Madison, WI – On April 5, graduate workers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison occupied Bascom Hall for three hours, organized by the Teaching Assistants Association (TAA). The primary demands were that segregated fees be waived for graduate workers, that the international student fee also be waived, and that the university respect the collective bargaining process. Over 400 graduate workers and supporters, including undergraduates, the faculty and staff union, and community members, turned out in the TAA’s largest action in roughly a decade.

For graduate workers, for whom a typical yearly income from the University is about $13,500, segregated fees constitute an enormous tax on earnings, coming to over $1200 per year. These fees are ostensibly used to fund student services, but what graduate workers produce greatly exceeds this sum; graduate workers do the vast majority of teaching labor at the university, and the institution rakes in over half a billion dollars in tuition alone every year. Even factoring in the free tuition that many graduate workers receive, graduate workers are highly-skilled and hyper-exploited, and the remission of fees would only be the first step in moving towards adequate compensation.

The executive compensation of the UW’s top 20 highest-paid employees, many of whom were offered raises of nearly 30% by the Board of Regents the very same day of the sit-in, greatly exceeds the amount needed to waive segregated fees if added together. By contrast, the raise for all UW system workers was a miserable 3%, barely keeping pace with rising inflation.

The international student fee, though smaller in amount, is even more loathsome, constituting an explicitly racist tax on international students for no purpose. The TAA and its allies previously beat back a similar such tax which was passed by the racist Bush II administration, as its proceeds were used to surveil students. This second iteration of the fee has a nominally more humane purpose of ‘aiding’ international students, but it is a tax levied specifically on international students for a service that is provided free to domestic students – and therefore racist and unconscionable.

Rounding out the list of demands was the achievement a fair graduate worker handbook. After the disgraced far-right ex-Governor Scott Walker rammed through Act 10 in 2011, UW-Madison graduate workers’ union contract was nullified, along with the contracts of many other public-sector workers. Since 2017, graduate workers and the administration have haggled over terms in what is known as the Graduate Assistant Policies and Procedures process, which should (theoretically) produce a handbook to replace the previous contract. Despite the fact that this handbook is merely a set of guidelines, which the university can choose to violate at will with no legal repercussions, administrators have nevertheless endlessly pushed back deadlines while failing to carry out what should have been a simple process.

The TAA voted April 10 to endorse an exploratory strike committee at its well-attended April membership meeting. Graduate workers, like education workers across the country, are on the march, whether or not the capitalist state recognizes their right to form trade unions or not. The Teaching Assistants Association, founded in 1966, is the oldest graduate worker union in the United States. Its volunteer leadership – the executive board – is elected each year by the 500-plus membership. The TAA stands in the best tradition of the fighting workers’ movement and in solidarity with workers all over the world.

#MadisonWI #Occupation #PeoplesStruggles #PublicSectorUnions #TeachersUnions #TeachingAssistantsAssociationTAA #UniversityOfWisconsinMadison

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) condemned the decision of the European Court of Justice to keep the Hamas movement on the European Union’s “terrorist” list.

The Front emphasized that the Hamas movement is part of the Palestinian national liberation movement and like other Palestinian movements exercises its legitimate right to resist the occupation, as underlined by international law and conventions.

The Front added that the Zionist enemy is the main center of terrorism in the region and deserves the terror label as it continues to occupy Palestinian land and commit real war crimes against the Palestinian people on a constant basis.

#Palestine #AntiwarMovement #Occupation #PeoplesStruggles #Israel #PFLP #MiddleEast

New York, NY – On Sept. 18, around 40 activists and community members gathered in front of the Hilton Hotel on Sixth Avenue to rally against the Jewish National Fund.

On the weekend of Sept. 16-19, the Jewish National Fund (JNF) was hosting a conference to discuss its future plans, programs and partnerships to continue its agenda of stealing Palestinian land and giving it to Jewish-only settlers. The JNF has worked with impunity for decades to fund the ever-growing state of Israel. It is a fund raising, non-profit charity whose whole purpose and goal is the forced removal of Palestinians from their land. In their mission statement it explicitly states that any land they acquire cannot be rented, leased, sold or worked by non-Jews. Every year, the JNF raises $60 million in the U.S. for its cause.

Protesters were barred off on the other side of the street, while Zionist counter-protesters jeered and danced with an Israeli flag, unhindered by the police, in front of the hotel’s entrance. However, the pro-Palestine protesters were loud and militant with their Palestine flags and signs that read “Stealing land is not charity.” Chants ranged from, “There is only one solution! Intifada! Revolution!” and “Resistance is justified when people are occupied!”

The protest turned into a march and went around the block. The numbers that were there protesting the JNF vastly outnumbered the meager handful of Zionist supporters.

At the end of the event, one of the organizers announced that there was going to be another protest later that week as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was going to be in the city receiving an award. This is mere days after a $38 billion dollar military aid package, the largest in U.S. history, to Israel. The protest is going to be Thursday, Sept. 22 at the Plaza Hotel at 6 p.m.

The organizers and endorsers of the anti-JNF protest were the Stop the JNF campaign, the US Palestinian Community Network, American Muslims for Palestine, the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, the National Lawyers Guild – Palestine Sub-Committee, Students for Justice in Palestine, Jews for Palestinian Right of Return, Labor for Palestine and Al-Awda NY.

#NewYorkNY #NewYorkCityNY #AntiwarMovement #Occupation #Palestine #MiddleEast #PeoplesStruggles #Antiracism #PalestineJewishNationalFund

“The free Yemeni people with all its tribes, popular committees and army refuse the presence of foreign forces on its territory, as it consider the U.S. presence a clear colonization,” the statement said.

“Once again we affirm that the presence of U.S., UAE and other forces is an occupation aimed at spoiling our country and wealth,” the statement added, stressing that this occupation will be met with resistance by all means.

The U.S. Defense Department is stating the number of troops sent is small; but the U.S. is rushing arms to the Saudis, refueling their aircraft and supplying intelligence. Thousands of Yemenis have been killed by the Saudi bombing campaign.

The U.S., Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and others began a war on Yemen in March, 2015, with the aim of dominating the country.

#WashingtonDC #Occupation #MiddleEast #PeoplesStruggles #Yemen #UnitedStates #SaudiArabia

Milwaukee, WI – Palestine solidarity activists rallied against Israeli settlement construction in response to an awards banquet held by the Jewish National Fund Aug. 28. The annual awards banquet celebrated local bankrollers of the Israeli occupation for “their support in reclaiming the land to help secure the State of Israel.”

The Milwaukee Palestine Solidarity Coalition released a statement in opposition to the banquet and the 1200 new illegal settlement homes recently announced by Israel, saying, “settlements are the #1 roadblock to peace.”

During the rally, some members of the coalition presented a proposal to a local business asking them to endorse the global movement to boycott, divest and sanction apartheid Israel. The coalition has had multiple victories over the summer as local businesses sign on to the boycott of Israeli products, as well as the cultural and academic boycott.

“We can't wait for the politicians to stop funding Israeli occupation. We need to start in our communities by encouraging our friends, organizations and local businesses to stand in solidarity with Palestinians by withdrawing their financial support for the occupation. We also have to confront the local supporters of apartheid, occupation and illegal settlements,” said coalition member Jacob Flom.

#Milwaukee #MilwaukeeWI #Occupation #Palestine #Israel #JusticeForPalestine #IsraeliSettlements #MiddleEast

Minneapolis, MN – On Sept. 19, activists with the Minnesota Coalition for Palestinian Rights will return to the downtown Minneapolis Target store, urging shoppers not to buy products from SodaStream. This will follow a successful Aug. 15 mobilization, where 30 people held signs, chanted and passed out informational flyers to hundreds of pedestrians.

Sold at Minnesota-based Target stores, SodaStream is a company that manufactures home carbonation systems at a plant in the largest Israeli Jewish settlement on the West Bank. The construction of hundreds of settlements in the West Bank has been condemned by numerous human rights organizations, including Amnesty International, for violating international law and Palestinian human rights.

“We met with a positive response from the hundreds of people walking on Nicollet Mall at rush hour,” said Meredith Aby of the Anti-War Committee. “Minnesotans don’t support a company that makes its profits from stolen Palestinian land and the system of Israeli apartheid.”

The Minnesota campaign opened a few months ago with a letter initiated by Jewish Voices for Peace, which called on Target to discontinue sales of SodaStream products because the company is in violation of international law and in violation of Target’s ethical standards and Social Compliance Program.

This is effort is part of an international campaign of boycotts, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against Israel until it complies with international law and Palestinian rights. A truly global movement against Israeli Apartheid is rapidly emerging.

#Minneapolis #MinneapolisMN #AntiwarMovement #Occupation #Palestine #MinneapolisAntiwarMovement #Apartheid #SodaStream #AntiIsraeliApartheid #JusticeForPalestine #MiddleEast

On Thursday, anti-war activists protested at Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar’s office to demonstrate against the Obama administration’s escalating war in Afghanistan. The Anti-War Committee of Minneapolis-St. Paul organized the protest.

With the deployment of 30,000 additional U.S. troops to Afghanistan last December, civilian casualties increased dramatically. Rhetoric from the Obama administration expresses concern for civilian deaths, but the violence continues. Last month, Afghanistan’s Interior Ministry reported that civilian casualties jumped by 33% in a recent month-long period. Afghan officials reported 173 civilian deaths from March 21-April 21 of this year and stated, “An increasing number are at the hands of U.S. and foreign forces.” On May 10, the New York Times reported that shootings of Afghan civilians by U.S. and NATO convoys at military checkpoints have spiked sharply. At least 28 Afghans were killed and 43 wounded in convoy and checkpoint shootings this year. Despite widespread opposition from the people of Afghanistan, the U.S. is considering a large-scale military offensive in Kandahar, a city of half a million people.

Anti-War Committee member Katrina Plotz explains, “The presence of U.S. troops is an unjust foreign occupation that is actually causing, rather than solving the problems of violence, displacement, and poverty in Afghanistan. The Afghan people deserve the right to determine the future of their country for themselves. The U.S. has no business attacking Kandahar or continuing to occupy Afghan soil for another day.”

On Tuesday, the New York Times reported that U.S. geologists discovered $1 trillion in untapped mineral reserves in Afghanistan, including large deposits of gold, copper, cobalt, and lithium – a key mineral in the manufacture of batteries for laptops and cell phones. American geologists began studying the potential for mining in Afghanistan in 2004. The Pentagon already hired international accounting firms with mining expertise and is preparing to turn over technical data to multinational mining companies and American investors.

“It has recently surfaced that Afghanistan is rich in mineral reserves and I cringe to think of the fresh exploitation that promises to come of this. Because as loudly as we proclaim “No Blood for Oil” we must also demand “No Blood for Lithium” either,” said Misty Rowan of the Anti-War Committee to the crowd. “Do not make the citizens of Kandahar pay with their lives, and do not make the citizens of this country pay with the tax dollars we desperately need here at home!”

Ray Camper from Iraq Veterans Against War also spoke at the demonstration, “As a Veteran, I am using my voice for those who cannot. I am speaking not just on behalf of myself, but for all those who have seen enough war, enough death, and enough of our human and monetary capital being diverted away from where it is needed the most. Bring our men and women home and provide them with jobs. Keep our money here, and provide schools and an education for our children. Let’s build houses and communities here, instead of tearing down and destroying them abroad.”

The Twin Cities Anti-War Committee is planning more public outreach and protests in the coming months.

#MinneapolisMN #AntiwarMovement #Occupation #Afghanistan #AntiWarCommittee #SenatorAmyKlobuchar

Ten NATO occupation soldiers were killed by Afghan resistance forces on June 7, marking the deadliest day on record for the U.S. occupation of Afghanistan. Seven of those killed were U.S. soldiers. NATO reported that five troops were killed in an insurgent attack against a police training center, two soldiers were killed in a roadside bombing attack and one in a small arms attack. One day earlier, June 6, five NATO troops were killed in small arms fire attacks, a roadside bombing and a car crash. It is unclear if the car crash was related to a resistance attack.

The attacks are the latest in a series of increasingly bold strikes against the U.S. occupation by Afghan resistance forces. The Afghan people have been waging a nine-year struggle to oust the U.S./NATO occupation of their country. In 2010, all indications show that their struggle for freedom and independence is gaining strength, while the grip of the occupation is weakening.

Bold Attacks on U.S. Air Bases

Last month, Afghan resistance fighters attacked the massive Bagram air base in the central Parwan province. Bagram is one of the largest U.S. military bases in Afghanistan. Many of the unmanned drone aircraft that are used to assassinate resistance figures – killing thousands of Afghan and Pakistani civilians in the process – are launched from this base. Over 30 fighters attacked the base on May 19 with rockets and small arms fire, in a fight that lasted for several hours. One U.S. soldier was killed and nine were wounded. So far this year, Bagram has been attacked about once a week.

Days later, insurgents attacked another major military base of U.S. occupation, the Kandahar air base. The Kandahar air base is the largest in southern Afghanistan, and is another launching point for the hated Predator drone aircraft, as well as for U.S. airstrikes and bombing raids that have killed thousands of civilians. The resistance attack lasted for two hours; one of the rockets injured several U.S. troops. That same day, three U.S. soldiers were killed elsewhere in the country.

Occupation to Attack Kandahar?

Several months ago the U.S. military made clear its desire to root out resistance fighters from Kandahar with pronouncements that it intends to begin a major military operation in the area later this month. Kandahar is known to be a stronghold of resistance forces in Afghanistan – 258 NATO troops have been killed in the province during this war, the second highest death toll for any Afghan province. But the U.S. will face a difficult, if not impossible task, of controlling the city. Any military operation in the city of Kandahar is certain to result in pitched urban warfare with well-trained and motivated fighters. It seems unlikely that the U.S. can effectively control the city, yet to admit that it is in the hands of the insurgency would be a major blow to the morale of the occupation forces.

In many ways the U.S. moves to attack Kandahar reveal the essence of where the U.S. occupation currently stands: the U.S. military knows it cannot succeed in controlling Kandahar because it lacks legitimacy and that any attack on the city will result in hundreds of civilian casualties which will drive more Afghans into the resistance. Yet fear of admitting defeat propels the U.S. military into a worse position of entering a fight that it cannot win. And this cycle is being played out across the country with disastrous results for the people of Afghanistan.

Corrupt Occupation Government Lacks Legitimacy

The corrupt occupation government in Kabul, headed by President Hamid Karzai, recently held a so-called 'peace meeting' in Kabul, with much fanfare. The aim of the meeting was to shore up support for the hated Karzai regime in its struggle against the Taliban and other Afghan resistance forces. The Karzai government has been linked numerous times with drug trafficking. It maintains power through an alliance with corrupt warlords who share the spoils of the drug trade.

Meanwhile here is how ordinary people live in Afghanistan: 42% of the population lives in poverty. The average Afghan lives on a dollar a day. The life expectancy is 44 years. The literacy rate is 28%. One in five children will die before they reach the age of five. There are over 3 million refugees.

Meanwhile, President Karzai and his associates, much like the puppet government in occupied Iraq, live in luxurious, walled compounds and earn tens of millions of dollars from the drug trade. They pay off the 240,000-strong puppet police and military force, trained by the U.S. and NATO, to further their deals in the drug trade.

The U.S. has been trying to stabilize its puppet government in Kabul. For the U.S. to succeed in maintaining its occupation of Afghanistan, it must first make the Afghan people accept the puppet government in Kabul as a legitimate force. And of course, it is clear the U.S. is failing in this task as it continues to lose ground to Afghan anti-occupation forces across the country each day. It is in this context that the loya jirga, or 'grand assembly,' must be analyzed.

The loya jirga took place June 3. 1600 delegates, hand-picked by President Karzai's staff, participated. From the beginning it was clear that this was a staged event, not an assembly with political power. One member of the Afghan parliament told the New York Times, “It’s dangerous to raise people’s expectations with this fake and artificial exercise; it’s a workshop, not a jirga.” Another parliamentarian, Mir Joyenda, said, “This is a mistake; all the warlords were there in the front row.”

But as we have seen, it was no ‘mistake’ that the warlords were sitting in the front row. It could not have been otherwise. That is the basis of power for the U.S.-backed Karzai government.

For their part, the Taliban boycotted the jirga and launched a sustained attack on its opening day. As President Karzai began speaking, urging the Taliban to lay down arms, a rocket exploded a few hundred yards away from the tent. Minutes later, another rocket landed and resistance fighters began an attack on the security forces at the compound.

Mullah Zayfan, a local Taliban commander, commented on the attack, “The Islamic Emirate has a rule. While foreign forces are here, no representatives are allowed to attend any jirgas, or any talks. After the foreign troops leave, Afghans can sit and talk together.”

An Unjust War for the U.S. – A Just Struggle for the Afghan People

Civilian casualties continue to mount during this conflict. Officially, the number of civilians killed last year was 2259. But the true number is almost certainly much higher. Like in Iraq (“We don't do body counts,” the top general in Iraq, Tommy Franks, once said), the U.S. military seems to show little concern for how many civilians are killed by its airstrikes, drone missile attacks, night raids and ground assaults. Rather than reveal the truth about civilian casualties, the U.S. has instead recently been caught lying about murders of Afghan civilians.

But instead of ending this occupation, the Obama government has escalated the war, while Democratic Party politicians vote in funding for the Afghanistan war. Over $60 billion dollars were just appropriated for the U.S. occupation of Afghanistan last week. The U.S. has now appropriated over $1 trillion dollars for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, while working people suffer from massive unemployment, poverty and uncertainty in the greatest economic crisis in 80 years. U.S. troop numbers continue to increase in Afghanistan – over 87,000 U.S. troops are in Afghanistan this year, twice the number that was there last year. On top of that, another 40,000 NATO troops are in Afghanistan.

1099 U.S. troops have been killed so far in Afghanistan, and over 6000 wounded. This is a tragedy for thousands of American families that are faced with the loss of a loved one, or the debilitating injuries suffered by a family member of friend. Tens of thousands of U.S. troops suffer from post traumatic stress disorder and are frequently denied medical care for this condition.

As the U.S. and NATO attempt to strike out against those who oppose the occupation, the national liberation movement in Afghanistan continues to grow. The people fighting the U.S./NATO occupation of Afghanistan are doing what anyone would do if their country was occupied and a corrupt, warlord government was installed to rule over them. The problems about conservative, oppressive forces within the resistance movement against the U.S. occupation is a problem that Afghan people can deal with on their own, free from a foreign occupation.

The anti-war movement in the NATO countries continues to wage struggle in solidarity with the Afghan people. The anti-war struggle in the Netherlands grew so strong as to cause the government there to collapse in February 2010, as anti-war forces opposed the Prime Minister's attempt to keep thousands of Dutch troops in occupied Afghanistan. This is a great example of the strength of the anti-war movement in the NATO countries.

Anti-war forces must unite across continents, and with the anti-occupation forces in Afghanistan, to end the unjust occupation of Afghanistan. Until there is justice, it is clear that there will be no peace.

#Afghanistan #AntiwarMovement #Occupation #taliban #NATO #AfghanResistance #Asia

Another witness, Gul Mohammad, stated that the U.S. troops “opened fire for no reason.” A woman and a child were among those killed, according to local authorities.

Hundreds of Afghans took to the streets in protest after the shooting, blocking the roads, burning tires. The demonstrators chanted “Death to America!” and denounced the U.S.-backed occupation government and its president, Hamid Karzai, while calling for U.S. and NATO forces to leave the country. There are currently 126,000 U.S. and NATO occupation troops in Afghanistan, with more on the way.

The killings are the latest in a long line of deaths at U.S. checkpoints. The New York Times recently reported that “American and NATO troops firing from passing convoys and military checkpoints have killed 30 Afghans and wounded 80 others since last summer, but in no instance did the victims prove to be a danger to troops.”

The killings come at a particularly sensitive moment for the U.S. occupation, as it tries to rally support for a planned operation to sweep Kandahar of resistance fighters. As the U.S. occupation continues to bring misery, death and destruction to Afghans, the movement to oust the occupiers can only grow and gain in strength.

#KandaharAfghanistan #KAN #Occupation #Afghanistan #NATO #Asia

The organization WikiLeaks released a leaked video today showing footage of U.S. soldiers indiscriminately gunning down Iraqis from an Apache helicopter gunship. In the video, U.S. soldiers are heard laughing while shooting down over a dozen Iraqis, including two Reuters journalists. After the initial shootings, a van stops by to pick up one of the survivors who is crawling away. As Iraqis load the wounded man into the van, the U.S. soldiers open fire again, killing more Iraqis and wounding two young children who were inside the vehicle.

Later, when U.S. troops arrive on the ground to investigate the scene of the killings, a U.S. Bradley fighting vehicle drives over the body of one of the dead, and two U.S. soldiers are heard chuckling over the intercom of the Apache helicopter. The U.S. troops discover two badly wounded children, 10-year-old Sayad and 5-year-old Doaha, and a soldier makes a decision to evacuate them by air to a U.S. military hospital. The order is then revoked and the children are placed in the hands of Iraqi police to be taken to a local clinic, where care is inferior and there will be greater delays prior to treatment.

The Reuters journalists who were killed by U.S. troops were Namir Nour El Deen, age 21, and Saeed Chmagh, age 40. “What Namir was doing was a patriotic work. He was trying to cover the violations of the Americans against the Iraqi people,” said Nabil Nour El Deen, the brother of Namir, speaking to Al Jazeera today. “Is this the democracy and freedom they claim they have brought to Iraq?”

“This is another crime that should be added to the record of American crimes in Iraq and the world,” Nabil added.

The video provides rare insight into the daily reality of Iraqis throughout seven years of U.S. occupation. It is estimated that more than 1.5 million Iraqis have been killed during the U.S. occupation, with hundreds of thousands of deaths directly attributable to the actions of U.S. military forces. What is especially instructive about this incident is how the U.S. military portrayed the event at the time.

As Reuters reported on July 16 2007, “The U.S. military said last week it had called in ‘attack aviation reinforcement’ after coming under fire from small arms and rocket-propelled grenades. Nine insurgents and two civilians ‘reported as employees for the Reuters news service’ were killed, the statement said.’”

Each day similar statements are issued by U.S. military describing their actions in Iraq and Afghanistan. How many other murderous incidents are hidden by similar statements of “clashes with insurgents?”

Additional photographs and resources documenting the crime are available from WikiLeaks.

#Iraq #Occupation #WarCrimes #WikiLeaks #MiddleEast

Milwaukee, WI – One hundred people marched here, March 19, to protest the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan on the seventh anniversary of the invasion of Iraq.

Protesters marched from the Federal Building to Town Hall, demanding, “U.S. out of Iraq and Afghanistan now!” and, “Money for jobs and education, not for war and occupation.”

Chance Zombor, of Waukesha Students for a Democratic Society, spoke at the protest. “These days it's easier to be deployed than employed,” Zombor stated, explaining how hard it is to walk through his two-year college campus and not see a military recruiter or poster to join the military.

Zombor also commented that progressive anti-war activists should support the patriotic Iraqis who are fighting to free their country from U.S. imperialism.

Students for a Democratic Society helped organize the protest, along with the Milwaukee Coalition for a Just Peace.

#MilwaukeeWI #AntiwarMovement #StudentMovement #Occupation #Afghanistan #Iraq

Indeed, consider the two front-runners of the election, current Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi. Allawi provided bogus information about the ‘weapons of mass destruction’ to British intelligence that helped build the case to invade Iraq in 2003. He cooperated with numerous foreign intelligence agencies to help overthrow Saddam Hussein’s government. As a servant of the occupation, Allawi presided over the horrific assault on the city of Fallujah in November 2004, in which thousands of Iraqis were killed while the city was reduced to rubble by the U.S. military. He went on to help set up death squads to target resistance forces and those who sympathized with the resistance; these death squads murdered tens of thousands. As for Nouri Al-Maliki, the blood of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis is on his hands, as he co-led the effort with U.S. forces to wipe out the Iraqi national resistance during the ‘surge’ of 2006 and 2007. His government is infamous for its support to sectarian death squads that targeted Sunni Iraqis.

Clearly nothing democratic or progressive can emerge from either of these loyal servants of the U.S. occupation.

Repression in Iraq

The election was carried out under the eyes of 100,000 U.S. troops and 675,000 occupation police and soldiers. Numerous reports of intimidation, assassinations of candidates, voter fraud and corruption emerged in recent weeks. (Iraq is ranked 176 out of 180 for the most corrupt governments in the world.) Over 500 candidates were banned from participation in the elections, after puppet Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki declared that the candidates were supporters of the underground Baath Party. The Iraqi newspaper Azzaman reported that a week prior to the elections, 67 bodies were brought to the Baghdad morgue, all shot with silencer guns. The sources to Azzaman reported that the majority of those killed were civil servants, former Baathists and army officers. A day later Dr. Thamer Kamel, head of human rights section at the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, was shot dead.

Iraqi resistance calls for boycott of elections

The Iraqi resistance, which continues to carry out over 180 attacks each week against U.S. and occupation forces, urged a boycott of the parliamentary elections. “We will not be a party in the electoral process and in the political process as long as the occupation exists in Iraq,” explained Professor Sheikh Harith al-Dhari, the Secretary General of the Association of Muslim Scholars in Iraq and the spokesperson for the Jihad and Change Front, one of the largest resistance organizations in Iraq. “It is a principle we abide by and we will hold the same position until the withdrawal of the occupation.”

In a prepared statement, the Jihad and Change Front, a coalition of ten resistance groups, said, “The Iraqi people and its resistance see that the participants of the political process from the blocs, parties and individuals do not represent the will of the Iraqi people. The participation to election is to strengthen the will of the occupation and to enable him to extend and enforce agreements to realize its interests. It will bring us nothing only destruction and corruption.”

Reality on the ground in Iraq

Contrary to the rosy pictures painted by commanding General Raymond Odierno and the mainstream media, conditions in Iraq are extremely dire. Over a million Iraqis were killed by occupying forces over the six years, leaving millions of orphans and shattered families. Tens of thousands of Iraqis languish in occupation jails. Two million Iraqis have fled the country; 3.7 million are internally displaced. Less than 100,000 returned to their homes last year.

Baghdad has an average of 15 hours of electricity a day. About half the population has access to more than 12 hours of electricity a day. 50% of Iraqis lack adequate housing; less than half of Iraqis have access to drinking water and only 20% have access to sanitation services. Only 30% of Iraqis have access to any level of health services – never mind that most hospitals are severely understaffed and undersupplied. Unemployment and underemployment haunt millions of Iraqis who struggle to make ends meet for their families.

In the 1970s and 1980s, oil revenues were used to benefit the entire Iraqi population and Iraq had one of the most advanced medical systems, best educational systems and highest literacy rates in the Middle East. Today, all of that has been destroyed.

End the occupation

As the occupation drags into its seventh year, the need to rebuild the anti-war movement and pressure the U.S. to withdraw from Iraq has never been greater. Despite the propaganda and the lies to the contrary, nothing progressive or democratic can emerge in Iraq until the hated occupation is ended and Iraq’s people are free to determine their own destiny. Progressives in the United States must support the patriotic forces who resist the occupation and do everything possible to hasten the day of Iraq’s liberation.

#Iraq #AntiwarMovement #Occupation #Resistance #MiddleEast

More than ever, the earthquake disaster in Haiti exposes the social vulnerability and devastation caused by two centuries of colonial slavery, debt bondage and modern imperialism. The capability of the people of Haiti to surmount the dire results of such a natural disaster has been undermined and debilitated by man-made disasters, inflicted by foreign debt, US military interventions and occupation, and US-imposed “free market” policies.

On 12 January 2010, a magnitude 7 earthquake shook the Caribbean nation of Haiti, its epicenter hitting west of the capital Port-au-Prince. The quake and its numerous aftershocks have wrought death and injury to a huge number of people and catastrophic damage to their homes and other vital infrastructures.

Current estimates put the death toll to at least 110,000, with some estimates saying that up to 200,000 have been killed. About 75,000 have already been buried in mass graves but tens of thousands still remain buried in collapsed buildings in the capital. Health facilities are overwhelmed by more than 250,000 wounded, with shortages of medical personnel and supplies hampering efforts to treat them. Estimates indicate that more than 2 million people have been rendered homeless, billions of dollars worth of public and private infrastructure have been devastated.

The people of Haiti are undergoing incalculably great suffering. We, the International League of Peoples' Struggle (ILPS) convey our deepest sympathies to the Haitian people for their loss and express our most heartfelt recognition of their plight. We join the people of the world in lending our wholehearted support to help ease their suffering and call on our member-organizations and allies to extend immediate rescue and relief support to the victims in Haiti.

In the face of the devastation, the people of Haiti have had to rely on themselves and have shown heroism in helping each other as they go through the rubble, digging with their hands and puny tools to pull out what they can of the victims, both survivors and dead. With hardly any government or international aid support effectively reaching them on the ground despite the speed of information and hype of international disaster response, the people have had to rely on themselves for getting much needed water and emergency supplies.

We salute the Haitian people for helping each other. We also praise the various private organizations and institutions who have been able to extend whatever help on an international scale. At the same time, we direct our strongest denunciation against the US government for deploying military forces in Haiti instead of the personnel of US civilian agencies that are trained and equipped for rescue and relief aid.

The US government's first prolonged reaction to the earthquake was to send in the US Marines and the Army's 82nd Airborne Division. This is the notorious force unit that had invaded Vietnam, the neighboring Dominican Republic in 1965, Grenada in 1984, Haiti in 1994 and Afghanistan. Under the preposterous pretext of providing security to the devastated nation, the US landed and deployed armed soldiers instead of civil rescue personnel and equipment, water and food.

The US military took control of the airport and blocked private relief organizations in order to make way for the flights carrying soldiers and military cargo in the crucial first week after the earthquake. Professional rescue teams from many countries were compelled to stay in neighboring Dominican Republic or elsewhere, because they were not given landing slots.

A French plane, carrying a fully-equipped field hospital, was prevented from landing by the US military. The aircraft of the UN World Food Programme was also blocked from landing food, medicine and water for three days, because the US gave priority to flights ferrying US troops and equipment and evacuating Americans and other westerners. On 18 January, a US military spokesperson admitted that they have distributed a measly 15,000 liters of water and 14,000 meal packs. And they had done so chiefly through air drops, prompting the people to complain, “We are not animals!”

More than ever, the earthquake disaster in Haiti exposes the social vulnerability and devastation caused by two centuries of colonial slavery, debt bondage and modern imperialism. The capability of the people of Haiti to surmount the dire results of such a natural disaster has been undermined and debilitated by man-made disasters, inflicted by foreign debt, US military interventions and occupation, and US-imposed “free market” policies.

Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere where 80% of the population live in poverty. At its peak in 2008, the country's total foreign debt was at US$1.4 billion, about 40% of its GNP. It has been spending more in debt service than on medical services to the people. Worse still, about 80% of the debt was incurred during the corrupt dictatorship of François and Jean-Claude Duvalier. Ruling under the strings of the US government, the Duvaliers plundered and repressed Haiti, stashing millions of dollars in their private bank accounts abroad.

Haiti is currently occupied by UN troops and controlled by a puppet government installed after the US military kidnapped democratically-elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in 2004. Decades of “structural adjustment” programs, under the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, have robbed the nation of the capacity to provide social services, produce enough food from the land and develop national industries. Since the late 1970s, these US-dictated programs have ejected tens of thousands of small farmers from the land and driven them to the overcrowded urban slums. A nation previously self-sufficient in grains and sugar is now importing rice and sugar, chiefly from the US.

It is utterly absurd and perverse for the US to invoke security as pretext for landing its military forces on a country which has long been laid prostrate by imperialist plunder and which just been devastated by the earthquake. Natural disasters have become one of the major pretexts for US military intervention and occupation in various parts of the world. It is the dastardly policy of the US government all over the world to militarize its every pretense at aid and relief assistance, to gain extraterritorial rights and to make propaganda for the acceptance of its military forces.

The ILPS calls on its member-organizations, its allies and the people of the world to extend their solidarity and support for the people of Haiti. Emergency support and relief activities by non-military organizations must be given full play, to help ease the suffering of those most affected. Long-term rehabilitation of Haiti must eventually be mapped out together with the Haitian people, in conjunction with respect for their national sovereignty and self-government.

The ILPS reiterates its call for the withdrawal of all US and other foreign military forces. We call on the American people to demand an end to US military occupation and intervention in Haiti and help reverse the course of US-Haiti relations. We can best help Haiti recover from the devastation of the 12 January earthquake by supporting the Haitian people's struggle for national self-determination against foreign military occupation and economic plunder.

#Haiti #Occupation #OpEd #InternationalLeagueOfPeoplesStruggle #Americas

La Organización Socialista del Camino de Libertad denuncia la escalada de la guerra sangrienta e injusta estadounidense en Afganistán. Condenamos la decisión por la Casa Blanca y el Pentágono para la ‘oleada’ de mas de 30.000 fuerzas de EE.UU. y la OTAN en Afganistán en un intento de estabilizar un régimen fallado de la ocupación.

La escalada de la guerra llega en un momento critico para la guerra estadounidense en Afganistán. Según los informes militares estadounidenses, EE.UU. y la OTAN han aumentado las victimas del 64% en los últimos diez meses. En comparación con el primer año de la ocupación, la bajas entre las fuerzas de EE.UU. y la OTAN han aumentado en un 603%. Los insurgentes controlan extensiones vastas del campo y, con frecuencia, amenazan invadir las fuerzas de ocupación en las principales ciudades. Las rutas de suministro son constantemente amenazado por las fuerzas de resistencia y de muchas zonas del país son completamente inaccesibles por las tropas de ocupación.

El régimen de ocupación está desmoronando, y rápidamente. El gobierno títere corrupto que fue instalado por los EE.UU. y sus aliados, encabezada por Hamid Karzai, es universalmente despreciado por los afganos y se falta de cualquier tipo de legitimidad. Los EE.UU. intenta reforzar este gobierno títere, mientras que irremediablemente llevando a cabo una campaña contra la insurgencia para derrotar más de 140 organizaciones de la resistencia afgana que están luchando por la liberación nacional de los ocupantes extranjeros.

Para ir a la guerra de contrainsurgencia, los EE.UU. deben ganarse el apoyo popular – “los corazones y las mentes” de los afganos. Pero esta es una tarea imposible cuando cada día mueren personas inocentes de los ataques aéreos estadounidenses y asaltos a las aldeas. Sólo en el último año, se publicaron en varios incidentes en los que cientos de civiles afganos murieron por ataques aéreos de EE.UU.. No se mantiene conteo de las víctimas civiles de la guerra, pero si la ocupación de EE.UU. de Irak es un ejemplo, entonces se puede estimar que decenas de miles, si no cientos de miles, han sido asesinados por las fuerzas de ocupación. Varios millones de afganos han sido desplazados por la guerra de EE.UU.. Miles de afganos se han enfrentado a la tortura y las condiciones de detención de Guantánamo peor que en la Base Aérea de Bagram. Estos son crímenes de lesa humanidad, y ningún tipo de manipulación mediática puede encubrir las atrocidades que se cometen por el gobierno de los EE.UU. en nombre de la “seguridad” y “libertad”.

Sin embargo, no importa cuántas decenas de miles de tropas se vierten en el país, es poco probable para detener la marea de la resistencia a la ocupación de EE.UU. De hecho, como el pueblo de Afganistán ha demostrado a lo largo de su historia, que siempre va a resistir la ocupación extranjera hasta que estén libres. Aunque esta resistencia es satanizado en los medios de EE.UU., de hecho, es el derecho de los pueblos ocupados para resistir a los agresores, por cualquier medio necesario. Y es la tarea de aquellos que defienden la justicia y la liberación aquí en los Estados Unidos para apoyar el pueblo de Afganistán en su lucha heroica por la independencia nacional.

Actualmente, los EE.UU. se encuentra el peor crisis económica desde la Gran Depresión. Como millones de obreros perderán sus empleos y sus medios de vida y millones más son expulsados de sus casas, la contradicción entre el $1 billón más ($1.000.000.000.000) gasta en la guerra y la ocupación en Afganistán e Irak y los recursos que se necesitan desesperadamente en casa nunca ha aparecido más pronunciado. A medida que seguimos organizar la lucha contra los recortes, los despidos, las ejecuciones hipotecarias y los desalojos de nuestras comunidades, debemos exigir que la financiación se cortó a la ocupación de Afganistán e Irak y que esos recursos se utilicen para satisfacer las necesidades de la gente en su lugar.

Tres semanas después de los ataques de 11 de septiembre de 2001, los editores de ¡Lucha y Resiste! escribieron: “Es fundamental que se interrumpe la intervención de EE.UU. en Afganistán. Si no es igual volver allí, una carretera de la muerte y la destrucción serán abiertos en el Oriente Medio. Bajo el pretexto de una “guerra contra el terrorismo, la intervención de EE.UU.”, seremos testigos de más en el Tercer Mundo.” ( http://www.fightbacknews.org/2001fall/wtcbombing.htm)

Los acontecimientos han confirmado plenamente la verdad de esta afirmación. Después de la invasión estadounidense de Afganistán, la puerta se abrió a la invasión catastrófica y ocupación de Irak, la guerra de Israel contra el Líbano y el asalto criminal a Gaza, las amenazas y sanciones contra Irán y los ataques aéreos en Somalia – por nombrar sólo unos pocos ejemplos de intervención estadounidense en la región.

Ahora más que nunca, debemos trabajar para reconstruir el movimiento contra la guerra y cambiar la marea contra el imperialismo EE.UU. Sobre una base de principios, podemos reconstruir el movimiento para exigir “EE.UU. fuera de Afganistán e Irak, ahora!”

Es el pueblo que hace la historia y son las masas de los obreros que pueden detener esta guerra. Es la hora de que demos un paso en el escenario de la historia y poner un fin a este sistema terrible de la guerra, la explotación y la opresión – el imperialismo – y configurar nuestra lucha para sustituirlo por el sistema de la paz, la justicia y la igualdad – el socialismo. Cuanto antes podamos poner fin al sistema de las intervenciones de EE.UU. en todo el mundo, más pronto vamos a alcanzar este objetivo.

#Afghanistan #AntiwarMovement #Occupation #Imperialism #Socialism #Editorials #frso

Mehtarlam, Afghanistan – Hundreds of Afghans took to the streets on Dec. 8 to protest the killings of 15 civilians by U.S. forces during an overnight raid on Armal village.

According to reports, the protesters carried the bodies of the dead Afghan civilians and laid them in front of the occupation governor's house. Fearing the angry protestors, pro-occupation soldiers in the Afghan National Army began firing in the air. Reports indicate that a protester was killed by the shooting and a child was wounded, while other protesters were beaten by occupation soldiers. ( 'Civilian deaths touch off anti-US protest in Laghman – Afghanistan', RAWA News, 12-08-09)

The killings of the 15 Afghan civilians by U.S. military forces came on the same day that Admiral Mike Mullen, the highest-ranking U.S. military officer, admitted that the United States is “losing the war in Afghanistan.”

“We are not winning, which means we are losing and as we are losing, the message traffic out there to [insurgency] recruits keeps getting better and better and more keep coming,” Mullen told a group of Marines at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, who are weeks away from deploying to Afghanistan. ( 'Adm Mike Mullen: US is losing war in Afghanistan', Telegraph, 12/08/09)

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan estimates that at least 1500 civilians have been killed in Afghanistan this year. As more Afghans are killed by occupying forces, the Afghan resistance movement for national independence continues to grow in strength, numbers and influence.

#MehtarlamAfghanistan #Mehtarlam #Occupation #Afghanistan #Asia

Freedom Road Socialist Organization denounces the escalation of the bloody and unjust U.S. war in Afghanistan. We condemn the decision made by the White House and Pentagon to ‘surge’ over 30,000 U.S. and NATO forces into Afghanistan in an attempt to stabilize a failing occupation regime.

The escalation of the war comes at a critical moment for the U.S. war in Afghanistan. According to U.S. military reports, U.S. and NATO casualties have increased 64% over the last ten months. Compared to the first year of the occupation, casualties among U.S. and NATO forces have risen by 603%. Insurgents control vast swaths of the countryside and frequently threaten to overrun occupation forces in major cities. Supply routes are constantly threatened by resistance forces and many areas of the country are completely inaccessible by occupation troops. Some military analysts say that without a surge in forces, the puppet government in Kabul would not make it through the coming year.

The occupation regime is crumbling, and rapidly. The corrupt puppet government installed by the U.S. and its allies, led by Hamid Karzai, is universally despised by Afghans and lacks any kind of legitimacy. The U.S. tries to strengthen this puppet government while hopelessly waging a counter-insurgency campaign to defeat over 140 Afghan resistance organizations fighting for national liberation from foreign occupiers.

To fight a counter-insurgency war, the U.S. must earn popular support – the ‘hearts and minds’ of Afghans. But this is an impossible task when every day innocents die from U.S. air strikes and raids on villages. Just in the last year, multiple incidents were publicized in which hundreds of Afghan civilians died from U.S. air strikes. No count is kept of the civilian casualties of war, but if the U.S. occupation of Iraq is any example, then one could estimate that tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, have been killed by the occupying forces. Several million Afghans have been displaced by the U.S. war. Thousands of Afghans have faced torture and detention conditions worse than Guantanamo at the Bagram Air Force Base. These are crimes against humanity, and no amount of media spin can cover up the atrocities that are being committed by the U.S. government in the name of ‘security’ and ‘liberty.’

However, no matter how many tens of thousands of troops are poured into the country, it is unlikely to stop the tide of resistance to the U.S. occupation. In fact, as the people of Afghanistan have demonstrated throughout their history, they will always resist foreign occupation until they are free. While this resistance is demonized in the U.S. media, in fact, it is the right of occupied peoples to resist the aggressors by any means necessary. And it is the task of those who stand for justice and liberation here in the United States to support the people of Afghanistan in their heroic struggle for national independence.

The U.S. is currently undergoing the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. As millions of workers lose their jobs and their livelihoods and millions more are thrown out of their homes, the contradiction between the $1 trillion-plus ($1,000,000,000,000) spent on war and occupation in Afghanistan and Iraq and the resources desperately needed here at home has never been sharper. As we continue to organize to fight against the cutbacks, layoffs, foreclosures and evictions in our communities, we need to demand that funding be cut off to the occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq and that those resources be used to meet the people’s needs instead.

Three weeks after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, the editors of Fight Back! wrote, “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.”

Events have fully confirmed the truth of this statement. After the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan, the door was opened for the catastrophic invasion and occupation of Iraq, the Israeli war against Lebanon and the murderous assault on Gaza, the threats and sanctions against Iran and the air strikes on Somalia – just to name a few examples of U.S. intervention in the region.

Now more than ever, we must work to rebuild the anti-war movement and turn the tide against U.S. imperialism. On a principled basis, we can rebuild the movement to demand “U.S. out of Afghanistan and Iraq now!”

It is the people who make history and it is the masses of working people who can stop this war. It’s time for us to step onto the stage of history and put an end to this terrible system of war, exploitation and oppression – imperialism – and set up our struggle to replace it with the system of peace, justice and equality – socialism. The sooner we can end the system of U.S. interventions around the world, the sooner we will reach this goal.

#UnitedStates #AntiwarMovement #Occupation #Afghanistan #Imperialism #Socialism #Editorials #frso

Minneapolis, MN — At a packed press conference here Dec. 1, leaders of the Twin Cities peace movement responded to President Obama’s announcement that 30,000 more troops are being dispatched to Afghanistan. Representatives of a spectrum of peace groups came together to watch President Obama’s national televised speech and responded by demanding that U.S. troops get out of Afghanistan now.

Representatives of Military Families Speak Out, Iraq Peace Action Coalition, Anti-War Committee, Twin Cities Peace Campaign-Focus on Iraq and Women Against Military Madness were among those planning to attend the press conference.

Meredith Aby of the Anti-War Committee stated, “Widespread anti-war sentiment helped Barack Obama win the 2008 presidential election. Since taking office, he has acted to escalate the war in Afghanistan. In February 2009, he ordered the deployment of an additional 17,000 combat troops. Now he’s announced an even greater new deployment of 34,000 troops. Ironically, the first troop increases will be heading to Afghanistan just as Obama receives his Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo. We call on President Obama and Congress to listen to the wishes of the American and Afghan people and end the U.S. war and occupation in Afghanistan now.”

Aby continued, “Americans and Afghans want the war to end. Americans don’t support this war. A recent USA TODAY/Gallup Poll found that 55% of Americans disapprove of Obama’s handling of Afghanistan and the biggest number want Obama to reduce the number of troops fighting in Afghanistan. ABC New polls in Afghanistan show the same sentiments. Most oppose the western occupation forces and 82% oppose U.S. and NATO troop increases.”

Marie Braun, of the Twin Cities Peace Campaign stated, “We have now been at war in Afghanistan for eight years and it is long past time to heed the call of Martin Luther King, who said during another unnecessary war in 1967, ‘Come home America,’ urging Americans to take on their own issues of racism, economic exploitation and militarism.”

Across the U.S., protests are planned to demand an end to the U.S. war in Afghanistan.

#MinneapolisMN #AntiwarMovement #Obama #Occupation #Afghanistan #AntiWarCommittee

In a day of action organized by Students for a Democratic Society, October 7 saw dozens of protests across the country against the Afghanistan war on the 8th anniversary of the U.S. invasion. Students marched, conducted die-ins and skits, and some were arrested as they demanded money be spent at home on education and healthcare, instead of two wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Students Take Action

Hundreds of students marched in Washington, DC in a “Funk the War” event organized by DC Students for a Democratic Society. The demonstrators stormed the lobby of a building that houses Chevron, Shell, Blackwater’s lobbying group, United Technologies, and Clear Channel, demanding U.S. troops out of Afghanistan and Iraq.

In Gainesville, Florida, 40 people rallied in the Plaza of the Americas at the University of Florida to protest the war in Afghanistan. The protesters then marched to Turlington, chanting “Fund education, not occupation” and “What do we want? Peace! When do we want it? Now!” The demonstrators held a “die-in” during a class change to symbolically represent innocents killed in war. Protester Fernando Figueroa said, “I think the demonstrations in both Gainesville and across the United States showed that students are willing to fight back against imperialism and demand that funding be used for education and not occupation…what we have done today doesn't end here. We will keep building the movement to end the U.S. occupation of Afghanistan.”

In Asheville, North Carolina students shouted “Money for jobs and education, not for war and occupation!” across the quad on the University of North Carolina at Asheville. UNCA Students for a Democratic Society member Angela Denio said, “The people of Afghanistan have the right to self determination. Eight years of unjust U.S. occupation in Afghanistan has resulted in hundreds of civilian casualties, and displaced too many families that are now living in extreme suffering and poverty.” The SDS chapter in Chapel Hill, NC also had 30 people protesting the war, with hundreds more stopping to listen to speeches.

A “Funk the War” protest by Rochester SDS that drew dozens into the streets demanding an end to the occupations and an end to militarization of schools ended violently, when almost 30 police cars interrupted the peaceful protest and began shoving students and community members, threatening them with batons, and spraying them with pepper spray. The police arrested 12 protestors, 2 of whom had to go to the hospital for injuries caused by police brutality. The first person arrested by the police was the only African-American student in the vicinity, and protestors quickly called the police out on this obvious racism. This protest was part of a larger campaign by Rochester SDS to end budget cuts and demilitarize their schools.

University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee SDS had a protest of 50 people including members of Iraq Veterans Against the War. The protest led to SDSers starting a new campaign for education rights and to fight cutbacks on their campus, as well as a campaign against a racist student senator.

University of Houston SDS held a teach-in with 70 people in attendance. Afghanistan war veteran Matt Dobbs spoke about his experiences in two tours of duty in Afghanistan, and how he has come to oppose the war on a civilian population that is fighting a battle of self-defense against the U.S. occupation.

University of Minnesota SDS held a protest of 30 students that included a skit to demonstrate the need for funding to go to education and not the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Grace Kelley of SDS linked the war to sexism at home, saying “It has been argued by many people, politicians, and even feminists, that the war in Afghanistan is in fact going to liberate the women of Afghanistan. This argument reveals a prejudiced belief that we Americans are in a culturally superior position to help, which is both bigoted and untrue. How can our military forces help the women in Afghanistan overcome their own cultural oppressions when we can’t even eliminate sexism within the military itself, with one in three female veterans reporting sexual assault while in service? How can we claim that we are creating a better world for Afghan women when our superior military force continues to widow them and maim their children? How can we say we are helping the people of Afghanistan when our bombs murder Afghan civilians everyday?”

An Unjust War

The war in Afghanistan is becoming more and more deadly as it continues. 311 coalition troops were killed in the war in 2009 alone, bringing the total of dead soldiers to 869. U.S. and NATO occupation forces do not keep track of civilian casualties, but many estimate that U.S. air strikes and gunfire have killed tens of thousands of Afghans. Just last month, U.S. air strikes killed over 90 Afghan civilians in the northern Afghan village of Omar Kheil. A similar strike in Farah province on May 4 this year killed 147 civilians.

Troop levels have increased from 5,200 in 2002 to 68,000 in 2009, with no talk of de-escalation or ending the war. The war is costing American taxpayers millions of dollars everyday – $228 billion overall, $60.2 billion of which was spent in 2009 alone.

There will be no justice for the Afghan people while U.S. and NATO forces occupy their country. Only full U.S. and NATO withdraw will give the Afghan people self-determination, their right. It is the continued responsibility of activists in the US to demand an end to the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan, and to insist that the hundreds billions of dollars being used to pay off the banks and wage war on peoples around the world be used for social needs at home, like education and healthcare.

#UnitedStates #AntiwarMovement #StudentMovement #Occupation #StudentsForADemocraticSociety #Afghanistan #selfdetermination

To demonstrate solidarity with the occupied Afghan people, SDS chapters will hold campus protests on Wednesday Oct. 7, the eighth anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan.

Chapin Gray is an organizer with SDS at the Tuscaloosa, Alabama chapter. In introducing the resolution to the floor of the convention, Gray noted that, “The war in Afghanistan is not the ‘good’ war. It is an unjust occupation and needs to end now.” Gray continued, “Every anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, students have turned out to protest. Now that the U.S. is shifting its attention from Iraq to Afghanistan, and sending tens of thousands of more troops, we have to show mass opposition to the occupation of Afghanistan and demand ‘U.S. out of Afghanistan now’”.

The resolution adopted at the convention, “U.S Out of Afghanistan! End the War Now!” stated in part:

October 7th will mark the eighth year that the U.S. has been at war with Afghanistan, under the auspice of fighting “the war on terror.” In eight years under occupation, tens of thousands of Afghans have been killed by U.S. air strikes, bombs, and bullets, and the Afghani infrastructure has been devastated. In just one day of this war, May 4, 2009, U.S. air strikes killed over 150 Afghan children, women, men in a village in Farah province.

Kati Ketz, an organizer with the Antiwar Working Group of SDS, emphasized, “The Afghan people have a right to self-determination and a right to live in a country that is not being constantly bombed by U.S. and NATO forces.” Ketz stated, “We call on all students and youth in the U.S. to demonstrate solidarity and take to the streets Oct. 7 to demand ‘U.S. out of Afghanistan!’ Money going to bomb, oppress and occupy Afghanistan – and Iraq – should be used here at home to support schools and fund scholarships.”

Students and youth are encouraged to sign on to the call to action initiated by SDS. Endorsements by local, regional and national antiwar coalitions are also welcomed.

For more information, please contact sdsantiwar@gmail.com or visit http://sdsantiwar.wordpress.com

#UnitedStates #AntiwarMovement #Occupation #StudentsForADemocraticSociety #Afghanistan #NATO

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.

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