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    CHALLENGE, June 11, 2003

    Information
    11 June 2003 357 hits
    1. RACIST NYPD REIGN OF TERROR KILLS TWO
      BLACK WORKERS
    2. Liberal Democratic Candidates Want to `Out-Hitler' Bush Gang
    3. Workers' Only Interest in Bosses' Dispute: Organize to Fight Them All
    4. Vietnam War Criminal Kerry: Leader of Liberal Fascists
    5. Rulers Using SARS to Militarize Public Health
    6. Back Workers' Fight vs. GE Warmaker, Strike-breaker
      1. How Anti-Communism Screwed GE Workers
    7. Immigrant Workers Caught in Sears Tower `Terror' Sweep
    8. Homeland Security = National Guard Strike-Breaking
    9. May Day Deaths Symbolize Betrayal
      of South Africa's Workers
    10. Baghdad May Day 1959:
      One Million Marched Under Red Flags
    11. Arundhati Roy's `Boycott' Solution Will Never End Capitalist Misery
    12. GI's Should Refuse To Be
      An Occupying Army
    13. May Day 2003: `The Party's in Good Hands'
    14. PL'er Challenges Roy's Smokescreen
    15. Building the Party:
      Saying `Yes' To Active Mass Organizing
    16. LEARNING FROM STRUGGLE
    17. U.S. Rulers `Nuke' Iraqis
      And Own Soldiers
    18. Massive Strikes Sweep France
    19. Basra Oil Workers Lambast Invaders and Ba'ath Stooges
    20. Child Labor Is Good For Business
    21. Bosses Hide Poverty As Cause Of Disease and AIDS
    22. LETTERS
      1. Anti-Communism Spawned Bush's Neo-Cons
      2. Individual Freed In Collective Fight For Revolution
      3. Action Among Masses Spurs PLP Growth

    RACIST NYPD REIGN OF TERROR KILLS TWO
    BLACK WORKERS

    NEW YORK CITY, May 23 -- At the break of day on May 16th, a squad of New York's "slimiest" kicked in a Harlem apartment door and attacked with stun gun and grenade. But rather than the drug dealer the cops claimed they were chasing, they had exploded the grenade in front of a life-long city worker and church-goer, Ms. Alberta Spruill. After being handcuffed, she collapsed in shock and died on the way to the hospital.

    This was such an obvious "mistake" that Commissioner Kelly and Mayor "Cut-back-everything-except-my-billions" Bloomberg immediately cried crocodile tears of apology, hoping to calm the fury that would rise over yet another racist cop-killing.

    The cops acted on an informer's information, and -- holding the community in contempt -- made no attempt to corroborate it with anyone in her building.

    But really this was NO "MISTAKE"! The National Lawyers Guild estimates that one or two unarmed people -- usually black or Latino -- are killed each week somewhere in the U.S. Several days after Bloomberg's "apology," the cops killed Ousmane Zongo, an unarmed immigrant from Burkina Faso, Africa, a craftsman working in an African art bazaar that flourishes inside a Chelsea warehouse. The official lie was that he tried to pull a cop's gun during a raid on a video piracy outfit. Later it was revealed the victim had nothing to do with the people the cops were raiding.

    Mr. Zongo's friends and colleagues described him as a "gentle, friendly" man "who avoided conflict, spoke no English and did little except repair African sculptures in his third-floor stall and send money home to his wife and two children...in Western Africa." (New York Times, (5/24) Alema Zonon, an art vendor from Mr. Zongo's home country, said, "He never, never [fought] with nobody....The police, I can't believe it. They shoot him for nothing." (NYT) A friend said that before he was slain he was preparing to return home to his family.

    These murders are part of the racist terror and intensification of fascist repression designed to intimidate working people from fighting back against the sharpening oppression of an empire struggling to maintain world rule. Immigrants have always been special targets of this terror, but with post-9/11 Homeland "Security" the door kick-in at daybreak has become a regular occurrence for our Arab, Islamic and South Asian sisters and brothers. Ms. Spruill's murder shows that the police are being given the green light to attack ANY ONE OF US, citizen or immigrant, in the most barbaric way.

    A fight back is developing. Two Harlem-based vigils and marches are planned this week. This killing -- and the Patriot Act fascism it represents -- must be sharply raised in every workplace, school and organization. Resolutions like several already passed in various organizations must be endorsed and circulated. And most of all action, not just agitation, must be urged aggressively to turn the tide of this obviously growing fascism. PL'ers active in these struggles must show co-workers that racist terror/cutbacks and capitalism are birds of a feather, and that the role of cops is to serve as goons of the rulers' fascist terror.

    Liberal Democratic Candidates Want to `Out-Hitler' Bush Gang

    U.S. rulers have made a clumsy attempt to disguise their bloody drive for world domination as a crusade against "global terrorism." The 9/11 attacks gave them an excuse to wreak havoc in Afghanistan and to invade the Persian Gulf. Their recent conquest of Iraq represents one step in a much broader imperialist strategy. It includes more oil wars and eventually confrontations with other imperialist rivals temporarily too weak to challenge the U.S. head-on.

    The big bosses understand that this strategy requires fascism -- a full-blown police state -- at home. They need to discipline and mobilize the working class to fight for U.S. imperialism and accept the inevitable casualties and sacrifices. The rulers also need discipline within their own ranks. A tactical squabble has been raging among them about the best methods for achieving these goals, paralleling the foreign policy spats between "neo-conservatives" and liberals.

    Workers' Only Interest in Bosses' Dispute: Organize to Fight Them All

    Workers have no stake in allying with any of the rulers as they argue over how to conquer the world and implement their police state. Our only interest lies in organizing to smash them all by building the Progressive Labor Party and planting the seeds for communist revolution.

    However, it's important to recognize the true motives behind the big lies the rulers are spreading, to identify the enemy who speaks in "friendly" tones. As usual, the main danger to the working class is the liberal wing of the U.S. Establishment.

    Shortly after 9/11, the liberals began lambasting Bush for blowing a golden opportunity to set up a police state, focusing on his economic policies. Bush has tried to develop the police state on the cheap. His "have-your-cake-and-eat-it" approach tries to combine fascism and hefty tax cuts for his corporate buddies. The liberals squawk that this approach won't work, saying centralizing the government and mobilizing the population on a level unprecedented in U.S. history will require a vast, costly effort. Their favorite parallel is World War II. They want to channel billions into the U.S. drive for world domination, not into Bush's tax cuts. With the 2004 presidential election season nearing, they've begun to play their hand.

    New Mexico's Governor, Democrat Bill Richardson, with deep ties to the Rockefeller wing of the Eastern Establishment, recently called for Democrats to develop a "strong economic message" and a "strong national security message," adding, "if we need to use force, we do it." (New York Times, 5/26)

    Then Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman, who demanded a department of "Homeland Security" when Bush still opposed it, says "the Bush administration is not spending enough on homeland defenses." (CNN, 5/22). Florida Senator Bob Graham proposes that the FBI "strengthen and improve its domestic capability as fully and as expeditiously as possible" and complains about the FBI's "history of repeated shortcomings...in the face of grave and immediate threats to our homeland" (Prepared Testimony for the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks, May 22).

    Vietnam War Criminal Kerry: Leader of Liberal Fascists

    Right now, the leader of the pack is Massachusetts Senator John Kerry, who honed his skills as a mass murderer during the Vietnam War. Kerry has wrapped a fully-packaged plan for a police state in red, white, and blue and labeled it "a new era of national service." To underscore its paramilitary aspect, Kerry announced it at an American Legion Hall in New Hampshire. The plan includes: college tuition credit for national service, a high school community service graduation requirement to be administered by state governments, the recruitment of 100,000 "older Americans in service" and a "summer of service" for 13-17 year olds, a "rebirth of the Peace Corps" (Kennedy's pet project for getting idealistic youth to work for U.S. imperialism), the recruitment of "more Americans to the military" and the creation of a "new community defense service." (Washington Post, 5/19).

    Kerry and the liberals understand, as Hitler did, that a police state is much easier to implement if those whom it oppresses play an enthusiastic role in carrying out their own oppression, a hallmark of the liberal Clinton presidency. Clinton destroyed welfare and replaced it with a form of slave labor. Yet until his final days in office, he enjoyed high poll ratings. Kerry & Co. want to build on this record. He's framing his campaign in the rhetoric of community spirit and self-sacrifice. Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne notices that Kerry has given the "service idea a new twist. Drawing from fellow Vietnam veteran John McCain...Americans, Kerry say[s], `think elected officials no longer ask them to serve a cause larger than themselves...' [Kerry casts] patriotism and community-mindedness as the opposites of `get-mine and get-out rhetoric and a `creed of greed.' These he associate[s] with Bush's overall approach to domestic policy" (Washington Post, 5/20)

    Sure, Bush represents greed. Greed is a by-product of the profit system. But Kerry and the liberals serve the same class interests as Bush. Kerry merely has a more sophisticated, class-conscious approach than the Bush gang. "Community-mindedness" and the rejection of selfishness are noble goals. However, what's their true content? For Kerry & Co., this still means conquering the world and inducing us to applaud while we pay the awful price.

    The working class's criteria for "community-mindedness" is the complete opposite of the imperialist agenda for war and fascism. Our class consciousness views all bosses as our enemies. The liberals will keep trying to sucker us into marching under the banners of their police state. The Progressive Labor Party will continue to organize workers, students and soldiers into marching under the red flag and fighting for a future of communist revolution.

    Rulers Using SARS to Militarize Public Health

    If the SARS virus hadn't broken out, the bosses would have invented something like it. It's given them a golden opportunity to push their plans for domestic fascism.

    Police terror is a major component of fascism, but not the only one. To maintain social control, the carrot can serve as an equally useful tool as the stick. Health care is an important carrot.

    When the SARS virus began making headlines, Dr. Joshua Lederberg called it "a variation of the common cold..." (L.A. Times, 5/24). Lederberg is President-emeritus of Rockefeller University. He quickly revised his political estimate and now thunders that this virus is the "single greatest threat to man's dominance on the planet." (Quoted in Dr. Elin Gursky, "Now to Confront a Greater Enemy," ANSER, Institute for Homeland Security)

    CHALLENGE readers will remember the "anthrax scare" that followed the 9/11 terror attacks in New York and Washington, D.C. The bosses never found the culprit, but they made a lot of hay about "bioterrorism." As early as November 2001, Democratic Senators Jay Rockefeller and Bill Frist held a public forum linking epidemics to bioterrorism. Now a virtual industry has emerged combining the two. Its leaders include scientific and political pillars of the Eastern Establishment. On November 1, 2001, Margaret Hamburg warned the Rockefeller-Frist gabfest: "We need to recognize that public health is public safety, and an important pillar in our national security framework....Public health is a critical defense need" (Transcript, "Bioterrorism and Biodefense: Are We Ready?"). Hamburg is a former New York City Health Commissioner, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and an Overseer of Harvard University.

    Dr. Elin Gursky, a Senior Fellow at the ANSER Institute for Homeland Security, links SARS and the imperialists' recent war in Iraq. She praises the U.S. military's "flexibility," laments that the health care establishment lags far behind it, and calls for a dramatic increase in the number of public health employees, concluding: "The nation's ability to meet the threat of terrorists as well as newly-emerging diseases is now clearly a matter of 21st century national security" (op. cit.).

    The rulers' response to SARS exposes their intention to militarize public health and use it as a tactic for sweet-talking or coercing us into relying on them to "protect" us under any and all circumstances. This is the main aspect of the SARS episode. The disease itself will probably soon be replaced by another real or concocted public health emergency. But imperialist war and fascism will not go away. They must be destroyed. We need to remain vigilant about the rulers' schemes for conning us into depending upon them for our "well-being." Only a revolutionary communist analysis of events can provide the framework for doing this.

    Back Workers' Fight vs. GE Warmaker, Strike-breaker

    Twenty-four thousand General Electric workers may strike the world's third largest corporation -- and most profitable arms producer -- in June. It would be the first nationwide walkout by GE workers in 34 years. One-third of GE's workforce has 30 years service.

    GE is demanding workers pay $900 annual health insurance co-payments. In January, targeted two-day strikes protested the company's unilaterally imposed $200 hike.

    GE's net profit in the first quarter of 2003 was $3.2 BILLION -- an annual rate of nearly $12.8 billion -- a slight "slippage" from its 2001 record of $13.6 billion. Now this multi-billion dollar giant wants to soak its workers for health insurance after they've given a lifetime of work to produce those huge profits.

    Thirteen unions are involved and the bosses hope to play them off against each other. Already the Machinists have broken away from the unified bargaining team. But that "team" doesn't seem to be adopting a class struggle position. The International Union of Electrical Workers (IUE), which recently merged with the CWA (communications workers), is the largest of the thirteen and wants GE to remain "neutral" in any unionization drive. GE's CEO is having none of it.

    The world crisis of capitalism is moving GE to squeeze its workers even more. When profits "drop" from $13 billion to $12 billion, they start to worry. This crisis is tied to U.S. imperialism's drive to permanent war to deal with its economic rivals. GE reaps huge profits selling the weapons that are killing workers around the world. GE bosses call on their workers to "patriotically" produce these weapons and then demands that they take cuts in their hard-earned wages and benefits to maintain GE's profits and the bosses' war machine.

    Should GE workers strike, all workers and students should support it -- joining the picket lines, helping to stop scabs, raising money in their organizations, passing resolutions, picketing GE sales units, inviting GE workers to union meetings and campuses to speak about and marshal support for the strikers. This is an opportunity to organize all those who opposed the U.S. war in Iraq to help GE workers fight one of the world's leading war makers.

    A militant strike against this war maker and strike breaker can inspire workers worldwide and send shivers down the spines of GE and its class. "Workers of the world, unite!"

    How Anti-Communism Screwed GE Workers

    The communist-led United Electrical Workers (UE) unionized GE and the other large electronics industry corporations in the mid-1930s. When the Second World War ended, the CIO's UE had 650,000 members, including all of GE's production workers. Then came the ferocious anti-communism of the Cold War. Most of the CIO's leadership marched behind the U.S. ruling class's anti-Soviet offensive. The Reuther CIO leadership set up rival unions to its left-led sections. The IUE was born as a dual union to UE.

    A key certification struggle occurred at GE's giant 10,000-worker Lynn, Mass., plant. The night before the vote, liberal Democratic Senator Hubert Humphrey (later vice-president under Lyndon Johnson) wired Lynn's GE workers that if they voted for UE, the company would lose all its government contracts and thousands of GE workers would be out of a job. Despite that blatant anti-communism, well over 4,000 workers voted for UE, which lost the election to IUE by just 400 ballots.

    When the smoke cleared, the anticommunist IUE had captured 325,000 members, the UE was left with 50,000 and nearly 300,000 electrical workers were lost to unionization altogether from the former 650,000-strong UE.

    Anti-communism pays -- for the bosses.

    Immigrant Workers Caught in Sears Tower `Terror' Sweep

    CHICAGO, IL May 23 -- "This is an injustice. How can they take away his life like this?" declared the wife of a Sears Tower janitor, a Mexican immigrant who, after working for only a month, was arrested as part of the "War on Terrorism." Federal police said the sweeps were necessary to protect a potential high-profile target for terrorists. They wouldn't say how many workers were arrested or name their countries of origin.

    After the 9/11 attacks, city and federal officials added concrete barriers and X-ray machines to protect the 110-story building. A Sears Tower spokesman said the immigrants worked for tenants, not for the building itself, and that building managers "would...support any steps [taken by] the federal government..."

    Last December 10, federal police targeted immigrant airport workers at O'Hare International and Midway Airports. At least 46 were arrested, and 20 were charged with federal criminal offenses. About 40 are still awaiting decisions on their deportation cases. Federal police also made arrests at airports in New York, Miami, Washington and elsewhere as part of Operation Tarmac. One of these workers gave a very moving talk at the PLP Workers' May Day Dinner.

    Gail Montenegro, spokeswoman for the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement said, "We are...trying to ensure that everyone who has access to secure areas is who they say they are." The arrested janitor had no access to any secure area. She said that even a law-abiding undoncumented immigrant was vulnerable to blackmail from terrorists. "If they're not terrorists hemselves...being...undocumented...leaves them open to coercion," she said.

    Joshua Hoyt, executive director of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights said, "Do you feel safer because busboys and janitors are being deported?...They are not terrorists, and they are not dangerous. These are the same people President Bush was talking about legalizing just two years ago."

    The arrests were carried out during an "orange alert" just before the Memorial Day weekend. While the TV floodlights glared on thousands of "citizen-victims" reporting to hospitals as part of the Homeland Security drill carried out last week, in the darkness federal and local police were planning terror attacks against all immigrant workers. This one-two punch was an attack on the working class at large. The only thing more terrifying than the raids themselves is the deafening silence of the mass movement in response to them. We cannot allow this silence to dominate our unions, churches, classrooms and community organizations. Our response to these fascist attacks must be reflected in a rising CHALLENGE distribution and a more active, fighting revolutionary communist movement.

    Homeland Security = National Guard Strike-Breaking

    CENTRAL NEW JERSEY, May 27 -- The AmerGen Energy Co. of Chicago has the New Jersey National Guard inside its Oyster Creek nuclear power plant here on an "anti-terrorist watch" protecting scabs being imported to break the strike of 215 electrical workers. The "war on terror" has come home with a vengeance for striking members of Local 1289 of the IBEW (Int'l Brotherhood of Electrical Workers). They're fighting the company's demand to lay off at least 15% of the workforce, plus "flexibility" to lay off even more and also break work-rules to force workers to perform several jobs other than their own.

    The contract expired last October, was extended until January and then the company stalled bargaining until unilaterally imposing a new contract on April 14. The NLRB rejected a union petition saying this company move was "unfair," so the workers finally walked out on May 22.

    AmerGen says it wants to make the plant "efficient and competitive." Yet since buying the plant three years ago it has already chopped the workforce from 850 to 450 and now wants even more cuts. The bosses hope to break the union by bringing in scabs from its nine other plants.

    The striking workers operate Oyster Creek's nuclear reactor, monitor and repair the plant's various gauges and dials, and insure that workers are not exposed to dangerous levels of radiation. They say their jobs are too specialized to risk having to perform jobs other than ones they're trained for.

    Right now the plant is shut down because of a cable failure and the company wants the scabs to fix it and get the plant operating again. While the rulers say they're so "concerned" about "terrorists," they're ready to allow this company to use untrained scabs to repair and run a nuclear reactor, and use troops to protect those scabs! This endangers not only the workers but thousands of the state's residents.

    Obviously the "war on terror" is a war on the working class, in Iraq and in New Jersey.`

    May Day Deaths Symbolize Betrayal
    of South Africa's Workers

    May Day was a day of anguish for workers in South Africa. The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) reported a "tragic accident near Bethlehem, Free State, killing 60 workers, mainly members of the SA Municipal Workers' Union. The bus taking them from Kimberley to a May Day rally in Qwaqwa plunged into a dam. What should have been a celebration of the workers' day turned into a tragedy."

    A lack of maintenance on South Africa's roads, creating dangerous conditions, caused this "accident."

    After years of rule by the ANC (African National Congress), recent figures show a worsening poverty among black workers since the days of apartheid. Years of militant struggles by workers and youth, which inspired anti-racists worldwide, won little or no gains for apartheid's victims. Early in May BBC News Online reported that, "Incomes in black households fell by 19% between 1995 and 2000....The research carried out by the Univ. of Western Cape surveyed black townships around Cape Town, where it found 76% of households living below the poverty line of $42 per month."

    The international anti-racist movement, mostly spearheaded by communists, led heroic struggles. But these struggles were undercut by the erroneous outlook of the old communist movement. Present events in South Africa offer great lessons.

    Walter Sisulu, who played a leading role in launching the armed struggle against the apartheid regime died around May Day, just before his 91st birthday. Sisulu was born in a rural region, son of a domestic who became an urban worker. In 1949, he was elected Secretary-General of the ANC and played a central role in shaping it into a major revolutionary, anti-racist organization. During that period, Sisulu fought most of the ANC leadership that opposed multi-racial unity with other non-black groups fighting apartheid. In the early 1950's, he forged an alliance with the India Congresses, the Congress of Democrats (formed by anti-apartheid whites) and the African Coloured People's Organization. Patiently he won the ANC nationalists. who opposed this multi-racial unity, to build a multi-racial movement.

    He also fought anti-communism within the liberation movement and built unity between the trade union and communist movements. In 1955 he joined the banned underground Communist Party, later becoming part of its central committee. He was arrested in the early 1960s, and, along with Nelson Mandela, made a defiant speech against the fascist regime, knowing they would pay for this. Both were sentenced to life and spent 25 years in Robben Island prison. Refusing to be broken by the fascists, he organized and politicized younger fellow inmates, turning the jail into what became known as a "people's organization."

    He was also a key figure in holding the ANC together during bitter in-fighting within the anti-apartheid struggle. Like many revolutionaries, he was also a loving husband, father and grandfather.

    But despite his commitment and his dream of a revolutionary, anti-racist, multi-racial South Africa, the movement he helped found and lead established a capitalist regime. Now the same workers who fought apartheid are organizing mass struggles and strikes against the evils of the profit system -- unemployment, layoffs and poverty -- under the ANC government. Despite superficial changes, allowing a few non-whites into the ruling class and among its henchmen, the same racist bosses -- Oppenheimer's Anglo-American corporation and other local British/U.S. companies -- still run South Africa.

    This most enormous tragedy was the fight by the ANC, the South African Communist Party (SACP) and the entire anti-apartheid movement for capitalism with a "human face." There's no such animal. National liberation has historically maintained the profit system, just with greater participation of local bosses.

    Capitalism is based on exploiting workers, no matter who runs the government. The SACP became a reformist, pro-capitalist organization now part of the ANC government. The millions of workers and youth oppressed by apartheid (like the very militant townships rebels known as "young comrades") wanted a system representing their class interests, not a "change of faces." They need communism, where workers rule and whose production serves the working class, not the Oppenheimers and their ilk. That is the lesson PLP have learned from this and many other struggles worldwide. Join us!

    Baghdad May Day 1959:
    One Million Marched Under Red Flags

    On May Day, 1959, 44 years ago, one million workers, students, intellectuals and peasants, Sunnis, Shiites, Kurds, Christians and Jews, marched in Baghdad under the red flags of the Iraqi Communist Party (ICP). Six years before, the ICP had led a massive general strike against the government and the imperialist oil companies behind it that totally shut down the country and eventually ousted the hated monarchy. The ICP could have taken power but didn't. The reasons were briefly outlined in the CHALLENGE article (5/14) on Iraqi workers needing communist revolution. However, valuable lessons can be drawn from the ICP's achievements and grave mistakes.

    Founded in 1935, three years after Britain declared Iraq "independent" (although still its semi-colony), the ICP followed the line of the old international communist movement. During World War II it supported the war against the Nazis and stopped denouncing the British imperialists (who were fighting the fascists). After the war, the anger of the masses at British imperialism and the Iraqi monarchy grew. The ICP attacked both. Then the January 1948 mass uprising erupted, the biggest against the monarchy, begun by students but quickly spreading to workers and peasants. On Jan. 27, the police killed several hundred protestors, but the struggle continued. The Prime Minister fled to London. But when Moscow recognized the state of Israel that year, the ICP (like its sister parties in the Mid-East) was stunned. Many quit. The Iraqi rulers' repression intensified. They publicly executed the head of the ICP.

    However, it recovered and grew. From 1953-55, influenced by the Chinese CP, it raised the immediate need of the proletarians to seize power. But when Nasser took over in Egypt under the slogan of "Pan-Arabic socialism," the ICP again sought unity with a "progressive national bourgeoisie."

    Finally, in 1958, "free" military officers, following Nasser's lead, overthrew the monarchy, calling for state capitalism under a strong nationalist capitalist class. This movement capitalized on the anti-imperialist and anti-monarchy feelings of the masses. The new military regime was forced to legalize all unions and political parties, but its "socialism" was a sham. U.S., British, French and Dutch oil companies gobbled up the Iraqi Petroleum Co. The Kurds, whose strongest party was the Communist Party, demanded autonomy and, even more important, a share of the oil wealth. The "free officers" government of General Qasim refused.

    The ICP, although not part of the "free officers" movement, supported it. Despite years of repression, the ICP grew stronger -- as May Day 1959 demonstrated -- impelling CIA head Allen Dulles to label Iraq "the most dangerous place in the world" (shades of Bush!). The new military regime attacked the ICP. The Party, instead of fighting for power (potentially possible), stopped criticizing the Qasimgovernment. Despite ICP support, the regime continued to jail and kill communists and banned its newspaper. Such were the fruits of supporting the "progressive nationalist" bosses.

    In 1963, a Baath Party coup overthrew the Qasim government. The Kennedy CIA provided its new friends in the Baath Party with a hit list of communists. Thousands were jailed and killed. Through several ensuing coups, the ICP grew weaker, suffering many splits, including a Maoist group whose guerrilla warfare against the Baathites was crushed.

    When Saddam Hussein finally came to power in the mid-1970s, he began with a left cover, even allowing ICP and Kurdish participation in the government, But by 1978, Saddam felt strong enough to clamp down on the ICP.

    Now the Party has reappeared publicly, the first to publish a newspaper -- the People's Path -- after the fall of Saddam. It has opened offices in many cities. But its line is even more right-wing than previously. During the Saddam regime it was part of the Iraqi National Front, led by U.S. agent Chalabi. It broke with the Front when the U.S. cut its funds as a Front member. The ICP has renounced any form of revolution (in 1963 it had attacked Leninism). It now wants to build a "European style" social-democracy in Iraq.

    But Iraqi workers have a long history of rebellion. A new revolutionary communist movement is a matter of life and death for the working class of Iraq and its allies. Their fight is two-fold, against both the U.S. occupiers and their lackeys), and also the religious fanatics who want to build an Iranian-style Islamic regime. They need the support of the international working class.

    Arundhati Roy's `Boycott' Solution Will Never End Capitalist Misery

    Tens of millions of people worldwide have reacted to U.S. rulers' invasion of Iraq and its more open moves for world domination by moving to the left, by becoming anti-imperialist, by questioning the status quo -- capitalism. It is a time when millions can be won from merely opposing imperialism and questioning the profit system that spawns it to seeing the need for communist revolution to forcibly wipe out capitalism.

    Recently Arundhati Roy, an activist from India, made a speech to a packed house at the Riverside Church in New York City. Interestingly enough, she was beginning an international tour, sponsored by the Center for Economic and Social Rights, at this epicenter of liberalism, also known as the Rockefellers' church.

    While indicting many aspects of U.S. imperialist policy to a cheering, mostly middle class throng, when she reached out for a solution to the mass misery, fascism, racism and war induced by capitalism, she even quoted the Soviet revolutionary Lenin in asking: "What is to be done?" Unfortunately, she did not report his answer: since no ruling class nor oppressive system has ever given up its rule without a violent struggle, the working class must be organized for a violent revolution to defend its class interests. That can only be accomplished under the leadership of its own party, a communist party, organized for a communist revolution to wipe out capitalism, not reform it.

    After puncturing holes in many of the rationalizations spouted by Bush to justify the U.S. ruling class's mass murder in Iraq for the past 12 years; after accusing the Bush administration and the 9/11 terrorists of "working as a team;" and after exposing how the Bush gang plans to introduce U.S.-style capitalism into Iraq for the greater glory of the oil billionaires, since, "There is no conventional military force that can challenge the American war machine," what does she propose? A boycott of U.S. and British goods, a "People's sanctions" on every corporation with contracts in Iraq to "force them out of business." Even if such a boycott could succeed, what does that leave us with? A "kinder, gentler" capitalism? A capitalism with a "human face"? This is a call for social democracy, a "solution" that has often led to fascism, or at best an attempt to reform a profit system than cannot be reformed but hides its exploitative nature.

    To indict U.S. imperialism for many of its crimes without advancing a strategy to smash it is to allow it to continue wreaking its havoc across the planet. Historically boycotts have never ended an oppressive system. Such actions might sharpen contradictions, but for what? To make for a "kinder" capitalism? Ms. Roy says the Republicans are destroying democracy and that "Americans must take it back." But "democracy" here has always meant capitalist rule, whether by Democratic or Republican servants. Who is the force to challenge the Bushites? Never once is the indictment of U.S. imperialism extended to the Democrats, to the liberals. The clear message from all this would be to vote "bad guy" Bush out and do what? Vote a "good guy" Democrat into the White House in 2004? This is no solution, but rather a continuation of capitalist misery with (possibly) a "gentler face."

    Ms. Roy has no class analysis. What she said is completely acceptable to the liberal section of the ruling class, which is why she's allowed to speak at the Riverside Church. Would that have happened if she were to attack capitalism as inevitably exploitative, much less call for communist revolution?

    Even assuming Ms. Roy is well-meaning, such well-meaning people can have wrong ideas that are dangerous to the working class. Yes, workers DO want to know "what is to be done." It is the job of communists to bring Lenin's answer to the working class, especially at the point of production, in the military and in the working-class communities. It is here where PLP's message can become a key force for the solution to all the oppression capitalism hits us with.

    While the movement of millions to an anti-U.S. imperialist stance has been a very positive development, to then divert it into one of rule by liberal capitalists is just as bad as rule by the present cabal and even more dangerous. No, the strategy must be to move those tens of millions opposing U.S. rulers to see that capitalism must be destroyed by communist revolution.

    GI's Should Refuse To Be
    An Occupying Army

    The British Army has rejected a Pentagon request to move several thousand of its troops from southern Iraq to patrol Baghdad and relieve the U.S. Army's Third Infantry Division (ID). The British said they feared morale problems if they didn't send soldiers home now. This is the same problem U.S. generals are having with the Third ID. The "quick" war is turning into an extended quagmire.

    As an occupying army, U.S. and British troops are coming into continuing close contact with large numbers of Iraqi civilians. U.S. soldiers are firing into anti-U.S. demonstrations, killing unarmed civilians at close range on a daily basis.

    Not only is this is a crime against Iraqi workers, but the brutality and uncertainty of being an occupier also puts a tremendous strain on soldiers. House-to-house searches and raids, killing of civilians, including children, and spawning the hatred of those the brass said you were "liberating" takes a huge toll. Some Israeli soldiers in the West Bank and Gaza eventually formed a "refusnik" movement, refusing to serve in the dehumanization of being an occupying force that uses such brutal tactics as employing Palestinians as human shields.(The photo above is of a recent demonstration in New York City supporting the "refusnik" soldiers.)

    Many U.S. soldiers who were led to believe that after a quick "liberation" they would be going home, may be realizing that this was no liberation and they wouldn't be going home for a while. The strains are starting to show. The disagreement between the U.S. and British military over who will patrol Baghdad is a sign of that stress.

    Historically soldiers have rebelled against being occupiers. When World War II ended, tens of thousands of U.S. GI's who helped defeat the Japanese in the Philippines were ready to return home right away. The U.S. bosses were reluctant to send them home because they feared the mass communist-led struggle in Asia at the time, inspired by the Soviet defeat of the Nazis and the growing communist movement in China. So tens of thousands of soldiers openly marched in opposition to the brass and demanded to go home. While the U.S. Army never completely left the Philippines, most soldiers were quickly sent back to the U.S. The "We Want To Go Home" movement was a powerful example of soldiers taking history into their own hands.

    May Day 2003: `The Party's in Good Hands'

    NEW YORK CITY, May 3 -- "The Party is in good hands," said a speaker tonight, as he looked around the room while recounting the history of the Progressive Labor Party. Indeed, May Day here was a resounding success. From the inspiring and informative pre-dinner presentation; to the rousing speeches given primarily by young people; to the delicious, home-made international cuisine; to the rich and varied cultural program, May Day showed that although we have a long road ahead, we're truly on the road to communist revolution.

    Because central leadership was placed in youthful hands, with guidance from veteran comrades, our dinner was notable for its variety and spirit. The keynote speeches, two of which were given by young people, were well-planned and enthusiastically delivered. The audience responded eagerly to the call of our featured speaker, as he outlined the inevitability of misery and mass murder under capitalism and asked: "Is this the kind of world we want?" "NO!" shouted the crowd. Another speaker recounted the proud history of May Day, pointing out how even May Day harvest festivals in Europe and the U.S. revealed elements of class struggle between workers and bosses. Later a new young comrade gave an impassioned speech on why he joined the Party and how it helps him fight his "selfish, capitalist ways."

    Our cultural program revealed a vast richness of talent. From hip hop to traditional and contemporary folk/protest music, from revolutionary gospel to rock, our Party has found many forms to express the class hatred felt toward the bosses. Singers and poets, especially among the youth, used their talents to expose capitalism and call for communist revolution as the only solution to capitalist wars and terror.

    Our well-attended dinner included guests from New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania, among other places. It had an anti-racist, international character, with workers and youth from many countries.

    Our consistent, long-term work in large mass organizations reaped the fruits of our patient labor, both quantitatively (attendance) and qualitatively (participation, recruitment and consolidation). This success is a beacon for us all.

    The activities were well-planned by our May Day committee which met months before. Youth were in charge of writing and helping to critique the speeches, as well as planning the event. We emerged inspired by the wealth of knowledge and talent in the Party, determined to bring them to many more workers.

    May Day is a time when we as a Party can survey our forces and plan our next steps on the road to revolution. We want to recruit from among the key participants and guests, consolidate present members, and wage fierce class struggle against imperialist war, rising fascism, racist attacks on immigrants and the monstrous budget cuts and unemployment devastating the working class.

    Our Party definitely is in good hands. And we must use them to build, body by body, struggle by struggle, a mighty communist party that can crush the ruling class forever and create a world in the tradition of May Day: one working class, worldwide, united and free of exploitation.

    PL'er Challenges Roy's Smokescreen

    LOS ANGELES, May 27 -- When Arundhati Roy spoke here today, a PLP member was able to ask, "Since you say that `government leaders must be held accountable,' isn't it true that the global corporatism that you oppose is really imperialism, which is inherent in the capitalist system, and isn't it true that the leaders who you want us to hold accountable are only accountable to the capitalists and therefore opposed to the interests of the workers of the world and isn't it true that the only way for workers to solve this problem is to organize a revolution to take power and destroy capitalism?"

    There was some applause, after which Ms. Roy "replied" that she hadn't said the government leaders are accountable, but that we would have to make them accountable.

    CHALLENGE was sold before, during and after the speech. A CHALLENGE seller was asked by an Indian man if "you were the person who asked the question about revolution." "Yes," came the reply but the seller "wished it had been clearer."

    "You were very clear," said the man. "Here's $2.00 for your paper."

    A PLP leaflet distributed at the event noted that on May 20, 60 million workers in India organized the largest strike since "independence" from British imperialism, and asked, "Isn't such a show of workers' strength at the point of production a better school for revolutionary change than the internet-organized boycotts you suggest?"

    Building the Party:
    Saying `Yes' To Active Mass Organizing

    I had been in my university's Chicano student organization for only three weeks when a leader of the group asked me if I "would like to drive half-way across the country to attend our national conference." Two years ago, I probably would have replied "no" and called someone to leaflet and sell CHALLENGE outside the conference. Little did I realize that by answering "yes" I would not only create a great opportunity to organize among these students, but would learn valuable lessons as well.

    The trip became fun and a chance for me to get to really know others in the group. The conference was less nationalistic then I expected and offered many opportunities to discuss revolutionary Marxist ideas openly, probably stemming from the fascism and terror U.S. rulers are openly pushing today. Comrades living in the immediate area, a member organizing in the regional chapter to the north and myself were able to use this exciting mood to both agitate from the outside and organize inside to move the workshops militantly leftward.

    Our active struggle at the conference and in our individual chapters sparked a lot of communist discussion on the long trip home, ranging from the war in Iraq -- triggered by a CHALLENGE flyer -- to communist centralism. A young leader of the organization raised the common misconception that "[working] people don't really have a voice under communism." I pointed out the lack of decision-making power the working class has now, under capitalism (using the war as an example). We discussed how the decision to build a neighborhood power plant might be made under communism. The people in the community, workers trained in power-plant engineering and environmentalists would all be involved. Money, potential profits and labor exploitation would not exist. The working class would come first.

    Our talk ended with this same young man saying, "If we're going to do this [communist revolution], I'd like to be a leader of the south central region." This same Chicano student is know receiving the paper and enthusiastically attended our May Day dinner. Another Latina woman from the trip is also becoming more involved.

    LEARNING FROM STRUGGLE

    Careful work does not mean non-work. Nor does it mean reluctance and fear. After 9/11, the political atmosphere and how we function changed. Capitalism's instability has made war and fascism the order of the day.

    For us to effectively struggle now, we must actively do so in mass organizations. Without saying "yes" to the trip, this group's leadership could easily have misled my chapter with nationalist and liberal, pacifist ideas. We must react quickly and be willing to aid our comrades "on the inside."

    My most important lesson? Often we are too reluctant to tell workers and students about the Party for fear of being "exposed." Certainly, we must take the class enemy into account, but what's the use of careful organization if it stops us from spreading our class view publicly and doesn't let workers and students know a communist party exists that will eventually break the chains pulling us down? By saying "yes" to actively struggling in mass organizations, we are saying "yes" to a communist future.

    U.S. Rulers `Nuke' Iraqis
    And Own Soldiers

    The so-called precision war by the U.S. against Iraq has left a legacy of death and suffering by radiation poisoning that will last far into the future. Over 200,000 U.S. veterans from the 1991 Gulf war are disabled and over 10,000 have died due to illness caused by that war, many from radiation poisoning because of depleted uranium (DU) weapons. DU is used in many types of ammunition and armor on vehicles. Hundreds of thousands of U.S. and British soldiers and millions of Iraqis have been exposed to these poisons. When DU shells explode, they not only have more immediate killing power but they also create radioactive dust that stays in the environment indefinitely. So in addition to the destruction caused by the initial bombing, the poisons go on killing for years. DU poisoning, in fact, is now killing children born to Iraqis and U.S. soldiers since the poison has passed through semen onto the next generation.

    In Gulf War I approximately 300 tons of DU was dropped on Iraq. This time it was between 1,000 and 2,000 tons. Even worse, the majority of the latter were dropped on heavily-populated areas. The U.S. Army Environmental Policy Institute (EPI) admitted that, "If DU enters the body, it has potential to generate significant medical consequences."

    DU's lethal nature has been extensively documented yet hardly reported on by the bosses' press. It utterly belies stories of "precision bombing," low U.S. casualties and limited "collateral" damage. Actually, Gulf Wars I and II were mass murder for oil, with extremely high casualties among Iraqi civilians and soldiers as well as U.S. troops. Thus, the great defenders of "civilization" in Washington and London are the main users of weapons of mass destruction.

    Current U.S. soldiers should listen to the stories of Gulf war vets suffering from radiation poisoning. Those politicians and TV personalities who wrap themselves in the flag and put up yellow ribbons to support the troops are covering up the military's deception. While U.S. soldiers were invading Iraq and Afghanistan, the very leaders who have been publicly patting them on the back were poisoning them.

    Those sailors on the deck of the aircraft carrier where Bush landed to make his gung-ho speech (and then shortly left) have been sleeping and working next to DU bombs and missiles 24/7 for the last ten months.

    The military has fought tenaciously to deny benefits to soldiers disabled due by DU poisoning. The military denies it's dangerous, yet their own training manuals advise anyone who comes within 80 feet of DU-contaminated equipment to wear protective gear. The Army knew that if the troops were to realize what they had been exposed to, "the financial implications of long-term disability payments and healthcare costs would be excessive."(EPI)

    U.S. rulers will stop at nothing to control the flow of Mid-East oil. They are already developing more "small-scale" nuclear weapons to use on battlefields filled with U.S. soldiers in their upcoming wars. To them the lives of U.S. GI's, like the lives of Iraqi and Afghan workers, mean nothing.

    Massive Strikes Sweep France

    PARIS, May 28 -- A wave of strikes swept through France as over 600,000 workers and students marched through this city on May 25 protesting government proposals that would force them to stay on their jobs up to five more years before collecting their pensions. Demonstrators also condemned government plans to make it more difficult for poorer students to obtain a college education. Yesterday an air controllers' walkout grounded 80% of 4,000 scheduled flights. Teachers extended their strike, the seventh such walkout. Parisian sanitation workers struck for a 2nd day. A call went out from transportation and civil service workers for an open-ended strike beginning June 3. All this is part of a fight-back to prevent European bosses from breaking a host of social welfare benefits workers have gained in past struggles.

    Basra Oil Workers Lambast Invaders and Ba'ath Stooges

    "We want elections, we don't want another Saddam," read the placards of 300 oil workers demonstrating on May 9 at the Basra refinery, second largest in Iraq. They were protesting the British Army's appointment of a Ba'ath Party official to manage the oil works. "We [want] to choose our managers now that Saddam is gone," said Mehdi Saleh Maatouq.

    But UK commander Binns is threatening the workers, hiring armed guards because, he says, "People here only understand the law of the gun." This is "liberation," U.S./UK-style.

    Iraq's workers can play a crucial role in rebuilding a revolutionary communist movement. The oil workers especially -- producing the world's most important resource -- are decisive to that revolutionary task. Oil for profits and to maintain world domination are why U.S. bosses invaded in the first place and what's behind their every move. With Exxon, Chevron, BP, Halliburton, Bechtel & Co. moving in, exploitation of Iraq's oil workers will mount. All the more reason to raise the cry, "Oil workers of the world, unite!"

    That's why PLP organizes to build an international revolutionary communist movement. This is an urgent task since all kinds of reactionaries, from the hardcore followers of Saddam Hussein to Islamic fundamentalists are trying to co-opt the growing anger of workers and youth against the U.S.-UK occupation forces.u

    Child Labor Is Good For Business

    The U.S. ruling class would like workers to believe child labor is something that only happens abroad, mostly in poor, "developing" nations. But child labor is alive and well inside the U.S. and is good for U.S. business.

    The super-exploitation of children in agriculture and industry was part of the reason that capitalism flourished in the U.S. Child labor was a common feature of slavery and also occurred among those working for wages. In the 1600's, bosses believed that "children should be industriously employed" and passed laws requiring children to work. With the rise of the industrial revolution at the turn of the 19th century, factory towns became dependent on the super-exploitation of women and children. Children between 7 and 12 made up one-third of the workforce in U.S. factories.

    The U.S. government was very cautious about restricting child labor because it would drastically lower bosses' profits. Not until 1938, with passage of the Fair Labor Standards Act, were laws enacted concerning minimum wages, overtime pay, safety conditions and child labor (forced by a communist-led movement of millions). But children working on farms are still not subject to laws governing the maximum number of hours they can work outside of school.

    A 1997 survey by the Child Labor Coalition found 6,229 employers in 35 states in violation of child labor laws and 7,577 minors were illegally employed in 29 states. Because penalties for these violations are so low, occasional fines hardly dent the profits gained from exploiting these children. In fact, a 1997 study by the Associated Press it found that farmers and factory owners who illegally hire under-age children typically escape civil or criminal punishment altogether.

    Rather than re-enforce existing child labor laws, Congress has been relaxing the federal laws protecting child laborers. In 1996 it reversed laws prohibiting minors from loading, operating and repairing paper balers after the National Grocers' Association and Food Market Institute lobbied against the law in order to avoid fines and penalties. Similar instances have occurred in the automotive and sawmill industries. The government has served the interests of the bosses and not the safety of working-class children.

    Agri-business is the worst offender. As many as 800,000 children under 18 work as migrant and seasonal farm workers in California alone. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, from 1992 to 1998 43% of occupational fatalities of children 17 and younger occurred in agriculture. Teenage agricultural workers risk never completing high school; only 47% were in a grade corresponding to their age. Many of these child laborers receive no health insurance and four in five migrant working teens have no family supervision or support.

    The fact is, for U.S. bosses children are desirable as employees because they are easier to control and are less likely to demand higher wages, better working conditions and organize unions. With child labor, industries can pay substandard wages and withhold benefits they normally would have to provide to adult workers. Furthermore, competition among domestic and international bosses has made child labor in "developing" nations a desirable alternative to better-paid adult labor at home. U.S. bosses are doing everything possible to open up cheap child-labor markets here and abroad to safeguard their profits. Under capitalism, child labor is good for business.

    Bosses Hide Poverty As Cause Of Disease and AIDS

    Our May Day celebration health display table contained a controversial paper disputing contemporary medical theories about HIV/AIDS. This flyer -- the opinion of one person -- stated that the HIV virus does not resolutely lead to AIDS ending in death. She questioned the medical model which assumes that many diseases of poverty, unsafe water supplies, etc., are being categorized as AIDS caused by HIV when they're actually caused by the poverty induced by the capitalist profit system. Moreover, modern drugs may actually weaken the immune system.

    The current medical model is based on two tests, the ELISA and Western Blot. A positive response on either test alone merely shows the presence of a protein present in numerous pathogens. HIV is only one. Others sometimes resulting in an HIV+ result include viral hepatitis, tuberculosis, malaria, auto-immune disease (i.e., lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis), cancer, herpes simplex virus, the flu shot and even pregnancy!

    The CDC (Center for Disease Control) definition of AIDS includes people who've ever had a CD4 (immune response "helper cell") lymphocyte count below 200 cells per micro-liter tested positively for HIV or who have infections that can occur with HIV (i.e., pulmonary TB, invasive cervical cancer) and those that rarely occur in the absence of severe immunodeficiency.

    Current Medical Diagnosis and Treatment 2003 (see reference below) states, "dramatic increases in the efficacy of antiretroviral treatments have improved the prognosis of persons with HIV/AIDS. One consequence is that fewer persons with HIV ever develop an infection or malignancy or have a low enough CD4 count to classify them as having AIDS, which means that the CDC definition has become a less useful measure of the impact of HIV/AIDS in the US."(p. 1272) But this medical book omits the importance of rising hepatitis C-related deaths among HIV/AIDS diagnosed persons, directly corresponding to street intravenous (IV) drug use. They point to life styles as a very relevant component in the HIV survival rates.

    Lifestyle factors involved include "recreational" drug use of all kinds -- including alcohol -- fast living, junk food and many processed foods, tobacco, stress, lack of sleep and sexually transmitted diseases. For example, drug users die at an average age of 31, regardless of HIV status. Clean needles might prevent hepatitis transmission but don't protect against the toxicity of the heroin in the needle.

    Most medical texts also do not distinguish between persons labeled as having AIDS and the recognizable diseases of poverty, especially those rampant in Africa where the clinical diagnosis of AIDS includes four symptoms: persistent dry cough, fever, persistent diarrhea and weight loss. These symptoms are common to diseases endemic to many of the poorest nations. Many are also on the list of conditions causing false HIV+ tests, including malaria, TB and parasites. There are 300 million cases of malaria every year. Millions more people are stressed, malnourished, don't have clean water to drink and can't afford mosquito netting.

    Companies manufacturing HIV drugs reap mind-boggling profits. AZT, the first approved anti-viral drug, is highly toxic to bone marrow and most (normal) cell replication. But the cost is a "mere" $364 per month compared to the current "cocktail" which costs $1913/month! (ibid, p. 1292) The regimen is complicated; the side effects range from neuropathy to hepatitis and acute gastro-intestinal distress. No wonder people seek alternative theories and treatments.

    Primary prevention, such as condom distribution, counseling, safe needles and perinatal HIV prophylaxis are a low priority, quite simply because increasing profits cannot be made from safe sex and widespread education.

    Bibliography:
    Current Medical Diagnosis and Treatment 2003, edited by Lawrence Tierney, Stephen McPhee and Maxine Papadakis "You Don't Have To Die; Lwon Chaltow"

    LETTERS

    Anti-Communism Spawned Bush's Neo-Cons

    CHALLENGE has always pointed that anti-communism is a deadly enemy of all workers, showing how workers and others who fall for it sooner or later end up paying for it. Recent events are full of this fact.

    For instance, the gang surrounding Rumsfeld -- the so-called Neo-Conservatives (Wolfowitz, Perle, etc.) -- are direct descendents of the post-World War II anti-communism of the liberal and Trotskyite movements. Most of these Neo-Cons, and one of their gurus (William Kristol) were Trotskyites then. They soon joined the Cold War anti-communists, led mainly by liberals working with the CIA. Later they were influenced by the philosophy of Leo Strauss, who advanced very elitist, fascist ideas. Strauss (who died in 1973) taught at the Univ. of Chicago and influenced many, including Wolfowitz. Strauss said it was the natural right of the wise and strong to lead societies for the benefit of their "democratic" aims, using subterfuges because telling the truth won't get the job done (see Seymour Hersh article in The New Yorker magazine, 5/12).

    The Neo-Cons' lies and deception led to the invasion of Iraq and caused much death and destruction but, after leading the U.S. foreign policy since 9/11, they are now in disarray, particularly since the Eastern Establishment (the main section of the U.S. ruling class) doesn't seem to need them as much.

    Many other forms of anti-communism have led to the massacre of millions. In Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia, Islamic fundamentalism, pushed anti-communism during the Cold War, serving the aims of U.S. rulers. Osama bin Laden and the Saudi ruling class financed the Islamic fundamentalist movement that fought for the CIA against the Soviet Union's allies in Afghanistan. Today, these fundamentalists have turned against their former U.S. friends.

    In the future I'll write more of the many examples of anti-communism leading to fascism and more wars.

    An anti anti-communist

    Individual Freed In Collective Fight For Revolution

    Capitalism affects every aspect of our society as well as our human relationships. What is sometimes not completely clear is the extent to which capitalism also affects our personal lives. It's not simply a matter of the exploitation of our labor for a wage that cannot give our families a decent life, now or in the future. For this system is also targeting us constantly with propaganda to determine our criteria for self-esteem.

    Under capitalism, the worth of human beings is related to the "importance" of their job. We often evaluate ourselves according to the same principle. The natural consequence is an individualist rush to be "the best slave in the system," being more and more trapped in the flatteries and briberies of money, social prestige and so on. A person who, for whatever reason, doesn't "qualify" is considered a loser -- most tragically, often by themselves as well -- whose life is worth nothing.

    The answer to bringing back our inner dignity as human beings and workers will never be found in any role assigned by capitalist society. Besides our jobs that we are forced to do to support ourselves, there is another job which really makes life worth living: the daily struggle for revolution and a communist world.

    In this job we are not isolated and trapped in our limited individualist goals, but we walk together with our class brothers and sisters. We are not even trapped by time since the struggle for communism is uniting our generation with past and future ones. Not only a day-by-day struggle for life in this capitalist prison, but a long-term outlook to get out of this prison forever.

    What are our choices for this truly productive work? Everyone must find their own answers according to their potential, interests and skills that capitalism presents us with in order to maximize their exploitation of us, combined with the opportunitites of the moment.

    A Comrade

    Action Among Masses Spurs PLP Growth

    The war in Iraq and the celebration of May Day have affected our relatively new Party club. Apart from our general activities, we had a small dinner with eight adults and four children. As always, we had a great dinner with really good food, as the occasion merited. Some members wore shirts with Party slogans. The celebration was informal but always political. We talked about the war, what can happen now in the Middle East, about fascism and listened to music. One of us reviewed the significance of May Day.

    This was the culmination of another year of activity in which we've increased participation in the mass movement. The war sharpened our struggle among co-workers and friends who were drawn closer to the Party. Some were very active with us in the anti-war movement, generating more enthusiasm in two comrades who'd been a little down.

    After last year's May Day, the sharp struggles to participate in some mass organizations didn't produce the desired results right away, but gradually the situation changed. Two comrades joined an organization of mainly immigrant workers, another became active in their union, and still another sporadically in a church. As the war neared, club struggles sharpened over more active participation in these organizations. With the war upon us, this involvement grew.

    In a meeting before May Day, we discussed the value of these activities. Some felt the effort didn't produce enough results, but we all agreed we had made small but important advances in almost all areas. Some co-workers from our jobs came with us to marches. Some have now participated in study groups; others read CHALLENGE. A friend who had become inactive is now involved again and brought two people to the May Day dinner.

    Although our dinner wasn't mass, it was significant. We invited more of our friends to come. Those who didn't called to apologize, asking about the Party's May Day march. They now feel closer to us.

    All this hasn't been automatic. More struggle is needed to recruit them to the Party, but being involved with them in the mass movement made everyone more enthusiastic.

    The last of our guests stayed to make future plans and promised to keep fighting, with greater commitment. It seemed no one wanted the day to end, but tomorrow is another day, with more workers vowing to fight for the future of the international working class.

    A visionary comrade

     

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    May Day 2003: Marching The Road To Revolution

    Democrats, Republican Agree: More Workers’ Blood For Oil

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    May Day 2003: Marching The Road To Revolution

    PLP’s May Day activities, although modest, should not be underestimated politically. Last year we marched after the destruction of the World Trade Center and in the midst of the rulers’ launching a Homeland Security fascist police state. This year we marched before the smoke had cleared from the racist, imperialist massacre carried out in Iraq. While U.S. imperialism flaunted its military might before the whole world, while Bush carried out his "Top Gun" fantasies on a U.S. aircraft carrier returning from the slaughter, beneath the headlines and the massive "embedded" media propaganda (embedded with the imperialist butchers), the communist movement was on the move in the belly of the beast.

    These are complex times. We can only begin to grasp the nature of the period through the collective efforts of our revolutionary communist party and its many friends, applying the science of Dialectical Materialism as best we can. The racist rulers are giants with feet of clay. The war in Iraq has intensified all the contradictions between the imperialists, among the bosses and between the rulers and the working class. This is a period of increased turmoil and a quickening tempo. History is moving faster.

    The millions around the world who marched against the war, who represent millions more, reflect that the masses on some level have moved to the left, opposing U.S. imperialism. Tens of thousands in the anti-war movement responded enthusiastically to CHALLENGE and our Party’s call for communist revolution. The response of the immigrant workers in Brooklyn to our May Day march was especially inspiring. On our jobs and in our schools and communities, thousands of CHALLENGE readers supported and/or participated in various May Day activities. This, as the ruling classes and mass culture moved to the right, embracing nationalism, racism and fascism.

    But likewise, the quickening pace and the millions in the streets create huge opportunities, even though we have a long way to go. Communists’ political work requires a sense of urgency while we also take a very patient, long-term view. The demise of the old international communist movement is still a big burden on the working class. On the one hand, we stand on the shoulders of these past giants. But we are also learning from their mistakes as well as their strengths. It was these internal weaknesses — taking on too much of the baggage of capitalism — that led to that movement’s downfall, not the attacks from the outside by world imperialism.

    Our modest efforts during the recent oil war in Iraq and in building May Day are important steps in re-building the confidence of the working class in communist politics. A PLP entrenched in the working class and among its allies will become the alternative workers are seeking to this rotten capitalist system.

    The internal strength of the Party and the mass movement is primary. Mao Tse-tung said if you step on an egg it breaks, but if you step on rock it doesn’t. It’s what’s inside the egg and the rock that is primary, not the foot stepping on them. Slowly but surely, we are building a rock.

    Democrats, Republican Agree:

    More Workers’ Blood For Oil

    The rulers’ war in Iraq has generated a lot of media chatter about a "new American empire." In the last six months, news stories have carried that phrase nearly 1,000 times. The liberal press in particular has taken the Bush White House to task for its "imperial" behavior.

    Sure, Bush and the "neo-conservatives" who advise him are imperialists. But so are the liberal politicians who now squawk about a foreign policy based on international alliances. The U.S. is an imperialist country, regardless of the party in the White House. Imperialism — the need to control foreign markets, labor power and resources and eventually to dominate the world — comes from the profit system’s basic nature. This isn’t a strategic debate between good guys and bad guys in the ruling class. It’s a minor tactical tiff among our mortal class enemies, who all agree on the strategy of ruling the world at gunpoint.

    Only a communist analysis, based on the principles of Marxism-Leninism, enables workers to understand the class character of imperialism and to debunk the illusion that imperialist wars can be avoided if only we put a "lesser evil" leader in power. The working class has no interest in choosing among capitalist politicians. Our deepest interest lies in organizing to smash all of them and seizing power for our class, no matter how long it takes.

    Let’s check history. Bush’s conquest of Iraq didn’t hatch overnight. It follows the logic of U.S. bosses’ plans over many decades. An essential element of that strategy has been ironclad control of Persian Gulf oil. World domination cannot allow a rival to grab an important share of this treasure. The bosses have known this since the end of World War II.

    At first, under the liberal Democrats Roosevelt and Truman, they relied on Great Britain to protect U.S. oil interests. The decline of its own empire forced Britain to pull out of the Middle East in 1971. By then, U.S. strategists had come up with a pincer approach, supporting the fascist Israeli military in the west and the fascist Shah of Iran in the east (after the CIA had engineered a 1953 coup to install him). This strategy was refined under the liberal Republican Eisenhower and the liberal Democrats Kennedy and Johnson. But the best-laid imperialist plans often go awry, and an uprising led by Islamic fascists hostile to U.S. interests overthrew the Shah in 1979.

    After this major defeat, on Jan. 23, 1980, another liberal Democrat, President Jimmy Carter, made an unmistakable threat:

    "An attempt by an outside force to gain control of the Persian Gulf region will be regarded as an assault on the vital interests of the United States of America, and such an assault will be repelled by any means necessary, including military force."

    This warning came to be known as the "Carter Doctrine," and it has served as the cornerstone of U.S. Persian Gulf policy ever since. It justified Bush, Sr.’s 1991 "Desert Storm." It underlay Clinton’s murderous sanctions against Iraq throughout his presidency, his regular bombing raids against Iraq and even his aerial genocide in 1999 against workers in the former Yugoslavia.

    The Bush White House has merely extended the Carter Doctrine. Seven months before the latest war, Vice-President Cheney sounded just like Carter in telling the Veterans of Foreign Wars: "…seated atop ten percent of the world’s oil reserves, Saddam Hussein could…be expected to seek domination of the entire Middle East [and] take control of a great portion of the world’s energy supplies." But Cheney was broadening the Carter Doctrine beyond Baghdad. The assault on Saddam also targeted U.S. rivals France and Russia, whose bosses have their own imperialist plans for Iraqi oil.

    U.S. strategy has therefore followed the same general path since WW II. The biggest tactical change has come with the collapse of the old communist movement and the Soviet Union. Previous checks on U.S. power have dwindled, and U.S. rulers, both Republican and Democrat, have taken advantage of this maneuverability to assert their supremacy. The basic goal — world domination — remains the same and control over Persian Gulf oil is still crucial.

    Presently, U.S. imperialism enjoys vast relative military superiority over all its rivals. Since the Clinton years, "American forces [have been] deployed in a grand crescent surrounding the greater Middle East, from the Balkans southeast to Djibouti, east through the Persian Gulf region into Pakistan and Afghanistan, and north into Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan." (New York Times, 5/10)

    The bosses can get away with murder, and they intend to keep doing it. After all, from their point of view, the entire world is at stake, along with trillions in profits. "Our primary goal," writes "neo-conservative" theorist Max Boot, "should be to preserve and extend [this] ‘unipolar moment.’" Boot makes clear that this task will demand more war abroad and fascism at home: "Carrying out all our current global missions will require reversing the military downsizing of the 1990s…Add billions more for homeland security…That’s a small price to pay to police the globe."

    Boot isn’t just a rabid "neo-con." He happens to be a senior fellow at the Liberal Establishment’s Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), and his article was featured on the CFR’s web site. From the working class’s standpoint, there’s no major rift among the bosses. "The real debate…is not whether to have an empire, but what kind." (New York Times, 5/10) Like the rulers of Ancient Rome and Britain, U.S. bosses alternate between acting alone and creating "alliances" based on a carrot-and-stick approach.

    Workers have to remain level-headed and firm. We can’t fall for the liberals’ claims that their leadership can build a "kinder, gentler" imperialism. There’s nothing kind and gentle about the Carter Doctrine. Just look at Iraq today. And we can’t succumb to cynicism or hopelessness just because U.S. imperialism now seems so powerful.

    The Chinese communist leader, Mao Zedong, compared the imperialists to "paper tigers." He said we must take full account of the bosses tactically, recognizing their enormous capacity to spread havoc and murder. By the same token, he expressed contempt for their fundamental strategic weakness, because the profit system will always create problems it can’t solve.

    Our approach should be: U.S. imperialism has a lot left in its arsenal. We have a long road of small and large struggles ahead. Our tactical arsenal is still very small. However, our strategic arsenal — the theory and practice of revolutionary communism — will eventually prove invincible. The bosses’ drive to maintain world domination and the wars that come from it will produce many opportunities for our Party and the working class movement to become stronger. We have a crucial job to do, today and always, for our class and for the generations to come. Sooner or later,the long night of capitalism will turn into the day of communism.

    Profit System Makes All Diseases Worse

    CAPITALISM: It Is in the SARS

    SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) appears to be a new and serious disease. There have been big outbreaks in several East Asian countries and in Toronto, Canada. It produces flu-like symptoms and can progress to pneumonia (infection in the lungs). About 6 % of those with the disease have died. Although most SARS patients recover fully, it’s still too early to know if those who survive will have permanent disabilities.

    SARS appears to be caused by a virus known as coronavirus. ("Corona" means "crown"; the virus has a crown-like appearance when viewed under a microscope.) The coronavirus has been associated with some mild illness in humans and more serious illness in animals. It’s likely that the coronavirus, probably in China’s Guangdong province, underwent a mutation (a change in its molecular structure), making it more dangerous to humans. Scientists are still learning about how the virus is spread. It may survive for quite a while in human feces and on countertops.

    Virus mutations are a fact of life. In a sense, they can be a kind of natural disaster. But like earthquakes, floods or mudslides, the big question is how a society deals with such events. Cheap construction kills workers in earthquakes — that’s capitalism at work. If helicopters can ferry thousands of soldiers around the Middle East, how come those helicopters aren’t available to rescue workers from mudslides in Latin America. That’s a by-product of capitalism, not nature.

    At the moment, drugs don’t seem to be very effective against SARS. But it’s not a mystery how to contain this new infection. The main thing is to prevent the disease from spreading. That’s not primarily a technical problem — it’s a social one. And that’s where the inefficiencies and anti-worker policies of capitalist governments stand out.

    Capitalist governments are irresponsible. In capitalist China, despite the label used by the governing "communist" party, officials apparently covered up SARS’ rise and lied about it to public health officials worldwide. If the Chinese government had been more forthcoming — as a truly communist leadership would be — perhaps the infection could have been contained in China.

    Capitalist disorganization promotes the spread of infection. Whether it’s TB, AIDS or now SARS, the social disorganization of capitalism makes it difficult to control infectious diseases. Erratic communication of information to the public leaves people unaware of the risk they pose to themselves and others. Systematic isolation of potentially infected individuals is complicated by lack of health care coverage and economic pressures not to miss work or to "keep the economy running." Under communism, the necessary isolation of individuals and institutions could be carried out quickly and efficiently — with the entire population’s full knowledge and participation.

    Capitalism undermines prevention. Millions of workers work closely with animals, especially birds, who harbor viruses that could mutate and "jump" to humans. That’s the nightmare scenario: mutated viruses, capable of being spread easily from person to person, causing dangerous epidemics. In capitalist societies, industries involving work with birds and other animals are oriented toward making profits — not toward safety of workers or the public. Under communism, industry is organized to serve people’s needs, not bosses’ profits. Public health workers could ensure that animal-to-human virus transmission is minimized. Moreover, communist health workers will develop drugs and vaccines far more rapidly and efficiently than capitalist drug companies that are in it only for the bucks.

    SARS, like so many other diseases and disasters, begins with nature. Capitalism does not adequately protect us against natural dangers. Communism can and will.

    a name="N.Y. Times: All The Lies That’s Fit To Print">">">".Y. Times: All The Lies That’s Fit To Print

    Recently the New York Times, "the paper of record" and leading spokesman for the Eastern Establishment, "confessed" that Jayson Blair, a young black reporter, had invented details and lifted quotes from other papers in several articles he wrote for the Times. They spent four pages beating their breasts about this "betrayal" of the Times’ allegedly impeccable standards, while vilifying the reporter. The paper acts as if it would never knowingly print something it knew to be untrue. Who are they kidding?

    The Times has lied about every imperialist adventure undertaken by the U.S. ruling class it serves. The alleged failings of Jayson Blair pale in comparison.

    On April 21, the Times ran a story by Judith Miller headlined, "Illicit Arms Kept Till Eve of War, An Iraqi Scientist Is Said to Assert." This "scientist" also supposedly linked Saddam Hussein’s regime to Al Qaeda and to chemical and biological weapons of mass destruction (WMD).

    Did Miller ever talk to this "scientist"? No. Did she ever visit his home? No. Did she ever do anything to even substantiate his existence? No. Did she identify any of these so-called WMD’s? No. Did she do anything to verify his claims? No.

    Her "source"? The U.S. military! And they demanded the right to censor her story before permitting its publication. Yet her report became worldwide news, used to justify the U.S. invasion of Iraq. Such is the "fact-checking" employed by "the paper of record."

    This is just one of a long list of lies, half-truths and distortions filling the Times. When the CIA engineered the 1953 overthrow of the Iranian leader Mossedegh and installed the murderous Shah; when the U.S. overthrew the popularly elected governments in Guatemala (1954) and Allende in Chile (1973) and assassinated Patrice Lumumba in the Congo, the Times just parroted the White House lies. It usually took them 30 years, after the truth of these events were reported worldwide, before the Times admitted what actually happened.

    And the biggest whopper of them all was the Times’ military editor’s "report" in June of 1941 that Hitler would defeat the Soviet Red Army in six weeks! For over two decades their "fact-checkers" somehow "missed" the progress made by the workers’ government in the USSR, which created the ability to smash Hitler’s Nazis, the first force to stop them. No, the Times just could not report the truth about the first attempt in world history to erect a state not based on profits and the exploitation of the working class.

    All the lies that’s fit to print, indeed. And by the way, the same applies to the other dailies. TV-radio news programas, newsweekliesd the commercial media in general.

    a name="Bush ‘Victory’ in Iraq = Al Qaeda Reloaded"></">Bu"h ‘Victory’ in Iraq = Al Qaeda Reloaded

    "Al Qaeda is on the run," says Bush (New York Times, 5/14). "They’re not a problem anymore."

    They’re "on the run" alright — running amok all over Saudi Arabia, Chechnya, Yemen and Afghanistan, to name just four hot spots bin Laden’s forces attacked virtually simultaneously on May 12-13.

    Bush & Co. claimed that getting rid of Saddam Hussein would crush terrorism in the Middle East. But if anything, the U.S. invasion of Iraq has intensified anti-U.S. hostility in the region, as the latest attacks indicate. This latest assault in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, represents Al Qaeda’s drive for regime change in that country. Bin Laden represents those forces in Saudi ruling circles who want to take control of the country’s oil production, largest in the world. U.S. seizure of Iraq’s oil has only heightened the threat felt among the Saudi bosses. The bin Laden forces want the U.S. completely out of not only Saudi Arabia but of the entire Middle East and Muslim/Arab world.

    The attack on the Western enclave in Riyadh was a well-planned and well-coordinated strike, with car bombs being driven deep into the guarded community by machine-gunning invaders, killing at least two dozen, including seven from the U.S. It was accomplished despite repeated warnings an attack was imminent. Even a Saudi raid on a militants’ cell a week before couldn’t prevent all 19 cell members from escaping, including 17 Saudis.

    This latest incident follows the April 20 assassination of the chief of police of the Saudi town of Skaka, the fourth official to be shot dead in the last eight months, part of nine armed clashes occurring in the country since December.

    "U.S. intelligence…bragged to reporters that the terrorist band was crippled, noting that it hadn’t attacked during the assault on Iraq." (Maureen Dowd column, NY Times, 5/14) "This was the big game for them — you put up or shut up, and they have failed," Cofer Black, U.S. State Dept. counter-terrorism chief told the Washington Post. Wrong again.

    "Buried in the rubble of Riyadh," writes Dowd, "are some of the Bush administration’s basic assumptions: that Al Qaeda was finished, that invading Iraq would bring regional stability and that a show of American superpower against Saddam would cow terrorists."

    As long as there is imperialism there will be the instability of endless wars. The fight for control of Middle East oil is behind the latest instability and will continue until the international working class ends it with communist revolution.

    Black Immigrant Workers Welcome Marchers

    BROOKLYN, NY, May 3 — Curiosity turned to support among passers-by in the Flatbush neighborhood here as PLP’s ideas resounded through the streets on this May Day afternoon. Everything about our march stood out. First of all, our line was different, and it caught the ear of the people. We were anti-war, but it wasn’t a peace march. The people loved our "FIGHT BACK" chants in all their variations, including when we attacked the liberal politicians. Our ability to connect war, cutbacks and deportations summed up in the phrase "there is no future for us under this system" met with no disagreement. CHALLENGE sellers got out 1,600 papers throughout the day’s events.

    Secondly, the march was multi-racial and visibly led by all kinds of people. Another important thing is that our march was actually in Flatbush, a majority black immigrant neighborhood. Of the many anti-war marches organized recently in New York City none had happened yet in Flatbush, which supplies more than its share of soldiers to the U.S. war machine due to the racist economic draft.

    The march was spirited and the dinner was great. Students carried the day, with an acting troupe from a local high school putting on skits about Paul Robeson — the great singer, actor, athlete, pro-communist anti-racist fighter — and the war. Young poets from Chicago proved that truly communist rap music is the best. For those few hours there was a real sense of victory, of progress. Hundreds attended several other May Day dinners throughout the city.

    Communism brings out the best in people. Wars will come, fascism will intensify, and Progressive Labor Party will continue to organize to bring down capitalism and celebrate May Day in the coming years. Our hope for the future shines brightest on that day each year, and each year, more of our class brothers and sisters see that light. Onward!

    May Day in LA: Building a Revolutionary Communist Party in this Day and Age of Endless Wars and Police State

    LOS ANGELES, May 3 — "Fight for communism! Power to the workers!"; "Que viva, que viva, que viva comunismo!" chanted the enthusiastic May Day marchers in downtown LA. Youth — black, Latin, Asian and white — led all aspects of the march and dinner. Many wore red caps and red PLP t-shirts. They distributed thousands of leaflets about the history of May Day and the need for communist revolution to destroy the murderous racist capitalist system of wars and exploitation for profit. They sold hundreds of CHALLENGES. At the corners where hundreds of workers watched, short speeches urged them to read the paper and join us.

    A lively dinner followed. An eloquent speech from a young comrade linked the war in Iraq to the slashing of health care and the starving workers worldwide, all caused by capitalism in crisis. He explained that communism will unleash the vast potential of the working class to lead and produce for our own needs, evident from the communist movement’s many past achievements.

    Another speaker said we’re entering a new period in which students and workers are open to PLP’s leadership and line as we fight in the mass movement for communist ideas. She described how hundreds of students at a MEChA conference acted against the war in Iraq. She invited others to join these activities.

    A young worker explained that the unemployed are part of the working class and that capitalism needs racist unemployment to use against all workers, especially during crises. Then two of her friends spoke. One, a young black man who marched for the second consecutive year, said, "I work hard. My father works every day from 5 a.m. to 8 p.m. and has nothing to show for it. My whole family works hard….When I hear about people taking vacations in Cancun and Hawaii, I wish my father could do that, but he can’t….Look at the farmworkers. They work the hardest and get the least….I loved this march. We’re fighting so that people like my father can get the value of what he works for."

    Another speaker described the need and opportunity to win soldiers to fight for the working class, not for the bosses. A group of college students performed a skit attacking the racist, sexist bosses.

    Many signed up to subscribe to CHALLENGE and two marchers joined PLP at the dinner. Others agreed to be in PLP study groups. Students were invited to a PLP summer project to bring communist ideas to workers. One community college student marcher, active in the fight against cutbacks, had been taking 10 papers to distribute to friends, who would then discuss it together. Now she upped it to 15. A final speaker said the communist movement has been around for 155 years, but the fact that socialism did not lead to communism will not permanently hinder our class since now we know we must fight directly for communism during the growing capitalist crisis and wars.

    Other dinners displayed renewed enthusiasm for building the Party and CHALLENGE in the centers of industry and in the mass movement. A group from the Middle East sang the Internationale in their native language in addition to groups singing in Spanish and English.

    The march and dinners were very positive even though the turnout was more modest than we would have liked. In building for the march, we had many excellent conversations with friends about the need for the long-term fight for communist revolution. Many of our friends are now taking the Party and CHALLENGE more seriously.

    On May 1st we distributed the PLP May Day leaflet to about 2,000 at the immigrant workers’ day march, calling for communist revolution. We also handed them out to workers in the garment center both before and during the march, and to janitors voting on their sellout contract the day before. Workers reading the leaflet told us it was very important, folding it up to keep. We are learning to build the Party in this new period, certainly full of danger, but also certainly teeming with opportunity.

    a name="The ‘Challenge’ of A Lifetime"></">Th" ‘Challenge’ of A Lifetime

    (Excerpts from a speech at the Los Angeles May Day celebration.)

    In June we celebrate the beginning of the 40th year of publishing the revolutionary communist paper of the Progressive Labor Party — CHALLENGE!

    A man [with] a bit of wisdom told me that politics is concentrated economics. If politics is concentrated economics, then concentrated politics is right here in my hand — CHALLENGE!

    There are many comrades doing good political work. They exemplify the "serve-the-people" ethic. But no matter how high their commitment to the Party and the working class, they alone will never be able to acquire — on their own — the depth and breath of political knowledge necessary to sustain a revolutionary movement.

    [The same is true for] some areas and some cities that do more advanced work than others…. Some groups and some comrades write very good leaflets….geared to the particulars on the job, in the schools, churches and the military. But no series of local leaflets can train the most advanced workers to be tribunes of the people — ready to support every protest, every outbreak against capitalism and to utilize these to drive home the revolutionary lessons needed to recruit to our Party.

    A young comrade recently…[told] me. "Since 9/11 we are no longer at peace. We have to be much quicker to take advantages of opportunities….He was right.

    But how do workers, particularly these younger workers and students…get the training to react quickly to each and every opportunity to build our revolutionary forces? CHALLENGE, with examples from all over…the world, from among students, workers, soldiers and their allies, provides that type of training. CHALLENGE provides the critical concentration of politics necessary to train new revolutionary soldiers.…And the wider the circulation, the less likely we are to miss opportunities for class struggle and revolutionary growth.

    I sell a good number of papers where I work…. Some workers — not the majority — take the paper out of friendship and curiosity. One such worker was put on another shift. I lost track of him. I could have found him with some effort, but I was hesitant. After all, I was kind of forcing the paper on him. What did it matter?

    Little did I know! About two months ago, he came to work early to find me! The world has gone crazy," he said "This Iraq war, it’s the politics of the absurd. I came to get the last four months of CHALLENGE. Don’t you ever let me miss another issue of that paper!" He then helped me organize an anti-war resolution for our union that has caused ripples all the way up to the international." CHALLENGE brought me this opportunity.

    It’s not always that easy. Last week, I tried to sell a paper at work to a guy in the Green Party. I had sold him a couple of other issues. "I don’t believe that paper," he told me. I had to think fast. "Well, this article here is written by my daughter. I know that is true!"….So he took the paper and liked the article my daughter wrote. The struggle can continue.

    You must fight for the paper, to sell it, to write for it…. Not only the huge things… [but] the everyday conversations and debates. I’m talking about the life of the Party!

    Now here’s an [old] issue…. You see this young skinny soldier? That’s me. When I was in the Army we wrote an article for every issue. If there wasn’t a big struggle, we interviewed other GIs about their opinions on the issues of the day.

    Every week, a couple of dozen brown envelopes would arrive at my company barracks. Pretty soon the captain realized they contained CHALLENGES. So he singled out who he thought was the weakest among us and threatened that soldier with Court Martial and the Stockade if he continued to read the paper. He then seized the envelope, hoping we’d all get scared and cancel our subscriptions. We held an emergency secret meeting the result of which was this "weak" soldier stormed into the captain’s office, saw his paper on the captain’s desk, grabbed it and stormed back out. Before he left, he informed the captain this was his personal property and the captain was never to touch it…. You got to fight for the paper; you got to fight to read the paper.

    We’ve managed to publish CHALLENGE for 38 years. We’ve recently increased the press run because we’re selling more. Each new reader represents another nail in the bosses’ coffin. But…. maintaining CHALLENGE sales is like pushing a snowball uphill…. because CHALLENGE represents the concentration of the Party politic. It is the ideological point man in our struggle to maintain the communist movement.

    As fascism intensifies, CHALLENGE will become even more important. Already, we must be careful how we organize for May Day. We’ll have to rely on CHALLENGE more and more to bring us the line and experience of our Party.

    Yes, CHALLENGE is aptly named. Fighting to read, write and sell our revolutionary communist paper is the challenge of a lifetime…. Take extra papers. Sell many more. Write articles on your struggles. It’s a challenge worth a lifetime of struggle.

    El Salvador:

    Salute Communist Ideas

    San Salvador — Thousands of workers marched on May Day through the main streets of San Salvador, the capital city. Many chanted, "Bush, fascist, you are the terrorist"; "We don’t want to be a U.S. colony"; "Long live the communist ideals." Red flags were flying high. Many carried placards with pictures of Karl Marx as well as huge posters with the hammer and sickle, the communist symbol of unity of workers and peasants.

    PLP’ers distributed 300 DESAFIO-CHALLENGES and over 3,000 communist flyers. "I was waiting for this paper," said one marcher. "I knew you wouldn’t fail to bring us DESAFIO-CHALLENGE," said another. "You guys are doing the right thing with this paper," said a third. Indeed, workers and their allies are searching for revolutionary answers to a capitalist system stinking of wars, economic crisis and fascist repression.

    We also met old comrades who said they again want to work with us to fight for communism.

    May Day is the day when workers worldwide unite to remember the Martyrs of Chicago, workers who the bosses hung in the late 1880s for fighting for a shorter work-day. But as workers in El Salvador honored those martyrs, they also condemned President Francisco Flores, who serves Bush’s foreign policy (he spends almost all his time promoting it in Central America). Supposedly that would get the U.S. government to give better treatment to the many Salvadorans forced to enter the U.S. searching for jobs they can’t find here. However, capitalism is no paradise for workers anywhere. Immigrant workers in the U.S. are super-exploited because of racism (providing super-profits for the bosses). They also serve as cannon fodder in the endless wars U.S. rulers wage to maintain world domination.

    We in PLP must direct this anger and class consciousness that many workers showed on May Day to build a mass communist movement. It’s a long, hard task, but is the only way out, for workers from San Salvador to Los Angeles.

    Mexico: State or Free Market Capitalism Sucks

    MEXICO CITY, May 1 — PLP marched on May Day with the electrical workers’ contingent. Our line of "Only communism will liberate the working class" spread like a prairie fire among thousands of marchers who took our flyers. One electrical worker took our red flag to march with our group. Our communist chants blasting U.S imperialism’s war in Iraq and exposing President Fox’s class war against workers here echoed throughout the entire march, especially at El Zocalo, the presidential palace.

    We explained how the U.S. "victory" in Iraq sharpens the fight among the imperialists over oil and world hegemony. The bosses’ future for all workers is world war (eventually nuclear), mass unemployment, hunger and fascism. The only way out of this nightmare is to fight for communism.

    Here the bosses are viciously attacking the working class through "reform" of the labor laws. Workers are suspended for three days for arriving a few minutes late; bosses can fire workers at will. Privatization and capitalism’s worldwide crisis are hitting electrical workers hard. However, many in the SME (electrical workers union) and other unions fall prey to nationalism chanting, "Fox, the fatherland is not for sale." They see state ownership of utilities and the oil company as a lesser evil, not as a fight between state capitalist and free market bosses. Both will exploit workers.

    Mexico’s Nationalist bosses oppose Fox’s privatization of state-owned industries when they’re handed over to foreign bank rollers. Then they use nationalism to mislead workers into siding with "our" bosses. But, if these nationalist bosses can reap the lion’s share of privatization, that’s okay. For example, ICA, a Mexican-owned consortium, will be the main investor in an electrical plant in Nayarit, the largest since Fox took office. Local bosses are also competing for the upgrading of the infrastructure of PEMEX, the huge state-owned oil company, and for other public works.

    The fight is also sharpening among European and U.S. imperialists and their local agents over the billions involved in these projects. We must unite against all of them, build a mass PLP and learn from these struggles how to get rid of all bosses.

    a name="Colombia Death-Squad Gov’t Can’t Stop May Day"></">Co"ombia Death-Squad Gov’t Can’t Stop May Day

    Bogota, Colombia— About one million people marched on May Day in this country’s main cities, called by unions, all kinds of social-democrats and reformists. In Bogota, these groups organized three separate activities, confusing and dividing the masses. They feared that too many angry people gathered in one place might get out of their hands. Still, 120,000 workers, youth, men and women, marched in Bogota. They attacked imperialist war and the government’s proposed labor reform laws which will destroy the few crumbs workers still have and will give bosses an even freer hand to exploit and fire workers and reduce wages, all to increase their profits.

    As in previous years, PLP marched as a contingent in Bogota. With the help and support of many workers, youth and friends, we distributed 3,000 communist leaflets and many copies of DESAFIO-CHALLENGE. One worker in a union contingent was so impressed by our leaflets that he continuously read from them using the group’s bullhorn. Our chants were heard widely during the entire march: "Smash imperialist war with communist revolution"; "One working class, one communist flag"; "Youth, organize and fight for communism." Our contingent carried many signs with those and other slogans, behind a huge banner publicizing our communist newspaper DESAFIO.

    May Day was a modest step forward for PLP. Our contingent improved in quantity and political quality thanks to the support of youth, housewives and workers. We are struggling to build a more mass revolutionary organization, capable of intensifying the attack on this rotten, fascist, warmaking system. The future won’t be easy but we’re determined to advance the fight for a society without any bosses.

    a name="Panel Debates Iraq War; Students Make It ‘No Contest’"></">Pa"el Debates Iraq War; Students Make It ‘No Contest’

    NEW YORK CITY — When hundreds of students come through, it’s like a little bit of communism. Students want to learn and when motivated will work very hard at it. As part of the working class they’ll do a great job building a communist society.

    Recently 300 high school students participated in an after-school debate among three teachers on the war in Iraq. Students asked questions and made comments. One teacher was for the war, one against and one in between. The "in-between" teacher had to move toward the pro-side to even things up.

    At the very beginning the students were asked to stop booing the pro-war side. Actually the pro-war teacher was only mildly so. Mainly he made the debate a success by urging lots of students to attend, and it was certainly encouraging that almost all opposed this war.

    One pro-war argument advanced the necessity to eliminate Saddam Hussein, a vicious fascist. The response was that Saddam was a monster created by U. S. imperialism and that the U. S. had created many such monsters worldwide. The anti-war speaker stated that the U. S. government had never installed a democratic government anywhere. He explained how U. S. imperialism had killed 3,000,000 people in Vietnam, invaded the Dominican Republic in 1965 under Lyndon Johnson to prevent the return of a popularly elected government, maintained a vicious dictatorship in Haiti for over 30 years, was responsible for 500,000 Iraqi children dying since the first Persian Gulf War and even now was denying healthcare for veterans of that war.

    The students were unbelievably attentive for two hours. They wrote down incredibly thoughtful and incisive questions for the debaters. Some took the mike to ask follow-up questions. It was quite an event. Both students and staff are still congratulating the anti-war debater. He even was hugged by a staff member he didn’t know (one way to get to know somebody!).

    This wasn’t an isolated event. All kinds of discussions and activities preceded the war. Most social studies teachers had classroom discussions, as did after-school clubs that also watched related videos. One club made buttons. There was much discussion about imperialism and police-state fascism. Both students and staff attended several rallies, both in Washington, D.C., and here.

    It’s also interesting to note that the U. S. imperialist government is now putting many of Saddam’s butchers right back in power — his police force, at Baghdad University, in the Health Ministry, etc. Angry doctors and health workers even demonstrated against this policy.

    There is now a better understanding of capitalism and imperialism — that this war was part of U.S. rulers’ plans for world domination and that control of Middle East oil was crucial to their goal. The realization is spreading that we have many more battles to fight and that our ultimate goal must be a communist world. Stopping a war will not do it. More are looming. Already the rulers are slashing social services. The best way to fight these wars and cuts is to join the PLP and spend a lifetime of struggle for a better world. Together let’s Learn to Fight, Fight to Learn and Fight to Teach!

    Boston Students Lead Fight vs. Racist Budget Cuts

    BOSTON, April 29 — About 75 students and faculty from Roxbury Community College (RCC) packed into a school bus to attend a demonstration at the State House today. With high spirits, they joined thousands from every public college in Massachusetts. The demonstration opposed the draconian 20% budget cuts that threaten to devastate public higher education.

    These cuts would force thousands to drop out of college, lay off a huge number of faculty and staff and slash student services. Already 40% of Boston public school employees have been excessed, laying off thousands of teachers and increasing class size. As of April 1, 43,000 patients were dropped from Medicaid.

    Speakers exposed the anti-working class nature of the cuts. One attacked the Democrats and the failing union strategy of lobbying these liberals to preserve our services, jobs and benefits. The Massachusetts Teachers Association kept a tight lid on the politics, focusing on the call for new taxes and reduction of corporate tax loopholes.

    Only the PLP leaflet blamed the crisis of capitalism for the cuts and called for a general strike of all government workers to defend our vital public services. Our leaflet exposed how for 35 years the Democratic legislature bolstered the profitability of Massachusetts bosses, dropping their share paid into the state’s general fund from 16% in 1968 to only 4% today. This has undermined the financial base of vital public services.

    RCC students, first-timers at a demonstration, were organized to attend by fellow students who have been meeting with the RCC Anti-War Committee. Even though they don’t hold official positions in student government, they are learning that they are student leaders nevertheless because they have the courage to speak for the collective. Gaining a political understanding of the world is motivating them to organize their fellow students to make changes in our own backyard. They see that the same bosses who sacrifice Iraqi workers for global domination also balance their budget on the backs of workers and their children.

    a name="Army Vet’s Workfare ‘Reward’: Joblessness"></a>"rmy Vet’s Workfare ‘Reward’: Joblessness

    NEW YORK CITY, May 4 —Capitalism promotes poverty. Marvin Washington, a 45-year-old father of two, an army veteran with a metal rod in his hip from a service injury, was considered a "poster child" for the Clinton/Giuliani "welfare-to-work" promise. His reward for having "fought for his country" is that he’s another victim of the slave labor Workfare program that keeps workers in grinding poverty.

    Eight years ago he was unemployed and forced to work off his welfare check in the city’s Workfare program. He scraped by on this below-poverty-level "wage" for three years when he landed a full-time job in the Sanitation Dept. For $18,000 a year he had to take three trains and a bus to work erratic shifts in which he might get off at midnight and then have to be back at 8 AM. But he worked hard and advanced to a $26,000-a-year clerical position overseeing bookkeeping and handling civilian complaints. Things were looking up.

    On May 2 he received a layoff notice as billionaire Mayor Bloomberg slashes jobs to "balance the budget" on the backs of the poorest workers. Washington told the N.Y. Post (5/4) that he "thought there would be longevity" with a city job. Now, he must go back on welfare and the slave labor Workfare program. "I don’t know how I’m going to make it," he says.

    Such are the fruits of Clinton’s "ending welfare as we know it." There’s only one way to end welfare — wipe out the capitalist profit system that creates mass unemployment and promotes the treadmill of poverty forced on army vets like Marvin Washington.

    Red Flag Over the Reichstag:

    The Battle that Finished the Nazi Regime

    [The following is excerpted from Pravda (5/8/03), a Moscow daily.]

    In 1998, on the eve of the 53rd anniversary of Victory Day over the Nazis, a Pravda journalist interviewed the legendary Soviet battalion commander Stepan Neustroyev who participated in raising the Red Flag over the Reichstag [Nazi Parliament in Berlin]. The veteran wrote a book, "Russian Soldier: On the Path to the Reichstag," which had added to the true story of World War II (WWII). Neustroyev looked hale and hearty at age 75, but unfortunately, this Soviet worker died soon after the interview. Although heroes die, their deeds and examples live on.

    Stepan Neustroyev was a worker who dreamed of becoming a pilot, but ended up an infantryman. He entered the war in January 1942 in the bloody slaughter near Staraya Russa and made it all the way to Berlin three years later.

    Q: When I read your book about our country’s glorious days, I once again understood that if a soldier knows what he’s fighting for, he is invincible. What do you think was your most difficult moment during WWII?

    SN: The Demyanskaya operation on the Northwestern Front was the toughest. Although it seriously damaged the German army, the outcome wasn’t a success. It was a terrible time; even compared to the operation in Berlin. That was the triumph of Soviet strategic skills and the military valor of the Red Army. By April 25, 1945, we had encircled the German capital. My battalion in the 3rd Shock Division rushed to the center of Berlin. On April 30, we seized Himmler’s house [head of the SS, second to Hitler] and reached the square where the Reichstag stood, symbol of German Fascism. At that very moment, Soviet soldiers were told that the Army War Council had sent nine red Victory Flags….[one for each Red Army division in the operation].

    Elite German SS units were massed in the center of the city. Our battalion was directly opposite to the Reichstag. The building was stormed by the battalion of Major Davydov from the right and by Senior Lieutenant Samsonov’s battalion from the left. There were just 300 meters [975 feet] remaining to reach the Reichstag, an open area fired upon from every side. Together with Alexey Berest, responsible for the battalion’s political training, we launched a series of attacks, but retreated each time. Two other battalions attacked unsuccessfully. Still, we carried out the order to seize the Reichstag. On the fourth attempt, at about 6:00 p.m. on April 30, our battalion rushed into the building and began hand-to-hand fighting with SS soldiers. Combat lasted for hours. By midnight, the battle was fading. Hitler’s troops had retreated to some underground rooms. After we caught our breath, we organized an all-round defense. Suddenly, two comrades from regimental reconnaissance, Sergeant Yegorov and Junior Sergeant Kantaria, appeared with a Victory Flag.

    Q. Did you know them?

    SN: Yes, Regiment Commander Colonel Zinchenko introduced these comrades to me, saying they had the honor of raising the Soviet Flag over the Reichstag. Then the colonel gave the order and the sergeants saluted and disappeared into the darkness. It was pitch black inside the building, and they had no flashlights. Minutes later they returned. I ordered Comrade Berest to take a squad of submachine-gunners and escort the sergeants. The agonizing suspense lasted for a few minutes, but it seemed like hours. Suddenly we heard a grenade blast and a burst of machine-gun fire. The entire battalion was ready to rush upstairs, but then things calmed down. In half an hour, Yegorov and Kantaria returned smiling, together with the whole squad of submachine-gunners safe and sound. Comrade Berest said they used their belts to tie the flag to a statue of bronze horses atop the building, so the Soviet flag could wave there for a long time.

    At dawn, the field kitchen delivered breakfast. However, we didn’t touch it. The Soviet flag flying on top of the Reichstag infuriated the enemy. They counter-attacked to drive our battalion from the building. We thought we’d all be killed, but the Samsonov and Davydov battalions came to our rescue. Fortunately, they had remained outside the Reichstag.

    The Germans had hunkered down in the building which became a trap for them as we blocked all the exits. The enemy was fighting violently, but on May 2 they asked for negotiations in the semi-basement where they had been cornered. I saw SS soldiers with faces filled with both hatred and weakness. Some held their guns at the ready, but our composure prevailed. At 7:00 a.m. the Germans hoisted a white flag and, following our instructions, left the building one by one.

    The battalion stayed in the Reichstag until May 10. Before the celebration we met with Soviet Marshall Georgy Zhukov and then celebrated Victory Day there. Later we participated in the Victory Parade in Moscow. I returned home to the Urals on New Year’s Eve in 1946.

    I was invited to work in the Department of Internal Affairs, commanding a strategic nuclear industry infrastructure. I retired in 1962 and moved with my family to Kuban in the Ukraine. My life was sometimes very hard after Perestroika [begun under Gorbachev, leading to the implosion of the Soviet Union and the return of free market capitalism]. War veterans received awful treatment. Sometimes I had no money to buy bread. Still, the great sacrifices made by the Soviet people to achieve victory were not in vain.

    (CHALLENGE note: The Red Army defeated most of the Nazi war machine. Twenty-five to 30 million Soviet citizens and soldiers died during the war, compared to less than 300,000 U.S soldiers.)

    LETTERS

    Comrade Writes From Pakistan

    I gladly write the PLP, the only party forging a real communist movement. To eliminate exploitation, slavery, poverty and illiteracy we must join with the comrades of PLP.

    I am a political worker, formerly active in the Pakistan People’s Party. But I was much inspired by the ideas in CHALLENGE, The Communist and PL Magazine. I was a socialist but confused after the collapse of the USSR. Reading PLP’s literature I was surprised to see our Party’s predicting the downfall of the former Soviet Union. Now I’m convinced that the old communist movement’s 7th World Congress led to revisionism. Joining with the "Lesser Evils" was wrong.

    Capitalist bosses are exploiting workers worldwide from the U.S to Pakistan. Communism is the future for the working class because without a classless society we can’t end wars, exploitation and oppression.

    In Pakistan and Kashmir, the military and its Pakistani ruling class have raised the prices of basic necessities like sugar, flour, rice, milk, medicines, etc. A worker has nothing after paying the utility bills. They have denied workers unionism and freedom of expression. They suffer the attacks of fundamentalism, racism, fascism and the military. The Communist party of Pakistan cannot lead the working class to revolution because its phony and non committed leadership serves the "lesser evil" line. Nor are other so-called leftist parties real revolutionaries (as they claim) but are only misleading workers in the name of "nation," "people" and "democracy," working for national and/or local bosses. They chant the slogans of "Red Asia" and "long live our nation," diverting the working class from the road to communism. Their long public speeches against oppression do not utter a single word against capitalist exploitation. Some groups use the word socialism but know exactly it’s the essence of capitalism.

    Another anti communist group here calling itself "Trotskyites" is very busy opposing communism. They try to convince poor people there’s no need to build a party of the working class; we can bring "socialism" by entering every other party — "entryism" — whether leftist or rightist. They’re dancing to the bosses’ tune. The rulers allow them to exist as long as they resist the formation of an international communist party, without which we can’t get rid of capitalism. Trotskyite "entryism" disunites the international working class. They claim to be in every party, from the Pakistan People’s Party to the Labor Party (UK) and among U.S. conservatives. Their ideas and tactics are very harmful to the working class.

    In Kashmir, the reactionary, fanatical groups are terrorizing innocent people, never hesitating to kill them. Most are criminals, but disguise themselves as Mujahid (fanatic and reactionary religious fighters). They claim to be doing Jihad (a sacred war against non-Muslims) for the freedom of Kashmir. They shoot those who are not religious fanatics or who oppose this type of Jihad.

    There are so-called progressives using nationalism and socialism to spread their false ideas that we need an independent Kashmir, free from Indian and Pakistani bosses, but in fact they want to make a place for local or national bosses against non-locals. Our internationalism says nationalism, in whatever form, serves the profit system.

    Capitalism creates different nations, religions and "races" to divide the working class. We stand for One class, One Party. We want a classless society, without states and nations, which is why we want to smash all borders.That’s PLP’s communist movement.

    Capitalism is producing wars against workers from Iraq to Korea, Kashmir to Colombia, because it needs wars to exist.

    Here in Pakistan PLP has an energetic, committed and revolutionary group of communists. We’ve organized party study clubs and have translated some basic PLP articles into Urdu, like Road to Revolution IV and will send them to you. We strive to build a mass base for the Party.

    Our next letter will detail Pakistan’s political situation, the building of the Party and club discussions. We are receiving CHALLENGE regularly. Please send us "The Communist" and "PL Magazine." Our communist wishes to the comrades.

    Comrade, Pakistan

    Organizing May Day Inside A Garment Factory

    "Today we’re celebrating May Day, International Workers’ Day," began a garment worker in a speech to over 80 co-workers at lunchtime. A workers’ committee had organized this activity ahead of time. During its preparation, many had discussed the political ideas around the significance of May Day and why they should participate, from giving money for food to inviting their friends. Everyone liked the speech and the food.

    Two days before, the Party distributed a leaflet at the factory calling on workers to march on May Day. It denounced exploitation, fascist deportations and imperialist wars, and championed the fight for a communist world, with workers in power, producing for our needs, not for the bosses’ profits. The leaflet and CHALLENGE were well-received.

    This is our second May Day celebration inside this factory. We aim to broaden out to many more factories and garment shops. There’s a long road to travel and many obstacles to conquer, but these activities give us the confidence that workers can and will take as their own the political ideas that will break the chains binding us to this rotten capitalist system.

    We vow to increase the distribution of CHALLENGE to broaden our base of support for the many struggles that lie ahead.

    A garment worker

    Garment Struggle Reveals Power of Working Class

    After the May Day dinner, a group of 12 young workers went to a comrade’s house for some informal talk. During the evening I mentioned a garment factory where we had led several strikes to stop the bosses from lowering the piece rate and to confront their repression.

    One comrade asked, "What did you get out of all that?"

    I said these struggles teach valuable lessons to all workers involved, especially our comrades. We could see and feel the power of the workers — since the majority supported us — when we organized and united to fight back. We had a group of CHALLENGE readers. Many read our leaflets.

    Of course, the bosses constantly harassed us. One comrade couldn’t take the pressure and quit. The boss was happy about that.

    That night we met with other workers and decided the comrade had made a serious error, that he had to return to fight for his job. The next day, at 7 a.m., a group of workers confronted the boss demanding he be re-hired. The boss, surprised and fearful on seeing the workers stopping production to support their co-worker, was forced to give him his job back.

    Previously, the bosses fired workers and lowered piece rates at will. Now they had to think twice before attacking us. Temporarily at least, the workers experienced the potential power of the organized working class — the class with the potential power to run society in our own interests!

    After this explanation, other comrades added more about what it means to win in these class battles between workers and bosses. After this discussion, many of us vowed to go forward and organize in the factories and shops. We ended the night with a dance and the hope of a communist world without borders or exploitation.

    A Persistent Comrade

    LA May Day Inspires Transit Worker

    I want to thank the PLP members who led and helped with the LA May Day dinner and in general to thank all those who came. The international variety of the food was delicious, but even more important, the event restored my confidence in our eventual victory. As one young student said, "With boldness and conviction, a small group of communists were able to influence a mass group to take militant actions against the war in Iraq."

    I’m a transit worker. This evening, I came to the dinner with my 5-year-old son. I felt a little uncomfortable and expected to find a forlorn atmosphere of senile revolutionaries only moving by inertia. But this was not the case. The spirit of the dinner inspired me from the beginning, seeing many new faces and an environment of much struggle and confidence in the long-term victory of revolution.

    I’m very happy to have come because the revolutionary songs, the speeches, the warmth and friendship and in general the whole event made me go back home with the clear consciousness that the only alternative is the fight for communism, and that the Party is the best and most serious organization that workers possess to fight for a better society.

    Since the dinner, my subjectivity has declined a lot, the sale of CHALLENGE has increased and I’ve developed new prospects for a study group. I’m pushing the struggle in our club, with plans for action and study. I hope that next May Day will be very different. I won’t come alone, but with a group of co-workers and their families.

    Inspired worker

    a name="Fight Against, Don’t Trust Politicians">">"ight Against, Don’t Trust Politicians

    I work at a small technical school in New England. Last month, the school president called a meeting to announce that the school Board had voted to close the institution next year, saying the facility was deteriorating and the Board could no longer afford to keep it open. The faculty and staff were stunned and angered, as were the students at a later meeting. Some blamed the president for concealing information about the financial situation. Some said the school was one of the few available to black, Latin and working-class students, and that without it they would suffer.

    The president, offering excuses, said the closing (what he called a "transitional period") would proceed. Soon the faculty and some staff members began to fight back. They had several meetings with the Board and organized a student letter-writing campaign to the Board and to politicians. Then students became somewhat more militant, organizing a protest on the last day of classes, which turned out to be quite spirited.

    Their letters were passionate, alluding to the multi-racial, working-class school population. This pressure from the faculty, staff, students, parents and alumni impelled the Board to reconsider their decision, but delayed their vote. So a faculty member took several students to lobby at City Hall. A councilor set up a hearing to order the Board to vote again. Although it appears to be a victory, it’s hard to know what the ulterior motives are of the councilor, or of the City Council in general.

    But some factors to consider include: the city owns the building housing the school; it also benefits from the many graduates who annually go on to work in the area. One thing is certain — the students shouldn’t put their blind trust in the City Council, just as they now know they should not put it in the school president.

    A Comrade

    Only CHALLENGE Tells It Like It Is

    I applaud the contributors of the CHALLENGE for speaking out against the worldwide injustices of capitalism. As a community college student I really appreciate the eye-opening information I have read in CHALLENGE. It’s time that teachers, students and the working class wake up and stand up and protest! Finally a source willing to reveal the details and methods behind the madness of the Iraq war and the devastation being caused by the cuts in education.

    I am certainly not the only person in my group who is tired of the sugar-coated television version of the news. I plan to circulate the CHALLENGE to many others who are questioning the current events of today.

    A West Coast student

    a name="Likes PLP’s Communist Message">">"ikes PLP’s Communist Message

    I want to thank you all for a wonderful experience at the May Day dinner. I come from a country that called itself socialist. As I told a speaker at your May Day dinner, I am a member of the CP there. But I have never been to any activity like this dinner with its openly communist message. Thank you again.

    A Friend

    Red Eye On The News

    Below Are Excerpts From Mainstream Newspapers That Contain Important Information:Abbreviations: NYT=New York Times, GW=Guardian Weekly (UK)

    US ignores Iraqi women

    While the occupiers justify the war in terms of the liberation of the Iraqi people, half of the Iraqi people do not seem to be celebrating their freedom with much vigor. Iraqi women have become almost invisible, almost unheard. Reporters talk to Iraqi men on the streets, not Iraqi women in their homes….

    And when the United States gathered a meeting of its chosen leaders at Ur last week, only one woman’s voice was heard….

    Iraq has a strong tradition of women’s education and employment….

    Zamia Hake…was appointed Iraq’s first female judge in 1959. "Fifty years ago," she says, "women had a very good position in Iraq." (GW, 5/7)

    Black kids’ ultra poverty

    The number of black Americans under 18 years old who live in extreme poverty has risen sharply since 2000 and is now at its highest level since the government began collecting such figures in 1980, according to a study by the Children’s Defense Fund, a child welfare advocacy group.

    In 2001, the last year for which government figures are available, nearly one million black children were living in families with after-tax incomes that were less than half the amount used to define poverty….

    "Recent studies show overall poverty has declined among black children, but fail to show the record-breaking increase in extreme poverty…."

    The study shows that in the first recession since the welfare law took effect, black children who have the fewest protections are falling into extreme poverty in record numbers. (NYT, 4/30)

    Iraq fascists stay active

    Baghdad, Iraq, May 7 — Hundreds of Iraqi doctors, nurses and health workers demonstrated today against a decision by American authorities here to appoint Ali Janabi, a senior Baath Party member, to be minister of health.

    The demonstration by doctors in starched white coats was the latest indication of rising concern over the enduring influence of some members of the party that was long the vehicle for Saddam Hussein to impose his terror on Iraq….

    Last week . . .an American diplomat…decided to reinstate the Baath Party leadership of Baghdad University, the largest in the country….

    Despite Bush administration statements that it would dismantle Mr. Hussein’s police state, senior Baath Party officials are working openly in many Iraqi cities, especially here in the capital where power is still up for grabs. (NYT, 5/8)

    New Arab war beginning?

    Four separate overnight attacks involving explosions and small-arms fire struck Western targets including residential compounds in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, causing an undetermined number of casualties, Saudi officials and diplomats said today.

    Initial news reports put the number of wounded from the explosions, believed to have been caused by car bombs, as high as 50….Some victims appear to have been killed.

    In an interview with CNN, Robert Jordan, the American ambassador to Saudi Arabia, said there were 40 Americans among the wounded….

    A study of world attitudes toward America by the Pew Research Center in December 2002 and many other polls of Muslims from Algeria to Indonesia show ever-rising support for "martyrs." A United Nations report indicated that as soon as the United States began building up for the Iraq invasion, Qaeda recruitment has picked up in 30 to 40 countries. Recruiters for groups sponsoring terrorist acts tell researchers that volunteers are beating down the doors to join. (NYT, 5/5)

    What US can bring world

    Americans spend more money at strip clubs than at Broadway, regional theatres and orchestra performances combined. The industry has mushroomed since the 1970s, when a federal study found that it was worth little more than $10 million.

    Now the US leads the world in pornography….Blue movies now rake in as much as Hollywood… (GW, 5/14)

    CIA is vital to US gov’t

    In his six and a half years leading the C.I.A., he became the very model of a modern major spymaster….

    Helms’s professional life is essentially the story of undercover operations ordered by presidents. Standout examples: Eisenhower’s decisions to topple Prime Ministers Patrice Lumumba in Congo and Mossadegh in Iran, President Jacobo Arbenz in Guatemala and Fidel Castro in Cuba (continued by Kennedy), and Nixon’s clandestine war against Allende. In the 1960s, at the peak of racial upheaval and demonstrations against the Vietnam War, President Johnson ordered Helms "to track down the foreign Communists who are behind this intolerable interference in our domestic affairs." This demand led Helms to start up a covert snooping operation that he admits involved "a violation of our charter" not to spy on Americans at home.

    On the big stuff, Helms makes a convincing case that rather than being a "rogue elephant" as often charged, the C.I.A. is a president’s political weapon of last resort, the keeper of the bag of dirty tricks. If agency acts appear roguish, Helms says, it is when government policy is roguish. (NYT, 5/4)

    Empire-builders must lie!

    "America is the empire that dare not speak its name," Niall Ferguson, the Oxford professor who wrote "Empire,"….said….

    Asked in an interview about Viceroy Jay Gardner’s promise that U.S. military overlords would "leave fairly rapidly," Mr. Ferguson replied; I’m hoping he’s lying. Successful empires must be based on hypocrisy. The Americans can say they’re doing things in the name of freedom, liberty and apple pie….

    "From 1882 until 1922, the British promised the international community 66 times that they would leave Egypt, but they never did…."

    Until we get democracy stabilized in our new colonies, Mr. Ferguson offers two words of advice: "Better puppets." (NYT, 4/30)

    Political police active

    New figures released today also showed that the Justice Department is relying with increasing frequency on secret warrants that allow the officials to go to a secret court to get approval for surveillance and bugging warrants in terrorism and espionage investigations without notifying the target….

    The court that governs the warrants did not turn down any of the Justice Department’s applications, officials said.

    Voting keeps you hoping

    "The opponents of [Venezuelan president] Chavez always promised and promised but never spoke to us," said Mr. Montilla, a father of three. "Now, we have rights. Before, when we talked, no one listened."

    But even as President Chavez has cast himself as a champion of the downtrodden, the paradox of his popularity is that there are more and more people like Mr. Montilla: living in poverty but ardent supporters of the president.

    Since Mr. Chavez was elected in 1998, poverty has grown an estimated 10 percent and now includes nearly 68 percent of Venezuelans….

    "Why are the poor still with Chavez?" asked Ana Maria Sanju�n, a sociologist at the Central University. "The reason is simple. Chavez is the only one who has addressed the poor, the one who gives a hope to the poor about a possible inclusion." (NYT)

    Information
    Print

    CHALLENGE, May 15, 2003

    Information
    15 May 2003 359 hits
    1. May Day 2003
      Workers of the World, Unite!
      Organize to Fight for Communism: Only Solution to Imperialist War
    2. U.S. `Victory' in Iraq Intensifies Instability, War Worldwide
    3. Industrial Workers Still Key to Society
    4. `Liberation' Bush Style = Massacre
    5. Saddam, U.S. Imperialists, Fundamentalists OUT:
      Iraqi Workers Need Communist Revolution
      1. The Role a Revolutionary Working Class Can Play
    6. The Great Subway Heist:
      NYC Bosses Use `Deficit' Scam to Hike Fare
    7. Airlines' Give and Take: Unions Give, Bosses Take; Workers' Unity Needed
    8. Tens of Thousands Workers Protest Cutbacks,
    9. LA Garment Workers Take to PLP's Ideas, May Day
    10. Argentina's Bosses Try to Solve Crisis By Attacking Workers Who Seized Plant
      1. Women Workers Lead Factory Seizure; Attacked By Bosses' Cops
    11. Rulers' `War At Home' Dumps 400 Brooklyn Workers on the Street
    12. War Sparks Debate and opposition among GI's
    13. Academic/Students Conference Must Unite With, Not Just Study Workers
    14. Fight Military Recruiters At UMASS
    15. D.C. Janitors Get $32 A Day; Pentagon Spends A Billion Per Day
    16. Mystery and Class Struggle: Lenny Moss Returns
      1. Book Review: SOME CUTS NEVER HEAL (by Timothy Sheard; published by Carroll and Graf)
    17. LETTERS TO CHALLENGE
      1. Don't Rely on Union Hacks
      2. Preaching Anti-War, Anti-Racist Ideas
      3. ESL Classes Learn About Revolution
      4. Rallies vs. Cuts, War Hit Bible Belt
      5. How Many U.S. Lives Did the Soviet Union Save?
      6. IN MEMORIAM
        Dennis Long
    18. RED EYE ON THE NEWS
      1. Afghans: model for Iraq?
      2. TV: Freedom for the Foxes
      3. US hires Saddam's cops
      4. US military girds globe
      5. Good will can't fix system
      6. Poor kids get bad start
      7. For oil, get Iraqi stooges
      8. US: No $ for health
      9. Who Are The Real Looters?

    May Day 2003
    Workers of the World, Unite!
    Organize to Fight for Communism: Only Solution to Imperialist War

    XsMay 1st , the international working-class's day, occurs amid war, instability and violent attacks against the world's workers. The profit system has entered a new period of savagery. The recent slaughter in Iraq will lead to wider war for the conquest of Persian Gulf oil. Without this treasure, U.S. bosses cannot maintain their place as the world's dominant imperialist power.

    Both "liberal" and "conservative" bosses share this strategic goal and are prepared to fight to the last drop of our blood to achieve it. Their international rivals cannot yet challenge them head-on, but are planning for the future. This is a period of war, police-state fascist repression and mounting economic misery. It is a period of increasing turmoil and tempo. History is moving faster. PLP says that despite appearances and regardless of obstacles, our class will win. The horrors of capitalism will not last forever. However long it takes, communist revolution is an achievable goal!

    We are a Party of the working class. History and science teach us that only two forces in modern society are capable of holding political power. Today, power is in the hands of capitalists everywhere in the world. They use it against the workers and against each other to achieve maximum profit.

    The other force is the working class. In 1848, Karl Marx and Frederick Engels ushered in the era of modern scientific communism with The Communist Manifesto. They proved in theory that communist revolution was inevitable. Over the next 125 years, billions of workers fought under the Red Flag for aspects of a communist future, confirming theory in rich, militant, practical experience. Highlights of this process include the Paris Commune of 1871, the Soviet Revolution of 1917, the Soviet defeat of the Nazis between 1941 and 1945, the Chinese Revolution of 1949, the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution and the militant anti-imperialist uprisings of the 1960s in Asia, Africa and Latin America.

    These great achievements turned into their opposite because of fatal political errors within the old communist movement. The PLP has analyzed these errors extensively in a number of strategic documents (Road to Revolution III and IV, among others). But the errors and defeats cannot obscure the fundamental truth that the working class is capable of seizing and holding political power. This is the most important lesson for us as the present period of war, fascism and general oppression sharpens. Our goal is the seizure of political power and the establishment of a workers' dictatorship over all bosses.

    Capitalism will always require an industrial working class -- which also produces all of U.S. imperialism's armaments -- and therefore these industrial workers must remain the crucial strategic focus for revolutionary organizing. The class struggle never ceases. Today, the bosses have the upper hand. They're able to get away with murder, both in Iraq and against steelworkers. But sooner or later, workers will begin to fight back. The massive anti-war protests of recent months are a sure sign that mass passivity will not last forever in the face of war and fascism.

    Everything we do now to carry out our revolutionary line will bear fruit later, when the working class flexes its muscles once again. Lenin was right; imperialism is the highest stage of capitalism. It has blanketed the globe and has nowhere left to go, except constant wars to re-divide markets and control over exploited workers. If we have confidence in the working class and our Party, if we have confidence in the process of change, we can put millions of workers and youth on the road to revolution. In particular this means deepening our influence on the job, in the military. and in the mass movement, sharpening the class struggle and creating a mass base of readers and distributors for CHALLENGE.

    We continue to hold high the Red Flag of communist revolution. We continue to fight to become a Party of the working class. The long, difficult period ahead must not deter us. If not revolution in our lifetime, than a lifetime of revolution. Making a lifetime commitment to serve the working class remains the best choice anyone can make. Join and build the Progressive Labor Party.

    U.S. `Victory' in Iraq Intensifies Instability, War Worldwide

    U.S. rulers had hoped that their massacre in Iraq would give them a hammerlock on its oil reserves and, thus, a huge advantage over their imperialist competitors. But although U.S. (and British) soldiers occupy the oilfields, Washington's control of the country is shaky at best. Anti-U.S. sentiment is running sky-high in Iraq and elsewhere, to the benefit of U.S. rivals. And while U.S. forces easily defeated Iraq's small, under-equipped army, the need to project force around the globe is stretching the U.S. military dangerously thin. The real fruits of Bush's victory are sharpening instability and armed conflict.

    On April 22, over a million Shiites marched in Karbala turning a religious observance into a massive protest against U.S. occupation. Many came from Iran, with the blessing of the ayatollahs who had booted the U.S. oil bosses from that country in 1979. The London-based newspaper Al-Hayat (4/25/03) sees a developing power struggle between the U.S. and Iraq's Shiites. "This is because the Shiites -- some 60% of the population -- are the only indigenous force able to challenge the American military presence and, conversely, because the U.S. army in Iraq is the only force able to prevent a Shiite seizure of power.... The United States faces a formidable dilemma in Iraq. If it allows Shiite militancy to flourish unchecked it will, in effect, be handing power...to a Shiite Islamic revolution on the Iranian model. Yet if it seeks to repress the Shiites by direct military rule, it could find itself confronting a mass popular uprising with unpredictable consequences."

    One consequence is already being debated in Washington's war rooms: a U.S invasion of Iran. Gen. James Woolsey of the Defense Policy Board is now engaged in World War IV against Iran and Syria, as well as Iraq (Time, 4/14/03). A U.S. campaign in Iran in forbidding terrain against forces fired by religious fervor would hardly be a cakewalk. Already the U.S. commanders have signed a "cease-fire" agreement with a group which for six years, right up until April 22, it has labeled terrorist, the People's Mujahadeen, which the U.S. bombed just three weeks before. Why? Because, says the New York Times (4/29), the "American military...already has its hands full trying to stabilize Baghdad and other areas of Iraq." But it also "raises questions about how consistently the Bush administration intends to apply a policy that had vowed to crack down on terrorist groups worldwide." The U.S. terrorists hope to use this group in any future fight with Iran.

    Nor is it a sure thing that the victorious coalition's oil giants, Exxon Mobil, Chevron Texaco, BP and Shell will get immediate and complete access to Iraq's vast oil reserves. That was the stated goal of Iraqi National Congress leader Ahmad Chalabi, whom War Secy. Rumsfeld wants to make puppet ruler of Iraq. But Chalabi, who spent the last four decades living it up in London, has very little popular support. And Iraq's oil bureaucracy, which the U.S. spared in the war -- needing Iraqi know-how and manpower -- naturally opposes Exxon, Chalabi, & Co. In addition France and Russia are exploiting popular opposition to the U.S. occupation to try to ensure continuing UN management of Iraqi oil sales, which the UN now sends through French and Russian brokers. The latter could probably wind up at least as junior partners to the U.S. in pumping Iraqi oil.

    Keeping 130,000 troops in Iraq to secure the oilfields weakens U.S. rulers militarily as well as among world opinion. Sen. John McCain complained that demands on troops during the Iraq war rendered the U.S. powerless to face down North Korea. "One of the chief problems, he said, is that the United States does not have sufficient active duty personnel. He said the Armed Forces cannot continue to activate reservists at the same rate and expect people to remain in the service. `Any lingering credibility that America has the capability to fight two wars on two fronts at one time should be laid to rest. We simply don't have it. That's why the North Korean situation was put on the back burner.'" (Associated Press, 4/26) McCain was hinting at restoring the draft. But as the wave of mutinies and rebellions by U.S. troops in the Vietnam War showed, a draft will create even more problems for the rulers.

    The war in Iraq was in many ways a setback for U.S. bosses. At the same time thousands of working-class Iraqi soldiers and civilians died. Working-class GIs were turned into the tools of racist butchery. But the war revealed to many that capitalists value oil profits over human life. Workers must use the anti-capitalist feeling the war sparked to build a movement that will eventually eliminate the profit system.

    Industrial Workers Still Key to Society

    In the last generation, a lot of nonsense has been written about the working class. Today, one can read a good deal in the bosses' press about the transformation of the U.S. into a "service" economy. While the service sector has expanded, the industrial working class remains the key force in society.

    Between 1983 and 2001, the work force grew from 100,834,000 to 135,073,000. The percentage of production workers, including transportation, communication, and technicians, fell from 31.6% to 28.9%, but the absolute number of production workers increased by over 7 million, from 31.8 million to more than 39 million.

    Despite technological advances and moves to overseas sources of cheap labor that reduced employment in manufacturing, 18,970,000 workers still held manufacturing jobs in 2001. In construction and communications, employment increased by roughly 50%.

    More than 30 years ago, our Party identified black workers as a "key force for revolution." Between 1981 and 2001, the percentage of black and Hispanic workers in production jobs increased from slightly over one-fifth to one-third.

    One big trend has been the creation of a non-union "labor aristocracy" in high tech. This is clearly an obstacle to revolutionary organizing, and we must take it seriously into account. Meanwhile, a general consolidation of industry is targeting the better-paid workers of old. A case in point is the planned takeover of Bethlehem Steel by the newly formed International Steel Group (ISG). Tens of thousands of current workers will suffer pay cuts. Many retirees will lose benefits.

    The architect of this attack is ISG boss Wilbur Ross, a liberal, who ranks among the Democratic Party's top donors in New York. Ross's Bethlehem buyout squares with West Virginia's Democratic Senator Jay Rockefeller's "Stand Up for Steel" program. In preparing for the near future, they will need to extend their military adventures in the Persian Gulf. For the longer-range future, they will need to make war on far more powerful rivals than Iraq or even Iran. Therefore, the liberal rulers want to ensure the survival of the strategic steel industry in the U.S. Pushing formerly well-paid steelworkers into poverty is part of the plan. Similar trends are occurring in all key industries, particularly those related to the military.

    `Liberation' Bush Style = Massacre

    Iraqi workers and students are finding out what Bush, Rumsfeld and Colin Powell mean when they talk about "liberation" and "democracy." On April 28, invading U.S. troops murdered 15 Iraqi citizens and wounded 70 outside a school in Falluja, 40 miles west of Baghdad. About 200 students and their parents were demonstrating and chanting "Down USA!" while demanding U.S. forces quartered there leave so the children could return to classes. Musana Saleh abdel Latif, 41, lying in a hospital with his right foot amputated, when told the U.S. claimed troops were responding to being fired on, charged, "They are lying. They're ready to shoot for any reason. They're criminals." (The Guardian, 4/30)

    On April 30, U.S. troops killed two more Iraqis and wounded another 14 when they shot into a crowd of 1,000 marching down Falluja's main street protesting the April 28th slayings. All told the U.S. invaders have killed at least 30 Iraqi civilians in the past two weeks, including 10 in Mosul and three others in Falluja on the same day as the April 28 massacre.

    The town's Iraqi police inspector told The Guardian there was no reason for U.S. troops to be in Falluja. The people had chosen a new mayor, the imans in the mosque had stopped the looting and got some of the stolen goods returned. "We controlled the town," he said. "When the troops came eight days ago, they said they would stay for two or three days, but they're still here and the numbers have been increasing."

    Ahmed Hussein, at the hospital bedside of his 18-year-old son, shot in the stomach and expected to die, expressed a common sentiment in telling the New York Times (4/30), "Either they leave Falluja or we will make them leave."

    Saddam, U.S. Imperialists, Fundamentalists OUT:
    Iraqi Workers Need Communist Revolution

    The Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld gang claims to have liberated the Iraqi people from Saddam Hussein but their goal is imperialist conquest. However, we shed no tears for Saddam and his fascist butchers, many of whom abandoned their troops after being bought off by the Pentagon. Over 300,000 Iraqis died in his eight-year war against Iran and 100,000 more perished when he invaded Kuwait. Bush is not the only one who makes war for oil! Saddam cynically used 500,000 Iraqi deaths from U.S.-imposed sanctions as a cover to maintain his regime and luxury. Just as he served U.S. rulers before and during the Iraq-Iran war, now he gave French and Russian oil companies good deals to try to use them as protection against a U.S. invasion.

    It's no surprise that angry Iraqi workers stripped clean the palaces, government ministries and stores owned by the ruling class. While workers were dying from lack of medical care, the hospital treating the elite was as good as any treating U.S. bosses. Saddam built 19 new palaces, stuffed with fancy furniture. In one, he had hundreds of millions in $100 bills stored in boxes, more than Iraq spent on medicines in two years.

    Arab nationalists like the Emir of Qatar who owns al-Jazeera, shed crocodile tears about those slaughtered in the U.S. invasion. But they never said a word about the thousands Saddam tortured every year, or the 100,000 Kurds he gassed or shot. These Arab dictators don't care about dead Iraqi workers. They want to oppress Arab workers, and keep U.S. imperialism out!

    Some new oppressor will replace Saddam. There is vigorous competition among the various capitalist factions. The U.S. stooges are mostly the old pre-Saddam ruling class. For instance, Ahmed Chalabi, Rumsfeld's favorite and head of the Iraqi National Congress, also heads one of the richest old Iraqi families. His father and grandfather were both cabinet ministers under the monarchy, which was overthrown in 1958. The family is as well known in Iraq as the Rockefellers in the U.S. So Chalabi draws support from those who want a return to the monarchy's pro-Western, free market capitalism.

    The Muslim clerics would install a vicious religious fascism like in Iran. There are several prominent families -- operating like Mafia families -- with power passing from one generation to another. The most powerful is the al-Sadrs. The young family head, Moqtadah al-Sadr, with very little religious training, had the chief of the pro-American family, Abdelmajid Khoei, assassinated in the holiest mosque. Then this thug's goons surrounded the house of the most respected elderly cleric, Ayatollah al-Sistani, demanding he leave the country. Al-Sadr is working fist-in-glove with the Iranian fascist clerical regime against U.S. rulers. The Iranians have provided him millions in cash and hundreds of militants.

    Another of the big clerical families, the Hakims, is also in Iran's pocket. Tehran-based Ayatollah Bakr al-Hakim heads the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq. The U.S. has hopes of working with this group, but Iran seems to be putting more emphasis on al-Sadr's militant anti-U.S. camp.

    The pseudo left-sounding pan-Arab nationalists want to restore Baath rule without Saddam, as in Syria. They attack U.S. imperialism's plan to plunder Iraq's oil wealth, but neglect to mention their own plans to grab that wealth for themselves. They attack the clerics who would bar women from public life and discriminate against the million non-Muslims, but they plan to perpetuate the racist system which, for several hundred years, has kept power in the hands of the elite claiming to represent the 20% of the Iraqi population who are Arab Sunnis. These pan-Arab nationalists have strong support from Syria, with quiet support from most of the other Arab rulers.

    Actually, many Iraqi workers have a long history of support for communists in Iraq, through the Iraqi Communist Party which led the oil workers and organized general strikes that helped topple the monarchy there. They might have led a worker seizure of power had they not fallen victim to reformism, to supporting the "lesser evil" capitalists.

    The Role a Revolutionary Working Class Can Play

    The working class is not impotent. The vacuum created with Saddam's fall would have been an excellent opportunity for a communist-led working class to fight the imperialist invaders, overthrow all the bosses and install a revolutionary dictatorship of the workers. But without a revolutionary communist party with a mass base among the workers, the masses in Iraq will remain under the brutal heel of one capitalist or another.

    Our job is to build a strong international revolutionary communist PLP. Building a mass PLP in the U.S., especially among Iraqi and Arab immigrants can help build a sister party in Iraq and the Middle East. Building a communist base among U.S. soldiers can also help. The nationalists and the clerics are no better than the U.S. stooges. The millions marching against war should realize that marching is not enough. They must be won to reject all the warmakers and fascist killers and fight to overthrow all the bosses with communist revolution.

    The Great Subway Heist:
    NYC Bosses Use `Deficit' Scam to Hike Fare

    NEW YORK CITY, April 24 --

    Fraud piled on top of fraud -- that's the continuing story of the robbery of this city's workers who ride, and work on, the subways and buses operated by the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA). Claiming a budget deficit of a billion dollars, the MTA jacked up fares 33%, from $1.50 to $2.00, effective May 4. This is a racist attack since this increase falls most heavily on black, Latin and Asian workers who comprise 61% of the riders.

    Last fall, the transit bosses said there was "no problem" and Gov. Pataki never mentioned a fare increase or "deficit" during his election campaign. Then in January, the MTA announced a $2.8 billion budget gap. Overnight that "gap" plummeted to $1 billion on which they still were able to justify that 33% fare increase.

    Now it turns out the MTA was operating with two sets of books. The public set claimed a huge "deficit," while their "private" books showed more than a half billion dollar SURPLUS for 2002. Then they transferred that money to the 2004 budget, leaving 2003 with a deficit requiring a fare hike. "Now you see it, now you don't." (One source reported that by shifting the surplus to 2004, the rulers avoided enacting a fare increase in an election year.)

    The real estate interests, the big department stores and the Wall St. financial district couldn't make a dime's worth of profit without a mass transit system bringing millions of workers and shoppers to the city. If these profiteers paid for this system through a transit tax, there would be no "deficit." There should be no transit fare at all, just as you don't pay every time the Sanitation Dept. picks up your garbage or the Fire Dept. puts out a fire.

    And what's the reaction of the transit union to all this flimflam? Union president Toussaint and the TWU leadership hardly lifted a finger when nearly 200 token booth clerks' jobs disappeared down the drain. They allowed the MTA to continue the Giuliani Workfare program, failing to organize the 500 welfare recipients who replaced 500 union subway cleaners at slave labor "wages." And they hugged the MTA chief at the close of negotiations, rather than expose the bankers' robbery of the transit system through their collection of billions in interest.

    The rulers established the Transit Authority in 1948 to play this exploitative role and provide a source of billions in profits for the banks. Capitalism has all sorts of gimmicks to pick the workers' pockets. That's why all workers should join the PLP to organize to destroy this blood-sucking system.

    Airlines' Give and Take: Unions Give, Bosses Take; Workers' Unity Needed

    The current crisis in the airline industry shows that in such times the unions' role is to deliver the workers to their exploiters. The entire industry is either in, or threatening, bankruptcy, mainly to void their union contracts. Since 9/11, over 100,000 jobs and billions in wages and benefits have been lost, with no end in sight.

    The current crisis dwarfs Reagan's firing of thousands of air traffic controllers during the 1981 PATCO strike. The AFL-CIO's passivity in the face of that attack opened the door to two decades of union-busting and strike-breaking. Then, as now, the AFL-CIO leadership is worse than useless.

    On April 25, American Airlines (AMR) workers surrendered $1.62 billions in give-backs. AMR bosses threatened to eliminate employee pensions by declaring bankruptcy if the workers didn't agree to these give-backs, while the top five executives voted themselves million-dollar bonuses and a special trust fund to guarantee the obscene pensions of the top 45 bosses.

    In the past, when bankruptcy threatened, executives had to "get in line" behind other creditors to collect any retirement money. Now, through "secured trusts," these big shots own the pension funds, no matter what happens. The pensions of 70,000 Motorola workers are under-funded by $1.4 billion while the company socked away $38 million into a special pension trust for the top executives.

    UNION FLIP-FLOPS

    AMR workers were furious and, bowing to an outcry from the rank and file, union leaders refused to sign the concessionary contracts. "Good for them!" said one Boeing inspector. "Somebody had to put an end to this management arrogance." But the union leaders then reversed themselves and agreed to the give-backs after American CEO Donald Carty resigned.

    To add insult to injury, the New York Times (4/26) ran an article claiming the "unions have been taking such a pounding ... because they have been so successful." By that logic, if we worked for nothing, we wouldn't have to give concessions!

    "Will [airline] worker wage cuts become a model for other companies?" asks this same article. "The airline unions, like the steel and auto workers, are far weaker....But like the others, the airline unions hope to avoid the scrap heap by cooperating with employers, perhaps by granting concessions..."

    We saw this cooperation at our last union meeting when we were told to lobby our state legislators to do "Whatever It Takes" to get Boeing to build its new jet plane in Washington State. What will it take? Boeing wants state college tuition increases to be free of any limitations imposed by state government. They also want a freeze on unemployment benefits. Attack our kids and the 35,000 laid-off Boeing workers!

    We must reject the rules and laws of capitalism and set our sights on a communist alternative. Our class will not spontaneously learn this lesson, no matter how hard things get. Only resolute work by our Party over a long period will drive this home for the vast majority of our class. This means increasing the sale of CHALLENGE, patient long-term building of ties with workers and initiating class struggle, from within the union if possible, or outside it if necessary. We can't let the unions' capitulation hold us back.

    We should do "Whatever it takes" to support the airline workers' fight against concessions: flyers, picket lines, demonstrations and ultimately a general strike in aerospace. Initiating class struggle, prepared for with increased CHALLENGE sales and personal ties, can open the door for more recruitment to PLP. "Whatever It Takes" to pave the road to revolution!

    Tens of Thousands Workers Protest Cutbacks,

    NEW YORK CITY, April 29 --

    Tens of thousands of angry city workers flooded the City Hall area to demonstrate against layoffs and give-backs. The rally was called by AFSCME's District Council 37. These unionized workers were crying out for a fight-back strategy but all they heard were calls to vote out Mayor Bloomberg & Gov Pataki (and replace them with what?). No union leaders mentioned the war on Iraq or used the word strike. Other speakers were loudly cheered when they pointed out that these layoffs and cuts (racist to the core since they affect mainly black, Asian and Latin workers and youth) were occurring at a time when $200 billion were quickly found for an imperialist war.

    LA Garment Workers Take to PLP's Ideas, May Day

    LOS ANGELES, April 29 --

    At 7 a.m. on any given day, hundreds of garment workers take a PL leaflet, fold it into their pockets to look at later. Others read it on the spot, wanting to know PLP's ideas on the war and on the solution to problems in the garment shops. This scene is repeated in various parts of the city.

    In several garment factories, workers discuss how to celebrate May Day, the international workers' day. In one shop, over 100 workers say they'll participate. Many give $3 to buy food and celebrate May Day with a dinner and a speech inside the factory.

    Preparations for the May 3rd March through leaflets, CHALLENGES, study groups and lunch-time discussions in the factories have brought PLP's message of the fight against exploitation and for workers' power to thousands. The leaflets describe the war in Iraq as a racist attack against workers worldwide. They've also read about the need to organize the working class to destroy this murderous system and build a new communist society based on meeting the needs of the international working class.

    We've explained that the U.S. ruling class -- preparing for its imperialist wars -- attacks workers here as well as in Iraq. Among the most affected are LA County's 150,000 garment workers. Federal and state budget cuts took away billions of dollars from hospitals, clinics and schools, resulting in their closing and layoffs of thousands, all to pay for the bosses' murderous war for profit. The garment bosses provide no medical insurance, much less decent wages to pay for private doctors or schools.

    Meanwhile, the MTA (Metropolitan Transit Authority) is planning a $10 monthly fare hike, with no transfers or tokens. This attacks more than one million bus riders, including garment workers. The MTA's war contract also cuts bus drivers' and mechanics' benefits and wages while increasing harassment. Unity of garment workers and all others who ride mass transit with MTA workers is crucial to the fight against the bosses' assaults and war budget.

    PLP can organize these workers into class struggle against the bosses while building ties with workers and their families. Although there may be much fear of the bosses' repression, workers' hatred of them is growing, forming a basis for growth of the revolutionary communist movement.

    Argentina's Bosses Try to Solve Crisis By Attacking Workers Who Seized Plant

    BUENOS AIRES, April 28 --

    The ruling class here is doing everything it can to "solve its crisis and return to "normal" capitalist exploitation. Yesterday's presidential election produced a runoff between the two leading candidates for the first time in Argentina's history. Former President Carlos Menem (under house arrest for thievery not too long ago) will oppose Nestor Kichner, governor of an oil-producing province. and ally of the pro-European imperialists current interim President, Duhalde.

    In something not seen anywhere in the capitalist world, two candidates from the same Party are running in a Presidential election. Menem represents a more pro-U.S. faction of the Justicialista (Peronista) Party. Menem, was responsible for the country's bankruptcy during his presidency in the 1990s. He privatized everything. He's campaigning to use the army to quell mass protests.

    All the Peronistas have a long history of oppressing the working class. Although, Gen. Peron, an admirer of Mussolini and Hitler, took power during World War II with workers' support, his government and the movement which he founded were and are deadly enemies of workers.

    On Dec. 18-19, 2001, la Casa Rosada, the Presidential palace here was surrounded by tens of thousands of angry demonstrators, causing President de la Rua to flee. This mass uprising grew out of the economy's total collapse. The Peronistas filled the political vacuum and seized the government, to protect capitalism.

    Women Workers Lead Factory Seizure; Attacked By Bosses' Cops

    During this uprising, workers seized factories abandoned by their bosses. The Brukman garment plant was one such plant. Since the mid-1990s, these workers had suffered increasing exploitation, being paid irregularly, denied paid vacations, bonuses and other benefits. Finally, amid the December uprising, Brukman union delegates went to see the bosses about missing wages, but they had fled. At first the workers thought the bosses had gone to get the money, but they didn't return, so the workers took over the plant. The bosses then offered some back wages, but workers demanded all that was due them. They realized the bosses wanted to trick them, to vacate the plant and then move everything out.

    With the December mass uprising occurring simultaneously, some workers feared the cops would attack. One worker, "Juanita," stood in the gate and said, "No one is leaving." A few left but most stayed. They learned how to live from the solidarity of others, raising money from fellow workers. Some were very worried about the lack of money and food. Neighbors nearby placed a box in the street and people left all kinds of food.

    The struggle inside the plant sharpened. Some workers believed the bosses' promises and left. Those inside began to operate the plant themselves. When the police tried to evict them, neighbors appeared and confronted them. The cops waded in, even clubbing a 5-year-girl. But when hundreds came to support the workers, the cops retreated. The mass mobilizations and such struggles continued for a few months after the December uprising.

    This attack emboldened the workers. After many useless dealings with government bureaucracies, and many debates and discussions, the workers decided to run the plant by themselves. Much support followed, particularly from university students. The workers organized everything, bought and sold merchandise and paid themselves decent wages.

    This lasted until last month, when two judges (appointed during the military dictatorship of the mid 1970s) ordered the eviction of the workers. Brunkman wanted his plant back. The cops came at night and threw out the few workers in the place.

    A few days later, 25,000 people led by workers from Brukman marched to the plant. Celia Martinez, a Brukman worker, said: "Brukman abandoned us when all we knew was to sew. Now we know how to operate the plant. We know how much a suit costs. We learned it's not that difficult to manage a plant. And that, it seems, make us very dangerous people."

    A few days before that, the cops tried to evict workers occupying the Zanon Ceramics plant in Neuquen province. The presidential elections are part and parcel of this "counter-revolution."

    But Argentina's working class and its allies have learned they can run factories without bosses. They're also learning this can't happen under capitalism; soon the bosses, their judges, cops and courts take them back. They're also learning that the union hacks, who support one brand or another of Peronism, are not on their side. The bosses are gearing up for more violent attacks to erase these lessons. Building a revolutionary mass party to turn these struggles into schools for communism now becomes a matter of life and death.

    Rulers' `War At Home' Dumps 400 Brooklyn Workers on the Street

    BROOKLYN, NY, April 22 --

    About 2.4 million jobs have disappeared in the last two years while the Bush gang spends tens of billions to kill Iraqi workers and uses tax cuts to swell the pockets of the rich. Then we read about the war on workers here destroying the lives of the workers who comprise those statistics.

    Nearly 400 workers at AM Cosmetics will be thrown out on the street on May 30. New owners bought the factory from Lawrence Bathgate, a former finance chairman of the Republican National Committee, who installed former Bush, Sr., cabinet member Jack Kemp, as a "trophy" director. Bathgate & Co. bought the business from AM's founder, a lunch buddy of ex-Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

    It was this cast of characters that has dumped workers like Ana Gutierrez, a 61-year old grandmother, from an assembly line job that "has been my life for 20 years and now nothing. I have to get another job. But who's going to hire someone my age?"

    The United Food & Commercial Workers neglected to sign a severance pay agreement into its contract, so any worker with under five years gets nothing, while those with more than five years will get one to two weeks pay. That puts Jimmy Wright, 53, with seven years at AM, "little more than a paycheck away from homeless." (NY Daily News, 4/21)

    When the Bathgate crew bought AM in 1996, they bought out rival companies left and right, amassing a $230 million debt while paying themselves huge salaries and bonuses and flying around in private jets. "They bought so many companies at the same time," says Elijio Abreu, 38, a 13-year veteran and a union steward, that "at the end they didn't have enough money to pay for supplies." Finally, in June 1998 they defaulted on a $6 million loan payment, and the bank creditors moved in. The company was put on the market and sold in March to Markwins International for $32 million. Markwins is closing the Brooklyn plant and another one in North Arlington, NJ and shipping the jobs to China where they can pay workers $2 a day.

    So now these 400 workers, many of them single mothers, will become new "recruits" in the vast "reserve army of the unemployed." The bosses, their politicians and their union leader/lieutenants all represent a profit system that must create this mass joblessness. Those are the ones the working class must "lay off," six feet under.

    War Sparks Debate and opposition among GI's

    Being in the army has its advantages. The most important advantage is to have first hand interaction with soldiers. Back at home there was limited talk about politics. Everyone would sit around and either ignore politics or not mention much at all. Now, on the base where I'm stationed, everywhere I go, someone is having a political conversation. Things have changed dramatically. Two soldiers are well known to be against the war. They're called trouble makers who go around starting conversations and sparking debates. Both these soldiers are so convincing that some will refuse to argue with them because they make a strong case, with strong feelings. When they say its about oil, others have a hard time proving them wrong, and many agree.

    One day as I walked through the barracks I decided to visit a soldier who had his door open. I didn't know him, and even though I `d seen him around, we had barely talked. He turned out to be very friendly and invited me in. To my surprise, this soldier is from my home city. After a while, our conversation turned to current events. The main thing in the minds of soldiers now is war. He correctly identified the US as an imperialist country that is trying to maintain its power around the world by its invasion of Iraq. This is a very quiet guy--someone who I least expected to have such strong opinions.

    Given the two guys who are very outspoken and my new friend's opinions, I believe that many soldiers feel the same way. Being in touch with the party helps me inform myself and my fellow soldiers. I plan to maintain these relationships and further their understanding of the murderous capitalist system. The soldiers who decide to be outspoken and have a mind of their own are considered trouble makers of the company but in the future they can help many to become the revolution makers.

    A Comrade

    Academic/Students Conference Must Unite With, Not Just Study Workers

    PL will have a strong presence at the Sixth Biennial Working-Class Conference in Youngtown, Ohio, May 14-17. The conference will include mainly students and academics. There will be about 150 presentations on the theme, "Intersections with Race, Gender and Sexuality."

    PLP will champion the idea that the time is now for the working class and those professors teaching Working-Class Studies to attack the U.S. imperialist war that is attempting to convert working-class people into fascist killers. No one on the program is scheduled to speak on that topic. In fact, academics who study the working class almost always divorce their work from capitalism's sharpest contradictions. Few, if any, have paid attention to the recent maneuverings by the United Auto Workers in Michigan who passed resolutions opposing the war in Iraq. As CHALLENGE pointed out (4/2/03), the resolutions are against Bush, not imperialism.

    Likewise, construction workers clearing the World Trade Center site have been used by the ruling class as patriotic pigeons, waving flags for television cameras and "supporting" the U.S. imperialist war in Iraq.

    In contrast, CHALLENGE readers should recognize that the largely working-class U.S. military is being used by the ruling class both to carry out its international war for oil and to deflect attention from the massive ranks of unemployed, now close to 12% (including those who have given up looking for jobs but are usually not counted). Meanwhile a Shell oil executive will oversee the "transition" of the Iraqi oil industry while American Airline workers suffer huge pay-cuts and give-backs in order to help the bosses avoid "bankruptcy."

    This conference can point out these contradictions and rally participants against U.S. imperialism's war to protect profits, and the blood shed for oil by the world's workers. The point is not to study the working class, but to build a worker-student alliance to move the working-class movement forward.

    Fight Military Recruiters At UMASS

    BOSTON, April 3 --

    Military recruiters had a bad day today at the University of Massachusetts. Students were shouting at them, with one wearing a T-shirt stating, "Education not Enlistment -- Military Recruiters off My Campus!" Some students blocked their table while distributing leaflets commemorating the assassination of Martin Luther King. One recruiter said the students should be "shot in the head" for their views.

    A professor of Africana Studies, defending the students, got into a shouting match with one recruiter. Then campus cops, acting on the racist assumption that the black person caused the confrontation, tackled the professor to the ground, ripped his jacket, shackled his ankles and brought him to the local courthouse for arraignment.

    This racist incident reflects a broader struggle of workers and students on the UMASS campus against the increasing police and military presence. It has broadened the ranks of the campus anti-war group and increased its militancy. The recruiters have canceled their next visit and a legal team is fighting for their temporary removal. Teach-ins, rallies and informational sessions are all being planned to expose the role of the military on campus. The first action will be against an FBI recruiter on campus.

    A contradiction exists within the campus anti-war coalition reflecting one within the entire movement, a struggle between those advocating a more militant, anti-imperialist position and the leadership which tries to narrow the struggle with a watered-down message limiting militancy and serving the liberal rulers. Here the campus group hesitates to take a formal stand against the military recruiters for fear of "isolation."

    PLP'ers strive to point out the basis for imperialist war is capitalism and the drive by all bosses for maximum profits. The spread of CHALLENGE plays an important role in this fight.

    D.C. Janitors Get $32 A Day; Pentagon Spends A Billion Per Day

    WASHINGTON, D.C., April 29 --

    Janitors cleaning offices of some of the wealthiest organizations in the nation's capital, including the American Medical Association, are paid $32 a day, with no benefits. Meanwhile, barely a stone's throw away stands the Pentagon, spending more than ONE BILLION DOLLARS A DAY. The U.S. rulers' war budget aimed at control of Middle Eastern oil spends more in ONE SECOND than these exploited janitors are paid in ONE YEAR!

    The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) has launched a Justice For Janitors campaign to organize these workers. But based on past experience, the janitors should be wary of the SEIU. They have sabotaged more workers in Los Angeles, Pittsburgh and elsewhere than they have helped.

    The janitors were scheduled to demonstrate for their demands on May 1st, the day of international solidarity for the working class worldwide. In the spirit of this year's May Day, workers everywhere should express our support for these janitors' struggle for a decent wage and benefits. But we should also note that this kind of exploitation has existed throughout the history of capitalism and can only be ended when this profit system is destroyed.

    Who Are the Real Looters?

    Much has been made of the looting of Iraq's archaeological and ancient civilization treasures. War secretary Rumsfeld dismisses them as crimes that always occur when "freedom" reigns. But the looters were encouraged and protected by U.S. troops, some of whom participated in it, to say nothing of the big-time looters from Washington and Wall St.

    The first "item of value" secured by the invading army was the oil fields, to be looted by Exxon Mobil, Chevron Texaco and BP. While the Iraqi Museum in Baghdad was being sacked, U.S. troops were guarding the Ministry of Oil nearby.

    An AsiaTimesOnline reporter went to the Museum on April 11, the day after the looting and was told by Dr. Doni George, a director of the State Board of Antiquities, "The whole administrative compound was completely destroyed and looted...There were people who knew what they wanted. They've taken the precious vase of Uruk, an Akkadian bronze statue from 3,200 B.C. Before they started looting, there were American armored cars outside and people inside. They asked for the American troops to intervene, but they did not...The chairman of the State Board of Antiquities went to the American HQ and explained the situation. But they sent no help. This shows they wanted the Iraqi Museum to be destroyed....

    "In the following days, they [the curators] started collecting extremely disturbing evidence that this was a very well-organized operation. Archaeological files and computer disks simply disappeared. Glass-cutting tools were found on the museum's floor...Replicas... [of] the genuine article were still there, but the genuine artworks were stolen. The museum's vaults had been opened with special keys; and armed guards told AsiaTimesOnline that American soldiers...had opened the doors for `people from other nationalities' to loot. `The way they opened the locks, no Iraqi could do it.'" When British writer Robert Fisk (The Independent) rushed to U.S. Army HQ in Baghdad to report a huge fire burning at the main Baghdad historical library, he said they did absolutely nothing.

    Specialists at the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization are convinced that this operation was organized outside Iraq. Citing "wanton and preventable destruction" of Iraq's National Museum of Antiquities, members of the Bush administration's Advisory Committee on Cultural Property have resigned in disgust.

    An Associated Press dispatch (4/25) reported that U.S. "military personnel took $13.1 million from huge caches of US currency." Another AP dispatch (4/8) reported that members of the U.S. "Army's 3rd Infantry Division stormed presidential palaces and helped themselves to gold-painted Arab glassware" and other items.

    The British Independent reported (4/24) "investigations" were under way of troops who took $600 million in U.S. banknotes. A FoxNews TV engineer was caught at Dulles International Airport smuggling priceless Iraqi paintings and Iraqi monetary bonds, "one of several travelers returning to the U.S. with paintings and even weapons in their luggage."

    But these are the small fry looters. The oil companies, Bechtels and Haliburtons, with their billion-dollar contracts socked away even before the invasion, are the big-time looters. And the White House "economic plan" has looted states and cities in the U.S. On July 1, "27 states and the District of Columbia were expected to have an aggregate deficit of $53.5 billion....Much of the cumulative deficit could be erased if the federal government paid the states what it owed to maintain programs that are federal requirements. Four items alone...have cost the states $83 billion." (New York Times, 4/26)

    Where is the money going? To a $400 billion Pentagon budget, plus the extra $75 billion Bush got to pay for the initial costs of the invasion of Iraq. Meanwhile states are cutting billions in vital services to workers -- Medicare, Medicaid, education, etc. -- and laying off tens of thousands of state employees, adding to the climbing unemployment rolls. And the government continues to steal the over $100 billion plus annual surplus taken in by Social Security to pay for its wars, a violation of its own laws. But who's counting? When it comes to looting, no one beats U.S. capitalism.

    Mystery and Class Struggle: Lenny Moss Returns

    Book Review: SOME CUTS NEVER HEAL (by Timothy Sheard; published by Carroll and Graf)

    Lenny Moss is the type of shop steward I'd want representing me if I got in hot water with management. He's also a savvy detective. This book combines two great interests of mine: solving mysteries and seeing workers band together to fight for their rights.

    The story is set in a large public hospital in Philadelphia where Lenny is a shop steward, a janitor and a detective, in that order. This is Timothy Sheard's second mystery with Lenny Moss as his detective. Although references are made to the first book, you can enjoy this one without having read the other.

    An attractive female pharmaceutical representative is found murdered in a vacant room on the ward where Lenny works. Woven in is a realistic story of workers dealing with staff cutbacks, asinine bosses, greedy doctors and a hospital management striving for greater profits and prestige rather than guaranteeing decent patient care.

    Lenny does not sugarcoat or romanticize workers. He's fully aware of his own shortcomings, as well as those of his co-workers. What's refreshing is that the workers are not viewed as "deadbeats" or "problems" or "slackers." They have good and bad traits. Lenny looks for the good in his fellow workers and tries to help everyone, not to judge them. Consequently, although "just a janitor," he's respected by many throughout the hospital -- nurses, security guards, orderlies and even some doctors.

    However, he's feared by management. Why? Because he organizes the workers in a collective way to fight the bosses. Although Lenny is the principal detective, he couldn't solve the murder without many co-workers constantly feeding him needed information, nor without his friends, who save his life twice. The crime solving is a collective effort.

    One example of this collectivity occurs when the workers, overcoming many obstacles, try to get time off for a co-worker's funeral during the middle of the day. Lenny first appeals to the Housekeeping Supervisor who threatens to write up everybody if they're late returning from lunch. The head of Security is similarly very nasty. Then he goes to Freely, head of Human Resources, who will only allow an hour maximum. Lenny decides to gather as many workers as possible to meet in the lobby on the day of the funeral and confront Freely. A worker-filled lobby forces the extra time out of Freely for both the service and dinner/discussion afterwards.

    With short chapters, the book is very readable, engaging and suspenseful. The hospital conditions dealing with staff shortages, organ transplants, grabbing prestige and headlines over patient care make it very relevant. It's hard putting the book down. I raced through it but hated to see it end. This is no surprise as the author is a 30-year veteran as a critical-care nurse. The hospital scenes ring true. For mystery lovers, this one's a must!

    LETTERS TO CHALLENGE

    WRITE TO GPO BOX 808, Brooklyn, NY 11202, USA or e-mail: cd188@juno.com

    Don't Rely on Union Hacks

    I've read CHALLENGE off and on for many years but recently I've become a regular reader and find myself in increasing sympathy with PL's positions, which represent a real communist alternative to capitalist exploitation, racism and war. PL particularly impresses me because it avoids the reformism and opportunism of other groups or tendencies which pretend to be "communist."

    Therefore, I was a little dismayed to read in the April 30 CHALLENGE a reformist view on trade unions in capitalist society. In the article, "Liberal Oakland Mayor Orders Cops' Attack on Anti-war Protestors," the author writes:

    "One key weakness was the lack of involvement of ILWU workers. The union leadership should have organized to put members on the picket lines to shut the entire port. Had the workers come out, the cops could have been defeated."

    I certainly agree that the absence of the ILWU workers was a real weakness. However, the author makes a big error when saying "the union leadership should have put members on the picket lines to shut the entire port." Should have? It's impossible that the ILWU bureaucrats -- or any trade union in capitalist society for that matter -- would dare to really launch a fight against the fascist state and its cops. Posing such a possibility can only sow illusions among workers that the union tops can be "pressured" to "do the right thing," or that they can be replaced with a different, more "militant" union leadership which will "really" fight for the workers' interests. This is the sort of opportunism that Trotskyites push.

    PL put it very well in the January 1998 issue of The Communist: "Defeat Right Opportunism -- Open the Door to Revolution," where it says, "...PL correctly views unions as the bosses' tool. They will never act in the workers' class interests. Even if they increase their militancy and force some minor concessions for their members, the result can only reinforce their reformist grip on workers." I hope this is PLP's firm position on the unions, because it's the communist position.

    The ILWU workers could only have come out against the war and in defense of the anti-war demonstrators in a wildcat action (against the union bureaucrats as much as against the cops). Such actions require a communist PLP in workplaces, fighting to build workers' power through the Party rather than through a more "militant" union leadership.

    A Boston reader

    Preaching Anti-War, Anti-Racist Ideas

    Over the years we've been active members and leaders in a church with moderate to conservative middle-class members. We have about a dozen regular CHALLENGE readers and head up a group that took the lead in opposing the U.S. racist-imperialist attack on Iraq. We participated in many demonstrations, including one of our own last November. We`ve distributed leaflets, held vigils and forums, and actively fought anti-Arab racism, including supporting a woman arrested last year because of racial profiling.

    Our most important struggle resulted in passing a resolution against the war, after it had started. Regular CHALLENGE readers who meet with our PLP study group took the lead. Although it was a weak resolution -- liberals called for "supporting the troops" -- still it was one of those "little things" that count. Of 48 people at the meeting, 99% voted for it, enabling us to put out literature in the church's name.

    At a convention with about 120 people representing churches throughout our region, young people led a workshop on racism. We opposed the idea that whites were basically racist, and that "until they deal with their racism" there's no basis for multi-racial unity. Some were won to uniting to fight racism, especially within ourselves. I explained how to build multi-racial unity in all-white churches.

    At the plenary session we presented a resolution -- for debate and discussion only --- that our churches should become anti-imperialist, just as we're anti-racist and anti-sexist. We said the moment the American flag is raised over Iraq, the U.S. will become a new Roman Empire. We called for a resolution opposing imperialism to be voted on at our next convention.

    At the president's suggestion, we advanced it as a motion, which carried with only three votes opposed. Six people agreed to serve on a committee to work on this anti-imperialist resolution. The Black Panthers had a slogan: "Seize the Time." Much of what our Party is advocating these days is right in that spirit.

    Unfortunately, I underestimated the interest in our ideas and had no Party literature to distribute. A deacon and his wife, both leaders in a small, black, working-class church, are regular CHALLENGE readers, who always give a couple of dollars each issue from their small retirement income. Our deep ties with them and their friendship and faith in us is very sustaining in these times of depression, fascism and war. We want to win them to come to our May Day celebration.

    Fight for communism under all circumstances, but with wisdom.

    Red Prayer Group

    ESL Classes Learn About Revolution

    I teach two classes of English as a Second Language, Level 2, to members of a large union. These mostly immigrant women workers are facing the budget axe. The State is slashing $1 billion in services, closing agencies and cutting jobs, all of which will severely affect the clients -- elderly workers who will face severe hardships and/or be dumped into understaffed nursing homes.

    Recently union members attended a large rally protesting these cuts. To prepare for this rally we used articles from newspapers and the union newsletter. We picked up new words in English like "give-backs" and "corporate loopholes." I used information from CHALLENGE about the huge interest the City and State pay to the banks on borrowed money. There's a "loophole" the official press and the union don't talk about!

    We've been discussing the imperialist war on Iraq for oil periodically since last September. All my students immediately connected the enormous costs of the invasion and occupation of Iraq to the economic attacks on workers here. We told our union rep to make this link at the rally. Everyone later noted that didn't happen.

    In the course of the year I've been introducing CHALLENGE to a number of students. There are now 17 readers, current and former students. Three are now taking extra papers for friends. Almost all have been to a PLP activity in my home and some are participating in a Party study group. Many have agreed to come to May Day and some will invite family and friends. We will invite more of them to the study group after May Day.

    It will be a big step for these workers and for PLP when some of them decide to join the Party. They face many difficulties in their lives which makes commitment to the Party a challenge, but we're all noticing greater interest as the imperialists take aim at more workers from the Middle East to Africa to South America to the U.S.

    A comrade

    Rallies vs. Cuts, War Hit Bible Belt

    They're not called demonstrations here in the Bible Belt. They're called rallies. In the nine years I've lived in the South, I've never seen a rally here. But now I've seen three in the last month, two to demand more money for education and the third to protest the war.

    Like the rest of the country this area has been hit hard by state budget cuts. One rally, organized by the local NEA (National Education Association) chapter drew 400. The second, organized by Friends of Education Coalition (education officials) had over 500. However, these substantial turnouts received very little publicity. The anti-war demonstration, although the smallest, was the most interesting, organized by a local anti-war group.

    People I never thought would be interested in discussing politics are starting to share their viewpoints and sound more like mine than I expected. One co-worker commented that he didn't think the purpose of the education system was really to educate the youth. If it were, he said, then there'd be enough funding, and distributed equally to all districts.

    Another co-worker thought the Bush administration lied about why the military invaded Iraq. He pointed out that their reasons kept changing over a short period of time and they were probably hiding the real one -- oil. Both these co-workers are now receiving CHALLENGE. And now that we're back from Spring Break, I plan to meet with both of them once a week to discuss the articles in the paper. It's nice to know that even in the Bible Belt, positive change can come out of this crisis.

    Young Red

    How Many U.S. Lives Did the Soviet Union Save?

    (The following letter was sent to Newsday on March 29, 1995, on the occasion of Clinton's visit to Moscow when Russian veterans of World War II were being honored. The letter was headlined "Salute the Russians.")

    Countless American baby boomers, Clinton perhaps among them, owe their existence to the Red Army.

    We are here because our fathers came home in 1945. Who better to call these old men "tovarich" and salute them, perhaps for the last time?

    Ask any veteran about the fighting on Omaha Beach, Normandy, the bitter and almost forgotten battles along the German border in the fall of 1944 or the Battle of the Bulge, to say nothing of Salerno or the Rapido in Italy. Then ask him to imagine fighting a German army two to three times larger, a German army not already reeling from two years of defeat in the East.

    The Russians, Winston Churchill said, tore the guts out of the German army. Every German soldier they killed, captured or disabled meant one less for our men to fight. Stalingrad was an American victory in which no American fought.

    Had the Red Army folded in 1941 or 1942, American soldiers -- our fathers --would have had to overcome at least 100 more German divisions. American casualties would have been almost beyond imagination.

    We baby boomers are here in our millions because Russian soldiers fought and died in their millions. Because they did, our fathers came home. As we thank our fathers for our freedom, let's also thank the Russians for our fathers -- and our lives.

    Edward B. Furey, Jr., Woodhaven, Queens, NY

    IN MEMORIAM
    Dennis Long

    8/20/51 - 2/17/03

    Born to a working-class family with five siblings, Dennis was raised by his widowed mother, his father having passed away at the age of 44. Despite the economic hardship of his early years, Dennis became an industrial worker, union activist, health care worker and teacher. He married as a teenager and fathered a son, Kelly, but soon divorced. A few years later, he married again and fathered a daughter, Corey. His wife, Sandy, died a few years later and Dennis raised Corey alone. After moving to Guatemala to teach in 1995, Dennis married again, to Diana, who gave birth to a daughter, Paola, and a son, Roberto Carlos. Roberto was born six days after Dennis' death.

    Dennis always felt great compassion for the plight of workers around the world, and was active in many struggles to better their lives. He went to jail many times and lost jobs for fighting against racist groups like the Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan when they appeared at rallies in public places. He was outspoken in his opposition to the present world order, believing that working people could make no true lasting progress under capitalism.

    Because he held these beliefs and acted upon them as a member of the Progressive Labor Party, he was harassed, jailed and fired many times. He finally emigrated to Guatemala to find employment as a teacher.

    An intelligent, witty speaker, he was popular for his friendly presence and for the integrity with which he lived his life according to his values, Not without contradictions, he battled alcoholism and drug addiction as a young man, but was successful in overcoming both to gain a rich and productive life. He loved music, history, literature, travel, languages and the companionship of acquaintances and friends. He was a kind and loving son, brother and husband, and a devoted father to his children. He is greatly missed by his family, his many friends and his political comrades. His life is an example for those of us left behind to emulate.

    He was diagnosed with stomach cancer shortly before he died of an apparent heart attack.

    He is survived by his mother, Denise, his sister Gavina, his brother Robert, his wife Diana, his children Kelly, Corey, Paola and Roberto, seven nieces and nephews, and ten great nieces and nephews.

    RED EYE ON THE NEWS

    BELOW ARE EXCERPTS FROM MAINSTREAM NEWSPAPERS THAT CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION:Abbreviations: NYT=New York Times, GW=Guardian Weekly (UK)

    Afghans: model for Iraq?

    Afghanistan continues to have one of the world's highest rates of maternal mortality, with 1,600 deaths for every 100,000 live births. And what of the legal and political rights of women -- the cause so loudly trumpeted by President George W. Bush as he sent U.S. forces to liberate Afghans from the Taliban?

    Sima Simar, guest of the president at his 2002 State of the Union Speech, was kicked out of the transitional government. Women are subject to extreme violence. They re mostly unemployed and often confined, still, to their homes....

    Civil servants in the cash-starved central government may or may not get paychecks. In some rural areas, schools have been shuttered because there is no money to pay teachers. Children roam the village streets.

    Only a quarter of the country's healthcare facilities have electricity....

    It is not what...[the U.S.] promised the Afghan people, nor what...[it says it will] bring the Iraqis. (Newsday, 4/1)

    US pals will rule Iraq

    ...While the United States has publicly described its roles as promoting a stable, secure environment in Iraq that might be conducive to democracy, administrative officials said they also recognize the need to move more aggressively to promote allies.

    "You can't stand back completely," the Pentagon official said. (NYT, 4/26)

    9/11 is excuse for fascism

    Attorney General John Ashcroft has ruled that illegal immigrants who have no known links to terrorist groups can be detained indefinitely to address national security concerns....

    Human rights groups, including Amnesty International and the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights sharply criticized the policy shift....

    "What it means is that these people will languish in detention without the opportunity to prove to a judge or anyone else that they don't pose a threat to national security." (NYT, 4/26)

    TV: Freedom for the Foxes

    The two commentators were gleeful as they skewered the news media and antiwar protesters in Hollywood.

    "They are absolutely committing sedition, or treason, one commentator. Michael Savage, said of the protesters one recent night.

    MSNBC, the cable news network owned by Microsoft and General Electric....hired the two shortly before the war.....Others in the industry say the moves are the most visible sign of a phenomenon they call "the Fox effect"....

    Fox News Channel...has emerged as the most-watched source of cable news by far, with anchors and commentators who skewer the mainstream media...and flay anybody else who questions President Bush's war effort....

    Critics worried that Fox's success will push TV news to...."journalism...somehow dampened by a flock of Fox imitators. (NYT, 4/16)

    US hires Saddam's cops

    It has become apparent that Washington cannot restore governance to Baghdad without resorting to the party that for decades controlled every aspect of life. It has equally become apparent that the Ba'ath Party, whose neighborhood spy cells were as feared as the state intelligence apparatus will survive....

    Two thousand policemen -- all cardholding party members -- have returned to the streets of Baghdad at the invitation of the US. (GW, 4/30)

    US military girds globe

    The United States is planning a long-term military presence in Iraq, in a move that will dramatically extend American power in the region and spread dismay and fear among its opponents across the Arab world.

    ....The Pentagon intends to retain four military bases in Iraq after the invasion force withdraws....

    A permanent US military foothold in Iraq would profoundly change the political make-up of the Middle East. Part of its attraction is that it would offer the US an alternative to Saudi Arabia....

    The past two years have seen a rapid expansion of American deployment across thousands of kilometers stretching from the Balkans to the Chinese border and taking in the Caucasus, Central Asia, the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent....

    The US military now girds the globe as no power has done before.... (GW, 4/30)

    Good will can't fix system

    In 1988, Ewing M. Kauffman, a civic-minded man who owned the Kansas City Royals and made his fortune in pharmaceuticals, promised a free education to every ninth grader at his alma mater, Westport High, a poor, heavily minority city school....

    But was it really a success?....Only 16 percent earned a bachelor's degree and only 6 percent more got a two-year or vocational degree. Over all, 78 percent were unable to convert Mr. Kauffman's offer.

    "Mr. Kauffman had no idea how far behind these kids were," said Tom Rhone, the program director....

    The...program spent about $6,500 per child. (NYT, 4/23)

    Poor kids get bad start

    A study has found that one of every four children in central Harlem has asthma, which...is one of the highest rates ever documented for an American neighborhood.

    ....About 6 percent of all Americans have asthma....

    Previous studies have pointed to rates above 10 percent, and as high as the high teens, in the South Bronx, Harlem and a few other New York City neighborhoods where a long list of environmental factors put people at higher risk....

    Asthma is the leading cause of school absenteeism in the neighborhood. (NYT, 4/19)

    For oil, get Iraqi stooges

    After insisting for months that it intends to let Iraqis run their own oil industry, the Bush administration is expected to announce next week a plan....

    The chief executive would report to, and perhaps be a part of, an advisory committee that would include other Iraqi ministry officials and foreigners from the United States and its allies....

    The advisory committee would be headed by Philip J. Carroll, the former chief executive of the Shell Oil Company, the United States unit of Royal Dutch/Shell.

    He, in turn, would serve as the liaison to General Garner.

    "The point is that the people of Iraq and the people of the Iraqi oil industry have their pride preserved," said the person who had talked to the administration, who spoke on condition of anonymity....

    Having an American like Mr. Carroll at its head would fan claims in the region that the United States had invaded Iraq to grab its oil. (NYT, 4/26)

    US: No $ for health

    Millions of low-income Americans face the loss of health insurance or sharp cuts in benefits, like coverage for prescription drugs and dental care, under proposals mow moving through state legislatures around the country.

    State officials and health policy experts say the cuts will increase the number of uninsured, threaten recent progress in covering children and impose severe strains on hospitals, doctors and nursing homes....

    Painful trade-offs often pit the needs of impoverished elderly people for prescription drugs and long-term care against those of low-income families seeking basic health coverage. (NYT, 4/28)

    Who Are The Real Looters?

    Much has been made of the looting of Iraq’s archaeological and ancient civilization treasures. War secretary Rumsfeld dismisses them as crimes that always occurs when "freedom" reigns. But the fact is the looters were encouraged and protected by U.S. troops, some of whom participated in it, to say nothing of the big-time looters, those from Washington and Wall Street.

    The first "item of value" secured by the invading army was the oil fields, to be looted by Exxon Mobil, Chevron Texaco and BP. While the Iraqi Museum in Baghdad was being sacked, U.S. troops were guarding the Ministry of Oil nearby.

    An AsiaTimesOnline reporter went to the Museum on April 11, the day after the looting and was told by Dr. Doni George, a director of the State Board of Antiquities, "The whole administrative compound was completely destroyed and looted….There were people who knew what they wanted. They’ve taken the precious vase of Uruk, an Akkadian bronze statue from 3,200 B.C. Before they started looting, there were American armored cars outside and people inside. They asked for the American troops to intervene, but they did not….The chairman of the State Board of Antiquities went to the American HQ and explained the situation. But they sent no help. This shows they wanted the Iraqi Museum to be destroyed….

    "In the following days, they [the curators] started collecting extremely disturbing evidence that this was a very well-organized operation. Archaeological files and computer disks simply disappeared. Glass-cutting tools were found on the museum’s floor….Replicas…[of] the genuine article were still there, but the genuine artworks were stolen. The museum’s vaults had been opened with special keys; and armed guard told AsiaTimesOnline that American soldiers…had opened the doors for ‘people from other nationalities’ to loot. ‘The way they opened the locks, no Iraqi could do it.’" When British Guardian writer Robert Fisk rushed to U.S. Army HQ in Baghdad to report a huge fire burning at the main Baghdad historical library, he said they did absolutely nothing.

    Specialists at the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization are convinced that this was a concerted operation organized outside Iraq. Citing "wanton and preventable destruction" of Iraq’s National Museum of Antiquities, members of the Bush administration’s Advisory Committee on Cultural Property have resigned in disgust.

    An Associated Press dispatch (4/25) reported that U.S. "military personnel took $13.1 million from huge caches of US currency." Another AP dispatch (4/8) reported that members of the U.S. "Army’s 3rd Infantry Division stormed presidential palaces and helped themselves to gold-painted Arab glassware" and other items.

    The British Independent reported (4/24) "investigations" were under way of troops who took $600 million in U.S. banknotes. A U.S. TV engineer was caught at Dulles International Airport smuggling priceless Iraqi paintings and Iraqi monetary bonds, "one of several travelers returning to the U.S. with paintings and even weapons in their luggage."

    But these are the small fry looters being caught. The oil companies and the Bechtels and Haliburtons with their billion-dollar contracts socked away even before the invasion are the big-time looters. Not to mention what the White House’s "economic plan" has looted in this country. On July 1, "27 states and the District of Columbia were expected to have an aggregate deficit of $53.5 billion….Much of the cumulative deficit could be erased if the federal government paid the states what it owed to maintain programs that are federal requirements. Four items alone…have cost the states $83 billion." (New York Times, 4/26)

    Where is the money going? To a $400 billion Pentagon budget, plus the extra $75 billion Bush got from Congress to pay for just the initial costs of the U.S. imperialist invasion of Iraq. Meanwhile states are cutting billions in vital services to workers — Medicare, Medicaid, education, etc. — and laying off tens of thousands of state employees, adding to the climbing unemployment rolls. And the government is continuing to steal the $100 billion plus annual surplus taken in by Social Security to pay for its wars, a violation of its own laws. But who’s counting?

    When it comes to looting, no one beats U.S. capitalism.

    Information
    Print

    CHALLENGE, April 30, 2003

    Information
    30 April 2003 364 hits

    Bosses Tell Workers in Iraq, U.S.: DROP DEAD

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    In Memoriam - a working-class, communist dad

    Red Eye On The News


    Bosses Tell Workers in Iraq, U.S.: DROP DEAD

    U.S. rulers have done in Iraq what they do better than anyone else: murder and terrorize workers. The mass slaughter and devastation of civilians count among Bush’s "greatest achievements" to date. Otherwise, the U.S. military victory against a vastly overmatched Iraqi army has isolated the Washington warmakers politically and sharpened every important problem they face in their drive to maintain world domination.

    Bush’s "liberation" of Iraq is the liberation of the grave. The bombing of every major city has led to a severe health crisis.

    •By March 31, half of Basra’s 1.5 million population lacked drinking water.

    •According to a January 2003, UN document estimating the human costs of a U.S. war in Iraq, as many as 500,000 Iraqis could require treatment as a result of direct or indirect injuries.

    •The same report predicts that 39% of the country’s 25 million people will not have drinking water and that a large number of workers will succumb to disease.

    •The report adds that over three million people — two-thirds of them children — will find themselves in a "dire" nutritional situation and that as many as 900,000 Iraqis will have been forced into refugee status.

    Largely because of genocidal sanctions forced on the Iraqi people by U.S. imperialism since 1991, 16 million — 60% of the population — depended on monthly government food rations for survival.

    Tens of millions of workers and others aren’t fooled by the new "freedom" Bush and his cronies have bestowed upon Iraq. The Feb. 15 anti-war marches in most major cities around the world were the largest one-day international mobilization in history. Despite their many political limitations, they reflect growing mass hatred against U.S. imperialism. Within this movement, many can be won to a revolutionary communist perspective.

    Many workers, who don’t necessarily participate in these marches, feel increasingly disaffected from Bush & Co. In the U.S., this is particularly true of black workers, who are the most oppressed and the key force for communist revolution. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer (April 6), very few black workers support the war. This is a potential nightmare situation for U.S. rulers. Black people constitute 12% of the population and 21% of the armed forces. A young college student said, "Bush is more of an immediate threat to me than [Saddam Hussein]." As U.S. imperialism’s military adventures spread throughout the Persian Gulf, we could see mass militancy erupt both inside and outside the armed forces. Our Party can encourage and organize this opposition and win workers and soldiers to a revolutionary solution and to join PLP.

    The rulers are also increasingly isolated from the rest of the world’s major bosses. On the one hand, no individual or group of rivals can prevent U.S. rulers from occupying Iraq and preparing new wars in Iran, Syria or Saudi Arabia. On the other hand, each U.S. "victory" brings problems that further complicate the U.S. juggernaut.

    All U.S. rulers agree on maintaining world supremacy through control over Middle Eastern energy sources, and all agree on the need for more wars of conquest and occupation. Nonetheless, important tactical differences persist, and our Party must lead workers to reject the "lesser evil" trap posed by the liberal politicians. The New York Times (April 13) editorializes: "The U.S. must sheath its sword until really needed."

    The Times opposed Bush’s rush to war in March, arguing that he should wait until striking a deal for sharing oil profits with French and Russian bosses. When Bush launched the war, the Times scrambled to get on board, flush with triumphant headlines. Now the Times and other liberal mouthpieces for the Establishment want to get back to their own tactical agenda, which includes building the type of military required for seizing and holding all the major oil-producing countries. This approach conflicts with the Rumsfeld line of relying on heavy bombing and a small number of ground forces. Oil must be pumped on the ground, and the liberals worry that the U.S. infantry is too small and too overextended to conquer and occupy Iran and Saudi Arabia.

    They want to prepare the political conditions to restore the draft. Harlem Congressman Charles Rangel’s Big Lie is that compulsory military service is the only way to reduce the class inequities in the present U.S. military. Rangel doesn’t care about social justice. He wants to provide the U.S. war machine with more cannon fodder.

    This raises another problem. The political motivation of the troops, which wasn’t seriously tested in Iraq, is very shaky. The bosses can still field the world’s best-equipped, most destructive military. But even the highest level of destructive technology requires human brains and hands to run it. This is U.S. imperialism’s Achilles’ Heel, both inside and outside the armed forces.

    The liberals blame Bush for squandering the "opportunity" of 9/11 to build aggressive patriotism. They hope for another "cataclysmic" event as a way of promoting war fever. Our Party faces a future of tough challenges in the years and decades ahead. U.S. imperialism’s future is no less difficult. Each of its "solutions" creates sharper problems. As its mass murder for world domination expands, its isolation from the world’s masses and the rest of the world’s rulers will continue to sharpen. The weakened economy will give the U.S. reduced maneuverability to grant concessions to workers. We all face a future of more stick and less carrot.

    The source of these contradictions is the capitalist profit system. Progressive Labor Party’s ability to politically lead the erupting class struggle can enable us to grow, both in numbers and political strength. The young workers who march with us on May Day, 2003, will provide the first gauge of our success in building upon this new opportunity.

    a name="Liberal Oakland Mayor Orders Cops’ Attack on Anti-war Protestors">">"iberal Oakland Mayor Orders Cops’ Attack on Anti-war Protestors

    OAKLAND, CA, April 7 — Today, PLP members along with hundreds of other demonstrators showed up at the American President Lines (APL) berth at the Port of Oakland for an anti-war action. Together with the ILWU (International Longshoremen’s and Warehousemen’s Union), the protest was designed to create a non-violent picket line at the berth’s gate to stop the loading of military cargo. The ILWU contract bars members from picketing but they could be sent home if their working conditions were considered "unsafe" (that is, if others staged a picket line.)

    Under orders from "ultra-liberal" mayor Jerry Brown, the Oakland police department was determined to crush the protest from the start. The cops harassed drivers as they unloaded protestors at the initial meeting place and stopped shuttle vans at the port entrance. Once the picket line began in front of APL, the cops gave the order to disperse "within three minutes." After one minute, and with no provocation whatsoever, the cops opened up with wooden and rubber bullets, tear gas and concussion grenades. Many people were shot at nearly point-blank range, most in the back as they ran. Those who didn’t run fast enough were brutally arrested.

    After regrouping at a transit center, people noticed grapefruit-sized welts on their bodies from the wooden bullets. One woman suffered a concussion. As we learned later, one ILWU member had to have surgery. All told some 30 people were injured by the fascist cops. Despite this, an ILWU member reported that APL was shut down that day.

    The fear created by this attack was evident. As people formed a second picket line at another berth, the cops only had to emerge from their bus in order to scatter people. Fearful protestors began leaving immediately. Once the cops had chased the crowd from the port, they stood smugly with shotguns, letting trucks in.

    After that second picket line, the protestors debated about the next step. Although some union workers in the crowd suggested going back again, the leadership made it clear the next move wasn’t open to debate. Protestors marched to downtown Oakland, intending to rally at the Federal building. As the cops tried to herd the march down a deserted side street, a PLP member foiled that scheme and helped lead the march through downtown on Broadway. The police clubbed protestors and ran their motorcycles into people who "disobeyed" orders. The handful of cops had to back off as it became clear the march could not be stopped. The role played by the PLP member enabled us to distribute all of our CHALLENGES and leaflets and have good political discussions with other protestors.

    One key weakness was the lack of involvement of ILWU workers. The union leadership should have organized to put members on the picket lines to shut the entire port. Had the workers come out, the cops could have been defeated.

    The liberals behind the police brutality showed the true face of capitalism. This protest was not a sanctioned "die-in." It was aimed at uniting workers with the anti-war movement and stopping the profit system’s war machine. The cops’ "non-lethal" weapons are known to be lethal at close range. Someone could have been killed. Our friends with us that day saw whose side the cops are on. This can help them understand revolution means the working class must smash the bosses’ state power.

    a name="Capitalist Killer on the ‘Home Front’ — Mass Unemployment"></a>"apitalist Killer on the ‘Home Front’ — Mass Unemployment

    While U.S. imperialism is killing workers in Iraq, capitalism is killing workers’ jobs here. The government reports — themselves suspect — 108,000 jobs were lost in March. That’s 2.4 million jobs gone in the last two years, the longest stretch without job growth in 20 years.

    While the unemployment rate "remained" at 5.8%, that figure (conveniently) omits five million jobless workers who have given up looking for non-existent jobs but are NOT counted as unemployed.

    Add those 5 millions to the 8.5 million "officially" unemployed plus:

    •the several million working part-time who want but can’t find full time jobs;

    •those on welfare who also would work if there were jobs available;

    •the one million in prison for non-violent crimes who in most other countries would not be incarcerated.

    If all these were correctly counted as unemployed, the amount of jobless would approach 20 million and the rate would more than double, to about 14%.

    Meanwhile, black and Latino workers suffer double the jobless rates of white workers because of racist discrimination — first fired, last hired.

    All sectors of the economy showed job losses. For manufacturing it was the 36th consecutive month. And the March figures do not include recent airline layoffs nor state and city cutbacks like the 5,400 getting the axe in New York City. Businesses have shown increased sales but have cut jobs anyway because they can get the remaining workers who fear layoffs to work harder, increasing productivity — for the boss.

    Why the continued job losses? "Businesses simply aren’t sufficiently profitable to fuel new hiring," says Richard Yamarone, New York economist for Argus Research. "Why would you," he answers, "when you have slipping demand, skyrocketing productivity and global overcapacity?" (New York Times, 4/5)

    So there it is. Capitalism in crisis "solves" its problems on the backs of the working class, again and again. To Iraq’s workers we say, if this is the "democracy" U.S. rulers plan for you, watch out! Only international working-class unity to dump this inhuman system can solve perpetual unemployment.

    Transit Workers Must Bypass Leaders And Shut Chicago Down

    CHICAGO, IL April 7 — More than 400 members of Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 241 were in a fighting mood at tonight’s union meeting. President Lee Robinson faced a sea of opposition as he gave his report, but it could have been anyone on the Executive Board. Finally he said, "If the membership wants me to sit down, I’ll sit down." The auditorium rocked as everyone said in one voice, "SIT DOWN!"

    On March 18, over 5,000 workers (almost 90%!) rejected the tentative agreement between the union and the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA). We’ve been without a contract for almost three years. The proposed 4-year agreement would impose "Rostering," which means drivers who work less than 8 hours while covering 12-to15 hour split- shifts would no longer be guaranteed 8 hours pay. Overtime would be paid only after 40 actual hours worked. It would increase the number of part-timers to 25% of the workforce, increase the hours they can work, and drop any restriction on their use. It also set up alternative retirement plans, threatened the existing pension fund and eliminated medical benefits to future CTA retirees.

    ATU 241 members rejected similar sellout contracts at the PACE Heritage and PACE Western suburban bus lines. One member said, "In 27 years I’ve never seen anything like it. This contract would asphyxiate the union; choke us to death."

    Some Executive Board members used this meeting to bring charges against their own president for having signed the three rejected contracts without their consent, and illegally transferring $42 million from the workers’ pension fund to the CTA. Robinson has been suspended without pay and is probably through.

    This is a struggle against racist attacks on a mostly black workforce. It is a struggle for the future. The company and the union leadership want to deprive young workers of medical benefits when they retire. Over 1,500 workers would have retired with a new contract over the past three years, but with this contract they would have been replaced with hundreds of low-wage, part-time young workers. This is the fight of all workers — black, Latin and white, men and women, retirees and new hires.

    ATU leaders say the only paths to a new contract are negotiations or arbitration. We need to send a message with a strike vote and then shut the city down! This fight can erupt into a mass anti-racist struggle at a time when racist terror is on the rise from Chicago to Baghdad. It could win the support of workers and youth who rely on mass transit while the bosses and bankers pour billions of dollars into oil wars and a fascist Homeland Security police state. That would be the best way to celebrate MAY DAY in the city that gave birth to this international working class holiday!

    a name="Hospital Union’s Reliance on Politicians Leads to Mass Layoffs">">"ospital Union’s Reliance on Politicians Leads to Mass Layoffs

    NEW YORK CITY, April 13 — On a cold and snowy April 1, 40,000 healthcare workers — black, white, Asian and Hispanic — descended on Albany, NY, demanding Gov. Pataki rescind his healthcare cuts. According to state officials, this was the largest demonstration ever held in this state capital. Workers came from NYC, Long Island, Buffalo and other upstate areas. Many CHALLENGES were sold that day.

    The 1199-SEIU leadership had not planned for such a large turnout, making it difficult for many workers to find their buses for their return home.

    Many workers felt betrayed by the union leadership who had endorsed and financed Pataki’s re-election campaign. Then the politicians posed as workers’ friends to get funds and votes, but as one worker declared on the bus, "The politicians present a utopian outlook during an election year, promising everything under the sun but, as soon as they take office, their real face appears."

    Workers who spoke at the rally said these cuts would surely devastate their institutions and cause more pain and suffering to the patients.

    The 1199 leadership, the NYC transit union head and others advocated making alliances with other politicians who opposed Pataki’s cuts. These union leaders are always misleading workers, saying we should rely on our class enemies. The hospital bosses and politicians represent the capitalist profit system. Meanwhile, the union leaders never mentioned the $80 billion in workers’ taxes being spent for the war on Iraq. Barely one week later, the bosses’ newspapers revealed the hospital crisis brewing in NYC:

    • St. Mary’s Hospital in Brooklyn will be closing it’s maternity ward, laying off 50 workers and leaving the community’s mothers without a nearby hospital in which to give birth;

    • St. Vincent’s Medical Center in Greenwich Village has laid off 80 hospital workers and will cut 500 more by the fall;

    • Mt. Sinai Medical Center in Manhattan is cutting 500 jobs, with 800 more to follow in the fall;

    • Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx is laying off 250 workers.

    Many more hospitals around the city will be facing similar cuts. The hospital bosses insist that patient care is not being compromised by these layoffs. This defies the fact that thousands of workers die each year due to lack of healthcare.

    Since hospitals are run for profits, patient care will never be a priority. The capitalist-run healthcare system is bleeding the hospitals to their bones.

    AFL-CIO Hacks Support Massacre of Iraqi Workers

    As the first bombs fell on Baghdad, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney declared, "The AFL-CIO…[is] unequivocal in support of our country and America’s men and women on the front lines..." The AFL-CIO dropped any pretense of opposition and lined up squarely behind Bush’s oil war on Iraq, showing once again that it is an instrument of U.S. imperialism. The AFL-CIO hacks call for supporting U.S. troops in order to line up workers behind an imperialist war.

    The AFL-CIO boasted, "4,000 members of the maritime unions…are loading and transporting equipment, supplies and materiel to support the troops in the Persian Gulf."

    The AFL-CIO leadership chose to mobilize dockworkers to aid the war, in spite of White House union-busting when West Coast longshoremen were locked out by shippers last fall. Bush imposed a Taft-Hartley injunction and conspired with the shippers to impose a job-cutting contract. Homeland Security Fuhrer Ridge said that a strike would violate national security and threatened dockworkers with using troops as strike-breakers.

    The AFL-CIO has backed every imperialist adventure by U.S. rulers, from Vietnam to Kosovo to Afghanistan. It has worked hand-in-glove with the CIA for over 50 years to crush militant and communist-led labor movements around the world. It helped the U.S. government topple left-wing governments in Latin America, Asia and Africa and replace them with fascist torturers, like Saddam. Many "left" organizations believed that Sweeney’s rise to AFL-CIO president in 1995 was a positive step for workers. They predicted the AFL-CIO would oppose an invasion of Iraq.

    In the wake of the invasion, the airline industry has announced thousands of layoffs. Tens of thousands of additional jobs are threatened by the impending bankruptcy of American Airlines and others. Companies are ripping up union contracts and imposing drastic concessions. The cost of the war will mean more racist cutbacks. The first installment will be $75 billion, with billions more coming.

    The AFL-CIO does not defend workers’ interests, and is incapable of speaking for their needs. Sweeney & Co. view the war as an opportunity to demonstrate their usefulness to the bosses by promoting patriotism and nationalism. However, they will only find themselves more isolated from the millions of workers, organized and unorganized, who oppose the war and resent their passivity in the face of increased attacks. Building a mass PLP will lead the working class out of the grips of the bosses, Democratic and Republican politicians and their servants in the AFL-CIO, and onto the road to communist revolution.

    a name="PL’ers Bring Revolutionary Answer to Anti-War Marchers">">"L’ers Bring Revolutionary Answer to Anti-War Marchers

    WASHINGTON, D.C., April 12 — Today over 30,000 people marched against the war and occupation of Iraq, once again demonstrating deep-seated opposition to U.S. bosses’ imperialist actions. A rival, pro-war demonstration, featuring scum like G. Gordon Liddy of Watergate fame and ultrapatriotic country singer Aaron Tippin, punked out with a few hundred flag-wavers.

    The anti-war march was quite smaller than the three previous mobilizations held here because many people have despaired of influencing the government through marches. They are partially right, marches by themselves won’t end imperialist wars. The Vietnamese defeated the U.S. militarily, with important help from GI rebellions. Communist revolution ended World War I in Russia. But communist participation in these marches can help win many to see this revolutionary outlook. However, we won’t get that from the current leadership of the anti-war movement.

    ANSWER, which organized today’s march, ignored these historical examples and continued to spread illusions about how protest itself can stop imperialism. Worse yet, they build illusions in the Democratic Party hacks as a "solution" to the Bushite gang — nothing about revolution or a mass communist movement as the real path to defeating imperialist war, or to crush local butchers like Saddam Hussein. "Watering down" the truth is a policy of revisionists (fake leftists). Real communists tell the truth, however difficult that truth might be.

    Other anti-war forces didn’t attend this march because they feel the war is over; there’s nothing more to protest. This is a big mistake. The coming period will be filled with endless imperialist wars. We must all sharpen the struggle on our jobs and campuses, in the military, unions, houses of worship and communities to attack imperialism and racism.

    A PLP leaflet distributed widely at the demonstration called for closing ROTC, ending Defense Department research on campuses, striking against military production, GI’s organizing against the war machine and smashing racist police brutality. This sharply contrasted with the words from the podium.

    PLP members who participate in several of the organizations involved in the action, joined them in the march, on the buses, and in the rally, urging the groups and individuals to make a commitment to revolution and a lifetime of struggle with the PLP.

    That night, at a D.C. PLP forum, several new people came, including some from the march itself. That may well be the most important thing that could happened at the march — more people became involved in the long-term struggle for revolution. Yet the Party as a whole can do much more to provide the leadership and build the ties needed to keep pace with the rapidly developing world imperialist crises. PLP’ers and our friends must redouble efforts at building the party and its influence. Make no mistake — revolutionary waves are building and passivity is ebbing as imperialism and fascism make their brutality more evident. We must "catch the wave" and lead the working class to international victory, from Baghdad to D.C.!

    Students Organize Against Police Terror and Imperialist War

    RIVERSIDE, CA — On March 20, campus cops viciously attacked a student protest against the war at a local community college. This was an extension of the unjust imperialist wars waged against the working class worldwide. Physical abuse and intimidation by local and federal police agencies are necessary to the survival of the capitalist system.

    Students called for a boycott of classes to protest the war in Iraq. They received informal approval to march through one school building’s hallways to draw more students from classes. When they entered the building, they were assaulted immediately without even an order to disperse. Some of the campus cops were in plain clothes and didn’t identify themselves as they attacked several students leading the march.

    Students demanding the release of their classmates were answered with punches, kicks, baton blows, and pepper spray in their faces. One student reported that students in custody were being "threatened, choked and walked on."

    Students and community members accused the cops of trying to ambush them and instill fear in the increasingly large activist community here, as well as racist aggression. Racism was evident in the excessive violence and severity of the criminal charges brought against two Latino students. In contrast, the only white student detained received relatively civil treatment and was immediately released.

    This attack is one more example of increasing attempts to suppress the voice of the working class, of which working-class students are a vital part. City cops arrive at demonstrations in full riot gear, with cameras intended to intimidate and document dissenters. The INS continues to indefinitely detain and deport people based on racist policies. Just as U.S. rulers have attempted to "shock and awe" the Iraqi people into submission, the campus police have launched an offensive against working-class student activism. But this ratcheting-up of oppressive measures has united the campus and local community against this threat, as it continues to unite people around the world.

    In response to this assault, students went ahead with their demonstration, marching and chanting down a busy city street to the nearby military recruitment center. When the group of about 200 students marched back to campus, they were confronted by city cops in full riot gear, trying to block their return.

    They marched to the campus police station and demanded the police free the two arrested students. Inciting-to-riot charges were later reduced to "disturbing the peace."

    Students, faculty and community members met with the school President and demanded a formal apology from the school and the suspension of the campus police who attacked the students. They also demanded that all charges be dropped, and that no charges be brought against anyone involved in the demonstration.

    The students vowed not to let this abuse distract them from opposing imperialist war. One week later, they again entered the building in their most organized, disciplined march yet. Students refuse to be swept under the rug. We are learning valuable lessons about the nature of a system that makes war on the working class from Iraq to California, as well as the long-term nature of the fight to change it.

    Red Leadership On NYC Cuts Crucial to Break Out of Reformist Box

    NEW YORK CITY, April 14 — City workers are apprehensive, knowing cutbacks and layoffs are imminent. Workers, as always, are bearing the brunt of capitalism’s growing crisis. Black and Latin workers, who comprise a large percentage of city workers here, are especially victimized by these racist cuts. Across the country state and local governments are slashing services to pay for widespread deficits, federal tax cuts to the rich and the oil war in Iraq. Now with the war in Iraq virtually over, Mayor Bloomberg comes out swinging, announcing another 5,400 layoffs. Working people are forced to fight for jobs and basic services. And the union leaders? They’re holding press conferences, if that.

    Here AFSCME’s District Council 37, the largest municipal union, has scheduled a demonstration for April 29 as negotiations end, and is doing almost nothing to build for it. The City rulers have just screwed the transit workers and are preparing a similar fate for DC 37. No one’s organizing city workers to hit the bosses where it hurts — on the job.

    City services are being privatized. Corporate taxes have declined for the last 30 years. A 5¢ tax on all stock sales was abolished in 1982 (re-instituting even a 2¢ tax would abolish the city deficit). Assessments of commercial real estate have been dropping since 1991, even though sale values have been skyrocketing. The city increased homeowners’ property taxes 18%, but haven’t raised commercial taxes at all. Meanwhile, the city unions are explaining how the city bosses could cover their deficit, and complaining that the City isn’t listening. They’re calling for a 1¢ stock sale tax, and even that’s being rejected.

    The union publicists ignore one basic fact: the bosses don’t care about workers’ suffering, in New York or Baghdad. Workers are caught between politicians and union hacks who spin endlessly about why we have to take cutbacks, layoffs, speed-up and give-backs.

    Breaking out of this box means mobilizing against the cuts, by-passing the union hacks and going directly to the rank and file to demonstrate, picket, slow down, work to rule, walk off for as long as it takes, to know that when one union goes out, all go out. Otherwise we’re defenseless.

    Many workers are reluctant to move without union authorization, but many are angry, both at the situation and the inaction of leaders whose large salaries are paid with our dues. Real class leadership means exposing capitalism, and not collaborating with the "better" bosses or politicians. Appealing to politicians is like spitting in the wind. No matter who the union leaders support, Pataki or the Democrats, we’re still facing these massive attacks.

    There is mass support for fighting back. Working people can and do link layoffs to the devastating cuts in social services. Meanwhile the union leadership doesn’t reach out to the working class, negotiates in secret, advocates "fair budgets," and begs the City to make the layoffs "equitable."

    Communists need to give class struggle leadership: demand rank-and-file formulation of demands, including no layoffs, no give-backs, no cuts, and form rank and file committees to organize walk-outs to oppose the bosses’ plans. It means linking tax cuts for the rich and funding for imperialist war to the hits we’re taking; pointing out the racist nature of the cuts and the layoffs.

    The profit system keeps us on a treadmill — they cut, we fight, the cycle goes on and on. As long as we have capitalism, we must fight, but until we get rid of capitalism, the system will keep us in this perpetual wrestling match just to feed our families.

    Change can only come from building PLP out of leading militant class struggle. Otherwise, we’ll listen once again to why the next lousy contract is "the best we could have hoped for," and swallow seeing our brothers and sisters laid off and scrambling to feed their families. We can mobilize for demonstrations like the one on the 29th, but if we don’t exert militant class leadership, communist leadership, we’ll just wind up shouting that afternoon, and watching the cuts on the evening news.

    May Day Message Sparks Fight Against Rulers

    (The following is excerpted from a speech by a young comrade at a recent May Day dinner attended by over fifty workers and students, including a dozen Boeing workers and their families. The speaker had just returned from the struggle at a MEChA conference. See letter, below)

    Seeing you all here tonight gives me hope, so I thank you. There is a war going on, of one imperialist butcher against a local butcher. There’s no justice in such wars fought by our working-class brothers and sisters while the rich rulers stay safe. They think that by arresting, deporting and killing our brothers and sisters they make the world safe — safe for imperialism and capitalist exploitation, while we are told to sacrifice "for the good of our country."

    What sacrifices have we made so far? Half of my friends are out of work. They want me to sacrifice half my friends, but I refuse. I also have friends in the military. They want me to sacrifice them as well, but I will not. I have many friends who, once they implement all of their "security" procedures, will be harassed and labeled "terrorists." They want me to sacrifice them as well. That’s almost everyone I know! I won’t do it!

    The ruling class is very smart and very powerful. But we are even more powerful. We control the machines that make the weapons. The workers at Boeing, some of whom are here tonight, are the ones who make the planes that bomb our brothers and sisters in Iraq. They make the planes that fly the soldiers to the Middle East. Because they control this, they have power. They can refuse to do the work. Our working-class brothers and sisters also do the fighting; they are the soldiers. No son or daughter of a rich boss will ever get near the actual fighting. It’s the sons and daughters of the working class who are expendable to them. Yet, because they control the guns, they have the power. They can refuse to fight, or use the guns against their true enemy, the bosses.

    There have been many times in history when this has happened. It can happen now. But we need to become organized. That’s why I am so happy to see you all here. It’s a step towards organizing ourselves, and it truly gives me hope.

    Just last week I went to a MEChA conference. I saw hope there as well. Mid-way through the conference, over 500 students held an impromptu rally and march against the war in Iraq. They understood that they had power. Also, a number of faculty, staff and students at campuses here have become more involved in anti-war groups and we in PLP have been there with them every step of the way. We have also been distributing more CHALLENGES, talking to more people and increasing our bases. This has given me the most hope.

    It is our job to show the working class that there is hope for justice for our class. We must keep learning and teaching. One of my favorite ways of learning is to go to May Day. We march every year in the heart of Los Angeles’ garment district. This year it’s May 3rd. Every year I go I learn more and I have more hope. All the people here tonight should march. I assure you it will be a worthwhile experience.

    a name="No ‘Free Speech’ For Anti-Worker Politics"></">No"‘Free Speech’ For Anti-Worker Politics

    Activities in an anti-Iraq war union caucus on a West coast campus has initiated a struggle over a class outlook on "free speech" and whether unions should support anti-working class politics.

    A petition urging the Local’s leadership to make an anti-war statement is being circulated, an educational piece has been written and a poster has been designed for our union bulletin boards. All this has involved more than 30 rank-and-file members, who have been talking to their co-workers and getting feedback and encouragement.

    This has forced the union to E-mail the membership announcing formation of our caucus and inviting participation, stirring up controversy. Nasty mail came from some of the more right-wing, "love-it-or-leave-it" union members, suggesting that the union "has no business being political." Of course, unions have always been political. The question is, do they embrace the politics of the working class or do they tail behind the bosses?

    Some have said the pro-war members could form their own caucus if they want to, advocating "free speech," in which every position should be heard. The Party member and friends in this caucus have explained that imperialist war destroys the working class, that the union should never support any anti-working class position. Theoretically the unions represents the workers, even though we know they’ve become an arm of the Democratic Party. A PL’er raised the question, if we had an anti-racist caucus, would the union also support the formation of a racist caucus? Communists believe in struggling around ideas, changing tactics and strategies, but all on behalf of fighting for the working class and building the Party. Support for racism, sexism and imperialism are not up for discussion.

    Meanwhile, the university plans a "day of reflection." Faculty and students are free to attend and classes can be canceled. Staff, on the other hand, cannot leave work. We’re urging the caucus to demand staff be free to attend and call for a strike if the university won’t allow it.

    These issues present opportunities to win the membership to understand what benefits workers and see the need to fight for our lives. Current events offer favorable circumstances for class struggle.

    The Party member can win a number of workers to the left, using CHALLENGE to stimulate discussion beyond the caucus meetings. He’s developing friendships with a number of caucus members, and is spreading CHALLENGE among them. This can lead to bringing some caucus members to May Day.

    Anti-War Militants Seize the Day At MEChA Conference

    The 10th Annual National MEChA Conference was held at the Univ. of California at Berkeley on March 29-30. MEChA is a Chicano student organization and has a reputation for being extremely nationalist and/or apolitical (organizing dances and BBQs, but doing little else). However, that’s not true at our school. We’ve been active in our campus chapter for three years and have developed a small group of CHALLENGE readers.

    About 1,000 high school and college students and community people came. We discussed a resolution against the war in Iraq while riding on the vans going to the conference, hoping this would raise the level of struggle among our friends and in the entire group. We decided to broaden the resolution to include imperialism and the Patriot Act.

    Although normally resolutions must be submitted 60 days in advance, fortunately many people there liked ours and helped push it to the floor. Unable to stop it, the conference leadership tried to change its thrust to one of opposing violence in general. The arguments made by the many friends we made at the Conference defeated this pacifist outlook, maintaining its anti-imperialist content.

    At a workshop discussing Marxism-Leninism and the possibility of armed revolution, many of the 50 people attending agreed we eventually would need a revolution in order to change the system. In fact, many became excited and we began to discuss the war in Iraq and why the leaders of MEChA didn’t want to discuss our resolution.

    That evening, during dinner, an impromptu rally against the war was held on campus. As the crowd quickly grew to over 500, many people felt the energy and wanted to march into the neighborhood, but the Conference leaders stopped them, using the excuse that the high school students didn’t realize they could be arrested and that those who "instigated" it weren’t concerned with their safety. In reality, high school students had taken the lead. Many had protested that it was their decision, but ultimately the march was halted.

    This demonstrated the potential for real struggle and understanding in MEChA, but also the danger of the misleaders’ reformism which cooled the righteous outrage of these working-class youth. This is not an isolated incident. The bosses use the misleaders of black and Latino organizations to divert anger of the working class. But as communists we recognize that such anger is an appropriate and welcome response to this system. Workers and students must utilize it in our fight against the ruling class.

    A Student Comrade

    Chicago City College Cuts Hit Immigrant Workers, Teachers

    CHICAGO, April 14 — Students and teachers at City Colleges here have been subjected to more attacks on their education and livelihoods. The Board of Education has been cutting back since last year when both federal and state monies began drying up. The rulers were busy rounding up and deporting some of our Arab and Latino students and beefing up their military budgets for endless imperialist wars. They have continued destroying social services, funding more war and attacking immigrant workers.

    The Democratic Governor of Illinois recently announced an austerity budget with a 5% reduction for the City Colleges. At one school that’s another $80,000 right away. Next year’s projected deficit is $16 million. This means the District Office and each of the seven campuses must cut $2 million.

    The Board’s "solutions" include a wage and hiring freeze, firing staff, serving fewer students and shutting down schools. The Intensive Program is being eliminated. Previously the intensive English program met for 16 weeks for 16 hours a week. Now these 256 classroom hours have been chopped to 64 — 8 hours a week for 8 weeks. Immigrant students would come from miles away for this special program.

    This follows the elimination of counselors and reduction of tutors. At one school the library is closed and the computer lab has reduced time. The administration is planning to charge for classes as opposed to our free ones.

    The teachers’ union sabotaged the members’ strike and the Board’s offers get increasingly insulting after each negotiating session. Teachers are being fired, especially anti-war and union activists who defend other teachers and students.

    The City Colleges really don’t care about education, educators or students. The capitalist system that dictates what the City Colleges do is in crisis. The rulers’ need to dominate the world and its resources contradicts the interests of the workers who need education. The best way to oppose the rulers’ plans for more war and fascism is building the revolutionary communist PLP. Big May Day marches, dinners and events will help pave the road to revolution.

    Euro Bosses Less Than Awed of U.S. Rulers

    Nazi-like "shock and awe" is a political, not just a military strategy. U.S. bosses want to intimidate any potential geopolitical competitors as much as crush any thought of Iraqi resistance to the U.S. invasion. Although the U.S. military has murdered and injured tens of thousands of civilians, the bosses’ invasion has failed on a number of political fronts.

    Nowhere is the political failure more evident than in "Old Europe." With the war barely a week old, the European Union (EU) began organizing to confront the U.S., economically, politically and militarily. "Old Europe" does not seem willing to accept junior-partner status in a world run by U.S. imperialism. All this despite — or perhaps because — U.S. bosses may control the flow of Mideast oil in the near future.

    The EU Commission, EU’s executive branch, has solidified its political power behind a constitutional proposal for a permanent presidency, rotated between France and Germany. Not even waiting for passage of the EU constitution, the Commission has forged ahead in the economic and military realms.

    Recently German-owned DHL worldwide express offered cash for the ground operations of Airborne, the U.S.’s third-largest package-delivery service, despite protests from UPS and Federal Express. DHL would have bought the air operations as well, but U.S. laws prohibit foreign ownership of domestic airlines. The EU Commission has pushed for the U.S. to modify these laws as a condition for renegotiating "open skies" agreements. The EU Commission nullified past bi-lateral "open skies" agreements negotiated with the U.S. trade commission, which allowed U.S. carriers access to Europe, saying that now the EU alone will speak for all European airlines.

    After the Kosovo war, the Europeans announced plans to build their own rapid deployment force. Since then, they’ve started on their own GPS satellite system and the A440M military transport plane to be built by Airbus Military. On March 26, German Defense Minister Peter Struck announced that the countries planning to build the A440M would use Russian Antonov transports rather than Boeing C-17s until the new aircraft are ready.

    On the eve of the Iraq war, the EU Commission announced plans to form a pan-European defense acquisition and research bureau. This is the latest governmental body that binds various European ruling classes together, and could avoid years of haggling that such military projects usually entail. Not quite a nation-state, the EU is rapidly become more than a momentary alliance of nations.

    The imperialist invasion of Iraq has been greeted with near universal condemnation from workers in Europe, culminating in a brief general strike across the continent. This points to opportunities for winning workers to communist politics worldwide. The EU will try to use this widespread anti-U.S. sentiment to provide a cover for the French and German rulers’ own imperialist ambitions to consolidate and increase political and military might versus U.S. bosses. This will drive them to intensify oppression of their own workers. The millions of Muslim workers in Germany and France know well the racism of the cops and bosses of those countries. All EU workers and bosses have nothing in common in opposing U.S. war in Iraq.

    It’s premature to say whether these latest moves by the EU Commission are harbingers of things to come. It does seem, however, that "shock and awe" has not slowed down the sharpening imperialist rivalry. Maintaining the empire will not come any cheaper in the days ahead. As Challenge says, capitalism means endless imperialist wars.

    a name="‘The Mountain That Eats Men’"></">‘T"e Mountain That Eats Men’

    The 10-year-old miners of Potosi, Bolivia, are testimony to the cruelty and torture that capitalism forces on the children of the working class. They toil 12 hours a day so they and their families can barely survive before the mountain eats them alive, according to a New York Times report (3/24). Of course, the Times does not trace the miners’ plight to the profit system. But their situation is not a freak of nature. When mineral prices collapsed in 1985, all the miners were laid off. Then the government company abandoned them, forcing them to organize mining "cooperatives" to fend off starvation. The minerals bring the lowest possible price, because of the world crisis of capitalism, hitting this poor nation of 8.3 million, gripped by recession, particularly hard.

    "In its heyday," says the Times, "Potosi was as big and rich as London. Its silver helped build the Spanish Armada and bankrolled Spanish military expansion." But 350 years under Spanish domination brought "the deaths of hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of Indians in the mines,…falling to illness and starvation, or simply overwork." The following are excerpts from the Times’ article:


    Once so famed for its abundant silver that the Spanish named it Rich Mountain….today those who mine its seams call it the "Mountain That Eats Men."

    Here, 250 feet down in a warren of caverns,…boys — as young as 10, most hardly 15 or 16 — ….clear rocks with picks and shovels and heave 100-pound loads on their bare backs….

    Older miners, wheezing and slowly dying of lung disease, have trouble keeping up. By their 40’s most are finished. Few live past 50….The labor falls to their sons, until they, too, wither generation by generation.

    The mountain does not discriminate. It eats boys, too.

    "At first when I came into the mountain, I just cried," said Grover….But I had to work….

    Sweat pouring from under his helmet, he had already worked 2 hours, and had 10 more to go….

    There is no lighting. No rail cars to carry out minerals. No pumped oxygen. No safety regulations….No face masks or gloves or heavy work boots….

    In an industry badly battered by collapsed commodity prices, poverty is the harshest taskmaster of all….The take is miniscule: miners make, at most, $100 a month and usually far less.

    In Latin America, languishing in its worst economic cycle in decades, the use of child labor is becoming more widespread….An estimated 800,000 children work in this country….

    ….The mountain itself appears devastated — heaps of slag and shavings have created noxious mounds of contaminants hundreds of feet high. Polluted water flows down its sides…

    Into this labyrinth go Agustin Quispe, 46, and his son, Santos, 15…They buy sacks of coca leaves [to] chew to ward off hunger and fatigue. They will not eat during their entire 8 or 10 hours in the mountain….

    The work is backbreaking….Rock slides are common. Fingers or limbs are often mangled. At least 21 miners were killed in the last two years. A 15-year-old was crushed to death in January….

    "I regret this so much," said Aurelio Isla, 35, who started mining when he was 12 and is now a victim of black lung disease, unable to draw a full breath….This mountain has finished me off…."

    Grover said he had to stop going to school when his father, Severino, died two years ago. At 14, Grover quickly took his place in the mine, to help his mother and his siblings.

    "There was no one else to take care of the family, and I was the oldest," he said. "So I went in."

    Fascist U.S. Prison System: Black/White Ratio is 7.5 to 1

    With a U.S. prison population of 2,019,234 last year, the Bureau of Justice Statistics calculated that 28% of all black men will be Imprisoned sometime in their lifetime. Right now, 12% of all black men between 20 and 34 are in jail, compared to 1.6% of white men in the same age bracket.

    The largest number of convictions stem from drugs, two-thirds of which are non-violent crimes. (In Texas, possession of 4 ounces of marijuana gets up to two years in prison.) Federal law mandates five years without parole for possession of 5 grams (one-sixth of an ounce) of crack cocaine. But for POWDER cocaine, 500 grams — one hundred times as much — is required for a 5-year sentence. The overwhelming majority of crack users are black and Latino. The overwhelming majority of powder users are middle- and upper-class whites. This "war on drugs" is a essentially a racist war on black and Latino workers and youth.

    This combination of long prison terms for non-violent offenders possessing an ounce or two of crack cocaine, the zeroing in on the predominantly black areas of big cities by racist police forces, and the framing of tens of thousands of black youth by corrupt racist cops (as in LA and Miami) has resulted in HALF the inmates in this country’s prisons being black (although they constitute only one-tenth of the total population).

    Illegal drug use among white men is approximately the same as for black men. Yet because of the above racist factors, "black men are five times as likely to be arrested for drug offenses" as are white men. (Atlantic Monthly, Dec. 1998, p. 57)

    Black men — 10% of the male population in the U.S. — are imprisoned at more than FOUR times the rate of black men in South Africa, where they constitute 75% of the male population! And once in prison, inmates — half of them black — are subjected to slave labor, producing goods for big corporations at "wage" rates of 23¢ an hour.

    The Civil War presumably ended slavery for black people in 1865. Now U.S. capitalism has succeeded in re-introducing slavery into the largest prison system in world history. (For a complete analysis of this slave labor prison system, see PLP pamphlet: "Prison Labor: Fascism U.S. Style," available on our website —www.PLP.org)

    LETTERS

    a name="Many GI’s Not Won To Fighting">">"any GI’s Not Won To Fighting

    At drill last month, a sergeant whispered in my ear, "They can send me to Fort Drum or Texas, but I’m not going over to fight in Iraq." Later on, while another soldier and I were discussing the invasion of Iraq, he joked, "Yeah, I’ll go through this pre-mobilization paperwork, but they’re crazy if they think I am going to Iraq!" Make no mistake — many soldiers are not won to fighting.

    There are a few key reasons for their cynicism. First, most soldiers (especially those in the Army Reserves and National Guard) are workers who bought into the military’s pitch for college benefits. When they get called up for combat situations, many feel manipulated upon seeing that the same military supposedly guaranteeing them a better life could also be responsible for their deaths. Second, many soldiers believe that this war is personal for President Bush. In short, many, many soldiers view this war as someone else’s problem that they’re being forced to fight.

    But cynicism alone will not lead soldiers to understanding the nature of capitalism and inter-imperialist rivalry, which is what this war is all about. So at one point, during our "hurry-up-and-wait" time, I organized an informal discussion with a group of soldiers about the war in Iraq. After a few minutes, one soldier cautiously informed us of his presence at an anti-war protest in March.

    After some more intense exchanges, one soldier remarked, "We’re talking about all these problems, but what’s the solution?" Everyone looked at me. These soldiers are hungry for answers, and it’s our responsibility to deliver. At the time, my response was limited, but this discussion has now given me the opportunity to raise the question of communist revolution with a few more soldiers and increase my CHALLENGE distribution. Several soldiers have agreed to come to a pre-May Day dinner.

    While the anti-war movement is using its pacifist line to encourage youth to avoid the military, PLP has a real solution. "Turn the guns around" is the revolutionary position that fights for the international unity among soldiers across all borders. Without an army of soldiers fighting for the liberation of the working class, a future of peace and stability will never be guaranteed for our class.

    Red Soldier

    Colombia: Iraq War Same as Death Squads

    Contrary to "Death Squad" Uribe, Colombia’s President, workers and youth here understand very well what imperialist massacres mean. As in the rest of the world, we have had many anti-war protests, mainly led by college students, NGOs [Non-government organizations] and left-wing groups. Most workers oppose the war, since they have seen the effects of "imperialist democracy" first-hand here, where thousands of trade unionists and others have been murdered by the paramilitary death squads. But unlike the workers, the union hacks have remained silent on this war, just as they do on most attacks against workers.

    A clear example is Luis Eduardo Garzón, former head of the CUT union federation. "I am tired of hating, we need reconciliation," he said in one of the many get-togethers he’s been having with politicians seeking to "improve the system a little."

    But this system is so rotten and criminal that nothing can make it better for workers. These hacks have shown once again they are part of the problem not of the solution.

    PLP members have participated in anti-war demonstrations in Colombia, distributing DESAFIO-CHALLENGE and leaflets. Contrary to union hacks and all kinds of reformists, we clearly tell workers and youth that capitalism causes war, fascist terror, unemployment, etc. Workers and capitalists have irreconcilable differences that will only intensify as the world’s rulers create more wars and death squads. The only way out of this hell is to fight for a society without any bosses: communism.

    A Red Worker, Colombia

    Death Penalty For Cuba Hijackers

    Three persons holding 50 passengers hostage hijacked a ferry boat from Cuba and were headed to Florida but were caught by Cuban authorities, tried, found guilty and executed. Meanwhile, some 65 dissidents were jailed and sentenced to long prison terms for collaborating with Bush’s man in Havana. The Cuban government had infiltrated several agents into the dissident movement and then showed proof of how James Cason, in charge of the U.S. Interest Section in Cuba, had met with the dissidents in his house and office. Cason paid them $100 a month to serve as spies for the U.S.

    In a recent three-week period, two air taxis were hijacked and flown to Florida, along with one ferry. These were not regular "boat people" but rather part of a sinister plot.

    A 1994 immigration agreement signed by the U.S. and Cuba provided for hijackers to be returned to their home country for trial. But instead of sending these international pirates back to Cuba, the U.S. treated them as minor offenders and released them on bail in Florida. Finally, the Cuban government took action and, after rescuing this last hijacked ferry boat, tried the three kidnappers and executed them.

    This has sparked much controversy, even among supporters of Cuba overseas who oppose the death penalty. Some even say Cuba shouldn’t behave like Texas or other U.S. states, where the death penalty is applied regularly. I disagree.

    The Cuban government fears it might be next in Bush & Company’s line of fire, particularly since the right-wing Cuban exile leadership in Miami carries a lot of weight in the Bush gang’s foreign policy. Moreover, the Cuban dissidents function mostly as paid agents of the U.S. government.

    The death penalty is not above class or politics. In the U.S., it is mostly working people (a majority black and Latin) who are on death row for crimes caused by the racist exploitation of capitalism. Cuba, while not really the revolutionary system claimed by many of its supporters, has applied the death penalty in a very different situation. After all, if these dissidents get away with supplying the U.S. with intelligence information, Havana could become another Baghdad, killing thousands in the name of "democracy."

    Che Rojo

    a name="Bringing DESAFIO-CHALLENGE to Peru’s Prisons">">"ringing DESAFIO-CHALLENGE to Peru’s Prisons

    Greetings! Your bi-weekly publication is indeed a tribune reflecting the feelings of the U.S. working class and that all of us in one way or another reject imperialism and work towards a worldwide communist society. This future will only be achieved through the organized struggle of the working class.

    I also want to condemn U.S. imperialism represented by Bush and his gang of butchers which, under the guise of fighting international terrorism, massacres the people of Iraq. What they call terrorism has been created by the imperialists, who dig their own grave since the world’s oppressed and exploited are fighting back internationally. It doesn’t matter what the imperialists call this struggle. For oppressed people it is one for liberation.

    It is well known that the U.S.-British butchers will win this invasion of Iraq, since they have a very sophisticated genocidal military machine. But the people of Iraq have shown that one can fight back against this monster.

    Here in Peru, political violence began in the 1980s between the PCP (Communist Party) and the state. Today, this violence has eased after 25,000 deaths, 80% of them murdered by the State and its armed forces. There are 1,000 political prisoners and another 1,000 hiding to avoid arrest.

    Toledo, who replaced the Fujimori-Montesinos dictatorship a couple of years ago, continues with the same cruel jail system, refusing to free many who have been imprisoned for over 10 years.

    A friend gave me a copy of DESAFIO-CHALLENGE. I decided to bring it to some of these prisoners. But the guards, seeing it was a communist paper, got very nervous and refused to allow it in. So I was left with the goal of bringing the paper to the prisoners in some other way.

    I will keep in touch and wish you many victories.

    A Friend in Peru

    Retired Unionist Hits Sweeney War Cry

    Unions, in general, look to John Sweeney as their leader because he is the AFL-CIO president. I’m a member of the ARA (Alliance for Retired Americans), NYC chapter, which is an arm of the AFL-CIO.

    Seventy of us attended the March 26 monthly meeting, discussing the Iraq War. All agreed it was bad but mainly that services would be cut due to the billions the government would spend for the military.

    I said not only was the U.S. purpose to gain oil for domestic use and profit but also for the U.S. to control which consumers of which countries got the oil, at what price and that the oil was paid for in dollars, not Euros.

    I noted that the war was in no way fought for democracy since the U.S. had a long record of supporting fascists like the Shah, Trujillo, Somoza, Suharto, Duvalier and every other dictator who has ever existed so long as they played the roles the U.S. wanted.

    The ARA members agreed with me almost totally and made similar points. But there was one other important issue where there was less unity, the one which Sweeney always exploits — patriotism in the guise of support for U.S. troops.

    This is also the line of politicians like Rangel and Clinton and of course, the media. We know some workers swallow it. I advocated, "U.S. imperialists out of Iraq now," that this was class war, meaning we could not unite with any capitalists, Saddam included.

    Afterwards, two members approached me. One, a fireman, said belligerently, "I agree with you on the oil issue but we must support the troops." I repeated my case and left it at that. I realized that patriotism and "support your troops" are among the biggest obstacles to the unity of the U.S. working class now or anytime.

    Later, I remembered history, which demonstrated that when the time is ripe, soldiers will turn their guns around and the workers will use whatever weapons they have to remove their never-ending exploiters.

    ARA Member

    a name="Bosses’ Patriotism or Workers of the World Unite?">">"osses’ Patriotism or Workers of the World Unite?

    "Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel" said Samuel Johnson. In the name of patriotism, several thousand people rallied at Ground Zero, NYC, on April 10 to support the slaughter of Iraqi men, women and children by the hi-tech weaponry of U.S. imperialism. CNN, FoxNews, MsNBC, the NY Post, Washington Post, etc., were full of "patriotic pride" as they covered the massacre of Iraq. It was disgusting to see the construction union hacks rally for war while thousands of jobs are being eliminated in NYC and across the country by the same bosses who perpetrated this war. But these hacks do nothing about this job massacre.

    "Patriotism" seems to be a classless concept since it lumps bosses and workers together in defending "our" country. But patriotism and nationalism are ideologies favoring one class: the capitalist. The bosses very much own "our" country and use these ideologies to win workers to support bosses’ wars that are only in the bosses’ class interests and that kill our brothers and sisters around the globe. The "stars and stripes" is the bosses’ flag which represents the almighty dollar and is used to oppress the working class.

    Many leaders of the anti-war movement advocate patriotism. The groups that organized the huge protests of Feb. 15

    and March 22 —United for Peace and Justice and Win Without Wars — are guilty of that. Medea Benjamin, of the anti-globalization group Global Exchange and leader of Win Without Wars, said the peace movement must "reclaim the flag and patriotism from the right-wingers."

    These groups want to ensure that the "progressive" elements of the Democratic Party win the next election. There already is a section of the ruling class and the Democratic Party, while not opposing the Iraq war per se, believe the Bushites are the wrong gang to do the job needed after the war to continue the U.S. bosses’ world domination. Tom Kerry, a leading Democratic running for president, already called for "regime change" in Washington. He’s setting himself up to be the candidate of the millions who opposed the war and who will continue to oppose the Bushites now that the Iraq war appears over.

    An article in the April 13 New York Times (Section 4) reviewed the history of patriotism in the U.S. — from the "Communism-is-20th-Century-Americanism" of the old Communist Party USA, to the current "peace-is-patriotic" theme of parts of the anti-war movement. That is why even though the song printed in CHALLENGE (April 16) changed the words of the patriotic song, "Rally ’round the Flag," I believe it’s a mistake to use it, even with a progressive anti-war line. It just perpetuates the myth that somehow patriotism is useful to workers and their allies.

    We in PLP have attacked patriotism and nationalism as reactionary creatures of capitalism. We put forward the line of "Workers of the World, Unite!" and "Smash All Borders" to counter these ideas.

    An "unpatriotic" Comrade

    In Memoriam

    On March 20, my father died of cancer. While he wasn’t a giant of the communist movement, he put the "work" in working class. He quit school to go to work at age 13 and didn’t stop until he was 77. Like millions of his generation, he grew up in the Great Depression and came of age fighting fascism in World War II.

    He spent 45 years as a furrier in the NYC garment center, just a few minutes from where he was born and raised on E. 4 St. He was a militant member of a communist-led union, that took on the Mafia and the Nazis and provided security for Paul Robeson’s Peekskill concerts. We grew up with stories about strikes and picket lines. He told us of following scabs into the freight elevators with a butcher knife while "Acid Arnie" sprinkled the scab fur coats, turning them to garbage. Our dinner table was the liveliest spot in the house, full of discussion and debate — no racist jokes allowed.

    He retired only to find that his union pension was less than $100/month. After moving to Florida, he went back to work as a security guard. He said, "At my job they call me ‘The Rabbi’ because I’m always preaching to the young guys. What do I tell them? ‘Teach each other. Look out for each other.’"

    In the last few weeks he said, "In the end what have you got? It’s nice to have some money when you’re working, to do things, to paint the town red. But in the end, all you’ve got is people. Anyway, the world is not about me. It’s about how you lived in it, what you did for it, and what you didn’t do. And that’s it.

    He lived his life for others, for those he loved, and he always knew what side he was on. What could be more noble than that?

    Red Son

    RED EYE ON THE NEWS

    BELOW ARE EXCERPTS FROM MAINSTREAM NEWSPAPERS THAT CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION:Abbreviations: NYT=New York Times, GW=Guardian Weekly (UK)

     

    No mass weapons found

    Britain and the United States suffered a fresh blow last weekend when their main justification for war was undermined by reports that special forces have failed to find any weapons of mass destruction in Iraq….

    John Wolf, the assistant secretary of state for non-proliferation, said that US secretary of state, Colin Powell, was desperate to find a "smoking gun." (GW, 4/9)

    After troops, anti-Muslims

    Poised behind the troops, waiting for a signal that Iraq is safe enough for them to operate in, are the evangelical Christians — carrying food in one hand and the Bible in the other….

    Muslim worries have been heightened because the man leading the charge into Iraq is Rev. Franklin Graham, who delivered the invocation at President Bush’s inauguration. The son of Billy Graham and a fierce critic of Islam, he is on record as calling it a "wicked" religion, with a God different from that of Christianity. "The two are different as lightness and darkness," he wrote. (GW, 4/16)

     

    Bechtel backs into billion

    Andrew Natsios…set out last week to counter accusations that $600m worth of contracts for reconstruction in Iraq…were examples of cronyism.

    "If you need a surgeon…or a college, you seek out the names with the reputation for quality and the ability to get the job done," he said. Strange, then, that a frontrunner is construction giant Bechtel, whose record in managing America’s biggest public works project has been, by most accounts, disastrous….Bechtel’s record in managing the "big dig," a $23b project to burrow a highway under Boston….according to Senator Robert Havern:…."is the biggest works project in the history of America, and it is the largest cost overrun of any project…."

    According to Pratap Chatterjee, of the California-based Corpwatch, the Halliburton subsidiary…stands to make a killing. "The main money is not in reconstruction. The main money is in supporting the troops. Whoever gets that money will be running all the army bases for an army that is not going to leave. About 80% of the budget goes to the military, and the rest on reconstruction." (GW, 4/16)

    Immigrants reject cops

    Washington, April 13 — A coalition of immigrant advocacy groups is challenging the Justice Department’s decision to allow state and local police departments to pursue illegal immigrants as part of the war on terror. (NYT, 4/14)

     

    Sounds like Syria’s next

    President Bush accused Syria today of harboring senior Iraqi military and government officials and demanded "cooperation."

    ….Mr. Bush also asserted that "there are chemical weapons in Syria." (NYT, 4/14)

    Red statues are different

    Lately parallels have been drawn in the press between Saddam Hussein’s Iraq and the…Communists who ruled Russia….

    But with polls showing that more and more Russians are looking on the Soviet past with fondness, there is a distinct possibility that one day we will see the once-toppled monuments back at the heart of Moscow. (NYT, 4/10)

    Many wars after Iraq

    "The national security strategy of the United States," published in mid-September….declared that the president would take pre-emptive action against hostile nations and terrorist groups developing chemical, biological and nuclear weapons….

    "The publication of the strategy was the signal that Iraq would be the first test, but not the last," said one senior official involved in its drafting….

    Senior Pentagon officials and…counterterrorism officials have suggested that the United States government will now turn its attention to Hamas, the Palestine group that has used terrorism to fight for a Palestinean state, and Hezbollah, which has strong ties to Syria and Iran. (NYT, 4/10)

     

    Big Iraq kill uncountable

    Neither British nor American military officials will provide even rough estimates of Iraqi soldiers killed in the war….

    For example, relentless bombing and a week of ground combat left the Baghdad division of Iraq’s army reduced to "zero percent strength," according to Marine officers who engaged the division, once thought to number about 10,000 soldiers. Where are they?

    One military official…said the number of Iraqi dead was certainly high but ultimately unknowable.

    "In the bombing of the different divisions, the destruction there was terrifying," the official said, speaking on condition that he not be named….

    The world will probably never know how many, and no Iraqi authority is left to count them and notify their families. (NYT, 4/10)

    Information
    Print

    CHALLENGE, April 16, 2003

    Information
    16 April 2003 375 hits
    1. `Shock and Awe' Atrocities Isolate U.S. Rulers As
    2. Liberal Hypocrisy about "Unfairness" in U.S. Military Covers Plan to Restore Draft, Widen Imperialist Wars
    3. British Soldiers Refuseto Fight
    4. New York City Streets:
      250,000 Anti-War, 600 Pro-War
    5. Bosses Hand Machinists Layoffs, CEO Gets Millions
      1. If We Produce All Value, How Come the Bosses Make All the Important Decisions?
      2. Workers' Power Is The Answer
    6. Parent-Teacher Allegiance Is Pledge to Oppose War
    7. Chicago State Students' Walkout Opposes Invasion of Iraq
    8. Tens of Thousands in LA March, Walk Out vs. Iraq War
    9. NJ Schools Forum Hears Attack On Iraq War, Fascist Laws
    10. Brazil: Auto, Steel Workers Launch
      Mass Strike vs. Lula's Attacks
    11. Thousands Tell Democratic Gov. `No War, No Cuts!'
    12. H.S. Students Take Leadership in Anti-War Struggle
    13. National Guards: World Views Bush Klan as new Nazis
    14. Anti-racist GIs: `Won't Kill Iraqis'
    15. 10,000 in D.C. Hit Racist Anti-Affirmative Action Suit
    16. Imperialists' Bombs Make Big Bucks for U.S. Profiteers
      1. RECONSTRUCTION PLAN EXPOSES MASS MURDER
      2. MILITARY-INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX RIDING HIGH
    17. TALK ABOUT `HARM'S WAY'....
    18. 80,000 in Bolivia Battle Army in Mass Uprising
    19. Film Review: In Whose Interest?
    20. Destroy the World To Save It?
    21. LETTERS
      1. Do the Math-- It's the Racist War For Oil
      2. Racist Airport Cops Attack 12-year-olds
      3. War Turns Pledge Upside Down
      4. Patriotism Undercuts Anti-War Fight
      5. Aim Struggle At Wall Street
      6. Rummy to Saddam: Let's Make A Deal
      7. CHALLENGE Reader Receives Cheers
    22. RED EYE ON THE NEWS
      1. `Real men want Iran'
      2. No Iraq chem. attack plan
      3. Snipers hit some civilians
      4. The rich don't volunteer
      5. World: US is imperialist
      6. US Black people feel Iraqi pain
      7. US Muslims fear attacks
      8. God not on rulers' side?
      9. Depends what's globalized

    `Shock and Awe' Atrocities Isolate U.S. Rulers As Millions Protest Imperialist War

    "I honestly don't think the Iraqi people want us here...these people are not going to give up as easily as everyone expects. They're going to fight." (Chief Warrant Officer Sean McNeal, as his Apache helicopter was nearly hit by rifle fire)

    "We are invading their country. I'd be on my window with a shotgun too." (Chief Warrant Officer, Glen Woodard)

    --From Newsday, March 29

    Bush's war of terror against Iraqi workers is turning into a serious political defeat for the U.S. ruling class. "Shock and Awe" has boomeranged to become a catalyst for mobilizing millions around the world into a movement against U.S. imperialism. The mass base of this movement is militant, angry and thirsty for an alternative to bosses' oil wars. Only the revolutionary communist politics of the Progressive Labor Party can meet this need.

    We've entered a new period of danger and opportunity. The danger stems from U.S. rulers' united determination to invade and occupy Persian Gulf oil-producing nations, despite their internal differences over tactics. Control of cheap oil remains crucial to Washington's plan for world domination far into the future. Bush's brutality in Iraq is just a first step. Once the bosses secure Iraq's oil fields, as they probably will, they are likely to target Iran next. After Iran, they may have to occupy Saudi Arabia. Widening imperialist war is the main international aspect of this new period.

    But this danger also brings the richest opportunity for revolutionary growth since the Vietnam years, an aspect to be grasped and acted upon. The world-wide anti-war demonstrations on February 15 caught the rulers napping and have shown no signs of slowing down since Bush invaded Iraq. On March 22, several hundred thousand people marched in New York City, against only 600 who came out to support the war on the following day. In London on the 22nd, perhaps "as many as 700,000" protested the Bush-Blair atrocities in Iraq, and, according to The Observer (3/23), "Britain's biggest wartime demonstration was a more dour, determined, and altogether angrier affair." Similar demonstrations continue throughout Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

    U.S. imperialism is conducting this war in a state of increasing isolation from both the world's working class and the overwhelming majority of its own rivals. The Rumsfeld-Wolfowitz hawks around Bush thought the war would be a cakewalk. They made boasts that have all proved futile. The Saddam Hussein regime is far from crippled. The vaunted anti-Saddam rebellions by Shi'ite Muslims in southern Iraq haven't materialized. And, most importantly, the Iraqi population seems to be greeting its U.S. "liberators" with bullets and car bombs rather than the flowers Rumsfeld had promised.

    The Iraqi military and some of the population are fighting back and sucking the U.S. into the guerrilla war it wasn't prepared for. However, the U.S. is still likely to win an eventual victory and occupy much of the country. But this occupation may cost far more in money and lives than Bush & Co. had predicted. Controlling Iraq after the war will be no picnic. Although French, Russian and Chinese bosses won't have sufficient strength to confront U.S. rulers head-on soon, the process of the U.S.'s political isolation will continue to accelerate. This development will proceed amid growing militancy against U.S. imperialism throughout the Arab-Muslim world, particularly Iran and Saudi Arabia.

    This contradiction provides fertile ground for growth of a communist movement! The anti-war movement has just begun. It has the potential to continue growing in size and militancy. Despite the lies in the rulers' media about overwhelming support for the war, key sections of the U.S. population already oppose it. The numbers in the streets don't lie, and the marchers reflect millions more at home who aren't yet ready to march. The highest rate of opposition to this war comes from black workers.

    As the quotations above show, even "lifers" in the U.S. military are at the very least skeptical about the true nature of their mission in Iraq. Rank-and-file soldiers, who make up the bulk of U.S. casualties, will die in greater numbers as the fighting worsens. They are likely to begin asking hard questions about this war. The "Vietnam Syndrome" is far from dead. This skepticism can eventually turn into rebelliousness. The so-called "all-volunteer" military is in reality an economic draft. Most of the young workers in it signed up to get job skills, not to pitch and catch bullets in the desert for the greater glory of Exxon Mobil. U.S. imperialism is politically isolated from many of its own soldiers.

    Liberals and other fakers within the growing anti-imperialist movement will continue to try duping it into a pro-imperialist trap. We must expose and oppose them, and organize activity around revolutionary communist politics. It may be a long time before PLP has enough political and numerical strength to alter the fundamental relationship of forces in the class struggle, but the current opportunity is the best in many years. We can and must seize it.

    Liberal Hypocrisy about "Unfairness" in U.S. Military Covers Plan to Restore Draft, Widen Imperialist Wars

    The liberal media, along with their rented retired generals, are blasting the Bush-Rumsfeld White House for invading Iraq without enough ground troops. The liberals have claimed for months that hundreds of thousands of troops were needed to cover supply lines and provide reinforcements for casualties or forces tied up in battles against an Iraqi military underestimated by Bush & Co.

    This tactical spat among the bosses reveals a need they have long feared to discuss in public. Iraq is just the first step of their grand plan to occupy Middle Eastern oil fields and to suppress "terrorists" (i.e., anti-U.S. nationalists) around the world. If, as the liberals assert, Iraq alone requires a minimum of 300,000 ground troops (with an additional 200,000 at sea and in the air), then comparable actions in Iran and Saudi Arabia, will call for multiples of that figure.

    The dirty little secret the liberals are now letting out of the bag is that the "all-volunteer" military has reached its limits. Bush's patriotic flag-waving after 9/11 didn't exactly produce a stampede to military recruiting offices. As the main Establishment media are now beginning to suggest, the return of the draft is just a matter of time. The liberals' Big Lie here, first uttered by Harlem Congressman Rangel, is the pretense that a draft would make military service more "democratic" than the present system. "It's just not fair," opines the Congressman, "that the people that we ask to fight our wars are people who join the military because of economic conditions, because they have fewer options." Rangel makes this statement in a long New York Times article (3/30) that laments the relative absence of the middle class in today's U.S. military.

    Behind this façade of equity, the liberals' real goal is to increase the deadly fighting strength of the U.S. war machine. There's a precedent for this maneuver. At the end of World War II, when U.S. imperialism had to gear up for the Cold War against the old international communist movement, the Pentagon under the liberal Democrat Truman integrated the U.S. armed forces and expanded military opportunities for women. The lesson is that when the bosses begin mouthing off about "social justice" and "sharing burdens," their real goal is to sucker millions of workers, students and others into fighting and dying for their rotten system.

    Watch for the Democrats and Rockefeller Republicans to begin hopping on the Rangel draft bandwagon, perhaps as soon as the 2004 presidential election. They'll probably paste a fig-leaf name like "national service" on it. We can't prevent the rulers from restoring the draft. But we may have a lot to say about the conflict between workers and bosses that will surely sharpen once the draft and its cost, both economic and human, becomes apparent.

    British Soldiers Refuseto Fight

    Two British soldiers in Iraq were ordered home after protesting that the war is killing innocent civilians. They're from the 16th Air Assault Brigade, which has been involved in heavy fighting in southern Iraq, "protecting" oilfields. A third soldier in the reserves refused orders to travel to the Middle East. The soldiers face a court martial and up to two years in jail.

    A military affairs lawyer said one of the soldiers "told his superiors that he wasn't prepared to enter into a conflict that involved the killing of innocent civilians." (Sunday London Times, 3/30) The two soldiers were sent back to the Brigade's barracks in Colchester, Essex.

    British troops have been plagued with boots that melt in the desert sun, assault rifles that jam when sand gets into them, and whole units without enough ammo, food, toilet paper and showers. Recently a soldier discovered that two plates were missing from her body armor and she had to buy them out of her own pocket. All this, together with massive opposition to the war and increasing difficulties in the military campaign, is affecting soldiers' morale.

    On top of this, British soldiers have been the targets of "friendly fire" from the U.S. blitzkrieg. One British soldier was killed and three were wounded 35 miles north of Basra when U.S. anti-tank aircraft destroyed two British armored vehicles.

    One survivor criticized the American pilot for shooting when there were civilians so close to the tanks. He said, "There was a boy of about 12 years old. He was no more than 20 meters away....There were all these civilians around. He had absolutely no regard for human life."

    If the war goes on and the number of dead and wounded in the imperialist armies increases, we could see mass opposition among soldiers. A key factor in the defeat of US imperialism in Vietnam was the refusal of U.S. soldiers to continue fighting, and openly rebelling against their officers.

    New York City Streets:
    250,000 Anti-War, 600 Pro-War

    NEW YORK CITY, March 31 -- The Bush/Rumsfeld/Gen. Tommy Franks' "shock and awe" blitzkrieg attack against Iraq not only failed to win a quick victory, as they expected, but also failed to deter the anger of the growing anti-war movement. Millions have demonstrated worldwide against this war.

    One of the biggest protests occurred here on March 22. A quarter of a million people marched for hours over a two-mile route from Times Square to Washington Square. They included young and old, from veterans of many previous anti-war movements to youth in their first activity against an invasion created by a system based on endless imperialist wars.

    PLP members and friends participated in many ways, marching with various mass organizations we work with and distributing thousands of special CHALLENGE supplements as well as CHALLENGE itself. A group of PLP'ers rallied at one corner of 37th St. and Broadway where our chants of "Muslims, Jews, Black and White, Same Enemy Same Fight, Workers of the World. Unite!" were well received by the marchers.

    Tens of thousands heard our attack both on the Bushites for launching the war, and on the Democratic Party politicians (NY Senators Hillary Clinton and Charles Schumer) for supporting it. Pointing out that many have been marching since the '60s during the Vietnam war made it clear that capitalism and imperialism make war for profits inevitable. Capitalism and peace don't mix. The only way out of this living hell is to organize a mass communist movement of workers, students and soldiers worldwide to fight for a society without any bosses -- communism.

    As the crowd reached Washington Square Park, after hours of marching, the cops yelled that the march was over and ordered people to disperse. Thousands refused. Several dozens youth who left the park to march in the street were beaten by the cops. Then over 1,000 marched through the neighborhood confronting riot cops, police vans and cops on horses. More cops arrived but despite their violence many remained chanting, "Shut down the war, open up the streets!"

    The next day a "pro-war" rally in Times Square organized by right-wing groups only drew 600 people. Even though polls say a majority support Bush and the war, the streets definitely belong to the anti-war forces.

    Bosses Hand Machinists Layoffs, CEO Gets Millions

    "But what about the CEO?" complained a union machinist at a recent crew meeting. "He just got a million-dollar bonus, but you tell us the company can't afford to keep our jobs." The big boss had just finished describing management's plan to surplus a bunch of our machines and offload our jobs.

    "The CEO's bonus is not something you can affect," the boss answered. "You can't control the economic environment. You can't control the [Iraq] war. The only thing you can control is the job you do, so do the best job you can. That's what we have to focus on now."

    If We Produce All Value, How Come the Bosses Make All the Important Decisions?

    It's not every day a boss states capitalism's failures so clearly. Our labor produces every penny of capital the company has to invest. Yet the bosses decide what to do with that capital. In essence, the surplus of capital produced by our labor -- the value above and beyond raw materials, machines and the cost of labor, etc. -- is stolen from us.

    The bosses flood the market with goods, while cutting workers' wages. Inevitably, this leads to a "crisis of overproduction." More goods are produced than can be sold at a profit. Since capitalists produce only for profit -- not for workers' needs -- they cut back production. Millions are laid off.

    Many of us are Vietnam veterans. Millions of our class brothers and sisters, both U.S. and Vietnamese, died on the altar of U.S. imperialism in Southeast Asia. Now it's our children's turn to fight and die for the bosses' empire. U.S. imperialism plans to control the world by controlling the flow of oil. The bosses' foreign policy think tanks have been planning to invade Iraq for at least the last four years.

    We spend a lifetime making the bosses rich, and powerful. Capitalism and its governmental forms are designed that way. There's no way to restrict the bosses' power under capitalism. Elections are bought; the so-called "free press" is "free" only to the corporate world that controls every significant media outlet. Unions that defend the capitalist system end up supporting one boss or another.

    Workers' Power Is The Answer

    If we workers want the power to decide where the value we produce goes, if we want to eliminate these endless crises of overproduction, if we want to end imperialist wars that claim the lives of so many, we must think outside the limits of capitalism. We must do a lot more than a "good job." We must build for communist revolution!

    Communist production is for need, not profit. This allows us to organize a rational system based on the needs of the working class. "Crises of overproduction" will disappear.

    Only communism can end imperialist wars. Communism relies on the might of the international working class to defeat ALL bosses. Communist internationalism stands in sharp contrast to the nationalism of the IAM, which chose "American Might" as the theme of next year's calendar. Such nationalist messages pave the way for endless imperialist wars.

    Certainly we can do a lot about the economic environment and about the bosses' wars. We can reclaim the power that is ours by right. Although long and difficult, the path to communist revolution is the answer. In times like these, capitalism's failures become clear for all to see, providing opportunities for revolutionary growth. Join the PLP! Fight for Communism!

    Parent-Teacher Allegiance Is Pledge to Oppose War

    BRONX, NY, March 31 -- A fight against an elementary school principal's demand that young children be forced to stand and acknowledge the pledge allegiance to the bosses' flag has mushroomed into a parents' rebellion and about 35 staff members wearing pledges against the war in Iraq. This offensive by parents and teachers has put the school administration on the defensive in their attempt to carry out the ruling class's aim of indoctrinating young schoolchildren with nationalism and patriotism.

    As reported in the March 19 CHALLENGE, the administration's fascist tactic of forcing a PL teacher and his pre-Kindergarten students to stand for the pledge of allegiance backfired when the teacher fought back, exposing the principal's breaking of their own rules and foiling his attempt to escort the 4-year-olds to the classroom next door.

    Parents, one who was a PL member, boldly demanded, via a petition, to have their children returned to their classroom and be allowed to sit during the pledge. Many involved in this fight are CHALLENGE readers.

    Three days after the principal backed down, anti-war staff members distributed 50 stickers with a different allegiance: "I PLEDGE TO STOP THE WAR IN IRAQ!" Twenty-five wore them. One, with a 19-year-old son in the war, took a sticker and, although she felt conflicted, said, "Look I want to support the troops but I'm against this oil war!" The administration told them to "keep their political views at home," but many kept wearing their stickers. One teacher said, "If people can wear American flags then I can wear my sticker!"

    The next day, six parents in our classroom -- all wearing the sticker -- led a sit-in against the pledge of allegiance. The administration tried to bar the parents from the room. The PL parent shot back, "We're telling you we're going to sit with our children during the pledge." The principal then said the children needed a parental note with permission to sit. The parents wrote notes right there in the classroom. The Pledge came over the loudspeaker and the teacher from next door entered to lead the class. Not one parent or student stood nor recited the bosses' pledge nor sang the "Star Spangled Banner." This teacher vowed to never return again.

    Then, after the parents left, the teachers union rep entered the classroom -- on the principal's side! Instead of supporting the teacher, the rep shot questions at him, about the anti-war sticker he was wearing and about the parents who had just left. Then ten more teachers wore stickers that day.

    The next week, the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) and the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) entered the case. The NYCLU lawyer said harassment of those refusing to participate in the pledge is widespread. She said recently an immigrant student sat during the pledge and the racist principal ordered him to stand or "get out of the country"! The lawyers at both agencies applauded the courage of the fighting parents and teachers. The CCR director sent a letter to the principal demanding she stop sending someone into the classroom to recite the pledge and cease harassing and/or ostracizing the PL teacher. It emphasizes that the pledge is voluntary (2nd Court of Appeals, Goetz vs. Ansell).

    The 35 staffers wearing anti-war stickers, the parent "sit-in" against the pledge and NYCLU/CCR involvement put the administration on the defensive.

    Although we've won some ground, the battle is far from over. The principal still recites the pledge with the PL teacher's students "if they choose"; parents have not been notified of their rights; and a student note is still informally required to abstain from the pledge. Of course, most Pre-K through second-grade students are too young to understand the words to be able to "choose."

    The administration wants all the students to stand and salute the bosses' imperialist flag, under threat of intimidation and ostracism. This is how fascism works. Walk to the beat of the bosses drum' or you'll be made an example of. But the working class is too smart for this!

    Many parents and teachers see that "liberty and justice for all" directly contradicts their material existence. While they understand the pledge is hypocritical, they think maybe they should stand out of respect for others who do participate. But we should have no respect for this cruel, unjust and murderous system which offers nothing to the working class. They slaughter thousands in Iraq to secure the bosses' oil while simultaneously putting all Pre-Kindergarten programs on the chopping block.

    As capitalism's anti-worker attacks intensify, workers and students will not only "sit-in" against this hypocritical pledge, but will help build a movement to eliminate this fascist system.

    Chicago State Students' Walkout Opposes Invasion of Iraq

    CHICAGO, March 21 -- Fifty mostly black, working-class students from three classes walked out at Chicago State University today to protest the U.S. invasion of Iraq. They marched across campus and boldly entered the Student Union and Administration Buildings with signs, chanting and bullhorn blaring. Class-change rallies on a path between buildings involved even more students on a picket line. One group of students demonstrated for two-and-a-half hours and then returned later to urge another class to walk out.

    The students gave the leadership to these actions, which were initiated by two PLP professors who refused to maintain "business as usual" in class. They made signs and initiated chants, "No war, more peace, stop fighting in the East," "No Blood for Oil" and "Books not Bombs." Tonight six CSU students and friends came to a citywide meeting, blasting capitalism, racism and imperialist war, providing an inspiration to all present. These events were preceded by a March 5 student speak-out against the war. Here too, the PLP students took leadership.

    Twelve years ago the PL professors protested Desert Storm by giving the speeches themselves. We have learned to rely on the students. They came through for the working class.

    Tens of Thousands in LA March, Walk Out vs. Iraq War

    LOS ANGELES, CA -- In the last two weeks, things have changed very fast! On March 22 there was a march of over 10,000 people in Hollywood. The previous Saturday, over 20,000 marched in downtown LA. At the Hollywood march, PL'ers arrived early to sell CHALLENGE and invite the demonstrators to march on May Day in solidarity with workers of the world, and to destroy racism and imperialist war with communist revolution.

    The marchers' mood was changing from pacifism to anger. There were more black and Latin marchers and more workers. A PLP member declared the workers of the world will unite against the bosses and their system of imperialist slaughter if given the alternative of revolution for workers' power. She asked people to buy CHALLENGE and many gladly took out $1 and $5 bills. One said, "I knew PLP 37 years ago! It's great to see you!" Some gave their names to find out more about May Day and PLP.

    Although they had no permit, marchers took over the street and marched to CNN headquarters to denounce their war coverage. As we marched, three young black and Latin women led hundreds of marchers in chanting, "1-2-3-4, We won't fight your racist oil war! 5-6-7-8, We don't want your police state"; "ExxonMobil, You can't hide, We charge you with genocide,"; "No sangre obrera por ganancias petroleras,"; "Same Enemy, Same Fight, Workers of the World Unite," and many others. Other marchers used the bullhorn and we chanted with them. A black woman denounced Bush, Cheney, Rice, Powell, Lieberman and Pelossi for being racist warmongers. "Fight the power!" she chanted. As we approached the CNN building people yelled, "No Blood for ratings," and "Exxon, Mobil, Chevron, Shell; Take your war and go to hell!" After a while, the police started moving demonstrators out of the area.

    The LAPD reported that over a one-week period, there were 22 demonstrations in LA involving tens of thousands of people. Their excuse for beating demonstrators who sat down at the Federal Building? They were overworked! Black, Latin and white high school students had walkouts and marches, facing threats from administrators and police attacks. Cops came in swinging and attacked students at one high school after a small fight between students. The night the bombing started, CHALLENGE was grabbed at demonstrations as people looked for answers to how the bosses could carry out this carnage knowing there is worldwide opposition.

    At a nearby college, local and campus cops beat up and arrested three Latin students as they and many others were preparing to walk out after the bombing started. This only made students angrier, leading to more protests.

    The fight for May Day is part of the long-term fight to give these angry demonstrators a solution to the bosses' crises and murderous wars. The Party is growing modestly. If we seize this new period, lead with CHALLENGE and build strong ties with angry workers and students, this modest growth can accelerate. We should not underestimate the importance of mass CHALLENGE sales. As Marx said, when ideas are seized by the masses, they become a material force. We are being tested, and plan to pass the test.

    NJ Schools Forum Hears Attack On Iraq War, Fascist Laws

    One hundred parents, teachers, and students attended a forum at a New Jersey high school on the war in Iraq, fascist laws and racist attacks on immigrants. PLP's communist ideas were enthusiastically received by many. We defeated the principal's anti-communist attack, won new respect for our ideas and helped spark a campaign against military recruiters in the school.

    Several comrades, both parents and students, have been active in this working-class school's PTA for several years. We have tried to bring a communist analysis to the issues facing our school: overcrowded classrooms, inadequate physical facilities and supplies, and metal detectors and surveillance cameras inside the school. We've led several student actions against these conditions. When we've explained how capitalism is the root cause of these conditions, the administration and/or its supporters have said "politics does not belong in the PTA." But as reality becomes clearer, our friends in the PTA are increasingly recognizing the truth of our analysis.

    Last fall, our current school principal told the teachers he had been sent here to "get (the) parents under control." Before the forum, he told one Parent Teacher Student Organization (PTSO) member that he would call the police, if necessary, to keep communists out of the forum. However, the discussion turned things around.

    Several speakers reviewed the history of the Middle East and the imperialist role of the U.S. One speaker linked the war for control of oil in Iraq to the "No Child Will Be Left Behind" law. This law forces schools to give students' names to military recruiters.

    Many students engaged in enthusiastic and intelligent questioning of, and discussion with, the speakers. One student called for a walkout when the bombing started. Other audience members advocated internationalism and described the phoniness of the bosses' "democracy" and the need to attack the whole capitalist system.

    As a result, the principal stood up and said HE would lead the student march to join the local demonstration planned the day after the bombing! That didn't happen, but the following week at a PTA committee meeting parents expressed outrage over an Army recruiter being stationed at our school. They decided to launch a petition campaign against the recruiter. We will try to make this a city-wide drive, to force the Board of Education to stop assisting the ruling class in turning our children into cannon fodder.

    Two of our Party's strengths -- communist collectivity and persistent activity in mass organizations -- have helped move people into action against the class enemy. Over time, some will seriously consider joining PLP. It's clear we have a long way to go before seeing the full fruits of our labor, a communist revolution. It is equally clear, however, that the inevitability of economic crisis, wars and growing fascism under capitalism will continue to spur workers to consider a communist alternative.

    Brazil: Auto, Steel Workers Launch
    Mass Strike vs. Lula's Attacks

    SAO PAULO, BRAZIL, March 27 -- Some 23,000 auto and steel workers walked out in the industrial belt here in the first major strike since President Lula took power in January. Lula, former auto/steel union head, was elected posing as the candidate of the working class and the poor. The strike was called by Forza Sindical, the second largest auto and steel workers union, which supported Lula's candidacy.

    Forty plants were shut on the strike's first day. It could escalate to eventually affect 1,500 plants and shops. The workers are demanding a 10% wage hike. The C.U.T. labor federation (backed by Lula's Workers' Party) tried to block the strike, saying on the day the strike began that it had asked for a 10% wage increase without strike action. A 10.26% pay raise last November has been eaten away by inflation.

    In addition, 800,000 federal workers are threatening to strike against the Lula administration's plan to "reform" social security and privatize their pension plan. In this era of international capitalist crisis, the billions in pension funds will be open to speculators. The federal workers' union also supported Lula's election.

    Workers cannot rely on politicians to represent their interests, even one like Lula, who started as a rank-and-file union leader before running for office. The rules of the capitalist electoral game are stacked against workers. Whoever becomes president must serve the class interests of corporations and bosses.

    Thousands Tell Democratic Gov. `No War, No Cuts!'

    LOS ANGELES, March 28 -- Thousands of students, workers, faculty and administration from community colleges here rallied downtown against the cuts initiated and carried out by Democrat governor Gray Davis. He's slashing 10% of the Community College budget, which means canceling classes, summer sessions, laying off counselors among other attacks.

    Students at LA Trade Technical College marched to the downtown rally chanting "No cuts!" protesting the 118% tuition hike, program cuts and teacher/worker layoffs. One student started chanting, "No War! No cuts! These cuts are for the war!" linking the current cuts to the war in Iraq. Others joined in, but some from the Associated Students (AS) tried to shut him up. They said such chants would lead to police repression and violence, that people weren't ready for them. Students from another college were told they couldn't board a bus for the rally with signs linking the cuts to war.

    Unlike the AS leadership, people at the rally were able to relate the cuts to the war and to the growth of prisons. A fellow Trade Tech student carried a poster with the chant written on it. PLP passed out thousands of flyers denouncing the racist cuts, showing that the war would cost $1.9 trillion including the occupation of Iraq and its oil fields. Many students bought CHALLENGE. Some asked for more information about the Party. One student said his brother-in-law was killed last week in Iraq, while he himself was laid off from his school job. He was glad to get the paper and wants to stay in touch.

    PLP'ers are building ties with fellow students and plan to increase regular CHALLENGE sales at school, leading to a study-action group.

    The budget cuts and the war are part and parcel of the same attack. The Chancellor of the Community Colleges wants the cuts spread more evenly instead of disproportionately against the community colleges. This pits community colleges against elementary and high schools, instead of uniting everyone against the war budget.

    These cuts are racist since the community colleges are where many black and Latin students learn a job skill or take courses needed for transfer to a 4-year college. Racism and wars for profits stem from capitalism, which must be fought and, in the long run, destroyed by communist revolution.

    One speaker proudly announced that one of the first U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq graduated from an LA community college, and that these schools provide front-line soldiers. But these same soldiers, used by U.S. bosses to kill Iraqi workers, then come home (if they make it) to find their jobs have been eliminated to pay for a war to seize Iraq's oil.

    H.S. Students Take Leadership in Anti-War Struggle

    BROOKLYN, NY, April 1 -- "Why is the U.S. at war?" a Brooklyn high school teacher asked. "OIL!" shouted the class. This awareness, and the walkouts that have accompanied it, are a good start for what may become a new generation of anti-imperialist fighters.

    Millions worldwide are protesting the U.S. invasion of Iraq. New York City students joined this movement twice last month, walking out of class.

    March 5th was a national student strike for "Books not Bombs." Students from over twenty-five schools converged on Union Square in an impressive show of opposition to imperialist war. It has become customary to view Bush as the problem -- "regime change begins at home" -- but oil was also a word on many lips.

    The day the war started, students again walked out, linking them to workers and students throughout the world. They were joined at Union Square by other students, representatives from several NYC unions, and average New Yorkers who understood that when the bombs fell some kind of immediate response was needed. The students had a great impact on the crowd, including a World War II veteran who said he's been opposing war for over sixty years.

    Sixty years from now do we want to still be protesting another imperialist war? No, we want a better future than that. In this connection, it was highly significant that new comrades got involved in planning these walkouts and bringing the Party's analysis to their friends.

    Only two futures lie ahead: imperialist war or working-class internationalism through communist revolution. There's really no middle road.

    National Guards: World Views Bush Klan as new Nazis

    (The following are some of the ideas discussed at a National Guard weekend drill.)

    Somebody forgot to tell Iraq they were supposed to surrender. Instead of being a video game, where "only" nameless Iraqis die, the war is now being fought in the mud and the sand. And it looks like it could get worse. Many more young men and women will be killed before it's over.

    But this is just the beginning. While the bodies of Iraqi children are still being carried out of the rubble in Baghdad, the fearless leaders of the U.S. are already planning the next blood-letting, and the one after that as well.

    This is no war of liberation. It's an imperialist war. For all the U.S. rulers' attempts to equate Hussein with Hitler, most of the world views the U.S. as the new Nazis. The invasion of Iraq resembles Hitler marching into Czechoslovakia.

    U.S. soldiers have been thrown into a meat grinder to kill and be killed in order to continue a 30 year strategy of the U.S. to dominate the Middle East and control of the oil flow to Europe and Asia.

    In every imperialist war soldiers from all sides are victimized. They have been killed and wounded and have become killers themselves. But on many occasions they have also taken matters into their own hands. In World War I, German and Russian soldiers fraternized on the front lines, even playing soccer together rather than fight. U.S. soldiers in Vietnam developed the strategy of "search and evade" missions to avoid orders to kill Vietnamese peasants.

    In this war we're already seeing dissent and uneasiness within the U.S. military. Many soldiers feel mis-led by their leadership and by the U.S. ruling class.

    But soldiers must realize they have a responsibility for what is happening. No order from the chain of command takes away a soldier's ability to think. No contract absolves a person from a moral responsibility to decide right from wrong.

    In the past soldiers have done great things to unite with workers from "enemy" countries and fight for a better world. In this war soldiers can once again play such an historic role.

    Anti-racist GIs: `Won't Kill Iraqis'

    A friend related a conversation she overheard at her health clinic job. A worker was telling her friend that her nephew, a 19-year-old black youth, is in the Army in the Persian Gulf. He called to tell her he was all right. He said, "Auntie, don't tell Mom, but my friends and I are working as a group. We're doing what we need to do to protect each other, but we see that these Iraqis are brown-skinned like us and even though the brass want us to kill them, we're not doing it and we're not going to do it. So don't worry Auntie."

    My friend's reaction was, "Racism is the weak point of this system!"

    A Comrade

    10,000 in D.C. Hit Racist Anti-Affirmative Action Suit

    WASHINGTON, D.C., April 1 -- Last night over 2,500 students from Howard University and a dozen other HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) converged for a teach-in on affirmative action, followed by a night time march to the Supreme Court. Students stayed out all night at the rally and to wait in line to attend the arguments in the affirmative action case of the University of Michigan (UM). They joined a rally of 10,000 today. The protest was aimed at fighting racism.

    Racists are claiming in their lawsuit that the UM is violating their civil rights by admitting black students who, they claim, are not as qualified as they are. So far the courts have supported these racists. The Supreme Court probably will as well. While the attack on affirmative action is racist, affirmative action itself has done very little for working-class African Americans. Its main beneficiaries have been white women and middle-class black students. The ruling class has used it as a tool to whip up racist sentiment nationwide.

    The march itself was an inspiration, as students applauded those who linked the fight against racism to the worldwide struggle against the U.S. war in Iraq. Signs said, "Our war is not with Iraq." Chants opposed the war as well as affirmative action. Many students correctly understand that there is a racist war abroad and a racist war at home, and that the perpetrator of both is the U.S. ruling class.

    At the rally the Amnesty International (AI) chapter announced a teach-in against the war. Some AI members won the crowd to move in a more leftward, anti-war, anti-racist direction. PLP members participating in this action explicitly called for violent revolution against the racist, capitalist system.

    Imperialists' Bombs Make Big Bucks for U.S. Profiteers

    U.S. imperialism is built on death, destruction and the dollar. Former Marine General Smedley Butler once testified in the 1930s that he and his Marines were "racketeers for capitalism" who were used to make country after country "safe" for the Wall Street bankers and giant corporations. Never was this more true than for the Bush administration's plan for Iraq.

    First. workers in the U.S. and worldwide are being forced to pay for the weapons and troops to destroy Iraq, with Bush asking for an initial $74 billion down payment "for the first six months." But, in February, even before they started raining bombs on Baghdad, U.S. corporations were being asked to bid on the contracts to rebuild what the Pentagon is now destroying, which, according to an investigative report in The New York Times (3/23) could cost at least another $100 billion, also financed by U.S. taxpayers. And the "free market" rules GUARANTEE these billionaires at least a 10% profit over and above whatever they say it will cost.

    Contracts are restricted to U.S. corporations, which, says the Times, "has added to the profound international divisions that already surround the war." Not only that, but Secy. of State Powell says, "We're going to use the assets of the people of Iraq, especially their oil assets..."

    Of course, it's the oil giants like Exxon Mobil and Chevron Texaco that will be profiting from these Iraqi assets, not the people. When has capitalism ever allowed "the people" to reap the fruits of their labor?

    U.S. rulers intend to control the occupation and reconstruction of Iraq (assuming, of course, they're successful in occupying it). But the main reason for this reconstruction is the fact that Iraq has the second largest oil reserves in the world, and the cheapest to get out of the ground, which has U.S. oil moguls licking their chops. If not for the oil, the key to U.S. imperialist world domination, there probably would have been no invasion in the first place.

    RECONSTRUCTION PLAN EXPOSES MASS MURDER

    Interestingly, contracts are being let not only for the oil fields and seaports, but also for the infrastructure whose destruction is killing the Iraqi people -- electric power plants, roads, airports, railroads, irrigations systems, potable water -- AND for schools and hospitals! It seems those "smart" bombs know exactly what to destroy.

    MILITARY-INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX RIDING HIGH

    The corporations bidding for these "fruits" of capitalist war are among the largest in the U.S. -- Haliburton (from which its former CEO, Dick Cheney, moved to become Vice-President), Bechtel (on whose board sits Reagan's former Secy. of State George Schultz, Fluor (who hired Kenneth Oscar, former acting assistant secretary of the Army overseeing Pentagon purchases, and Bobby Inman, former admiral and deputy head of the CIA). How's that for a military-industrial complex?

    Pay, bomb, kill, destroy. Then pay, re-build, still more profits, rule the world. The story of capitalism -- until the working class writes the final chapter: communist revolution.

    TALK ABOUT `HARM'S WAY'....

    With all the Bush administration blather about "supporting our troops in harm's way in Iraq -- where the rulers ordered them -- they don't seem too concerned about the condition of veterans disabled from previous wars, not to mention the current war of aggression in Iraq. "Cutting already under-funded veterans' programs to offset the costs of tax cuts is indefensible and callous," declared the commander of the Disabled American Veterans. He was alluding to the Bush plan to slash $470 billion from domestic spending, including health care for sick and disabled vets. "You are asking veterans to swallow a bitter pill to remedy an illness of your own making," he said.

    The White House is so "concerned" about U.S. troops that it's cutting millions from their health benefits -- scaling the heights of hypocrisy.

    80,000 in Bolivia Battle Army in Mass Uprising

    LA PAZ, BOLIVIA -- Last month, pitched battles between tens of thousands of rebellious workers and the Bolivian army shook this country to its heels. Militant workers attacked government buildings and sacked the offices of the parties comprising the government coalition. The army murdered twenty demonstrators.

    Workers, students and peasants were protesting the latest austerity measures imposed by President Gonzalo Sanchez de Losada, a multi-millionaire businessman. To meet the demands of the International Monetary Fund, Losada imposed a 12.5% tax on the already low wages of workers. Even the cops protested -- their wages will be taxed also. Several were killed by Military Police.

    On Feb. 12, shots rang out just a few blocks away from the Executive Committee of the Labor Federation (COB) meeting. Tear gas streamed through the windows and three women entered shouting, "The Army is killing us, shooting at our husbands!" Two delegates from the Miners' Union reported, "The Alto [shantytowns bordering this capital city] is rising up. Workers are leaving their factories and the Army is beginning to shoot. Several have been inured."

    One union leader said, "Enough discussion. We must be with the people." A miner from Potosi exclaimed, "It's hard to reach Plaza Murillo, the area is militarized," but then he shouted, "Let's go!" responding to the unanimous feeling at the meeting.

    Despite the fear of military snipers, twenty union representatives lined up behind the labor federation's red flag and marched to the Plaza to join those already fighting. A military policemen watching through binoculars from the nearby Air Force building warned that the COB was marching. As they neared the Plaza, the demonstrators cheered.

    The army was shooting with rifles and machine guns. Tear gas flooded the area. Marchers chanted, "The people won't be shut down by machine guns," as they entered the Plaza. The army shot several demonstrators and the workers fired back, forcing the President to withdraw the troops.

    The next day, 80,000 miners, teachers, students and indigenous peasants faced armored vehicles and tanks as they prepared to march. The previous day's injuries and 17 deaths didn't scare the masses. They chanted, "The People, United, Will Never Be Defeated," and "Goni [the President], assassin, hanging from a lamppost awaits you!" The army opened fire murdering several demonstrators and injuring many more. The protestors fought back attacking government buildings, despite the army's advantage.

    Several days later, the President spoke to the nation, saying he "is doing his part to help the economy" and won't collect his salary. This from a man worth $200 million is an insult to the impoverished workers and their families. The masses responded magnificently, burning and sacking offices of the government's coalition parties.

    A pre-revolutionary situation has arisen, with some cops joining the demonstrators, creating divisions within the repressive arms of the ruling class. But, like similar uprisings in Argentina and Ecuador, there is no revolutionary leadership to guide these struggles. From all this, the workers and their allies must learn that now is the time to build a revolutionary communist movement to fight for a society without any bosses.

    Film Review: In Whose Interest?

    This 30-minute documentary, produced by independent film-maker David Kaplowitz, asks the vital question, "Who benefits from U.S. foreign policy," and vividly answers it by examining the U.S. role in Guatemala, Vietnam, East Timor, El Salvador and Palestine/Israel. Some of us teachers have been showing it in our classes, but it also should be shown and discussed in community groups, churches and union halls.

    The film begins with the U.S. overthrow of the democratically-elected Arbenz government in Guatemala in 1954. Arbenz had instituted a land reform program that seized some of the United Fruit Company's unused land and given it to landless peasants. The Eisenhower administration feared that this "lack of respect" for U.S. business interests might spread so it engineered a coup, installing a military regime that slaughtered more than 200,000 peasants, mostly Mayans, over the next 36 years.

    Then, in the 1960s, in order to protect its Pacific empire, the U.S. tried to crush a popular insurgency in Vietnam, replacing the defeated French. It dropped the equivalent of one Nagasaki atomic bomb per week for 7_ years. There are fascinating interviews with Vietnam veteran GI's, who testify how soldiers were misled about the war's real reasons, the way GI's are being misled today about Iraq.

    The next segment provides powerful footage of atrocities committed by Indonesian troops in East Timor. U.S. President Ford and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger gave Indonesia's military dictator Suharto, the green light for the assault only hours before the invasion. Close ties with Indonesia were vital for U.S. corporations, especially because of its large oil deposits and other natural resources and its friendly investment climate for U.S. multi-nationals. Indonesia also sits next to the most important oil transportation sea lanes in the Pacific. So one-third of East Timor's population was wiped out to satisfy U.S. corporations! This was a repetition of the 1965 bloodbath when Suharto, backed by the CIA, carried out a coup and slaughtered one million, many of them communists.

    In El Salvador, the U.S. spent $1 million a day to back a military regime that killed 75, 000 workers and peasants.

    Finally, the film reviews Palestine/Israel, where the U.S. finances Israel's brutal occupation by giving the Israeli government over $3 billion a year and selling it tanks, helicopters and jet fighters.

    The film concludes by again asking whose interest U.S. foreign policy represents. Noam Chomsky replies that economic power is highly concentrated in a few mammoth corporations, which use their control over the Democratic and Republican parties, as well as the media, to shape foreign policy for their own benefit. One important idea absent from the film is an examination of why this concentration of economic and political power is inevitable under capitalism -- a good topic for discussion with our students and co-workers after watching the film.

    High School Teacher

    Destroy the World To Save It?

    They say rally around the flag
    They say rally once again
    `cause We must destroy the world to save it

    While the people fight and die
    keep them going with a lie
    We must destroy the world to save it.

    Control all the oil fields
    Hooray, boy hooray
    The rich count the profits
    While we fire away

    Should we rally around the flag
    even when the war is wrong?
    Must we destroy the world to save it?

    Boys and girls who volunteer
    No one whispers in their ear
    that we must destroy the world to save it

    They say Freedom is our aim
    But they plan a different game
    We must destroy the world to save it!

    There's a world full of workers
    Who shout that it's wrong!
    Money gives the orders--
    Why should we All go along?

    So let's raise a different flag,
    And Let's march a different road;
    It's OUR world, and we must fight to save it!

    LETTERS

    Do the Math-- It's the Racist War For Oil

    I'm a math teacher and on the day the war started I wrote four numbers on the board: $100,000,000,000; 3000 in 48 hours; 29% compared to 12%; and 112,000,000,000 barrels.

    First I asked students what they thought each number stood for. Then I gave them some math problems and we discussed the implications. The first number, of course, is the amount of money the Bush administration plans to spend on this war just for starters. We calculated how many schools could be fixed up, how many houses for the homeless could be built, how many people we could send to college, etc., with the $100 billion.

    The next number is the bombs they will drop in 48 hours, which we calculated to be about one a minute and we discussed what this would mean.

    The third number compares the percentage of black youth in the army to the percentage of black people in the population. We talked about the racism in society which drives black workers and youth into the army in order to get money for college or for job training or for a job, period.

    The last figure is the 112 billion barrels of oil in Iraq, which of course is what this war is really about. They can get the oil for $1 a barrel and sell it for $30 a barrel. This war is about profits for the oil companies.

    Although I am dismayed by the prospect of so many lives being destroyed to serve capitalism, I was heartened by these classroom discussions. We must plant the seeds of opposition to this system, particularly among high school students who can turn into unwilling soldiers for the U.S. bosses.

    Red Mathematician

    Racist Airport Cops Attack 12-year-olds

    I work at a large Mid-West airport where I witnessed a sickening racist, fascist incident. After my shift ended, I was waiting for a city bus at the airport transit center when six airport cops surrounded five young Somali working-class immigrants. They were about 12 or 13 years old. These youths had gotten off at the wrong stop, ending up at the airport instead of the Mall of America. They tried to explain themselves, but the cops wouldn't listen. One very fearful young boy kept looking down, a normal reaction coming from a fascist war-torn Somali society where any militiaman with a gun can stop you. A cop yelled, "Hey, you, look at us when we're talking to you!" The racist cops told them they had "no right" to be at the airport's public transit depot and detained them until the next bus arrived.

    Aboard the bus I told these boys, "You've got to be very careful around cops; in this country they like to kill black people." (U.S.-style racism was still new to them.)

    In this post-9/11 time, airport cops will harass you, especially if you're Muslim and/or immigrant. Their anti-working class and anti-immigrant racism will only get worse, given the U.S. bosses' imperialist attack on Iraqi workers.

    For the past few years I've been getting CHALLENGE to my co-workers, immigrant and non-immigrant. We have many discussions about why U.S. bosses want war with Iraq. In light of this racist attack, I intend to, (1) get more CHALLENGES out, and (2) inform my co-workers about this racist incident and how it relates to the bosses' drive for fascism at home and imperialist war overseas.

    The only way workers can stop fascist cops and their masters, the U.S. bosses, from oppressing us is communist revolution to destroy capitalism.

    Airport Red

    War Turns Pledge Upside Down

    On a usual day in my first class, when the Pledge of Allegiance is said over the loudspeaker, at least 30 kids stand up and pledge to the flag (out of 34; I'm one of the four who doesn't). However, this morning (the day after the war began), I was shocked to see that only eight kids stood up. I asked aloud who was for the war, and of course, it was only the people standing. And at that, not even all of the kids standing were pro-war. So how do you like that?!

    Brooklyn High School Student

    Patriotism Undercuts Anti-War Fight

    On March 20, at least 1,000 students and faculty here in Towson, Maryland shut down York Road and surrounding avenues in a huge protest against the Iraq war. Despite the horrendous rainy weather, 100 Towson University students and faculty, 600 from Goucher College (one-half the entire student body) and several dozen from the local high school marched from the town's main traffic circle to the Towson Armory. Many businesses stopped work as awe-struck workers looked on.

    This walkout/protest was part of a nationwide call by the umbrella group ANSWER, and endorsed by our Towson University Anti-war Coalition. At Towson, it began with 100 students massing on the Beach and shaking noisemakers. A very small pro-war group holding a massive U.S. flag stood Directly across from us.

    At this point, the chants from our side, modestly left-leaning with no nationalist rhetoric, suddenly turned into "USA! USA!." When I asked a member of our group why the antiwar side was using this, she said, "Well, if peace is patriotic..."

    I replied hotly, "I hate patriotism!" She didn't answer. I suspect she disagreed tactically, not ideologically.

    On the bus on the way home, black workers I talked to seemed to think it was insufficient to stop imperialist war but thought the real solution was either to stay home and "live your life as always," or to trust in Jesus, or both. The walkout appeared to upset rather than inspire them. Communist ideas need to make deeper inroads among these workers.

    The "peace-because-we-want-it" and "the-people-control-the-country" platform is a dead end in and of itself. The Baltimore Sun and the Baltimore Times both interviewed me during the march. I told them that the show of support was great but insufficient. I said U. S. rulers need this war to protect their long-term investment in crude oil and to exercise direct control over the regions where it's most plentiful. I doubt either publication will print that.

    A school friend I've been talking to seems receptive to our ideas even though she's still easily swayed by reformist slogans when enough people are shouting them. We really need to continue building revolutionary consciousness on our campuses and elsewhere. It's becoming clearer by the day that phony left/liberal politics are actually far more damaging than the mainstream ones coming from the U.S. government. Students, faculty and workers should all recognize the dangers and build on the opportunities.

    A Towson Comrade

    Aim Struggle At Wall Street

    In a discussion about war in Iraq among retired workers who support labor causes, one brother said, "There are no winners or losers in this war." I disagreed, saying that although the U.S. economy has been in deep recession, as soon as the bombs started falling the stock market zoomed upward. Then Bush asked Congress for $75 billion in emergency funds to replace expensive missiles fired off in just a few days.

    I said the billionaire class that profits from this war and runs the government don't panic at protests in Washington, Albany or City Hall against the war and the murderous cuts in our life support systems. They laugh all the way to the bank while the Republican and Democratic politicians blame each other for our suffering. Meanwhile they serve the military-industrial complex responsible for the war by unanimously supporting it.

    But these rich bosses would be deathly afraid if workers attacked their pillars of power like Wall street, targeting our real enemies, those responsible for our misery.

    I concluded that the labor movement was born in struggle against corporate tyranny and capitalism and it needs to get back to that task if it expects to grow.

    Retired Worker

    Rummy to Saddam: Let's Make A Deal

    The April 2 issue of CHALLENGE correctly described the U.S.-Saddam Hussein connection ("CIA Trained Saddam To Be a Fascist Killer"), linking the collaboration of the CIA and other agencies as far back as the Kennedy Presidency. Adjoining the article was a picture of Donald Rumsfeld shaking Saddam's hand when Rummy was a special envoy for the Reagan Administration. A recent Village Voice article by James Ridgeway explains more details of that meeting.

    As CHALLENGE pointed out, U.S. rulers supported Saddam in the 1980's during Iraq's war against Iran, which had overthrown the U.S. puppet regime of the Shah. But Rumsfeld, coached by then Secretary of State George Schultz, was negotiating a plan for Schultz's former employer the Bechtel Corporation, "a huge engineering and construction company." Documents from the Institute of Policy Studies suggest that Rumsfeld tried to broker a deal to build an oil pipeline from Iraq across Jordan to the port of Aqaba. In return, the U.S. would give special loans, military aid, and ignore Saddam's gassing of the Kurds in northern Iraq. Says the Institute, "He never raised the issue of poison gas. In fact, when the UN undertook consideration of an Iranian resolution condemning the use of gas, the U.S. worked against it." Saddam ultimately reneged on the pipeline deal, although the U.S. continued supporting him.

    All this indicates once again how crucial Iraqi oil is to the region. If the U.S. captures Iraq, companies like Bechtel, who benefit from contracts to "rebuild Iraq," will profit in the tens of millions from the war. [See page 5]

    Chilltown Red

    CHALLENGE Reader Receives Cheers

    I'm a student at Cal State University. I have a steady CHALLENGE-DEASFIO readership of five, through which about 10-15 high school and university students read the paper and PLP pamphlets I copy with my own resources.

    Last month we had a walkout protesting the U.S. war on Iraq. Given it is a conservative area it went well. Two CHALLENGE readers and myself organized it. About 60 walked out, including 15 professors. Amnesty International, International Answer and the Peace and Life Center spoke about peace and that kicking Bush out of office is the answer to the current situation. Some cheered. But the greatest cheer of all was for a CHALLENGE reader who explained the reasons behind war. She said replacing Bush with a Democrat or a Green was not the answer. Rather the solution lay in communist revolution. to smash the profit system that causes war. Everyone cheered. even some people walking by. The local Univision channel interviewed me about my reasons for walking out. I explained the unjustness of the war against the people of Iraq and the real reasons behind the war.

    Cal State student

    RED EYE ON THE NEWS

    BELOW ARE EXCERPTS FROM MAINSTREAM NEWSPAPERS THAT CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION:Abbreviations: NYT=New York Times, GW=Guardian Weekly (UK)

    `Real men want Iran'

    It's a matter of public record that this war with Iraq is largely....a pilot project. In August a British official close to the Bush team told Newsweek: Everyone wants to go to Baghdad. Real men want to go to Teheran." In February 2003, according to Ha'aretz, an Israeli newspaper, Under Secretary of State John Bolton told Israeli officials that after defeating Iraq, the United States would "deal with" Iran, Syria and North Korea.

    Will Iraq really be the first of many? It seems all too likely.... (NYT, 3/18)

    No Iraq chem. attack plan

    In the abandoned headquarters of the Iraqi Army's Eighth Infantry....gas masks...and detailed instructions on how to use chemical weapons protective suits were found....

    No evidence of instruction in the use of chemical agents as offensive weapons was found.... (NYT, 3/29)

    Snipers hit some civilians

    "We dropped a few civilians," Sergeant Schrumpf said, "but what do you do?"

    ....More than once...he faced...one Iraqi soldier standing among two or three civilians....in which he and other men in his unit opened fire. He recalled watching one of the women standing near the Iraqi soldier go down.

    "I'm sorry," the sergeant said. But the chick was in the way." (NYT, 2/29)

    The rich don't volunteer

    The soldiers, sailors, pilots and others who are risking, and giving, their lives in Iraq represent a slice of a broad swath of American society -- but by no means all of it.

    Of the 28 servicemen killed who have been identified so far,...just one was from a well-to-do family.... (NYT, 3/30)

    World: US is imperialist

    Nearly one week into the war in Iraq, the public mood in many countries around the world seemed to become angrier and more sarcastic than ever....

    Today, there were huge demonstrations in Spain, smaller demonstrations in South Korea, Pakistan and Bangladesh, and one that involved angry clashes with the police in Sydney, Australia.

    ....A common image...was of the United States as an imperial power intoxicated by its military supremacy....

    In Germany, Der Spiegel wondered on its Web site whether the difficulties American troops have encountered in Iraq might spell the end of the American empire. (NYT, 3/27)

    US Black people feel Iraqi pain

    ...78 percent of white respondents to the poll said they approved of how Mr. Bush was handling the situation, while just 37 percent of blacks agreed with that position....

    Some...said that they identified at least somewhat with poor Iraqis, whom they saw simply as people of color being attacked by a rich, and largely white, American government. (NYT, 3/27)

    US Muslims fear attacks

    Many Muslim Americans say the backlash they have felt since the attack of Sept. 11 has intensified since the United States attacked Iraq. Other Americans, they say, are making them feel scared, anxious and obligated to change their life styles....

    Some of the most recent incidents have been violent....Women who wear a traditional scarf, known as a hijab, say they feel especially vulnerable. (NYT, 3/29)

    God not on rulers' side?

    The leaders of the many mainline American churches opposed to a war with Iraq....have not been able to see Mr. Bush to express their anxieties....

    "There's never been such unity among the churches in the country, even during Vietnam," said the Rev. Jim Wallis, the editor of the evangelical magazine Sojourners.... (NYT, 3/10)

    Depends what's globalized

    For the most part, the same elected officials and media commentators who have applauded money-driven globalization are now appalled by the sight of anti-war globalization: The recent spectacle of millions of people demonstrating against war on the same day around the world.... (Liberal Opinion Week, 3/3)

     

    1. CHALLENGE, April 2, 2003
    2. CHALLENGE, March 19, 2003
    3. CHALLENGE, March 5, 2003
    4. CHALLENGE February 19. 2003

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