The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, often referred to as the Taliban, stated, “Now the time has come for the American president Obama and other head of states of invading countries to understand the realities of this futile war and instead of tactical efforts, troop reductions and gradual withdrawals, focus on the conditions, calls and needs of its own people and immediately extract all its troops from our country.”

In recent years the U.S. and its NATO partners have faced numerous setbacks in Afghanistan.

Large portions of Afghanistan are outside the control of the foreign-dominated government headquartered in Kabul. While the U.S. has spent billions to buy legitimacy for the corrupt puppet government headed by Hamid Karzai – as it represents foreign powers, ignores the needs of the Afghan people and engages in torture as a matter of policy – that regime never gained popular support.

A rising tide of ‘green on blue’ attacks, where patriotic Afghanis who are members of the government’s military or police go up against occupation troops, have made practical cooperation between U.S./NATO and the puppet troops difficult to impossible.

Given this situation, there is now a debate in the White House and Pentagon about how to deal with the growing defeat.

#Afghanistan #USOccupation #taliban #BarackObama #antiimperialism #Asia

The report states, “The test was carried out as part of practical measures of counteraction to defend the country's security and sovereignty in the face of the ferocious hostile act of the U.S. which wantonly violated the DPRK's legitimate right to launch satellite for peaceful purposes.”

The U.S. occupies the southern portion of Korea, and is the barrier to Korea’s reunification.

In recent weeks, the U.S. military has dispatched more military forces to the region and conducted provocative military exercises.

#NorthKorea #Korea #NuclearWeapons #KoreanPeninsula #USOccupation #Asia

With these words, Mullen has condemned the people of Afghanistan to suffer more misery, oppression, and poverty – as if eight long years of occupation were not enough.

The implications are serious. Focusing U.S. guns and military power squarely on Afghanistan means thousands of more needless deaths and untold misery for millions of impoverished Afghans. It means the people of Pakistan will face more violations of their sovereignty and more deaths due to U.S. air strikes. And it means that many more daughters and sons of the U.S. working class will lose their lives, limbs or mental health in a war for empire.

Debate is heating up over what course the U.S. should follow in Afghanistan. Democrats and Republicans argue over how many troops to send. But who will take a stand and say the U.S. has no right to be there in the first place? Politicians from the two parties of big business will not take this position. It will take a massive anti-war movement in the streets here, combined with relentless resistance in Afghanistan, to force them to change their thinking.

Today we don’t have a mass movement against the occupation of Afghanistan. The truth is that far too many Americans are silent on this question. While just about every thinking American says the U.S. should get out of Iraq, fewer are willing to say the same about Afghanistan. The way to change this is to educate, organize and build a visible pole of opposition to the occupation.

What the U.S. military is doing in Afghanistan is unjust. U.S. occupying forces have killed or wounded tens of thousands and left millions homeless and hungry. Dozens die every week from U.S. bombs and bullets. Thousands are tortured in U.S.-run dungeons in Bagram Airbase. Afghans are subjugated and oppressed. Rotten to the core with corruption, the puppet government run by Hamid Karzai is little more than a collection of drug-trafficking warlords.

But where there is oppression, there is resistance. Resistance to occupation is the natural and legitimate response of any people. In Afghanistan a powerful resistance movement has developed in the countryside. Military analysts estimate that the resistance now controls 70% of the country.

In response, President Obama is rushing 17,000 troops to prop up the failing occupation and prevent major cities from falling to the insurgency. But this is a hopeless effort. The Afghan people have a proud history of defeating every past invader. There is no reason to think things will be different this time around. In any case, it is their country, and sooner or later the U.S. must leave.

Afghans have the right to organize their resistance as they see fit. We should be clear that the real obstacle to social liberation is not the Taliban, it is the U.S. occupation with its narco-mafia state led by Hamid Karzai. Only when the occupiers are overthrown and driven out can Afghan society develop freely.

In the same May 5 press conference, Admiral Mullen said the advances of the Afghan resistance “directly threaten our national interests in the region and our safety here at home.” In fact, workers and oppressed peoples in the U.S. have no ‘national interests’ in Afghanistan or anywhere else in Central Asia.

Our interests are for liberation and justice here in the United States. We understand that we have much more in common with the millions of Afghans who struggle for national liberation than we do with Admiral Mullen and the ‘interests’ of U.S. imperialism.

Imperialism’s ‘interest’ is for a foothold in Central Asia to project power and secure natural gas resources in the region.

The interest of the working class is for an end to occupation and for the Afghan people to be victorious in their struggle for liberation – just as we support the Iraqi people, the Palestinian people and all occupied peoples in their just struggles to be free from imperialism.

The tide of history is with the oppressed. The time to support Afghanistan’s liberation struggle is now. Recognizing that, we should do everything in our power to end the occupation.

#UnitedStates #AntiwarMovement #Editorial #Obama #Afghanistan #Imperialism #Editorials #USOccupation

A consequence of occupation has been the division of Korea into two separate countries – North and South. Along the 38th parallel, the South Korean authorities have erected a wall, which divides families, friends, and ultimately a people. The government in the north, the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea, has made many reasonable proposals to unite the country, but the continued U.S. occupation continues to frustrate the will of the people – on both sides of the border – to achieve reunification.

Unfortunately, the Bush administration has been raising tensions on the Korean peninsula. It has branded North Korea a “rogue state”. Accusations such as this coming from the president of the U.S., a country that finances death squads in Colombia, sends guns to Israel so they can kill Palestinian children, and recently organized the kidnapping of the former president of Yugoslavia, would be laughable, if they were not so serious. This kind of talk is designed to justify the occupation of the south, and the war moves towards the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea in the north.

People in this country have no interest in a second Korean war. U.S. troops should be brought home now! The people of Korea want reunification. This demand is just and deserves our support.

#Editorial #Korea #Imperialism #Editorials #USOccupation #KoreanWar #38thParallel #Asia

(This article is based on observations and conversations with Korean movement activists during a one-month trip back to the homeland this past November.)

The people's movement in Korea is on the rise, building for genuine democracy, human dignity and against national and economic exploitation.

There is a growing anti-war movement against the U.S. led “war on terrorism.” Almost 600 organizations have formed a national coalition against the war, made up of women's, student, youth, civic, worker's and religious groups.

On Nov. 10, student organizations that are part of the anti-war coalition held one of many rallies and demonstrations in Seoul. Speakers denounced the war. They also spoke out against the Korean government's economic and military support for the U.S. led war. The Korean government committed $500 million from an already weakened economy to the U.S., while cutting funds for social welfare and education. An activist from Japan criticized Japan's violation of its own Peace Constitution by deploying foreign combat troops for the first time since World War II. The Korean people are only too familiar with the effects of both Japanese and U.S. militarism, due to the long history of foreign intervention and the continued presence of U.S. military forces in Korea.

U.S. Occupation

Weekly Friday rallies are held in front of the Yongsan U.S. Main Army Base to demand an end to the 56 years of U.S. occupation. The presence of over 37,000 troops in South Korea to is a roadblock to reunification with North Korea, and has also led to countless violations of the Korean people's rights.

Over 100,000 Koreans have been victims of crimes committed by the U.S. military, but less than 1% of these crimes ever being tried in a Korean court of law. At least 800 crimes continue to be committed yearly. Yet, at a November meeting between South Korean officials and U.S. Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, there was a renewed commitment to keeping U.S. troops in Korea. As the U.S. views North Korea as a “terrorist state” for not falling in line with U.S. demands, South Korea becomes a strategic place for U.S. military interests.

Workers Movement

Workers are the backbone of the Korean people's movement. Since 1988, the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) has been holding the November National Workers Rally in commemoration of Chun Tae-Il. Chun Tae-Il, a garment worker, burned himself to death in the early 1970's to protest the conditions faced by Korean workers. His self-immolation forced many people to open their eyes the fate of workers, who are in a deplorable situation shaped by the industrial development drive of the government. Along with May Day, the November National Workers Rally is one of the two most important days of action for workers in Korea.

This year, over 30,000 workers from all over Korea gathered to demonstrate and demand change. Included were demands for an end to the discriminatory practice of using temporary workers and a stop to privatization of public industries. There is also a growing migrant workers' movement to demand legal status, equality and an end to the dehumanizing trainee system, which creates slave-like conditions for migrant workers.

Out of Korea

Many of the struggles faced by the Korean people are similar to the conditions faced by oppressed communities and workers in the U.S. The situation in Korea is made worse by the unequal relationship between Korea and the U.S., highlighted by the military occupation and the economic stronghold of U.S. run financial institutions like the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.

We can support the Korean people's movement by upholding self-determination for the Korean people and other oppressed nations all over the world. By struggling here against U.S. dominance all over the world, U.S. activists can truly stand in international solidarity.

Power to the Korean people's movement! Tu-jeng!

#Seoul #AntiwarMovement #Analysis #Korea #USOccupation #KCTU #WorkersMovement #Asia

The Bush administration is bringing the Korean peninsula to the brink of war. U.S. threats against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (the DPRK, or North Korea) and Washington’s withdrawal from the 1994 nuclear accords have led to a dramatic escalation of tensions. A growing tide of demonstrations against the presence of U.S. troops has rocked South Korea.

Nuclear Crisis

By cutting of the shipments of oil to the DPRK, the Bush administration effectively withdrew from the ‘Agreed Framework’ – an understanding between the U.S and North Korea that Korea would shut down its Yongbyon nuclear power plant in return for a steady supply of fuel oil and the construction of light water nuclear reactors by a U.S.– led consortium.

The decision to supply oil was not a humanitarian gesture. The Clinton administration was concerned that plutonium, a by-product created by the energy producing Yongbyon plant, could be used to produce nuclear weapons. The DPRK suffers from an energy shortage and was under no legal obligation to close the facilities. North Korea agreed to shut down the plant only if fuel oil was supplied to meet some of the country’s energy needs and if replacement reactors were built.

Officials of the former Clinton administration have stated that they planned to bomb the DPRK if an agreement could not reached on the nuclear issue. Statements from the DPRK leave little doubt that it was prepared to defend itself and that a U.S. attack would have resulted in a wider war on the Korean peninsula.

Foot dragging by the U.S. has meant that no significant progress was made in the construction of the replacement light water nuclear power plants. Bush’s branding of the DPRK a part of the ‘axis of evil’ has been widely interpreted by Koreans – North and South – as a threat to take military action against the North. Finally, by ignoring the obligation to provide fuel oil, the Bush administration left the Agreed Framework in tatters.

North Korea has responded by preparing to reopen the Yongbyon facility for the purpose of producing electricity, and telling monitors from the International Atomic Energy Commission to leave. The breakdown of the Agreed Framework means that the Commission in not needed to implement the implementation of the Framework.

‘Weapons of Mass Destruction’

The DPRK says that it reserves the right to develop whatever weapons it needs to defend itself. This is not surprising, given the numerous threats to its independence over the last 100 years.

Before World War II, Korea was a colony of Japan. After World War II, Korea was partitioned along the 38th parallel. The anti-Japanese partisan leader Kim Il Sung assumed the presidency of the North – the socialist DPRK – while the U.S. propped up Japanese collaborators in the South.

In 1950, the U.S. started a war with the North that resulted in the deaths of 2 million Koreans and 53,000 American soldiers. American air raids devastated the North Korean capital of Pyongyang – not one building over a single story was left standing. In the course of the war, the U.S. gained the dubious distinction of being one of the handful of countries that has ever used biological weapons, by utilizing germ warfare against the DPRK. The war ended with an armistice in 1953.

Following the armistice, U.S. and South Korean authorities implemented a policy of military provocations along the Demilitarized Zone, which divides the North and South, as well as numerous violations of the DPRK sea and airspace. On a near yearly basis, the U.S. organizes ‘military exercises’ involving tens of thousands of troops, armored vehicles and fighter aircraft that race towards the Demilitarized Zone as if a U.S. invasion of the DPRK was underway.

The U.S. has never renounced the first use of nuclear weapons against the DPRK, and American military strategy for the Korean peninsula has a nuclear dimension. Specifically, if a major war broke out, it is likely that American and South Korean forces would be handed a string of defeats. For this reason, Washington’s military strategy has long included a nuclear option.

The DPRK has proposed a non-aggression treaty with the United States, where all parties would renounce the use of force. The Bush administration says it will not discuss the proposal.

Add on threats like those of Defense Secretary Rumsfield, who states that the U.S. can wage simultaneous wars against Iraq and North Korea, and it’s clear why the DPRK would be unwilling to renounce it’s right to nuclear weapons. The U.S. has used nuclear weapons. It has employed biological weapons in Korea. The DPRK will not forgo its right to develop weapon systems that help deter blackmail or military intervention.

As we go to press, there are reports that the DPRK is considering exercising its right to withdraw from the Non-proliferation Treaty

Upsurge in the South

U.S. troops in South Korea serve as an army of occupation. They have put down uprisings in the South. Their involvement in numerous incidents of rape, murder and theft has given rise to a wave of popular anger against the U.S. presence. American troops who commit crimes are not tried by Korean courts.

The recent murder of two Korean schoolgirls by U.S. G.I.’s brought hundreds of thousands of South Koreans into the streets to demand justice. The schoolgirls were run down with an armored vehicle.

The defeat of the openly pro-U.S. candidate in South Korea’s recent elections, massive demonstrations against the presence of U.S. troops and protests against a U.S. war on the North limit the Pentagon’s options and have thrown U.S. foreign policy makers for a loop.

Growing crisis

In December, American troops boarded a Korean freighter. They rounded up the crew at gunpoint, damaged the vessel and proceeded to hold up DPRK exports of military hardware bound for the government of Yemen. Imagine the shoe on the other foot. The U.S. is the world’s leading exporter. What would happen to any country that boarded U.S. ships in international waters and behaved this way?

Bush’s new policy towards the DPRK is called ‘tailored containment.’ While it is unclear what all its component parts will be, its aim is to apply pressure, to stifle the DPRK. Since socialist North Korea came into being, each successive American administration has worked for its elimination.

As the DPRK has strong support from the Korean people, and a strong military as well, an intense debate is going on in the Bush administration about how to proceed against North Korea. Further complicating the issue are U.S. war moves against Iraq and the problems that would be faced by the Pentagon in fighting two major wars at once.

It is vital that progressive and anti-war forces say ‘no’ to war moves against the DPRK. U.S. troops need to come home from Korea now!

#AntiwarMovement #Commentary #Korea #USOccupation #NuclearCrisis #WeaponsOfMassDestruction #Asia

Fight Back!: In June 2004, you traveled to north Korea. What were your impressions? How do people live?

Sun Hyung Lee: As you know, it’s impossible to fully understand an entire society in just twelve days. But I will offer some of the impressions I had about north Korean society based on my short visit. Our delegation visited a wide range of places including a women’s garment factory, cooperative farm, health clinic, courthouse and teachers’ college.

Education is highly valued in north Korea. Education at all levels is free for all citizens. We toured the Grand People’s Study Hall, a huge seven-story library, open to all people. Not only do they let you borrow books and music and use the computer, you can hear lectures on all different topics. Then there was the Grand Children’s Palace where children come after school for activities like dancing, singing, artwork and sports. There are eight floors, more than 100 rooms and over 100 teaching staff. Places like this exist in each province, although this is the largest one in the country.

History is very important to the north Korean people. Our hosts took us to many monuments showing the Korean people’s struggle against Japanese occupation and U.S. imperialists during the Korean War. The war is referred to as the “war for the liberation of the motherland,” not a civil war as Americans and most south Koreans view it.

Reunification is a very alive and strong wish of the people. It’s in the songs, the movies, in the artwork. For those of you who are artists, the artwork in north Korea is beautiful, statues lifelike, and everywhere. Culture, art, singing and dancing are a big part of life there.

A big treat was our trip to Mount Baekdu, the most important mountain for all Koreans. Luckily, because of the rain, we got ‘stuck’ there for one night, along with a large group of overseas Koreans from Japan and China. Unlike the fancy hotel we were staying at in Pyongyang, the hotel at Mount Baekdu had low lights and no running water. It was a good experience for us to see what most of the country’s people are going through. The continued U.S. embargo and U.S.’s failure to deliver on the 1994 Agreed Framework to provide light water reactors in exchange for the north Korean’s stopping their nuclear program keeps the country in an energy crisis, with frequent blackouts throughout the country. There were hardly any cars and public transportation didn’t seem to come very often. On the farms, most everything was done by hand. We barely saw any tractors running. While this might be good for the air – there’s no pollution – it definitely must take its toll on people’s lives.

North Korea is slowly coming out of a very severe famine. The famine has taken its toll. Children who told us they were thirteen years old looked about eight. Many looked malnourished. In fact, we were told that north Koreans are, on average, only eating half the calories they need daily. The period since 1995 is called the Arduous March. Floods and droughts caused a serious famine, aggravating the economic crisis that was created by the fall of the Soviet Bloc.

Fight Back!: The U.S. government provoked a war and invaded Korea in the 1950s, settling in for a long occupation. 33,500 U.S. troops continue to occupy and divide Korea. How does this affect Koreans?

Sun Hyung Lee: The war killed over four million Korean people, separated ten million families on both sides of the DMZ [the line dividing north and south], and left the land destroyed by bombs and napalm. The U.S. government continues to be a threat to peace on the Korean peninsula and has been a constant block in the reunification process. The U.S. troops are a bitter reminder that U.S. imperialism is still very much alive on the Korean peninsula.

In June 2002, U.S. military officials sped through a village in a tank and ran over and killed two south Korean schoolgirls, but were cleared of any wrongdoing. This sparked huge anti-U.S. protests by south Koreans over the lawlessness of the U.S. military and the lack of sovereignty in domestic affairs. The south Korean government also sent troops to Iraq although most Koreans are opposed to it. Despite President Roh Moo-hyun’s original anti-war stance, it appears preserving the U.S.-south Korea alliance is more important than the will of the people. South Korea is the U.S.’ sixth largest export market and number one investment destination.

In some ways, you could say the division of our country is responsible for the famine in north Korea. Before the division, the southern part of Korea was the bread basket, the northern part the industrial center. 80% of north Korean land is mountainous and not good for growing food. The division keeps the north and south from sharing resources in times of need.

Fight Back!: You helped deliver $80,000 worth of medical supplies to a hospital. Could you tell us about the project and what you hope to accomplish?

Sun Hyung Lee: As part of our trip, our group raised money to purchase much needed medical supplies for north Korea. With generous support from other Korean Americans and allies, we were able to deliver six large boxes of antibiotics and vitamins to Pyongyang People’s Hospital #3.

Basic items like medicine, food and fertilizer are difficult for the north Korean government to access because of the existing U.S. embargo against the DPRK. Our efforts allowed us to do our small part in supporting the people’s immediate needs. Food and health care are basic human rights and should not be used as a political tool. Due to the famine’s long lasting effects and a huge train accident earlier this year, there was a great need for medicine. North Korea has free health care for all its citizens but the system can only provide what it has. But our donations are only one-time deals. An end to the embargo would allow north Koreans to have regular access and not rely on these kinds of one-time donations for their basic needs.

Fight Back!: The health care system in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is designed to serve workers and farmers. What are your observations about the health care system?

Sun Hyung Lee: We were able to visit one health clinic located on a cooperative farm. That clinic serves one farm, one factory and one small state institution. Two doctors, one midwife and one dentist work in the clinic. One doctor is responsible for the health of about 1000 citizens, from routine check-ups to making sure people get their shots. They do both clinic and home visits. One doctor treats about eight patients per day and spends about 30 to 40 minutes with each patient. Traditional and western medicine is used. The doctor sees patients, gives health education advice and prescribes medicines. If a problem needs higher level of treatment, the person gets transferred to the provincial or county level hospitals. Women come to the clinic for prenatal care within twelve weeks of pregnancy. After delivery, a woman will stay for about two or three days and then she is moved to an upper district hospital. Before the arduous march, everyone had their own medicine box at home for basic needs, but now because of the lack of medicines, people have to come to the clinic for everything.

Fight Back!: The Bush administration has often threatened the DPRK. What is the attitude of the people of north Korea towards these threats and war preparations?

Sun Hyung Lee: The north Koreans have lived with U.S. threats and embargo for over 50 years. This threat is a daily reality for them. But they believe they will persevere. They do not want war, but they are ready to defend their land, their people and their way of life. In all of history, Koreans have never invaded another country.

North Korea wants normal diplomatic relations with the U.S. but they will only do it on equal terms. They will not sell out their sovereignty for relations with the U.S. They will not have the U.S. telling them what they should and should not do on their own land. They ask that the U.S. respect their self-determination and stop its isolating and hostile policies towards the DPRK.

To understand this attitude, you have to understand that north Koreans as a people have a strong sense of history, the history of colonization and imperialism. They remember very clearly what U.S. imperialism did to our country. They see how U.S. interferes with south Korean sovereignty. They also see what happened to countries like Iraq and Afghanistan that did not have the ability to defend themselves from U.S. attack. Because of this, they carry a very strong sentiment against U.S. imperialism. However, we were repeatedly told that this is a hatred of imperialism, its lackeys and what it has done to our country, not towards the American people. They also know their history of struggle and revolution. The north Koreans are a fiercely proud people. This is a country that rose from the ashes of colonization and war, and continues to exist despite all the odds against it. The philosophy of juche, doing it for ourselves without bowing down to any power, is the central ideology that leads the nation. The juche philosophy stresses independence in politics, self-sufficiency in economy and self-reliance in defense.

As the U.S. continues its pro-war policies and vilification of the DPRK, there’s urgency to humanizing north Koreans to the general American public as well as to the Korean American community. We cannot allow the U.S. government to continue its isolating and hostile policies toward the DPRK. Especially, we cannot allow the U.S. to interfere in the process of reunification and reconciliation between the two Koreas. This is essential, since outside forces led to the division of our country in the first place. I hope that your readers will support policies that move the U.S. government towards engaging with north Korea, ending the embargo and stopping the use of food and energy as a political tool. The U.S. needs to stop making its threats of war and sign a non-aggression treaty with north Korea so north Koreans can focus on rebuilding the country instead of protecting themselves against unnecessary war with the U.S.

#AntiwarMovement #Interview #Korea #Interviews #KoreanReunification #USOccupation #KoreanAmericans #PeaceDelegation #Asia