On June 29, N.J. Governor Christie signed the budget passed by the Democrat-controlled legislature. In addition to $1 billion in education and student aid cuts (hitting urban districts especially hard) and $450 million less in aid to cities, the budget puts a 2.5% cap on salary increases for all local government workers, terminates state health insurance for 12,000 immigrants, cuts $9 million from legal services to the poor and cuts state payments to households with a disabled person.

The Democrats mounted only token opposition; they “won” a paltry $81 million in restorations out of over $2 billion in total cuts proposed by Christie. The restoration package included the General Assistance (GA) program, which was slated to wipe out cash benefits for employable adults on July 1.   

In 1992, New Jersey politicians tried to make GA a six-month program. At that time, those would-be killer cutbacks were met with a massive campaign, led in part by the Progressive Labor Party (PLP) and the International Committee Against Racism (InCAR). In the six months leading up to the cutoff, we organized mass marches; and led a sit-in at the Governor’s office in December. All of this, along with other actions statewide, stopped the cuts cold, led to the creation of more jobs and convinced a number of people to join PLP.

This year the opposition to the cuts was highlighted by a student walkout on April 27, which PLP members helped organize, and a May 22 Trenton rally of 35,000 workers. But Christie and the Democrats continued to dance together on workers’ backs. The Democrats first voted to reinstate the “millionaires’ tax”, which would slice $1 billion off the cuts. Then, when Christie vetoed it, they dropped the tax in their desperation to make a deal with him. Workers and students are making plans to continue the struggle into the fall and beyond.

Both parties hid the $3 billion in this budget being paid as interest to the bondholders and bankers. The union leaders who called the Trenton rally did nothing to expose this or organize more actions to fight the cuts. After the budget passed, Christie vetoed a tax increase on businesses that would have gone into the state unemployment fund.

Christie originally called for maximum weekly unemployment benefits to be cut by $50 per week. Instead, he has settled for expanding the reasons for denying unemployment claims based on alleged “gross misconduct.” This will give more bosses the incentive to concoct rationales for firing workers and then deny them the benefits they have paid into while working.

Cuts to legal services programs will cost almost 100 jobs, including layoffs, buyouts, and resignations. This will, in turn, result in huge reductions in services to unemployed and under-employed workers who face evictions, utility shutoffs, benefit cuts or denials, foreclosures, creditor lawsuits, etc. A committee of union members did organize to try and stop these cuts. However, most members thought lobbying the politicians or relying on the “influence” of statewide legal services’ bosses was the best strategy. In the end, workers learned the bitter lesson that the Democrats’ promises of restoring cuts made to legal services’ programs were all hollow.   

Cutting money used to meet basic needs will kill people. The bankers and bosses need to tighten the racist screws on the most vulnerable section of the working class to offset lost profits from their own economic crisis. They also need to increase the racist scapegoating of black, Latino and immigrant workers to distract workers’ anger away from their real enemy — capitalism — and try to mobilize support for their unending oil wars.

Communist revolution will abolish the capitalist competition and constant drive to lower wages which is behind unemployment, and the capitalist crises that lead to economic depressions. PLP aims to lead that revolution- join us. 

Recently a flotilla of ships bringing humanitarian aid to Palestinians trapped in Gaza behind a fascist Israeli blockade was boarded and attacked by Israeli commandos on the high seas. On one ship, the Mavi Marmara, the commandos encountered resistance, opened fire, and killed nine of the travelers. 

Videos showed that the passengers fought militantly and bravely against the commandos, succeeding in disabling several and knocking some off the ship into the water. This action helps to dispel the “myth of invincibility” surrounding the Israeli military and its own CIA, the Mossad. They can be fought and beaten with boldness and militancy, even if they ultimately succeeded in gaining control of the ship.

But there’s a bigger picture involved in this episode. Israel has functioned as the proxy for U.S. imperialism in the Middle East. The U.S.-Israeli axis has operated for decades to intimidate the bosses of Arab nations and force them into compliance with the needs of U.S. imperialism, which are mainly about controlling the oil and gas resources in the Middle-East and Central Asia.  Arab and Iranian bosses have chafed under this threat and more and more, there is resistance to the U.S.-Israel axis.

Communist Resistance Needed

Most of this resistance, unfortunately, has been led by Islamic political forces with reactionary ideologies such as “restoring the Caliphate,” punishing non-believers in Allah, and reducing women to the status of virtual slaves. This has been the case with the Taliban, Al-Qaeda, the Islamic Republic of Iran, and much of the resistance in Iraq and Pakistan.

More recently, Prime Minister Recep Erdogan, leader of Turkey’s Justice and Development Party (an Islamic Party in Turkey), has joined the pro-Palestinian cause, dramatically changing Turkey’s long-standing pro-Israel stance. He criticized Israeli President Shimon Peres at the Davos Economic Conference in January 2009. Obama, despite Turkey’s continuing membership in NATO, felt it was necessary to visit Turkey.

Murder by a State

Nevertheless, at the U.N., Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu correctly called the raid “murder conducted by a state” and demanded an immediate Israeli apology, international legal action and an end to the blockade.

Many of the passengers on the Mavi Marmara were Islamic militants supported by the Justice and Development Party and organized by Insani Yardim Vakfi (IHH), a humanitarian group in Turkey that supports Hamas. Those who died fighting the fascist Israeli commandos have been hailed at mass rallies in Turkey as Islamic martyrs. Notably absent from these rallies were the large workers’ groups which despise Islamic militants in Turkey and have been involved in pitched battles with them on May Days in past years. 

Some of these leftist organizations had sent fighters to Palestine in the 1970s to fight alongside George Habash’s Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a secular, militant, nationalist Marxist group aligned with the Soviet Union. These fighters learned first-hand of the treachery of the Islamic groups in Palestine, who killed many of their members despite the fact that they were nominally united.

The flotilla episode is one more example of the relative decline of U.S. imperialism. Turkey’s initial move away from its long-standing alliance with the U.S. marks an important step. This action builds on the recent deal that Turkey and Brazil worked out with Iran (to hold its uranium) that undercut U.S. imperialism’s designs against Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton could only get the U.N. to approve very limited sanctions.

U.S. Isolation

The U.S. is being increasingly isolated in its Mid-east and Central Asian ambitions. Meanwhile, U.S. rivals, China and Russia, are dealing freely with Iran, gaining access to resources in deals that will only strengthen their geostrategic position.

The flotilla episode reflects in a dramatic way the sharpening conflict among the imperialists and the U.S.’s increasing desperation to hold onto its allies as its rivals gain ground.

With serious, dedicated work, the PLP can grow internationally and be positioned to turn the coming imperialist world war into communist revolution. Just as our predecessors in Russia and China did, we can turn their willing slaughter of workers for the sake of profit into a battle for a classless, communist society. Boldness and growth of the international communist movement is increasingly urgent! 

With the continuing war in Afghanistan spilling into Pakistan and the country of Kyrgyzstan falling into chaos, the U.S. media again rolled out its tired myths of “ancient ethnic rivalries” leading to conflict. Meanwhile, they gloss over the absence of these “innate” ethnic tensions during the Soviet era. Many news sources have even blamed Stalin (now dead for almost 60 years) for the current chaos in Central Asia.

But it is inter-imperialist rivalry among the U.S., Russia and China for control of valuable natural gas reserves and pipeline real estate that is driving the political disorder, social unrest and wars in the area, strategically located between Russia, China and the Middle-East.

The current crisis in Kyrgyzstan that toppled the government and killed thousands of civilians dates back to 2001, not centuries. Using the 9/11 attacks and the war in Afghanistan as a pretext, the U.S. began pushing for bases in Central Asia. Eventually it received Manas Air Base in Kyrgyzstan for a measly $17 million/year.  Russia, incensed by U.S. encroachment in “its” backyard, made a similar deal in 2003 for a base only 12 miles from Manas. 

The U.S., upset by the Kyrgyz drift towards Russia, financed the “Tulip Revolution” in 2005, toppling the Kyrgyz government and installing a pro-Western dictator.  In 2009, Russia paid the new Kyrgyz government $2.4 billion to evict the U.S. from Manas Air Base, forcing the U.S. to assemble a $200-million aid package, increasing the base’s rent to $60 million. 

The Kyrgyz government, fearing Russian retaliation, gave the Russians a sweetheart deal on a second base near the Uzbek/Tajikistan border.  Now a new spate of rioting has again toppled the Kyrgyz government, plunging the country into chaos, with many suspecting Russian involvement after the opposition made closing Manas Air Field its primary demand.  

Since the Soviet Union’s collapse, the U.S. has sought greater involvement in the critical Central Asia region, which holds some of the world’s largest energy and uranium reserves. With its 1992 Freedom Support Act, the U.S. has openly funded pro-Western political movements in the post-Soviet states.

Increased military involvement in Central Asia is, a goal which the ruling class’s Hart-Rudman Commission and Project for a New American Century reports listed as critical to containing Russian and Chinese influence. 

In 2002, Russia countered, creating the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) with Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. After Uzbekistan evicted the U.S. from its base in 2005, Russia granted the country significant aid packages, inviting it to join the CSTO in 2006.  In 2007, Russia built a base there, adjoining the Novi uranium mining and enrichment plant.  Russia’s 2008 invasion of Georgia also helped secure an important Russian military outpost in the region, countering the U.S.-financed 2003 “Rose Revolution” which installed U.S. lackey Mikheil Saakashvili as president. 

China, not to be outdone, has been flexing considerable muscle in Pakistan, much to the dismay of the U.S. In 2001, dictator Perez Musharraf declared Pakistan an ally in the U.S. “war on terror” after receiving significant contributions in aid and military equipment.  China then began courting Musharraf by promising to fast-track the heavily-Chinese-financed Gwadar Deep Sea Port construction project. 

By 2006 Musharraf was publicly denouncing the U.S. and its “bullying” of Pakistan.  A year later terrorist attacks against Chinese workers on the port project led Musharraf to declare a state of emergency in Pakistan. Many believed the CIA was behind the attacks.  

This past March, Pakistan brokered a deal with Iran and China to build the Iran-Pakistan (IP) pipeline. This endangered U.S. plans for the larger Tajikistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline as well as the Nabucco pipeline connection in the Caspian Sea.

The U.S. has increasingly been moving military operations into Pakistan under the cover of “attacking terrorist hideouts.”  In response, groups connected to the Pakistani intelligence agency (ISI) have launched terrorist attacks in India (a key U.S. ally) and Afghanistan. The U.S. military is now saying withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan may have to be delayed.

Russia, with its declining population, has no better opportunity than now to seriously counter U.S. power in the region. The U.S., with its faltering economy, needs to seize these resources to contain Chinese growth, while China has the money and opportunity to secure its energy future.

The world’s imperialist powers are moving closer to war with each other. Only communist revolution can free workers from the bloodbaths that capitalist crisis and competition inevitably bring. J

Sources:

[1] AOL News, “Why All the Violence in Kyrgyzstan? Blame Stalin,” 6/16/10; The Economist, “Stalin’s Latest Victims,” 6/17/10; The Age, “Ethnic Fault Lines of Stalin Era Implode,” 6/19/10.

[1] NYT, “US is Building Up its Military Presence in Afghan Region,” 1/9/02; NYT, “In Reversal Kyrgyzstan Won’t Close a US Base,” 6/24/09.

[1] NYT, “Russia to Deploy Air Squadron in Kyrgyzstan Where US has Base,” 12/4/02.

[1] NYT, “US Helped to Prepare the Way for Kyrgyzstan’s Own Uprising,” 3/30/05.

[1] Challenge, “Afghanistan Center of Imperialist Dogfight Over Oil, Gas,” 2/25/09; San Francisco Chronicle, “Why is Russia Bribing Kyrgyzstan?” 2/22/09; Eurasianet, “US Armed Forces to Remain at Airbase for Afghan Supply Operations,” 6/22/09; NYT, “In Reversal Kyrgyzstan Won’t Close a US Base,” 6/24/09.

[1] AP, “Russia Signs Deal to Open Second Base in Kyrgyzstan,” 8/1/09.

[1] AP, “Kyrgyz Opposition Controls Government Building,” 4/7/10; Eurasia Daily Monitor, “Historical Context for Regional Response to Recent Events in Kyrgyzstan,” 5/3/10.

[1] Mahir Ibrahimov and Erjan Kurbanov, “Getting it Wrong in the Caucasus,” Middle East Quarterly, Vol. I No. 4, December 1994.

[1] Asia Times, “US Scatters Bases to Control Eurasia,” 3/30/05; US Commission on National Security/21^st Century, Phase I: Report on the Emerging Global Security Environment for the First Quarter of the 21^st Century, 9/15/1999, p 76; The Project for the New American Century, Rebuilding America’s Defenses, 9/2000, p 47, 35, 18-19.

[1] AFP, “Ex Soviet States Discuss Joint Military Force to Counter NATO,” 7/31/09

[1] Reuters, “Uzbekistan Evicts US from Air Base,” 7/31/05; BBC, “Last US Plane Leaves Uzbek Base,” 11/21/05; Radio Free Europe, “What Does Closure of US Military Base in Uzbekistan Mean?” 8/1/05.

[1] Eurasianet, “An Uzbek Air Base: Russia’s Newest Achievement in Central Asia,” 1/10/07.

[1] NYT, “Georgia-Russia Fight Endangers U.S. Oil Goals,” 8/14/08; The Daily Mail (UK), “The Pipeline War: Russian Bear Goes for West’s Jugular,” 8/10/08; Eurasianet, “Looking Back at the Rose Revolution,” 12/29/09.

[1] New Statesman, “There is No War on Terrorism,” 10/29/01; Center for Public Integrity, “Pakistan’s $4.2 Billion Blank Check for US Military Aid, After 9/11, Funding to Country Soars with Little Oversight,” 3/27/07.

[1] The New Nation (Bangladesh), “Emerging Pakistan-China Relations,” 9/11/08.

[1] USA Today, “Musharraf’s Book Says Pakistan Faced US ‘Onslaught’ if it Didn’t Back War on Terror,” 9/26/06.

[1] Asia Times, “Balochistan is the Ultimate Prize,” 5/9/09; The News (Pakistan), “US Told Not to Back Terrorism Against Pakistan,” 8/5/08.

[1] Asia Times, “Pipelinestan Goes Iran-Pak,” 5/29/09.

[1] NYT, “CIA to Expand Use of Drones in Pakistan,” 12/4/09.

[1] NYT, “Militant Group Expands Attacks in Afghanistan,” 6/15/10; NYT, “Report Says Pakistan Intelligence Agency Exerts Great Sway on Afghan Taliban,” 6/13/10.

[1] NYT, “Setbacks Cloud US Plans to Get Out of Afghanistan,” 6/14/10.

PARIS, July 3 — On June 24, nearly 2,000,000 workers protested the bosses’ government’s pension “reform” which will cut pensions by up to 40% over the next 40 years and raise the minimum age for a partial pension to 62 as well as the minimum age for a full pension to 67. The 1.9 million demonstrated in 201 rallies and marches across France. In Paris, 130,000 marched.

Thousands struck — almost 20% of civil servants, 16% of local government workers, and 12.5% of hospital workers as well as half the Finance Ministry workers. These figures doubled the number striking during the previous May 27 action.

Polls reported two-thirds of the country supported the June 24 actions and 56% oppose the government’s retirement “reform.” Half of those opposing the reform said they would fight it.

Pushing back the legal retirement age will especially penalize the working class, most of whom don’t attend college and consequently begin working earlier.

The CGT union leaders who called the demonstrations were surprised that twice as many turned out as they had forecast. The campaign will continue throughout the summer, including holding protest rallies at stops of the Tour de France bicycle race.

The French cabinet is to approve the retirement “reform” on July 13. Demonstrations and another 24-hour strike are planned for Sept. 7, when the French parliament will debate the issue.

But the trade unions remain firmly attached to capitalism. They denounce the pension cuts as a “brake on consumer consumption” which will stall any recovery from capitalism’s economic crisis. Instead of worrying about saving the profit system which constantly attacks the workers, the working class needs to destroy capitalism and its exploitation with communist revolution.