are a logical and necessary step forward for the anti-war movement. Since Sept. 11, thousands of protests, marches and educational events have been held in places ranging from big cities to small towns. The college campuses have emerged as important centers for the peace movement. Considering the war hysteria being fanned by the politicians of both parties and the corporate press, the anti-intervention movement has done a credible job of building a pole of opposition to U.S. wars.

Of particular importance was the work of the activists and organizers – veterans of the peace movement and new folks – who stepped out early and stated clearly that the tragedy of Sept. 11 would be used as a pretext to launch a new round of wars against the peoples and nations of the Third World.

Indeed, this is exactly what has happened. No serious person believes that the so-called “axis of evil” – Iran, Iraq, and North Korea – has anything to do with the events of Sept. 11. Nonetheless, these countries are now targets. On top of this, the White House is trying to criminalize the national liberation movements. From Palestine to Colombia to Nepal, Bush wants to put a terrorist jacket on freedom fighters. Military means are being used to maintain an empire of the dollar.

September 29

The early and courageous rejection of a new round of wars gave last year's Sept. 29 demonstrations, in Washington D.C. and San Francisco, their real significance. Almost 20,000 rallied near the Capitol, and the message of “hands off Afghanistan” rang out from the stage.

For many, especially students, Sept. 29 was their first national demonstration. Some were long-time fighters in the anti-intervention and peace movements. The bottom line is, something really great was done that day. The anti-war movement stepped on to the national stage.

There are some additional lessons. Throughout the summer preceding Sept. 29, planning was underway for a massive protests to coincide with the meeting of the International Monetary Fund. When 911 hit, a number of these forces backed off. Many of the unions took a pro-war position, and withdrew from the anti-globalization demos. A section of the peace and justice movement did the same thing. Things got tough, and they got going – home, to the coffee shops, anywhere but the streets.

Finally, the IMF meeting was canceled and International ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) issued a call for a mass anti-war demonstration in D.C. Despite the outpouring of support, some forces around the peace and justice movement responded in a narrow, sectarian fashion. They worked to divide the anti-war movement or discouraged people from coming to D.C. Unfortunately, some of the same nonsense is coming up again.

April 20

In response to war on Afghanistan, and increased U.S. military intervention abroad, a large wave of new activists came forward. The vast majority want a united movement that can challenge the Pentagon's plans. In the anti-war movement, there is broad sentiment for a unified response to war at home and abroad. This is exactly what is needed. “United we march” is a good slogan, but only if it is transformed into deeds.

That being said, two major demonstrations are scheduled to take place in Washington on April 20. One is spearheaded by ANSWER and the other by the A20 Stop The War Coalition. Both coalitions include committed activists who are making real contributions to the anti-war movement. Hopefully, the leadership of both demonstrations can find some common ground for some degree of unity. If this proves impossible, it is because elements within the A20 Stop the War Coalition refuse to make it happen. There is no sense in speculating on their motives, but at the very least, those opposing unity should provide an explanation to the rest of the anti-war movement.

It's neither fair nor reasonable that discussion about how to build our movement is held behind closed doors. If some people think that Palestine should not be addressed at the protests in D.C., that should be discussed by the movement as a whole. The same goes for the bombing of Afghanistan.

Beyond April 20

The Bush Administration calls for a “war without end.” They will do their best to deliver. We, the American people have a responsibility to do everything in our power to stop them. We should do it for ourselves and do it for rest of the world's peoples.

People here gain nothing, when the rich and powerful rip off the land, labor and natural resources of others. So we should oppose their wars. If they win, it strengthens the hand of those who lay us off, break our unions, or send cops to act as an occupying army in our communities.

Opposition to the wars of the Bush administration means exactly that – opposition to the wars that are actually taking place. In the early 90's, some forces in the peace movement supported sanctions on Iraq. So sanctions on Iraq are in place and more than a million people are dead because of it. Any decent-minded person should be against sanctions that kill kids, old folks, and those that need operations in hospitals. With the Pentagon talking about a march on Baghdad, we need to say no to sanctions and war with Iraq.

People can talk all day about a “just foreign policy,” but if that justice does not extend to Palestine, we are not talking about justice at all. The Israeli Zionists murder ambulance drivers, the devout at prayer, and those fighting in the streets for their freedom. Israel is the stick that Bush uses to beat the Arab peoples. And it is all about oil and empire. The same applies to Colombia, where U.S. Special Forces and the CIA are fighting for a death squad government.

There are real challenges in front of us. Those who oppose the Pentagon's wars need to unite. We need to make that unity concrete. We cannot talk about justice and ignore the U.S./Israeli war on Palestine. Lets keep the anti-war movement on track by standing up to each and every war move of the Bush Administration.

The countries of the Third World have a right to determine their own fate, to self-determination. They are right to fight for liberation and national independence. They deserve our support. Coming off the April 20 demonstrations, every effort must be made to involve even more people in the anti-war movement, and to raise its level of activity, understanding, and militancy.

#UnitedStates #AntiwarMovement #Editorial #Afghanistan #Editorials #axisOfEvil #A20StopTheWarCoalition #ANSWER

Most of us never learned in school that May Day was born in the U.S.A. We didn't learn it because it was never taught. On May 1, 1886 U.S. workers went on strike for the 8-hour day. The epicenter of this powerful movement was Chicago, where workers fought and died. In the aftermath of this battle, the ruling class extracted revenge. Leaders of the gigantic strike were jailed and executed by the government of Illinois. But for the employers, it was already too late. The heroism and determination of the Chicago working class, and those that led them, would resonate around the world. The idea of celebrating May Day as International Workers Day quickly took root. From then on, May Day became the day for our class to celebrate our victories, and to stand up to those who would rob and oppress us.

This year's May Day comes amid war and crisis. Our class, the working class, faces serious challenges. The rich, the capitalists and corporations who run this country, are “restructuring” the economy to better serve themselves. They want us working at long hours for low pay. For those of us who are unemployed, they are systematically destroying the social safety net. The government is in hands of the wealthy, so it cuts taxes for the rich, and gives the corporations one handout after another.

Our country has become one big jailhouse for the oppressed nationalities with in U.S. borders. According to our rulers, racial profiling is fine – in the airports or on the New Jersey Turnpike. Racist discrimination is a fact of life. Death rows, packed with people of color, give lie to talk of “justice for all.”

The rich have built an empire that extends across the globe. What is called “globalization” is, in fact, imperialism. The corporations are looting the land, labor, and natural resources of others. This robbery is enforced by military means. U.S. war ships sail every sea. American military bases are scattered throughout the world. None of this is for our peace and security. It's all about money for those that already have it.

What Bush calls a “war on terror,” is really a war on poor and working people abroad and right here at home. Bush calls the Palestinian freedom fighters “criminals,” and turns reality upside down.

In Colombia, U.S. troops are on the ground trying to hold back a revolution. “Former” U.S. generals are working in the Defense Ministry of Colombia's death squad government. They want to keep Colombia safe for the profits of oil companies. And they hate the idea of the Colombian rebels coming to power. Colombian revolutionaries want a just and decent society, where the people come first. Corporations that covet Latin America's resources and enrich themselves by paying workers next to nothing are panicked by the prospect of a New Colombia. So the White House sends troops, guns and dollars, while the corrupt president of Colombia struts around with U.S. Special Forces as bodyguards.

Working and oppressed people here are right to stand with our brothers and sisters in other countries. We are ripped off by the same corporations, and face the same Axis of Evil – the White House, the Pentagon, and Wall Street. We do not owe the rich and powerful our love, loyalty or respect. We don't owe them a thing.

On May 1 we look forward to the day working people – those of us who make society run – take political power in our own hands and run all of society! We can take our dreams of peace, equality and freedom and make them a reality. Our future is bright, and great struggles, with great outcomes. are before us.

#UnitedStates #CapitalismAndEconomy #Editorial #Culture #Editorials #PeoplesStruggles #CommunistHoliday #internationalWorkersDay #Haymarket

We are launching a fundraising drive to build this newspaper. We urge you to contribute. Already, supporters of Fight Back! in Chicago have gotten the jump on this campaign, raising several thousand dollars. We are confident that supporters in other cities will match their efforts.

Over the past 4 years, Fight Back! has been on the front lines of the people's struggles. From the battle for decent schools in Los Angeles, to the picket lines in Alabama and the demonstrations against police brutality in Chicago, Fight Back! has been there. Our correspondents around the U.S. bring you accurate and clear coverage of the fights for justice, peace and equality.

Because of the solid efforts of our readers, distributors, photographers and writers, Fight Back! has grown steadily in size, scope and quality. When we began publishing four years ago, Fight Back! was a regional newspaper, primarily distributed in the Midwest. We are now a nationwide paper with readers or distributors in every region of the country. Our technical staff has worked hard to steadily improve the quality of the paper.

The paper has grown in size, and Lucha Y Resiste! has steadily expanded. It is our goal to publish all the articles in Spanish and English at the earliest possible date.

Over the past two years, we have regularly sent teams of Fight Back! distributors to nearly every major national demonstration, where they assist local distributors and help to find new subscribers. We will be doing this again at the critical anti-war demonstration that will take place in Washington D.C. on April 20.

It's worth noting that as the paper has grown, it has become an important source of information for people in other countries who want to learn more about the struggles of working and oppressed peoples here. In the weeks before we went to press with this issue, contributions and subscriptions came in from as far away as Australia and Brazil.

As the paper has developed, our expenses have increased – and that is where you come in. Printing costs money. Shipping papers around the country costs money. And the post office doesn't give us a break either. Often, we have more material than we can publish. Our layout editor tries to fit it all in, but we have hit the point where we need to publish more pages each issue.

We believe that Fight Back! is especially important right now. The Bush Administration, along with the rich and powerful that stand behind it, has launched a war on the world. There is no other way to describe it. Working people and oppressed nationalities in this country are catching hell, and so are the people of Afghanistan, Palestine, and nearly every other place you can think of. And we all share a common enemy – the White House and Wall Street. Every issue of Fight Back! drives this point home.

Not so long ago, a boss of a Chicago hospital wrote us to complain about our coverage. Knowing that he is someone who consistently attacks clinic employees, we have to admit that we are glad that he's mad. It means we are doing something right. The same applies to a corrupt teamster official who bellowed at a union meeting that Fight Back! was the “worst paper in the world.”

We realize that we have a way to go before the exploiters and oppressors that run this country also judge this newspaper to be the “worst in the world.” But we are trying. And you can help us.

Contribute to the fundraising campaign.

Mick Kelly, for the editors of Fight Back!

#FightBackHeadquarters #Editorial #Editorials #GiveToFightBack #fundraisingDrive

For the American people, these are dangerous times. Administration officials are debating a wish list of countries to invade. They want to send the sons and daughters of working people to do the fighting and dying. Dreaming of Black Hawks over Somalia and marching on Baghdad, the rich and powerful will plunge us into disaster after disaster. We will get neither peace nor safety, prosperity nor plenty.

The issue is not simply that Bush is reckless. He is, but there is a more basic problem – the class of people that Bush fronts for. Look deeper at the “us or them” rhetoric and there is a certain truth to it: for or against big oil; for or against the airline owners; for or against a well-fed, well-dressed elite who would not know a hard days work if it punched them in the nose.

This is reflected in every debate in Washington. Budget surplus. What time is it? Tax cuts for the rich time. Economic crisis and looming budget deficit – time for more corporate tax breaks. They say if you are “with us,” then you support drilling for oil in wildlife refuges, invasions of other countries, and trade agreements that drive down wages.

The war is the leading edge of a racist, reactionary, and right wing agenda. Nowhere is this clearer than the debate about racial profiling. Before Sept. 1l, racial profiling was a widespread practice, but one that many of its practitioners tried to hide. Today, racial profiling is even more widespread, yet we find its defenders are jabbering away on every TV network.

The attack on civil liberties is another dimension of this reactionary agenda. The hundreds of unknown immigrant prisoners, held in places known only to their jailers, is a testament to the kind of country that Bush and Ashcoft yearn for.

The rich, along with their government and media, say “united we stand.” At the same time, they are trying to pull the rug out from under us. We do not have the same interests. We, working and oppressed people, need to speak up for ourselves and act in our own interests.

#UnitedStates #AntiwarMovement #PoorPeoplesMovements #InJusticeSystem #Labor #Editorial #OppressedNationalities #Afghanistan #Editorials #civilLiberties #Bush

Unfortunately, there are some, who walk the corridors of wealth and power, that have responded to this crisis by trying to manipulate our sadness, fear, and concern. Motivated by greed, they tell us to hate other peoples – that war and racism will somehow make things better.

While the smoke was still rising from the ruins of the Trade Center, fast buck artists set up fake charities to line their own pockets. Airline executives ran to government, and got $15 billion. Money in hand, and their big salaries safe, they announced the layoffs of nearly 100,000 airline workers. Congress is now besieged by lobbyists from the hotel, insurance and every industry you can think of, looking for bailouts or a piece of the different “stimulus packages” under debate.

There are those who want to use our grief to promote the ugly twins of racism and national chauvinism. Senators talk about need to pull over people “with diapers on their heads”. Across the U.S., a wave of violence and harassment has been unleashed against Arabs and Muslims. This includes assaults on mosques, beatings, and even murder.

There is a new attempt to legitimize racial profiling. No one should be fooled. The TV networks' talking heads, who advocate targeting the millions of Arab Americans who fly on airlines, are borrowing from the book that makes it a crime to drive while black.

At moments like this, it's critical that we keep our eyes open. We need to take a hard look at what is being done to us and what is being done in our name. Behind the talk of “bipartisan politics”, an agenda that is both narrow and reactionary is being pushed through at government's highest levels.

The Social Security surplus is being gutted for corporate handouts and the military. Rolling back environmental protection measures is presented as a matter of national security. An assault is underway on our civil liberties. Politicians from both parties are leading us to an unending war.

George Bush responded to September 11 by calling for a new “crusade.” After saying “we know that God is not neutral,” Bush, the crusader, is setting fire to the cities of Afghanistan and sending in troops. That puts us in a position where we need to deal with some hard questions.

Near the top of the World Trade Center there was a restaurant called “Windows to the World.” The cooks, waiters, and dishwashers who worked there were members of the hotel and restaurant workers union, and were among the victims on September 11. How could it possibly honor their memory to unleash a humanitarian catastrophe in Afghanistan? The answer is clear, it cannot. Yet, this is exactly what's happening. The victims of the U.S. bombing campaign are Afghani families in homemade air raid shelters and places of worship.

Millions of people in Afghanistan are running out of food. Starvation is walking a land haunted by hunger. Having one plane drop 5000 pound bombs, and another drop a few “ready to eat meals” into a mine field, is a propaganda ploy – similar to the “food for peace” program used in Viet Nam.

The logic of U.S. intervention in Afghanistan is this: Bomb the cities. Turn the population into refugees. Follow it up with a war on the ground, or a war in the mountains to be more precise. The result will be a mounting death toll – mainly Afghani, but Americans as well – the tragedy of New York compounded 100 times.

As serious as this is, there is every indication that the Bush administration is planning a broader war; beyond Kabul there is Baghdad and Lebanon. Since September 11, Washington has threatened both Iraq and the brave men and women who pushed Israel out of southern Lebanon.

It is vital that U.S. intervention is halted in Afghanistan. If it is not beaten back there, a highway of death and destruction will be opened across the Middle East. Under the cover of a “war on terrorism”, we will witness more U.S. intervention in the Third World. “Either you are with us or you are with the terrorists”, says Bush.

U.S. foreign policy around the world created a climate that caused the events of September 11. To say this is to make a statement of fact. It is not an issue of “justifying” any more than when a weather forecaster predicts a coming storm. Latin America is a checkerboard of U.S.– supported death squads, especially Colombia. Israel is carrying out assassinations with U.S. backing and dollars, and one and a half million people have been killed by sanctions in Iraq. The shock and anger that people in the U.S. felt on September 11 is the same emotion that is felt by the mothers of Iraq, when their children die of U.S. enforced starvation.

At the end of the day, corporate America does what's profitable for corporate America. We are dealing with a class of people where “justice” means “just us” rich folks. The world is a worse place for it. They take the land, labor, and natural resources of others. They are hypocrites who are unfit to bring anyone to justice, and to call on them to do so is like calling on an arsonist to put out a fire.

Build the Anti-War Movement

It is vital that we seize the time and build a powerful movement against the war on Afghanistan. While doing so we need to forcefully speak out against any attacks on Arab and Muslim people here. We need to defend our rights.

The stakes are incredibly high for people in the Middle East, south Asia, and for those of us who live here. The events of September 11 have placed us, the American people, at a crossroads. We can march with Bush on the road to war and racism or we can begin a determined struggle for peace through justice. The war is the leading edge of right-wing reaction and is being used to roll back what we have won through past struggle.

A just world is possible, but it cannot be built on empires of oil and dollars. All us who favor peace and progress are facing a test. If we are confident and bold, and willing to take the truth to the American people, we will not fail.

#UnitedStates #AntiwarMovement #Editorial #Afghanistan #Editorials #RacismInTheCriminalJusticeSystem #911 #WorldTradeCenter

May Day is our day. It was born in the struggle of the Chicago working class in May of 1886, as workers there fought and died for the 8-hour day. That battle of heroes gave rise to the tradition of demonstrations, strikes, and celebrations on the part of working people around the globe.

This year's May Day comes in the midst of growing economic instability. The dot com bubble burst. A wave of massive layoffs has hit the high technology sector. In our country, manufacturing is in a full-scale recession. Capitalism, the economic system that dominates much of the world, is undergoing a crisis – a crisis of overproduction.

In their rush to compete with each other, the corporate heads went all-out building new factories, stores, and offices. They have grown accustomed to profiting big, while paying us little. So store shelves and warehouses pile up with goods that we can't afford. Detroit is awash with cars that we don't have the money to buy.

Many countries, like Indonesia and Turkey, are in a situation that rivals the great depression of the 1930's. We don't have a crystal ball, but we do know this – in the United States today, most of us want and need more, not less. We cannot and will not accept a declining standard of living. We should not be pushed down because of “profit warnings” on Wall Street.

On May 1, working people everywhere will say “enough is enough.” We're going forward. We do not intend to sacrifice anything for those who have confused greed with virtue. The rich say it's a dog eat dog world, and that they need to retrench, restructure and resize to better compete with each other. What they mean is laying people off; dealing out wage cuts; slashing or eliminating public assistance; contract givebacks; or marching off to another war, to take something that belongs to someone else.

When wild dogs roam the streets, it's time to call animal control. Those who would kill a community or country in pursuit of profit are not even worthy of a trip to the humane society. The rich contribute nothing. Neither do the politicians that front for them. They take with a steam shovel and give with an eyedropper. There is no reason to put up with a system that protects their power and privilege.

On May Day 2001, we should learn from the women and men of Cincinnati. The oppressor put a gun to their heads. They stood firm and said, “We won't live this way.”

In today's U.S., there is no real equality, justice, or freedom. The slave owners' plantation still casts its shadow on African Americans. High school history books ignore the fact that that American Southwest was once Northern Mexico, so the U.S. can justify the treatment of Chicanos as strangers in their own land. Every oppressed nation has the right to determine it's own destiny.

Each attack of the existing order of things implies its opposite – with our collective work, struggle and intelligence we can aspire to and fight for a better way of life. We can achieve something for our familes and ourselves. That's what May Day is all about.

In the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, millions will march against capitalism. This fact is important. Those of us who are older grew up with a lot of stories about how bad socialism was. However, the truth is obvious – capitalism is a disaster. Old folks who fought the Nazis and kids who should be in school compete for food from trashcans on the streets in Poland, Albania, and the old U.S.S.R.

The U.S. State Department says capitalism is the “end of history.” This is the pillow talk of a class in love with itself. Look at what they have brought to the world: poverty, war, discrimination, and exploitation.

About the bankers and bosses, we can say this: never has there been a class that has given so little and gained so much. The wealthy say that all of us are in the same boat. They lie.

The rich man lives on borrowed time. Our time. Life is short and we need to take the future into our own hands. Every class has its own holidays. For working people, May Day is day that belongs ourselves alone. International Labor Day stands front and center.

#UnitedStates #CapitalismAndEconomy #Editorial #Editorials #PeoplesStruggles #CommunistHoliday #internationalWorkersDay #Haymarket

The tens of thousands who filled the streets Jan. 20 to challenge Bush, his administration, and the system that he stands at the head of are a sign of things to come. That Bush felt the need to attack the right to protest, while surrounding himself with an army of cops that day, speaks volumes.

The wealthy elite that runs this country put Bush in office. They swarmed the capital for his inauguration. The rich and arrogant filled every D.C. hotel, with their furs, chauffeurs, and three-piece suits, clinking their champagne glasses to country western music. They had something to celebrate – another of their own moving in the White House, a drunken frat boy makes good. They had taken a man whose name is synonymous with ignorance, whose claim to fame is 135 executions in Texas, whose sole qualification for office was a deep and abiding interest in serving corporate America and made him President.

For the next four years, Bush will march along the path of Clinton and Gore, but with fewer attempts to hide his agenda. Bush is a yes-man for big banks, big oil and big money – a small-minded person whose idea of a joke is to mock a religious woman on death row in Texas, “Pleasssse don't kill me,” said Bush to his pals.

Bush is proposing gigantic tax cuts for the rich, even though more taxes are imposed on working people.

Bush will try to privatize what the Democrats could not. Expect more sky-high electricity and gas bills for your homes. The Federal Government will be busy spending your tax dollars on what the Military-Industrial Complex wants-a first strike nuclear attack system. The so-called “Missile Defense Shield”, aimed mainly at China, will spark a new arms race. Bush's war spending is sure to be above the $305 billion that Clinton and Gore raised it to last year.

Bush will talk about “compassionate conservatism” while the poor and the elderly, especially oppressed nationalities and immigrants fall through the holes cut in the social safety net. Those holes were cut by Clinton and Gore. As the economy goes sour, more families, especially women and children, will find themselves homeless. Members of Bush's cabinet want to fund religious groups who will “help” the homeless. Many of these groups are poverty pimps and will impose their will on poor people and keep people poor so they can stay in business. Bush will also try to privatize the Social Security system, making retirement uncertain for some and impossible for others.

The Bush presidency will shore up North American Free Trade Agreement and try to consolidate a Latin American economic bloc, making workers everywhere poorer, lowering health standards, and destroying more of the environment. At the same time, Bush will try extend the U.S. domination and control over Asia, Africa, the former USSR, and the Middle East.

Bush's father, the former President, was the “Butcher of Baghdad” – he rained down death and destruction on the people of Iraq. Clinton managed to kill more than Bush Sr. with the sanctions and his air war. We can expect more of the same from the new administration.

At home, workers and oppressed nationalities can expect attacks on their jobs and unions, on welfare rights, and on affirmative action. We can expect more executions and higher imprisonment rates because of the phony “War On Drugs.” The police will continue to target Black, Chicano/Latino, Asian and Native communities. Bush will try to roll back the gains made by women – he will do everything in his power to attack reproductive rights.

All the attacks under Clinton will continue to under Bush. One way of looking at is this: Clinton and Gore were enemies of the American people. Bush is Clinton-plus.

So, what is the battle plan? We must take to the streets like the protesters at the Bush inauguration! We must encourage workers to support union organizing and picket lines, do our part in getting working people together in our communities to stop racist police brutality, especially against Blacks and Latinos; protest until Congress stops funding U.S. War in Colombia; and rally to stop the execution of Mumia Abu Jamal! We must do the hard work of building movements for basic social change.

Bush is in the White House, we are in the streets!

#UnitedStates #Editorial #Editorials #PeoplesStruggles #electionFraud #electoralCollege #SupremeCourt