1. Liberals or Conservatives
   Two Sides of the Fascist Coin
   1. LIBERAL DEMOCRATS: PARTNERS IN TERRORISM
2. Ivy League Scholars Give Rulers Police State Blueprint
   Liberal Universities: Velvet Glove Hiding Profit System's Iron Fist
3. Rulers Fight over When to Make War for Iraqi Oil
4. Operation "Enduring Oil Profits": Kill, Kill, Kill
5. Oppression of Women from Kabul to Washington
   1. The Road to Liberation Is Through Revolution
6. False Prophets Profit from Murdered Workers
7. `United We Stand' with LTV Turns the Screw on Steelworkers
8. International Solidarity: the Missing Link in Sold-Out VW Strike
9. Boston: PLP Leads Fight Against Racist Killer KKKops
10. One Million Go Hungry in the Big Apple
11. CHALLENGE: A Beacon For Workers Fighting Layoffs
12. Can't Rely on State, Black Politicians:
    Roxbury Students Dump Corrupt President
13. Capitalism Means Sweatshops
    in U.S., Too
14. Racism and Anti-Communism
    Birds of a Feather
15. Bosses Protect Congress from Anthrax, Terrorize Postal Workers
16. Solidarity Emerges from Ambulance Workers' Struggle
17. LETTERS
    WORKERS OF THE WORLD, WRITE!
    1. Force Apology from UFT Red-Baiter
    2. Church Activity Sparking Struggle
    3. And in Another Church
    4. Economics 101:
       A Fairy tale
    5. Mexico: PL'ers Fight U.S. Oil War
    6. Nazis Get Away
       With This One

---

Liberals or Conservatives
Two Sides of the Fascist Coin

The police state the rulers have rushed to impose since September 11 is basically not a response to the barbarous acts of that day. Those attacks gave U.S. bosses the excuse they had sought for several years to launch a new oil war abroad and to rule at home with an iron fist. Their strategy reflects the nature of the profit system, which makes imperialist war and police terror inevitable.

Bush's B.S. about punishing the "evil-doers" is growing more transparent daily. This is a war for the control of oil supplies and for world domination. It will widen far beyond Afghanistan and spill massive quantities of workers' blood. As the imperialists expand their slaughter for profit, they will justify their atrocities in the name of lofty and noble goals. Workers must never fall for the lie that bosses' wars have any purpose other than maximum profit and political power for themselves. Only a revolutionary communist analysis can expose the true class interests that hide behind the imperialists' flag-waving and fake humanitarianism. This is the Progressive Labor Party's job: to tell the truth and then organize workers to act in their own class interests, regardless of the obstacles.

The same principle that applies to the fight against imperialist war also applies to analyzing and combating the rulers' police state. Here, too, PLP must uncover the class reality beneath the layers of Big Lies and expose this to the workers. By now, many CHALLENGE readers have become familiar with the steps the rulers have taken to "fight terrorism" by laying the foundation for their own reign of terror. As usual, racism provides the cutting edge. This time Arab and Muslim workers and students are the initial targets. The rulers' strategic goal is to stifle all forms of class struggle against themselves. They don't trust the union honchos to maintain workers in their present state of passivity. In this period, capitalism needs the full power of its state apparatus to enforce fascism. Since September 11, the Bush White House has carried out the following outrages:

Over 1,000 arrests of mostly Arab and Muslim people, on secret charges unrelated to the events of 9/11;

*The justification of "racial profiling";

*The collection of "information" about Middle Eastern students on over 200 college campuses;

*Authorizing military tribunals to try suspected "terrorists," with secret verdicts and no right of appeal, even from a death sentence;

*Floating the idea that torture may be needed to obtain information from people detained in this way;

*Widening the snooping powers of the FBI, CIA and local police, including new wider power to wiretap private homes;

*Allowing the wiretap of lawyer-client conversations;

*A green light to develop "Magic Lantern" technology, which would permit the FBI to monitor the exact details of virtually anyone's home computer use.

For the time being, the bosses continue to enjoy significant mass backing for these measures. Many people still make the mistake of believing the ruling class's spin on events. This is understandable -- the rulers own all the mass media and can still influence popular opinion in their favor. However, as the war drags on and more workers feel the brunt of the latest economic recession, growing numbers of people are bound to question some of the government's motives and to doubt the reasons Bush & Co. give for their police state.

The direction in which these questions and doubts head will determine the extent to which our class can build its fighting forces in the teeth of war and oppression. As the rulers' vise tightens, we must avoid the fatal error of falling for "lesser-evil" fascism disguised in a liberal cloak. The trap is already being set. The liberals' main target is Bush's Attorney General, John Ashcroft. Ashcroft is an easy target, because he's basically a Bible-thumping klansman in a business suit, whom Bush had to appoint as a patronage payoff. His racist, anti-worker history is well known. Led by the New York Times, the Eastern Establishment's leading mouthpiece, the liberal press has been calling Ashcroft to task for the heavy-handed clumsiness with which he's enforcing the PATRIOT "anti-terrorism" bill.

LIBERAL DEMOCRATS: PARTNERS IN TERRORISM

Workers must smash the liberals' scheme to pose themselves as the solution to Ashcroft. Liberal Democrats provided key backing for the Hart-Rudman Commission, which laid the groundwork for every major provision of the PATRIOT Act. This terrorism bill arrived in Congress on September 19 and every Democratic legislator except one voted for it after very little debate. Most of the bill's provisions were already largely present in Clinton's Counter-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996. With a few clucks about Ashcroft's nastiness, the liberal press gave a blank check to the new bill's most drastic provisions in the weeks before November 13, the date when it became law.

Now that Bush has signed it, the liberal politicians and scribblers have taken their hypocritically "indignant" stand. Ashcroft is too obvious for them. They far prefer the "community policing" style of mass terror to Ashcroft's flagrant dismantling of capitalist civil liberties. This is clear from the large number of police chiefs who have joined the anti-Ashcroft parade, protesting his betrayal of "due process." When top cops protest, you know something's rotten. The liberals want to fashion the noose themselves and con us into fitting it around our own necks.

The purpose of the police state is not to fight terrorism but rather to maintain it to strengthen capitalist dictatorship over the working class in a period when the rulers require increasing brutality. The liberal Big Lie consists in portraying this brutality as a painful but necessary medicine to protect "democracy" and "human rights" and then promising not to let things get out of hand. On occasion, even the most sophisticated liberals slip and let the cat out of the bag. One of Ashcroft's most skillful critics in the press has been the New York Times' Frank Rich, whose columns have cleverly exposed the Bush hangman's heavy-handedness. Rich's idea of a good attorney general (New York Times, 11/24) is none other than Rudy Giuliani, who until his political career was resurrected by the photo-ops of 9/11, had made a career as a champion of racist cop terror in New York City.

Rich's outrageous suggestion about Giuliani reveals the liberals' role of misdirecting workers away from the real solution to their oppression. The liberals' inability to hide the truth about capitalism stems from the fact that no matter who's in charge at any given moment, the profit system is always a brutal class dictatorship. The liberals merely want to put a smiling face on it. We can't fight police state terror and imperialist war unless we organize to destroy the system that requires such barbarism.

The recognition of this profound truth is the first step in the long, very difficult, but ultimately winnable struggle to lead the working class toward communism and a decent society. Our Party has shown that it can grow in this period. As the rulers' attacks against our class and our organization increase, we can learn to advance under them. The main danger isn't the rulers' terror -- bad as it may be -- but rather the self-inflicted deadly error of uniting with the class enemy and their allies and setting our sights short of communism, settling for reforming capitalism, which just continues our oppression. The Progressive Labor Party intends to keep holding the red flag high.

Ivy League Scholars Give Rulers Police State Blueprint
Liberal Universities: Velvet Glove Hiding Profit System's Iron Fist

The rulers were able to railroad their fascist PATRIOT Act into legislation because it had been essentially ready for months before 9/11. For the past year, CHALLENGE has extensively documented the antics of the Hart Rudman Commission, which recommended most of the PATRIOT provisions and came up with the "national security" angle.

But Hart-Rudman didn't fall from the sky. The commission got its strategy, tactics and rationale from two of the rulers' most important universities, Harvard and Stanford. In 1998, Harvard's Kennedy School released a report entitled "Catastrophic Terrorism: Elements of a National Policy," the brain-child of the Stanford-Harvard Preventive Defense Project. The final Hart Rudman document, released three years later, echoes this report's proposals and arguments. The authors of the report are former Clinton CIA head John Deutch, former Clinton Assistant Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter, and former State Department and National Security Council hack Philip Zelikow -- all liberals.

In December 2000, shortly before Hart-Rudman's final recommendations began circulating, the Harvard Kennedy School published a paper by one Richard Falkenrath entitled, "The Problems of Preparedness: Challenges Facing the U.S. Domestic Preparedness Program." This little masterwork clearly reveals the Harvard brain trust knew, hoped or feared that something very big was up and could be used to justify drastic police-state measures. It focuses on bio-terrorism and states that a bio-attack would most effectively cause people to run to the government for safety. It produces a chilling list of powers that the government will require in order to "protect" the population. In addition to most of the PATRIOT Act's measures, these include:

"The authority to compel people to remain in one location or move to another, including temporary detention;

"The authority to use the military for domestic law enforcement, population control, and mass logistics;

"The authority to seize community or private property;

"The authority to censor and control the media;

"The authority to compel civilian public servants to work."

It concludes with a self-righteous comment about the regrettable need to sacrifice rights in order to save lives. In the spring of 2001, Bush promoted Falkenrath, the report's author, to the National Security Council.

As always, the so-called "Ivory Tower" has once again played a pivotal role in justifying and diagramming the profit system's bloodiest atrocities -- and in concealing the true reason for them.

Rulers Fight over When to Make War for Iraqi Oil

A battle royal is brewing within the Bush White House over how, where, and when to widen U.S. imperialism's oil war. The sharpest difference concerns Iraq. Bush is trying to appease both camps until a decision can be made. Workers should understand the true agenda of both sides, in order to avoid falling into another liberal-pacifist trap. Following either crew of bosses would be fatal for us.

One side in the Bush camp could be called "Whack Iraq now." Leading individuals in it include Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, Under Secretary of Defense Douglas Feith, and longtime Wolfowitz buddy Richard Perle. Institutional support for these "hawks" comes from the American Enterprise Institute and the Project for the New American Century. These gangsters represent an alliance of arms manufacturers and domestic oil bosses (the Oil Patch) who have reasons of their own for insisting on an immediate war against Iraq. Arms merchants, closely tied to former CIA chief Stansfield Turner, want to make windfall profits from peddling their murderous toys. The domestic Oil Patch bosses are desperate to knock cheap Iraqi oil off the market. As CHALLENGE has frequently reported, Eastern Establishment oil firms Exxon Mobil and now Chevron Texaco are selling Iraqi crude in the U.S. market and effectively undercutting the domestic upstarts.

The liberals, on the other hand, recognize their need to establish a pro-Exxon Mobil government in Iraq. They know this task can't be accomplished without hundreds of thousands of ground troops and a very bloody war. Their main difference with the "hawks" is timing. The primary public mouthpiece for their "war later" line remains the New York Times, whose November 26 lead editorial warns that this is "The Wrong Time to Fight Iraq," adding: "The challenge of removing [Saddam Hussein] is best left for a day when the United States can count on the strong and effective support of opposition forces in Iraq." In other words, invade only after U.S. imperialism has a reliable puppet army and shadow government in place.

Within their own inner circle, the leading liberals are far more direct than the Times. In the November 15 issue of Blueprint Magazine, the voice of the Democratic Leadership Council, Senator Joe Lieberman says: "We should be unflinching in our determination to remove Saddam Hussein from power." Will Marshall, president of the Progressive Policy Institute, chimes in: "The United State should...orchestrate a more serious crackdown on rogue states," and cites Iraq as the first to go.

The liberals' champion within the Bush administration is Secretary of State Colin Powell, who earned his genocide stripes in Vietnam and then helped Bush Sr. murder hundreds of thousands of Iraqi workers during the 1991 Desert Storm for oil. Like the Times and Blueprint, Powell's main argument boils down to timing.

From Vietnam to the present oil war, the liberal rulers and their political hacks have been and remain the principal warmakers. Workers, soldiers and youth should never take sides in these tactical squabbles. The "hawks" have immediate profit needs. The "doves" want to delay escalation in order to launch a far wider, deadlier oil war later, when they hope to enjoy more favorable political conditions for it. Our task as a class and a Party is to grow until we can launch and win our own war to destroy all of them.

Operation "Enduring Oil Profits": Kill, Kill, Kill

The "peace" U.S. imperialism wants to impose in Afghanistan is guaranteed to produce more and more wars. One example is the massacre of POWs held by the Northern Alliance and their CIA leaders in a fort outside the city of Mazar-e-Sharif.

Although the U.S. government and its war media (CNN, Fox News, etc.) are calling it "a prisoners' revolt," it looks more like a calculated massacre. The Taleban and foreign fighters had surrendered to the Northern Alliance after their lives were "guaranteed." But following Rumsfeld's words that basically said no prisoners should be taken, as soon as the POWs were interned in the old fort, the Northern Alliance, under orders of CIA agents in the area, attacked the prisoners with heavy weapons, tanks and B-52s bombardments (more "efficient" than the Nazis' gas chambers). For three days, the unequal battle continued as the prisoners resisted.

Again U.S. imperialism is showing its true murderous character, no matter how much it disguises its oil war under euphemisms like "Enduring Freedom."

These massacres also guarantee there won't be peace in Afghanistan. This Northern Alliance massacre is as brutal as the ones they engineered when they ruled the country once the Soviet Army left and Yeltsin stopped helping the nationalist government in power in the early 1990s. The Northern Alliance President, Rabbani, who returned to Kabul last month, was responsible for the murder of 50,000 people during the few years he was in power.

The people of Afghanistan, who hoped for some relief from the reactionary Taleban regime, are learning that their imperialist "saviors" are worse. Without a communist party building a mass revolutionary struggle to wipe out all the imperialists and their local cutthroats, for them there is no relief.

Oppression of Women from Kabul to Washington

Laura Bush's Nov. 17 speech "championing" the rights of Afghan women exposes the bosses' hypocrisy. When it comes to oppressing women, U.S. rulers are number one at home and overseas. Mass cutbacks in health care, welfare, education, etc., in the last two decades under Reagan-Bush Sr., Clinton and now Bush Jr. have driven millions of U.S. women (particularly black and Latin) deeper into poverty. According to Amnesty International a woman is attacked every 15 seconds and 700,000 women are raped every year in the U.S. Laura didn't mention that the continuous bombing and embargo against Iraq have killed hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, particularly the children of working-class women. And in Afghanistan, the U.S.'s new allies, the Northern Alliance, is no different from the Taliban in treating women as subhuman.

The Northen Alliance warlords are so hated that the Revolutionary Association of Women of Afghanistan (RAWA) wrote in Counterpunch (11/19): "Thousands of people who fled Kabul during the past two months were saying that they feared the coming to power of the NA in Kabul much more than being scared by the U.S. bombing." Novelist John Ringo wrote in the NY Post (11/20): "There are plenty of Pashtun women who would love to get their hands on a...{NA} soldier for a while. They have been sharpening their knives for 10 years...It is better (for these women) to wear a burqua than to be raped and murdered."

The Road to Liberation Is Through Revolution

Some groups, like RAWA, are demanding UN peacekeepers in the areas now controlled by the Northern Alliance as a way to avoid the mass rape and murder of women. That is no solution. After the 1917 Bolshevik revolution, the Red Army helped liberate many of the Central Asia republics bordering Afghanistan. Thousands of women burned their veils. The revolutionary gains won by the workers in the Soviet Union were brought to the masses of Central Asia.

The task of communists today is very similar to what Lenin said early in the last century: " It is necessary to combat Pan-Islamism and similar trends, which strive to combine the liberation movement against European and American imperialism with the strengthening of the positions of the Khans, the landlords, the mullahs, etc."(Lenin's Selected Works, Vol. 10, p. 236, Int'l Publishers, 1938 edition).

False Prophets Profit from Murdered Workers

The "September 11 attacks have invigorated the apocalyptic brand of theology embraced by many Christian evangelists and fundamentalists who view the collapse of the World Trade Center towers as the latest harbinger of end times."

"God got America's attention and...the window's going to be brief."

"Pastors have taken to the pulpit to predict the second coming is near [and]...that they could be preaching their final sermons."

"Jesus could return within two or three years....There's no more prophecy to be fulfilled. It literally could be any day." (All quotes from the New York Times, 11/23)

It seems doomsday, the end of the world, is near only when Americans are killed. We guess God just ignores the 20 million Soviet people who gave their lives in the struggle to smash Hitler in World War II, the 15 million Congolese tortured and murdered by imperialist Belgium's King Leopold, the six million Jews slaughtered by the Nazis, the three million Vietnamese dead from U.S. imperialist war, the 200,000 Guatemalans killed by U.S.-installed dictators after a CIA-engineered coup and tens of thousand murdered by U.S.-trained death squads, the millions of African people whose lives ended prematurely at the hands of slave owners and slave traders, the 250,000 Japanese civilians incinerated by two U.S. atomic bombs....

None of this, it seems, warrants prophecies about the end of the world. Presumably these and thousands of other mass murders perpetrated by world capitalism and every previous class dictatorship are your "normal, run-of-the-mill" apocalypses. Not enough to get God's attention. It's only when 3,900 Americans are victimized (by CIA-trained terrorists, we might add) that God appears to sit up and take notice....

But another series of references from that same issue of the Times may reveal what's really behind all this doomsday stuff:

"Titles on biblical prophecy...have flown off the shelves in the last two months."

Sales of "non-fiction [?] books about prophecy...after Sept. 11 increased by 71%..."

"The leaders of the prophecy movement [are] beneficiaries of a multi-million dollar industry..."

Said the owner of Armageddon Books, a company that sells 600 prophecy-related items over the Web: "The worse the news was for America, the better our business was."

It seems in the U.S. God fits very neatly into the bottom line....

`United We Stand' with LTV Turns the Screw on Steelworkers

EAST CHICAGO, IN, Nov. 27 -- LTV, third largest steel producer in the U.S., is closing. More than 13,000 workers and 70,000 retirees will pay the price. LTV has been dying a slow death since filing for bankruptcy last December. Over the summer the union approved concessions to cut labor costs, but the company is still closing.

LTV has a December 4 court hearing to formally get out from under all contracts, and gain court approval to shut down. Workers' pensions will be cut in half, including those already retired. Workers with less than 30 years seniority won't be able to start collecting until age 62. This is especially painful since the average seniority in the mill is over 27 years. Fired and retired workers will lose their medical coverage.

This exposes the total hypocrisy of the bosses' "United We Stand" patriotic claptrap. They want to blind us with racism and flag-waving, with candlelight vigils and superstar concerts, to fight for their oil profits in the Mid-East and central Asia while they attack the working class from here to Afghanistan. It also exposes the bankruptcy of the union's "Stand Up for Steel" campaign, which defends U.S. steel makers against "foreign" competition. Union leaders are ready to fight Japanese and Russian steel workers, or bin Laden & Co., but they are unwilling and unable to take on the steel bosses here.

Thousands of these workers are Vietnam veterans. Tens of thousands of retirees are veterans of World War II and Korea. This is how the bosses treat those they have sent to kill and die for them. When it comes to bosses and workers, there can be no unity.

LTV is one of many US steel companies headed for the scrap heap. About two dozen have filed for bankruptcy in the past two years. American Steel shut down less than a year ago, and Bethlehem Steel is close behind. The destruction of Asian and Russian markets created a crisis of overcapacity. This intensified the inter-imperialist rivalry, as the U.S., Europe, and Asia fought for a bigger share of a shrinking market. The U.S. steel industry produces more tonnage today than 20 years ago, with 350,000 fewer workers!

U.S. B-52 bombers flying over Yugoslavia destroyed some of this "excess capacity." This is how imperialism ultimately does business. Trade wars become shooting wars. Markets are blasted opened and competition destroyed. War is inevitable as long as the capitalists hold power. Workers must smash imperialism with communist revolution. This means building internationalism and a mass PLP.

LTV workers are angry and scared, not knowing what the future holds. This has affected our members and friends as well. Some illusions are being smashed. Unemployed steelworker committees can build unity by fighting for medical coverage, keeping utilities from being turned off and halting evictions. We can involve steel workers from other mills, and those who will lose their jobs in the "ripple effect." We can replace "Look out for #1," with "Look out for each other." It ain't everything, but it's something.

*FLASH: USW Local 1011 has proposed $350 million in give-backs, including $150 million in wage and job cuts. No answer yet from LTV.

International Solidarity: the Missing Link in Sold-Out VW Strike

SAO BERNARDO, Brazil, Nov, 21--Sixteen thousand workers at the world's second largest VW plant ended their two-week strike accepting a 15% wage cut and less working hours. This was the ABC Metalworkers Union leadership's "solution" to VW's plans to get rid of 3,000 workers. Even though the company agreed not to lay off workers for five years (a capitalist promise not worth the paper it's printed on), 700 workers are expected to accept VW's "voluntary early retirement." These jobs won't be replaced.

This strike shows the limitations and possibilities of waging class struggle in this era of capitalist overproduction and recession. VW threatened to move production of the Golf model to its Puebla, Mexico plant if the strikers did not agree to concessions. The union leaders in Sao Bernardo and Puebla had no thought to organize an international struggle in both plants, which could have sparked a fight by VW workers and other autoworkers worldwide. Instead, they took wage cuts with a vague promise of no layoffs, which allows the VW bosses to pit workers in both countries against each other. In 1998, the union also accepted a 20% wage cut, but employment in Sao Bernardo has continued to fall, from 35,000 to less than 27,000 today.

Meanwhile, the economic crisis in Brazil and the Mercosur (the common market of Brazil and Argentina) has cut demand for cars. And the future offers no relief. So the auto bosses will continue to demand concessions from the workers. To get off this treadmill workers need a leadership, which helps them to understand why capitalism creates such a trap along with its periodic crises and wars. Workers especially require a society that does not produce for profits nor need any bosses. Production will be for need -- that's communism.

Boston: PLP Leads Fight Against Racist Killer KKKops

BOSTON, Oct. 27 -- Members and friends of the Progressive Labor Party marched to the police station in Roxbury, one of this city's poorest working-class neighborhoods in Boston, to protest the killing of five men over the last ten months, four of them minority and/or immigrants. None of the cops have been charged. These police killings grow from capitalism where the laws, courts and police protect the class interests of the rich.

We made a real effort to involve the families of the five victims. The mother of Ricky Bodden kept us strong. She led a press conference denouncing police brutality and attended all our meetings. PLP distributed hundreds of leaflets and made connections with many people in the community. Two Party members addressed a Sunday church mass and the pastor urged the entire congregation to attend the march. These efforts brought several friends closer to the Party's politics. We made several contacts before and during the march.

Most of the organizing occurred around the September 11 attacks. Some of us were concerned about speaking out against police terror and the war at a time when any dissent was considered "anti-American." Non-citizens worried they could be deported. Despite this, we knew it was a great opportunity to expose the real face of capitalism. In our leaflets and during our meetings, we showed how police terror, racism and racial profiling are part of daily life for millions of working class people, especially blacks, Latinos and immigrants. We linked police terror to the war and noted how they serve the same purpose: to frighten us and protect the bosses' profits.

We warned that supporting the cops and the war helps our real enemy, the bosses, to bring down our quality of life, cut jobs and build more racism. PLP says the real threat to workers' security is the ruling class which creates racism, poverty and wars. We need communism, a system that meets the needs of our class. Join us!

One Million Go Hungry in the Big Apple

While the rulers are raining down bombs in a war in Afghanistan costing billions, "MORE THAN A MILLION NEW YORKERS WERE RELYING ON SOUP KITCHENS, FOOD PANTRIES AND SHELTERS TO AVOID GOING HUNGRY." (New York Times, 11/26; our emphasis) That's more people going hungry than the entire population of virtually every city in the U.S.!

With Clinton having killed welfare and the Democrats and Republicans waving flags (and dropping bombs) all the way to Kabul, and debating when to invade Iraq to kill even more workers and children, more than one-eighth of the population of the largest city in the U.S. has no money for food! The bosses want us to unite behind their capitalist profit system causing this misery. United WHO stands?

CHALLENGE: A Beacon For Workers Fighting Layoffs

"This is great, amazing!" said a machinist who is helping distribute and produce another in a series of leaflets by concerned union members dealing with September 11 and the massive aerospace layoffs. It didn't seem like any big deal: just a picture of Brazilian VW workers striking against layoffs. "How do you come up with this s--t?"

"I look for it." Our friend wanted more, so our comrade continued. "Years of reading CHALLENGE has taught me to look for inspiration internationally."

"CHALLENGE is global." Our friend interrupted. "Why not? The bosses think globally."

"A global political paper," our comrade added.

After some more discussion our friend decided to take a few extra papers for her family. "Think globally, act locally," concluded another new CHALLENGE distributor.

A Small Victory...

Another worker distributing a few more papers is a small victory indeed, but the type of advance that can be crucial over the long haul. Even this small victory would have been impossible without intensified ideological struggle with close friends and aerospace workers in general -- even as the bosses cranked up their patriotic war machine.

Most workers hate the union leadership's passivity in the face of massive layoffs. The rank and file have little faith in the hacks' appeals to the Democratic Party. We know begging for a few crumbs of charity won't amount to much in the long run.

Even these pitiful calls for alms are couched in the rhetoric of sustaining patriotism. On the other hand, these past months the Party and its base have fought for the outlook that any significant fight-back requires rejecting unity with the bosses, relying on the power of the working class.

We stand ready to serve the working class. In fact, it was the Party and friends that first called for our union to set up job fairs and other means of helping the unemployed. Nonetheless, none of these good deeds should be a substitute for class struggle. Indeed, all these services could help build our fight-back if we had a working-class political outlook. Class struggle can help prepare us for even more significant battles ahead.

The Party and friends organized demonstrations at the plant gates during the last layoffs, calling for the laid-off and employed to unite. Even calling for such demonstrations in today's political climate will spark sharp political struggle. We can't escape the fact that the nationalist flag-waving whipped up by the bosses' propaganda machine has blunted our class-consciousness, disheartening many of our allies.

...A Huge Responsibility

"I admire your energy," said our new distributor. "Most people in this plant go the other way. Look around! The endless rows of machines, the oppressive atmosphere: It's bad karma. I see a lot of fear and depression."

"Once again look to CHALLENGE for your energy. It's a beacon. The more appropriate question is how does the Party and CHALLENGE survive given the bosses' huge oppressive machine?"

"The fact remains that capitalism can't serve the interests of workers. All this system has to offer is escalating oil wars, layoffs and a police state. This fact remains despite the bosses' huge patriotic war machine."

"This paper survives because its communist politics serve our needs. On the other hand, we would be fools not to see the many `challenges' to its continued survival."

The discussion passed quickly to the serious question of preserving CHALLENGE, while developing it into a practical beacon for all the world's workers under difficult circumstances. This is a huge responsibility to be secured by many small victories over a long period of time.

Can't Rely on State, Black Politicians:
Roxbury Students Dump Corrupt President

BOSTON, Nov. 23 -- The State Government forced Roxbury Community College's (RCC) President Brown to resign on Nov. 6. This followed months of student and faculty demonstrations and protests exposing her administration, the Board of Trustees and the State Government for allowing RCC to sink to new depths of corruption and mismanagement.

The resignation came one week after a militant demonstration of over 100 students outside the administration building demanded Brown's removal. It was sparked by the retaliatory firing of a popular science professor who had been organizing against the Brown administration. When Brown sent her flunky out to sabotage student militancy, angry students chanted "Too Late. Too Late" and then marched through the academic building. Out of this activity the students have organized themselves into Voices In Action, a club committed to build student activism. They're feeling the brunt of racism, recognizing that the power structure, black or white, will not protect their interests, but also feeling their own potential power once they organize.

Since Brown's resignation, state auditors have exposed unauditable financial aid records, $39,000 in undeposited student tuition checks and much more. Steven Tocco, of the State Board of Higher Education (BHE) has called it "an across-the-board management disaster." A battle is raging between the BHE and the black legislators and others from the black elite who comprise RCC's Board of Trustees over how quickly and with how much severance pay Brown will exit and who her successor will be.

Many black legislators continue to back Brown while negotiating a large severance package for her. They blame the State Government for treating RCC unequally, as a black institution. While this certainly is true, their defense of Brown is merely cronyism disguised as anti-racism. The central form racism takes here is that the State and the black politicians have enabled incompetence to run RCC into the ground for the last nine years. The black legislators have used the school as a source of patronage jobs (mainly bogus consulting contracts) and the State education bureaucracy has cynically allowed the scandals to continue and grow, ready to step in as "reformers" with a freer hand to implement their agenda.

That day is here. Students, Faculty, Staff and the Roxbury community must prepare to face a new and much more dangerous enemy in the BHE, an education bureaucracy determined to remake public higher education into a training program serving only the needs of Massachusetts corporations. This new development comes amid a growing recession, severe cutbacks, and harsh repression. In fact, the Massachusetts legislature has just cut the state budget by $30 million. And higher education is getting hit hard. We'll have to fight like hell to save our school, our jobs and our future.

The Progressive Labor Party has had some success in winning students and some faculty to understand that we need to build student-faculty-worker unity and militancy to fight the bigger battles ahead. We must not get suckered into participating in the selection of the next RCC president, or into relying on the BHE or the black legislative caucus. The Brown administration's corruption and incompetence and the cronyism of the black legislators gives the students and faculty a good opportunity to see the inner workings of capitalist-run governments and how readily black elites support the bosses in their racist schemes.

Capitalism Means Sweatshops
in U.S., Too

BINGHAMTON, Nov. 27 -- Kevin Danaher recently spoke at SUNY-Binghamton to about 60 students. He is the liberal head of Global Exchange (GEX), an organization which, among other things, campaigns against sweatshop labor abroad. GEX serves the interests of some U.S. capitalists by attacking the exploitative practices of their competitors elsewhere while basically ignoring those same practices in the U.S. GEX has "sued nearly two dozen clothing importers." The lawsuit, which ignores the brutal treatment of garment workers here (Los Angeles, New York. etc.), earned GEX a telling ally, the huge U.S. garment manufacturer Levi Strauss.

Danaher touched upon some important issues -- the horrible conditions in sweatshops, child labor, the huge profits made from oil in the Middle East and the effects of globalization. In the discussion a PLP'er said these problems must be analyzed relative to capitalism that needs to maximize profits and leads to imperialism and war. We can't just hold individual corporations accountable, we must hold capitalists and capitalism accountable and destroy both capitalism and imperialism (i.e., globalization). The PL'er also noted that the U.S. ruling class tries to control Mid-East oil not just for profits or cheap gas for SUVs, but because U.S. imperialists need to control their European and Japanese competitors' access to cheap oil. While Danaher agreed with much of this, he also said it was wrong to destroy capitalism; instead we must build for "revolutionary reform" (an obvious contradiction).

The contradictions in Danaher's politics are clear. Though he acknowledges some problems within the capitalist system, such as overseas sweatshops and globalization, he ignores others, such as sweatshops, prison labor and Workfare here. In fact, GEX receives money from the San Francisco and James Irvine Foundations, both tied to Levi-Strauss. The profit motive is what drives capitalists to exploit workers around the world. Corporations act according to the rules of capitalism; they must seek the cheapest resources and labor in order to compete better, thereby gaining a larger share of the market and increasing profits. This law is not unique to Nike or Gap; it's a goal of all capitalists. As long as capitalism exists, bosses will exploit workers and the environment. The PL'er said it's necessary to destroy capitalism in order to rid the world of the problems Danaher mentioned.

She put forward an alternative to capitalism, a communist system free of exploitation and racism, saying Progressive Labor Party works to unite workers internationally towards this goal. Danaher cynically asked if she wanted to be "two steps or five steps ahead of the masses" to do this. The PL'er replied, "I want to be with the masses."

In conversations with friends afterwards, there was talk about the need to build an international, multi-racial movement with workers and students, rather than an elitist, reformist, pro-capitalist movement. Ten CHALLENGES were distributed and ties were strengthened with other students.

Racism and Anti-Communism
Birds of a Feather

CHICAGO, IL, November 21 -- Racism is alive and well in high schools on the mostly black South Side. Students are yelled at, disrespected, metal-detected, suspended and assumed guilty until proven innocent. Most are denied a decent education and then blamed for it.

Recently a Chicago cop barged into a Geometry class and told one student, Keisha, to get up. When she said, "No," the cop cursed her and other students, saying she was "sick of the bull---t," and "Shut the f--k up." Then she grabbed Keisha by the arm and yanked her out of her desk, striking another student. Finally, she pushed Keisha out of the room, nearly knocking her down. The students and teacher were furious.

The principal refused to meet with the class and the assistant principal (AP) lectured them to do what they're told (her "crime" was not taking off her scarf). The students pointed out that Keisha got an immediate two-day suspension while the cop got an "investigation." They told the AP that she did nothing to justify what the cop did. They stood up for themselves and their teacher supported them.

The cop and administrators in this situation are all black, but that doesn't stop them from being racist. They would never act this way in a predominately white middle class school. Capitalism thrives on racist inequality. Principals and cops of every skin color help keep that system going.

As usual, the administration tried to blame the teacher instead of the cop, lying that the teacher "tried to incite a riot." This "charge" had an anti-communist ring to it, given that the teacher was a PLP member. But other teachers weren't buying it. These same teachers, amid all the patriotic war hysteria, had recently elected her to be their union delegate. Many teachers, black and white, are disgusted by the cop and support the students and teacher.

Parents are furious. Keisha's parents want the cop out of the school and off the force. Others have volunteered to write letters. One parent brought this to the Local School Council. This has opened up many opportunities to introduce parents and students to the Party's ideas. The students are angry, determined and feel good about taking action. They used what they've learned about writing and logical reasoning to fight a wrong.

Bosses Protect Congress from Anthrax, Terrorize Postal Workers

"...I have a tendency not to believe these people..."

NEW YORK CITY, Nov. 27 -- These were among the final words of Thomas Morris, Jr., one of two postal workers in the Wash., D.C. area who died from anthrax. He was referring to postal managers who had told him there was no problem with a suspicious powder-filled envelope found near his work area a week earlier.

Reactions by U.S. authorities to recent anthrax cases reflected a double standard: the safest response for the rich and powerful, the worst for workers.

When a suspicious letter was found in Senator Daschle's office, the entire U.S. Congress was shut down and thoroughly tested and decontaminated for anthrax; hundreds were tested and immediately given antibiotics. The postal facilities containing the contaminated letter continued to operate, exposing postal workers even longer to the dangerous anthrax spores. Thomas Morris, Jr. might be alive today if postal workers were treated the same as members of Congress. Later, worries about the Supreme Court building led to its closing and testing. (One bitter joke going around the post office is that the Congress was closed because what they do is unimportant, whereas post offices were kept open because moving the mail is very important.)

Here a contaminated letter at NBC studios had passed through the huge Morgan mail facility, potentially contaminating the tens of thousands of letters sorted hourly there. Then they are distributed to other post offices throughout the City, and beyond. Union pressure finally induced some testing at Morgan. At least five-high speed sorting machines tested positive for anthrax contamination. All but one part of the third floor continued to function, thereby endangering the lives of thousands of postal workers.

A union court attempt to force postal bosses to close the entire Morgan facility until tested and decontaminated was rejected by a federal judge. Most other post offices receiving mail from Morgan have not been tested at all.

This double standard is itself a form of terrorism against thousands of postal workers. It is only the fear of losing our jobs that has kept postal workers from walking out.

A double standard permeates every aspect of the USA (and all capitalist countries). It will exist as long as capitalism does. To eliminate the double standard we must get rid of capitalism.

(This has been the primary message put forth by PLP in the post office through discussions, speeches and the increased distribution of CHALLENGE.)

Solidarity Emerges from Ambulance Workers' Struggle

Workers at the largest ambulance company in the U.S. have been working with an expired contract since mid-September here in Southern California. The company has used terror tactics against the workers to stop our organizing. It has a patriotic "united we stand" image, but when it comes to workers' wages and conditions, "unity's" out the window.

First a one-day strike was called, fought for by the rank and file, to protest poverty-level wages and unfair labor practices. It involved about 150 workers. Three weeks later a two-day walk out was organized after the bosses harassed and manipulated workers and attacked the union in retaliation for the first strike. The company spent lots of money on their anti-union propaganda, including Federal Expressing letters to each worker. Now many workers have become passive, believing we can't win this fight. But others have been politicized and want to continue to fight. They understand that better wages are linked to better health care services for the community. The healthcare industry in the US is facing major cuts as money is poured into war and fascism.

The two strikes gained solidarity support from other workers, including bus drivers and even the local fire department. Neighborhood residents brought hamburgers and pizza to the strikers. Even at the height of the patriotic war fervor, and despite the media's torrent of "united-we-stand" (with the bosses) crap, workers are fighting back and open to seeing that we can't unite with our bosses. One of the more popular picket-line signs attacked the company for promoting slave labor.

Because of the camaraderie in these strikes, workers who feel patriotic are still willing to seriously discuss whether the war in Afghanistan is one for corporations, or for workers' interests. Many workers see that the bosses are only out to screw us. Workers have begun to take CHALLENGE, with more to come.

Patriotism won't feed our families, give us a job, decent working conditions or take care of our patients. Patriotism only benefits the bosses. We need to expand the working-class solidarity built in these strikes to more hospital workers and extend it all the way to workers in the Middle East. Putting profits ahead of the needs of the workers means attacking health care workers and patients while supporting war and fascism.

LETTERS
WORKERS OF THE WORLD, WRITE!

Force Apology from UFT Red-Baiter

Following up on the New York City United Federation of Teachers Delegate Assembly report (11/1): As we wrote, union president Randi Weingarten had called members of PLP "terrorists" when they held up a banner at the meeting opposing the war and demanding we fight against any cuts in school funding due to the war's costs. The whole meeting booed Weingarten, even hundreds of members of her own caucus.

Well, Weingarten apologized at the following special meeting, and repeated that apology at the last meeting on November 6. Why would she apologize? We would guess that even though Weingarten has support from many of the delegates -- out of a general loyalty to the union, and a certain self-interest-- she overstepped the bounds. Even those who disagree with PLP (some quite loudly) would never call us terrorists. It would appear that Weingarten has some work to do to consolidate the anti-communism in her caucus and to further consolidate her pro-fascist base.

A New York Comrade

Church Activity Sparking Struggle

Several weeks ago 200 people attended a teach-in organized by the Social Justice Commission at the large, urban church I attend. Six academics and a student spoke about the war in Afghanistan as a "just response" against terrorism, U.S. policy towards Israel and Palestine, U.S. sanctions in Iraq and the development of Homeland Security since the Reagan years. The student said fighting terrorism is a criminal act, not an act of war. The moderator tried to steer the discussion in the direction of war as a just response.

Despite the fact that the six academics knew all about the role of oil in the region, not one mentioned it.

During the question period afterwards I asked the panelists: (1) What about U.S. goals going beyond a war on terrorism to protection of U. S. oil interests in the Middle East? and (2) Haven't U. S. military objectives in South Asia for a long time been to establish military bases in the area to cordon off the oil-producing countries and to warn Russia and China not to challenge U. S. control of Mid-East oil and oil supply routes in the region? The answer was brief: yes, oil is a part of the mix. Afterwards eight of my church friends (several of whom read CHALLENGE) approached me to comment on my questions, mainly to acknowledge their importance.

Meanwhile, a struggle is developing inside the church. Some members of the top church commission want us to support the war and the country without question or debate. They opposed the teach-in and warned the Social Justice director there will be no more events here. I call it Homeland Security in the church.

Several of us in Social Justice committees are preparing a letter to the commission asking for openness, so that the whole congregation can get information and participate in discussion. We're drafting a church-wide petition that, while acknowledging the horrific terrorist attack on innocents at the World Trade Center, will question U.S. government war policy and link the fight against terrorism to a fight for justice world-wide.

I'm working with a committee that's organizing a series of events at the church about: the relation of U.S. foreign policy, past and present, to the current situation; the war in Afghanistan and the central role of the conflict for oil; Homeland Security's roots in the Hart-Rudman Commission; the intensification of racism in the U.S. as a result of world events; the economy; and trauma, meditation, "healing" and women in Afghanistan.

Within this framework my friends and I will have many opportunities to talk and ask questions, such as: "Can there be `peace' under imperialism and can there be `justice' without revolution?" I've learned a lot from the red chuchmouse. Keep those letters coming!

Red Churchgoer

And in Another Church

As I wrote previously, volunteers in our church soup kitchen had several thorough discussions of the political issues surrounding the September 11th attack. Now we're trying to expand this kind of sharing and struggle. We planned an ecumenical conference involving Jews, Protestants, Catholics, Buddhists and humanists participating in the planning, and two imams advising us.

Five central questions were to be raised: What were the immediate, and the root causes of the attacks? What will happen as a result of the attacks? How can we lead our faith communities into becoming centers of activism for world justice and against the war? What should we struggle for? How can we grow spiritually in the process of giving this kind of leadership? (I explained to my friends that "spiritual" to me means what inspires me to make more unselfish efforts to win a communist world).

We advertised in several papers and journals, spoke at some organizations, leafleted a number of events and mailed hundreds of brochures. The work paid off. Scores of people participated in the three-day event. Several discussions focused on the need for the U.S. power elite to secure control of the cheapest supply of oil worldwide being the main factor motivating the war in Afghanistan. One of the two routes for piping the Caspian Sea region's oil lies through that country. More importantly some argued that the whole anti-terrorism "war" was a pretext for eventually moving on the ultimate target, Iraq.

The most interesting presentation was given by one of our new comrades who described the Book of Revelation in the Bible as a metaphor of revolutionary struggle to bring a rule of justice and sharing among working people here on earth. This effort shows an important development in dialectical materialist consciousness.

Some class struggle may emerge from this particular workshop as a participant invited us to join an action her community is leading against the economic sanctions, which are causing widespread sickness and death, primarily among Iraqi children.

Other projects that may emerge from the conference are an interfaith newsletter, a vigil for justice and against the war, more struggles on behalf of unemployed, underemployed and homeless and a summer camp for activists.

With greater hope in the working class.

Red Churchmouse

Economics 101:
A Fairy tale

I'm a student at the University of Washington and currently taking introductory economics. This class teaches me nothing. In fact, whenever I say how this economic system is no good, my teacher says he's only telling me "what it is" (positive economics), not "how it should be" (normative economics), which he says will be covered in the next class. So I'd like to see more on the economic situation in CHALLENGE, like the two articles In the last issue (11/28) which linked economics and politics.

Here in Seattle the biggest employer, Boeing, is laying off tens of thousands. People are told to "accept this for their country," and that the only way they can save "our" country and stop the recession is by spending all their money (not much now without a job). It's imperative that we show how this recession and these layoffs are all products of the crisis of overproduction and a whole lot of gambling done by the ruling class. They want us to believe it's our fault because we "stopped spending money,"-- but that's untrue.

We know Boeing is already losing to its competitors, especially Airbus, and that it was just waiting for an excuse to lay off without worrying about strikes. This is a general trend for many companies. Now they're hoping that after the U.S. war in Afghanistan, they'll have cheap access to the most important resource in production, oil, and that their international competitors won't. Then Boeing's profits would rise immensely, as would many U.S. companies. When they say they're fighting for "our" security, they really mean fighting to secure the bosses' profits. They couldn't care less about laid-off workers. Caring about workers is "un-American." Shopping and securing profits is "patriotic."

My economics teacher says competition is good for us (meaning consumers), because prices fall. But this competition is not only deadly for the working class on the battlefield, but also at home as our jobs are slashed. This is what communists must point out continuously in our classrooms and workplaces. We must also read and distribute our analysis in the form of CHALLENGE everywhere so a real solution can be spread.

Red Husky

Mexico: PL'ers Fight U.S. Oil War

The last stage of Bush's oil war may be the beginning of World War III. This means terror and death for millions of workers worldwide. Under such conditions, a mass communist party could lead the working class to revolution.

At one school in Mexico, 30 students and professors attended a conference the day after the Sept. 11 attacks. We explained that terrorism hurts the working class and that we need to join PLP to put an end to all capitalist terror.

On October 2, we distributed hundreds of CHALLENGE supplements during a march and demonstration against the war at the U.S. embassy. We called for an end to imperialist war by turning the guns around and for a civil war for communism. At the faculty of science we also posted a wall newspaper with the same slogan.

Section 22 of the CNTE (teachers union) in Oaxaca passed a resolution against the war, and a union coalition has been formed to oppose U.S. aggression. In the schools, factories and work centers we had many discussions with friends to explain why war for profits was inevitable under capitalism, and why we need a mass international communist party. The current period gives us the opportunity to build a mass base for communism. Join PLP!

PLPer, Mexico

Nazis Get Away
With This One

On Nov. 10, the neo-Nazi National Alliance marched here in Washington D.C. to the Israeli embassy to flaunt their anti-Semitism by expressing their "solidarity" with the killing of Jews during the attack on the World Trade Center. They had marched three months ago to protest the anti-Nazi laws in Germany. At that time PLP'ers attacked them and bloodied one of their leaders.

We were unable to mobilize to attack this march, but I went with my son anyway. When we arrived, there were about 40 people milling around waiting to start an anti-Nazi demonstration. They had been organized by the anarchists and the International Socialist Organization (ISO). Across the street I noticed several Nazis that I recognized from the previous march having a snack. The police had not yet arrived. I went back across the street and tried to get some of the demonstrators to attack. The ISO leadership said they didn't want to fight the Nazis and the anarchists were just afraid.

When the police finally arrived, the ISO started to verbally attack them for protecting the Nazis. One black cop asked why were we attacking him. He said the police gave us a chance to beat up the Nazis and we passed on it. I had no answer since I wasn't prepared to discuss revisionists (fake leftists) with the police, nor the history of the cops' pro-fascist protection of the Nazis.

The Nazis were successful because we didn't organize to take them down. By refusing to fight, the ISO openly allied themselves with the Nazis.

The Nazis had maybe 70 people. They'll have more next time. We must make sure that they get smashed then. We will need hundreds of workers from our mass organizations to take up the fight. Building for this must begin now.

Red Trade Unionist

 

FLASH: As we go to press, the situation in Afghanistan has changed quite rapidly, but still the rulers’ two-front "war against terrorism" exposes them as something less than supermen, both in Afghanistan and on the home front. At home they still haven’t figured out the identity of the anthrax terrorists, and the FBI has egg all over its face. Overseas, pacifying Afghanistan to make it safe for Exxon Mobil’s oil profits is more easily said than done. True, the short U.S. bombing campaign appears to have routed the Taliban from Afghanistan’s main cities. But appearances don’t tell the whole story. "War in Afghanistan is not fought in cities and towns," says a Taliban mouthpiece quoted by The Times of India (11/14). "The decisive war is fought in the mountains and caves, and they are under our control."

The Islamic fundamentalist army that later produced the Taliban fought a ten-year guerrilla war against the Russians and won. The Taliban think they can duplicate this success, with some differences, against the U.S. The outcome can’t be predicted at this time. However, certain conclusions can be drawn about this war:

The fight to control Afghanistan is far from over. The present phase, according to a Pakistani military affairs expert, "can be interminably long" (Riffat Hussain, Times of India, 11/14). The Taliban have made an orderly retreat. They are "settling in for the long haul" (Stratfor, 11/14).

The guerrilla war in Afghanistan will once again show the limitations of air power. Making plans to corner oil and gas supplies and delivery routes from Kosovo through the Middle East and Afghanistan is one thing. Executing those plans is another, especially when it requires conquering and holding territory. The job can’t be done from the air. U.S. imperialism will require large contingents of ground troops, and the casualties will mount.

The war will spread beyond Afghanistan’s borders. The Taliban get most of their supplies from Pakistan. A significant faction of Pakistani bosses supports the Taliban. Cutting off the Pakistani source of Taliban supplies may well force the U.S. to extend the war to Pakistan. The rest of Central Asia and the entire subcontinent, including India, could become involved to some extent in the fighting.

The U.S. is already carrying out plans for military bases in formerly Soviet Central Asian republics like Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. These bases will become likely targets.

The so-called "Northern Alliance" is basically a fiction. It’s a motley gang of warlords who may have differences with the Taliban bosses but who also fight for power among themselves. The likelihood that U.S. imperialism can mould them into a stable puppet regime is slim. Therefore, the chances of pacifying Afghanistan for Exxon Mobil in the near future are also slim.

Even if the Taliban and Al Qaeda are routed (their reactionary and repressive policies have alienated many of the people who originally supported them), instability will continue in the region. The rulers of Pakistan won't sit idly while their sworn enemies in the Northern Alliance (and their backers in Iran, India and Russia) takes over most of Afghanistan after Bush promised Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf  to keep the NA outside Kabul. Pakistan might grab southern Afghanistan as a buffer zone. And sooner than later, war will erupt between the Northern Alliance warlords and the Pakistani-back warlords.

---

Capitalism After Sept. 11: War, Mass Layoffs and Police State

Unity With Bosses Is Deadly for Workers

a href="#Bush’s ‘Homeland Security’ Would Make Hitler Proud">Bush"s ‘Homeland Security’ Would Make Hitler Proud

Giuliani Dump Firefighters for Real Estate Profiteers

Super-Exploitation at Ground Zero

a href="#Democratic ‘Hawks’ Say: ‘Prepare for American body bags…’">Democrat"c ‘Hawks’ Say: ‘Prepare for American body bags…’

Who’s the Terrorist Who Blew Up Flight 587? Answer: American Airlines CEO

Anti-War Group Forms at Montclair State University

Big Oil Barons Show Enron Who Is Boss

PLP Indicts Imperialism As Cause of War

PL Forum Links Universities To Pro-War Program

Anti-War Sentiment Grows at University of Washington

Racism Elected NY Mayor Bloomberg

a href="#Crisis Won’t Sink the System—That Requires Workers’ Revolution">Cris"s Won’t Sink the System—That Requires Workers’ Revolution

French Workers Strike

LETTERS: Workers of the World, Write!

a href="#Gov’t Is Biggest Terrorist in Chile">"ov’t Is Biggest Terrorist in Chile

Job Cuts Hit LA Garment Workers

a href="#Huber über Alles""Huber über Alles

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Capitalism After Sept. 11: War, Mass Layoffs and Police State

FLASH: As we go to press, the situation in Afghanistan has changed quite rapidly, but still the rulers’ two-front "war against terrorism" exposes them as something less than supermen, both in Afghanistan and on the home front. At home they still haven’t figured out the identity of the anthrax terrorists, and the FBI has egg all over its face. Overseas, pacifying Afghanistan to make it safe for Exxon Mobil’s oil profits is more easily said than done. True, the short U.S. bombing campaign appears to have routed the Taliban from Afghanistan’s main cities. But appearances don’t tell the whole story. "War in Afghanistan is not fought in cities and towns," says a Taliban mouthpiece quoted by The Times of India (11/14). "The decisive war is fought in the mountains and caves, and they are under our control."

The Islamic fundamentalist army that later produced the Taliban fought a ten-year guerrilla war against the Russians and won. The Taliban think they can duplicate this success, with some differences, against the U.S. The outcome can’t be predicted at this time. However, certain conclusions can be drawn about this war:

The fight to control Afghanistan is far from over. The present phase, according to a Pakistani military affairs expert, "can be interminably long" (Riffat Hussain, Times of India, 11/14). The Taliban have made an orderly retreat. They are "settling in for the long haul" (Stratfor, 11/14).

The guerrilla war in Afghanistan will once again show the limitations of air power. Making plans to corner oil and gas supplies and delivery routes from Kosovo through the Middle East and Afghanistan is one thing. Executing those plans is another, especially when it requires conquering and holding territory. The job can’t be done from the air. U.S. imperialism will require large contingents of ground troops, and the casualties will mount.

The war will spread beyond Afghanistan’s borders. The Taliban get most of their supplies from Pakistan. A significant faction of Pakistani bosses supports the Taliban. Cutting off the Pakistani source of Taliban supplies may well force the U.S. to extend the war to Pakistan. The rest of Central Asia and the entire subcontinent, including India, could become involved to some extent in the fighting.

The U.S. is already carrying out plans for military bases in formerly Soviet Central Asian republics like Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. These bases will become likely targets.

The so-called "Northern Alliance" is basically a fiction. It’s a motley gang of warlords who may have differences with the Taliban bosses but who also fight for power among themselves. The likelihood that U.S. imperialism can mould them into a stable puppet regime is slim. Therefore, the chances of pacifying Afghanistan for Exxon Mobil in the near future are also slim.

Unity With Bosses Is Deadly for Workers

"United We Stand" is ringing more hollow by the day. The more powerful U.S. capitalists had hoped to use the Bush presidency to galvanize the nation in a single-minded crusade against the enemies of Rockefeller’s Exxon Mobil following Sept. 11. But the grotesque spectacle of cops and firefighters fist-fighting amid the carnage at the World Trade Center symbolized a fundamental truth about the profit system: capitalists can’t sustain unity for long, even when a crisis demands it. Rival bosses, like bin Laden, using Islam’s religion as a smoke-screen, are seriously threatening the main Exxon Mobil faction’s grip on Saudi Arabia’s oil, the economic lever that allows it to dominate the world. The bigger U.S. rulers must sooner or later widen the war from Afghanistan to Iraq, the Arabian Peninsula and beyond. To do this, they need a more fascist crackdown at home (see page 2). But conflicts are erupting from Ground Zero to the highest levels of government.

The New York Times (editorial, 11/5) gave Bush passing marks for managing the tactical debate within the main wing over when to invade Iraq (see CHALLENGE, 11/14) but flunked him for caving in to the right-wing leaders of the Republican Party on domestic issues. "Mr. Bush’s leadership on foreign policy ...has been fair and nonpartisan...consulting Democrats as well as Republicans. On the home front, however, Mr. Bush acts as if he still cannot afford to alienate the right-wing leaders of the Republican Party and the big business and energy interests behind them." In other articles the Times specifically criticized Bush’s huge "tax stimulus" rebates to non- Exxon firms like Enron and Texas Utilities and his refusal to federalize airport security in favor of private firms owned by supporters of conservative Republicans. To the Times, Bush was forsaking his consensus- building mission.

When the aristocratic Bushes migrated from Greenwich, CT, to Texas half a century ago, they undertook the difficult task of keeping the domestic Oil Patch bosses roughly in line with the Exxon Mobil wing’s interests. This job has proved difficult because the two sides frequently have conflicting business interests. When push has come to shove, the Bushes have usually lined up behind the main wing.

In an important act of obedience to the main wing Eastern Establishment this year, Bush Jr. appointed liberal Republican Tom Ridge to the new position of Homeland Security czar. But then Bush failed to define the scope of his powers. A pro-choicer, Ridge has solid Establishment credentials. When running for governor of Pennsylvania, he employed the same campaign-consulting firm used by blueblood liberals like Massachusetts’ Bill Weld and New York’s Arno Houghton. One of Ridge’s main goals is to bring federal law enforcement agencies and the military under one roof. But Congress is balking at plans to put the Coast Guard and Border Patrol under Ridge’s command.

This pattern of attempts at unity followed by sharpening strife has marked Bush’s presidential career from the outset. At their party conventions last summer, Bush and Gore made identical calls for an oil war on Iraq. Seeming eager to put the Clinton impeachment battle behind them, both ran campaigns that the Harris Poll found unusually free of mudslinging. Then came Election Day and the most blatant manipulation of the courts and partisan ballot stealing, mixed with racism, that the U.S. has ever seen. At his inauguration, however, Bush vowed to bury the hatchet in a speech that the main wing’s most influential mouthpiece, the New York Times, called "A New Vision of Unity." By spring, this vision had blurred. Bush successfully backed a huge multi-billon-dollar tax cut package benefiting the corporations and wealthy individuals that had bought his election while it ignored the imperialist needs of the bigger bosses. Sen. Jay Rockefeller denounced the cuts as irresponsible because they endangered funding for U.S. ground troops overseas.

The main wing cannot afford to allow partisanship to hinder imperialism. As its hold on Persian Gulf oil becomes more precarious, it will increasingly resort to bribery and force to impose discipline.

a name="Bush’s ‘Homeland Security’ Would Make Hitler Proud"></a>"ush’s ‘Homeland Security’ Would Make Hitler Proud

With the upsurge of flag-waving U.S. nationalism following 9/11, the bosses are temporarily in a stronger position, and moving quickly, to create a police state. Officially over 1,000 "suspected terrorists" have been arrested, almost all on charges totally unrelated to the World Trade Center attacks. The government refuses to say who they are, where they’re held, or what they’re charged with. This recalls the mass arrests and deportations of tens of thousands of immigrants during the Palmer Raids "red scare" of the 1920s, following the Russian Revolution.

Almost all those arrested since 9/11 are Arab or Muslim, similar to immigrants held in the past five years on "secret evidence." U.S. rulers are counting on anti-Arab and anti-Muslim racism to get away with these round-ups. They’re also using fear and hysteria to weaken any potential fight-back.

These actions, however, pale in comparison to what the future holds. Under the new "anti-terrorism" law, the government could hold immigrants "under suspicion of involvement in terrorism" — without charging them with anything — from seven days up to indefinite court-ordered six-month period extensions.

"Suspects" are subject to "roving wiretaps," including secret "intelligence courts," combined with the "alien terrorist removal courts" from a 1996 Clinton law. The latter can receive secret evidence against those "suspected" of involvement with "foreign terrorist organizations" (FTOs). U.S. citizens who "materially support" FTOs can be jailed up to 10 years.

Bush’s Homeland Security Council comes right out of the Clinton-appointed Hart-Rudman Commission report which last April predicted major "terrorist attacks on U.S. soil" that would convince Americans to "sacrifice blood and treasure" for the greater profit glory of U.S. rulers. These blueprints for fascism hope to consolidate different government agencies which have previously fought each other. States like NY and NJ are creating local task forces to overcome past federal-state antagonisms. The NJ agency can make rules and meet in secret, and force compliance with all its demands for information related to "domestic security preparedness."

Communists in PLP must organize the international working class to fight these horrors. Only capitalism would cynically use the mass murder of thousands in the U.S. to justify killing millions more in a war for oil; would feed mass fear to build a vicious police state. Only communist revolution will destroy the warmakers, whose thirst for maximum profits can mean nothing but devastation for our class.

Giuliani Dump Firefighters for Real Estate Profiteers

NEW YORK CITY, Nov. 8 — "The mayor loves us only when we’re dead," declared a Brooklyn ladder company firefighter, reacting to Mayor Giuliani’s decision to stop looking for the remains of the dead still lying in the debris at the site of the World Trade Center "because it was too dangerous."

The hypocrisy of capitalism knows no bounds. After weeks of proclaiming the firefighters as heroes, now that the bosses’ profits depend on starting redevelopment as soon as possible, it’s time to dump the heroes (and hire day laborers under the most exploitative conditions to finish the job — see below). Only a society based on production for need —communism—instead of profits of a few bosses can end this kind of hypocrisy and exploitation.

So the firefighters were bitter at Giuliani’s decision to slash their workforce there from 180 to 24. "Yesterday they were heroes, today they’re going to be landfill," commented one firefighter, referring to the removal of the debris, filled with the bodies of 253 firefighters which have still not been recovered of the 343 who died in the September 11 attacks.

They pinpointed the reason for Giuliani’s decision: the city’s financial and real estate interests want to speed up the removal of the debris in order to begin the redevelopment of the site. Capitalism triumphs again. "They get worried about safety only when it serves their interests," said the Brooklyn ladder company firefighter. "They didn’t worry about it on September 11 or in the weeks after."

The situation was highlighted when 1,000 firefighters refused to follow their union leaders’ call to disperse at a Nov. 2 City Hall rally. "They got their gold," many shouted, referring to the removal of tons of gold bricks stored in basement vaults. They charged that recovery of these assets was the city’s main aim, and to hell with safety and finding the remains of the 253 dead firemen. "The mayor sends us out in fire trucks and now wants to take us out in dump trucks," said one.

They began shouting "Shut it down!" and surged southward towards Ground Zero. They broke through police barricades and marched onto the World Trade Center site, chanting "bring the brothers home." Fistfights broke out between the marchers and Giuliani’s "hero" cops, who arrested a dozen protesters, holding some incommunicado into the night. The heroes who Giuliani was building his reputation on were initially charged with inciting to riot, trespass and other criminal acts. Later all charges were dropped, except for one firefighter.

Ironworkers, construction workers and operating engineers stopped work with their heavy machinery and equipment and joined the protest. Afterwards hundreds marched back to City Hall shouting, "Rudy must go!"

One former firefighter compared Fire Commissioner Thomas Von Essen (who left his job as union president to become the Commissioner) to a stoolpigeon. "Tell everyone Von Essen is the Fire Department’s Gyp Nolan," said Tommy Gates, referring to the 1930s film, The Informer, in which an IRA member became an informer for the British. (Newsday, 11/6) The head of the Uniformed Fire Officers Association labeled Giuliani a "fascist."

In recent years a four-hour slide show dealing with terrorist incidents was given to firefighters, which explained little more than telling them that the first fire companies arriving at a disaster were expected to die.

Now 4,000 firefighters are suffering with chronic coughs and other lung conditions, labeled "World Trade Center Syndrome." They’ve received hardly anything more than dust masks while the cops get filtered respirators. A consultant for the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences said, "It’s the worst site I’ve ever seen, extremely hazardous."

An Environmental Protection Agency report said the toxic chemicals and metals in the air and soil pose long-term risks for hundreds of workers at the site, including leukemia and bone marrow damage.

Super-Exploitation at Ground Zero

Meanwhile, the capitalist profit motive has reared its head even more intensely in the shape-up hiring of day laborers at $7.50 an hour. They don’t want to pay regular asbestos workers $18 to $22 an hour. "This is another way of exploiting workers," said one laborer. These workers hired to clean up and remove debris are on the job up to 12 hours a day, with no overtime pay and without the most basic safety gear. They had to ask the Red Cross for dust masks and then got the cheapest 99¢ variety.

The ruling class that oppresses workers here for the greater glory of maximum profits is the very same class that has launched a war killing Afghani workers and plans to expand it to control the oil and gas reserves and supply lines from the Middle East to the China Sea. It’s the job of the international working class to strangle that imperialist beast so it can exploit no more.

a name="Democratic ‘Hawks’ Say: ‘Prepare for American body bags…’"></a>Demo"ratic ‘Hawks’ Say: ‘Prepare for American body bags…’

The Los Angeles Times, Nov. 9]

WASHINGTON — Several…Democratic presidential contenders…are urging President Bush to intensify and expand the war….

Sens. Joseph Lieberman of Conn., John Kerry of Mass. and Joseph Biden of Delaware…have taken positions more hawkish than the president. On issues from the use of ground troops in Afghanistan to the targeting of Iraq…. Lieberman and Kerry in particular have echoed conservative activists pressing Bush to pursue the war more aggressively.

"…Lieberman and…Kerry have been closer to us than parts of the Bush administration," said conservative strategist William Kristol, a leader among Republican hawks….

The other leading Democrats — including former Vice-President Al Gore, Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota and House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt of Missouri — have supported Bush’s decisions…without reservations….

Biden…told the [Rockefeller] Council on Foreign Relations…."I think the American public is prepared, and the president must continue to remind them to be prepared, for American body bags coming home…."

Lieberman…has been…insistent…in arguing that the U.S. must target Iraq as part of the war…— whether or not it is directly implicated in the Sept. 11 airline highjackings or the subsequent anthrax attack….

a name="Workers Must Swing Away At Rulers’ Liberal Curve Ball">">"orkers Must Swing Away At Rulers’ Liberal Curve Ball

In baseball, the pitch that dips or breaks unexpectedly is much harder to hit than the straight one. In politics, the sweet-talking enemy disguised as a friend is far more deadly than the one who wears a sign saying "Bad Guy." As the rulers’ oil war widens beyond Afghanistan and they develop their plan for a police state on the home front, workers need more than ever to avoid the traps set by liberal politicians, who pose as our allies but slit our throats. Hundreds of millions of lives and the future of humanity depend on our ability to absorb and act on this lesson.

Workers must never choose sides among bosses or line up behind any of their politicians. Our ability to build a movement that can turn the horrors of imperialist war and fascism into the fight for a decent society depends on our recognition of all our class enemies and our reliance on ourselves to win. Our goal remains communist revolution. Our organization is the Progressive Labor Party. Our friends are our fellow workers, students, teachers and soldiers. Our enemies are all the bosses and their agents. No exceptions.

Despite the support Bush continues to enjoy in the wake of September 11, many people understand that this racist and his sidekicks, Vice-President Cheney, Defense Secretary Rumsfeld, Treasury Secretary O’Neill and Attorney General Ashcroft are no friends of the working class. Their "national unity" act is wearing thin, as every day brings fresh revelations about Bush’s attempts to reward his campaign backers with profit windfalls from the "anti-terrorism" business. Billion-dollar payoffs to the drug companies and the private airline security rent-a-cop companies are just two examples.

To prepare our class for the immense battles that lie ahead we need to see through the murderous schemes being carried out against us under our noses by the liberals, Democrats and Republicans alike.

The first is their oil war disguised as a "crusade against terror." Because Bush is president, he appears as the main "crusader." But the groundwork for the oil wars of the recent past and the present was laid by liberal Democrat Jimmy Carter, who in 1980 announced a doctrine bearing his name: "An attempt by any outside forces 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."

The "Carter Doctrine" led to Bush, Sr.’s. 1991 oil war in Iraq. Months before announcing U.S. imperialism’s determination to control Gulf oil at all costs, Carter heeded his National Security Advisor, Zbigniew Brzezinski, and cynically provoked the former Soviet Union into a bloody war in Afghanistan. The U.S.-backed anti-communist forces in that war included Osama bin Laden—the demon the bosses now love to hate—as well as thousands of Islamic fundamentalists who are now fighting—as the Taliban— against the U.S. in Afghanistan. These forces also want to replace Exxon Mobil’s chokehold on the Saudi oil prize. So the liberal Carter and his entourage were directly responsible for the process that has led to the present bloodshed and will lead to much more.

Continuing the oil war by other means, the liberal Democrat Clinton’s sanctions policy murdered hundreds of thousands of Iraqi children in his eight-year tenure, terrorized the former Yugoslavia from the air to secure Balkan energy pipelines and attacked workers from Haiti to Somalia and Afghanistan for various tactical goals.

As CHALLENGE reported (11/14), Bush now faces pressure from the Republican "right-wing" to widen the Afghanistan war into Iraq immediately. The Democrats and liberal Republicans like Secretary of State Powell are speaking with the "voice of reason" against this move. But the debate is purely tactical. The "get-Iraq-now" gang is a dirty alliance of domestic oil bosses, whose profits are being hurt by cheap Iraqi crude coming onto the U.S. market, and arms manufacturers who see a chance to grab some quick profits. The Democrats and Powell have a "better idea."

They speak for the main Rockefeller Exxon Mobil wing of U.S. rulers. They don’t disagree about forcing Saddam Hussein out of the picture and setting up a pro-U.S. oil puppet government in Iraq. They also know that the biggest prize of all, Saudi Arabian oil, is facing a serious threat from within, and that a U.S. occupation of that country may be necessary. These liberals believe that the time is not yet ripe for an invasion to seize Persian Gulf oilfields.

Crucial for workers is to avoid falling for the lie that Powell and the Democrats represent an "anti-war" faction of the ruling class. In fact the opposite is the case. Exxon Mobil’s liberal representatives are planning to lead us eventually into the widest, most destructive war in history. On occasion, they will let the truth leak out. The liberal Democrat Joe Lieberman, Gore’s Vice-Presidential candidate in 2000, demanded a "phase two" response to September 11, "stopping short of calling for an immediate strike on Iraq," but nonetheless warning: "As long as Saddam is there...Iraq is going to be a threat to our lives" (Associated Press, 10/16).

On the home front, Bush just signed an "anti-terrorism" law that is really a blueprint for a police state. The bosses’ government will now be able to define as "terrorist" activity any form of militant organizing against it. The disguise is the promise to protect us against repetitions of September 11 and against "bioterrorism." The reality is the rulers’ growing need to govern with mass terror, as conditions sharpen and U.S. imperialism requires more cannon fodder for its oil wars and complete political obedience from the working class. Of course, this blueprint for fascism has been wrapped in the red-white-and-blue and heralded as a measure necessary for the preservation of "democracy."

The liberals play a crucial role in pitching this curve ball. They’re doing so in three ways:

First, the liberal Clinton White House, in addition to paving the way for the present war, also greased the skids for today’s "iron heel" measures. Clinton ended welfare and replaced it with the slave labor "Workfare" scheme. Clinton hired 100,000 more racist cops to terrorize working-class communities. He beefed up border patrols and took other measures to brutalize immigrant workers, thereby preparing the conditions for Ashcroft’s present summary jailing without charges of over 1,000 Arabs. So Clinton in many ways gave the rulers the straitjacket they’re now outfitting for all of us.

Second, the liberals helped Bush write and pass the legislation that legalizes fascism. The law is called the "Patriot Act". When it was still a bill, it was named after Wisconsin Republican representative James Sensenbrenner and liberal Michigan Democrat John Conyers. Conyers, who is black, has made a career of helping the bosses implement their most racist policies. His contributions hark back to avid support for the Vietnam War. The "Patriot Law" he just co-authored "lays the foundation for a domestic intelligence-gathering system of unprecedented scale" (Washington Post, 11/4). It will enable the rulers to brand anyone who disagrees with them or organizes against them as a "terrorist" and will centralize and further militarize every policing function of the state apparatus, from the FBI and CIA all the way to the Treasury Department. Liberal politicians head the cheerleading squad. House Democratic majority leader Gephardt and the rest of his buddies want to authorize billions of additional dollars beyond the $40 billion already spent to hire FBI agents, Customs agents and Border Patrol cops. Florida Democrat Bob Graham, chair of the Senate Committee on Intelligence, praised the Patriot Act as "long overdue" (Washington Post).

Third, some of the police-state liberals are also hypocritically parading as guardians of "freedom," warning that things mustn’t go too far. One such is Vermont Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy, who served as Senate negotiator of the Conyers-Sensenbrenner bill, all the while "agonizing" about the possibility that the new presidential powers it provides "could be used to violate civil liberties" (Washington Post). But never fear: to ease his conscience after getting the bill passed, Leahy will crusade for the Justice Department to "consult" with his Senate Judiciary Committee while the government jails and tortures workers.

The liberal New York Times (11/10) has also added its own editorial "tsk, tsk," calling on the White House to "step in" and make sure the Justice Department can "investigate domestic attacks while respecting the basic rights that we are in this war to preserve."

The imperialists have learned their lesson from Hitler, whose biggest slave labor camp had on its gates the grotesque slogan "Work Makes You Free." Today, the main wing of U.S. bosses wants us to fall for similar lies while lining up for a bloodbath and cheering for the vise they’re clamping around our necks. Our class’s road away from the horrors of oil war and fascism begins by rejecting the liberals’ Big Lies. Only the communist analysis and leadership of the Progressive Labor Party can get this crucial job done.

Who’s the Terrorist Who Blew Up Flight 587?

Answer: American Airlines CEO

NEW YORK CITY, Nov. 14 — "I believe that a terrorist blew up the American Airlines plane bound for Santo Domingo. They just don’t want to admit it because then nobody will fly and the airlines will sink completely," a PLP member’s friend told him.

"You’re partially right," the PL’er responded. It was a terrorist act, but one the government won’t go after. It was caused by the greed for maximum profits by the big terrorist, American Airlines. Why doesn’t the new Homeland Security Agency arrest the CEO of AA in Dallas?"

The Airbus 300 plane exploded right after leaving Kennedy airport, killing the 260 passengers and crew members. Up to nine people are missing in the Belle Harbor neighborhood of the Rockaways where burning sections of the plane fell. The second engine of the plane was due for a major overhaul. Engines are supposed to get major overhauls after 10,000 hours of use. This one had 9,700 hours.

Since 1990, the Federal Aviation Administration has recorded at least 37 accidents or incidents for the Airbus 300 series. The plane’s GE engines had a history of problems. Since 1988, the Airbus has returned to airports three times because of smoke in the cockpits.

The lives of the passengers, most of them Dominican workers visiting relatives on the island, including a couple that survived the World Trade Center attack, the flight crew and residents of Belle Harbor, were all sacrificed on the altar of corporate maximum profits. That’s capitalism!

Anti-War Group Forms at Montclair State University

MONTCLAIR, NJ, Nov. 11 — Montclair State University students formed an anti-war group a month ago, with the help of a faculty member who was active in the anti-Vietnam War movement. Thirty students came to the first meeting. There have been four more since. "Students Against the War" sponsored an anti-war forum last week, attended by about 40 students and several faculty and staff.

The anti-war students represent several different viewpoints, from pacifist (against all war), to liberal anti-war, to various kinds of Marxist and communist viewpoints. PLP’s view is representative. At a meeting of a smaller group today, four of the five students were reading CHALLENGE shortly after the meeting began.

A number of students say they are "anti-capitalist." Capitalism is certainly the cause of the war but there is confusion, and some disagreement, over what "anti-capitalism" means. PL’ers are struggling to show that the war is an imperialist one, over oil, a point on which most anti-war students seem to agree. But PL’ers must struggle harder to show that imperialism is essential to capitalism, and can’t be "reformed" out of capitalism.

Some students are anti-communist, based on anti-communist lies from the educational system and mass media, the old phony "communist" movement in Eastern Europe and the USSR since World War 2 and Trotskyist lies about Stalin. But in general they are very open, and we PL’ers must be more open to them!

Ten to twelve CHALLENGES are being distributed weekly, a big increase since before 9/11. Two students are coming to a PL study group. We’re working to create a study group on campus too.

Most students at Montclair commute, so meetings are difficult to schedule and planning is even more necessary. Organizing by phone and in person, often one on one, has proven much more effective than reliance on e-mail, which not everyone checks regularly. E-mail has been useful for distributing articles, including CHALLENGE articles, to the wider readership of 40-50 students who have joined the local anti-war mailing list.

We need more, and more militant activities: another teach-in, and a march. We’re planning a general open letter or petition against the war, another forum and a film showing later this week.

Most important is to build both study groups and recruit some new members to PLP, so we can win yet others to the only solution that will work for the working class and the human race: a communist society. Revolution is the only way to achieve that goal. We must do much more education by spreading CHALLENGE among even more students and faculty.

Big Oil Barons Show Enron Who Is Boss

Remember the California "energy crisis" earlier in the year? Workers there paid through the nose for the windfall profits of the Enron Corporation, the largest U.S. buyer and marketer of natural gas. But Enron’s gouging of the California market was also viewed as a double-cross by the main energy bosses of the Eastern Establishment. Enron is now paying the price for showing no honor among thieves. It’s just been gobbled up by an Eastern Establishment firm.

Workers should care less who wins squabbles between big bosses. However, studying these fights is important to understand the class forces at work and learn how our side can take advantage.

The Enron case parallels the main rulers’ strong-arm political tactics at home and widening oil war abroad. It proves their aim is to squash all opposition to their agenda for world domination. Briefly, here’s what happened.

Control of Enron had been split for the past few years between the Eastern Establishment and Texans, like its Chairman, Kenneth Lay, who was Bush’s biggest 2000 presidential campaign contributor. When Bush stole the election with Enron’ s help, Lay and his buddies figured they were entitled to a payoff. Bush tried to repay this debt by using the presidency to give Enron a big "emergency tax stimulus" rebate. But Enron wanted more, so it jacked up its prices in California. But the Rockefeller Standard Oil California gang couldn’t tolerate this attempt to take over West Coast pricing by a company it didn’t fully control. So they mounted a counter-attack.

It took two forms. The first was the direct use of state power. Enron became the subject of an investigation by the Securities Exchange Commission, a government agency traditionally loyal to the Eastern Establishment, for insider dealings that wiped out $1.6 billion in shareholder equity. This attack shattered shareholder confidence. The price of shares nose-dived, setting the stage for the second phase, the takeover.

With Enron’ s value down, a company called Dynegy stepped in and bought it. Chevron of the Rockefeller wing owns 27% of Dynegy and Fidelity, an old-line Boston mutual fund company, owns 7%. The takeover involves a cash infusion of $2.5 billion directly from Chevron.

The main rulers’ power grab of Enron signals their resolve to end the days of power sharing with forces they don’t trust who engineer rip-offs behind their backs. The largest single stockholder in Enron is the New York Belfer family, which has long owned gas fields in partnership with the old money Cabot family of Boston. The Cabots and Belfers merged these holdings with Enron. Endowments from these two families have transformed Harvard’s Kennedy School into an important foreign policy "think tank" with a focus on energy. The Belfer Center at the Kennedy School runs a Caspian Studies program funded by Exxon Mobil and Chevron.

The Lay wing of Enron had an interest in keeping cheaper supplies of energy, such as Iraqi crude, off the U.S. market. This isn’t the Exxon Mobil and Chevron agenda. As CHALLENGE has reported, these main oil barons are marketing Iraqi oil on both coasts of the United States and intend to exert "full spectrum dominance" over all the world’s cheapest, most plentiful energy supplies. This is the principal purpose of the so-called "war against terror" in Afghanistan.

Enron’s takeover by the Exxon Mobil-Chevron-Eastern banking wing is an excellent object lesson for workers in the class nature and use of government under the profit system. The government serves the bosses. The bigger the boss, the more compliant the state apparatus. In its first year, the Bush White House has shown divided loyalties between the main wing and Enron-type pretenders. This takeover is one sign among many that the Eastern Establishment means to grab state power by the jugular and wield it to discipline all of society. Our class must have no illusions about who’s in charge or about the need to build a movement that can smash all the rulers and their centers of power.

PLP Indicts Imperialism As Cause of War

BERKELEY, CA—About 500 people from the western U.S. attended the California Schools Against War (CSAW) conference held over the November 10th weekend. PLP students’ and friends’ goal was to introduce revolutionary politics and plans for action and build closer ties to others there.

One opening speaker said "You" — meaning the students AND the U.S. government—"bombed Afghanistan." Nothing about a war of inter-imperialist rivalry and little blaming of capitalism. In the panels and workshops, we explained this was an imperialist war for control of oil, rooted in capitalism’s contradictions.

Little time was allotted for questions or comments in the panels and workshops. The conference leadership clearly was not interested in what people thought.

The PLP-led workshop entitled, "Hart/Rudman Report –Building a Police State" (omitted from the conference schedule "by accident") fought this trend. Thirty attended. We showed how fascism was not planned by one "madman" but by a ruling class bent on imperialist war for oil profits, saying fascism must be defeated by communism. People feared that their own organizing activities could be defined as "terrorism" in the newly-passed Patriot Act. Distributing Party literature and one-on-one conversations produced a contact list.

The next day delegates met to decide the coalition’s future but discussions were limited. Delegates were frustrated, trying to speak but never called on. One delegate rose to say, "I may be out of order, but this process is not democratic at all!" A PLP member said seriousness was needed and therefore we should eliminate "time restraints." When he said, "This is an imperialist war," he was applauded. The moderator halted discussion over this issue and time restraints stayed.

Finally a delegate announced a meeting outside for all those who were unhappy with the proceedings. Around 60 of the 160 total delegates walked outside and started discussing the problems. PLP members said the leadership had no confidence that the masses could understand politics. They see any debate as divisive, and don’t want the war traced to the ruling class. The fact that 60 people organized a dissent group shows there was a clear desire among a majority of delegates to have political discussion. The "moderators" systematically denied that desire. PLP members struggled with many to stay at the conference and fight the leadership’s splitting tactics. After agreeing on a list of improvements, the dissenters returned and presented them to the meeting. An alternative e-mail list was created for those unhappy with the process.

The Southern California Coalition Against the War resolution to organize campus campaigns against war research, racist and pro-war ideology and ROTC, was raised at the conference. The resolution also stated the need to create teach-ins about imperialism and oil. The leadership refused discussion on the resolution, but many students liked it. The leadership pushed formation of a national "coordinating committee" that would make decisions for the student anti-war movement. We said we all needed political discussion of imperialism and about actions to be taken so people would be truly won to doing them.

Some people from the dissenting group talked candidly over dinner about what had happened. PLP members will fight alongside our fellow students to implement the resolution of the Southern California Schools Against the War and help build a bigger anti-war coalition which fights imperialism and racism on the campuses. That could change the nature of future events.

We drew closer to our friends throughout the weekend and heard many positive comments about PLP. We sold about 100 CHALLENGES and distributed many PLP leaflets exposing the universities as centers of racist ideology and pro-war research.

PL Forum Links Universities To Pro-War Program

BOSTON, MA, Nov. 11 — PLP members and friends participated in the regional college conference against war and racism. Over 300 students and workers from 40 colleges attended the panels and workshops the first day.

PLP organized two workshops, one on Mideast/Caspian Sea oil and the war in Afghanistan and another on patriotism/nationalism and the war. Seventy attended the workshop on oil. PLP members gave presentations on capitalism and its drive to maximize profits, which lead to imperialism and war, and explained the importance of Mideast oil (especially Saudi oil) and Caspian Sea oil in prompting the war in Afghanistan. Copies of recent CHALLENGES articles on the topic were distributed to everyone.

During the patriotism/nationalism workshop, one panelist related the importance of Mideast oil to this war. A former Students for a Democratic Society member stressed the importance of building worker/student unity to oppose imperialist war and the universities’ connection to war. He recalled fighting against the universities’ pro-war and racist ideology and opposing ROTC/CIA recruiters and military research on campus during the Vietnam War.

Saturday evening PLP organized a discussion on a communist alternative to war and capitalism; the difference between socialism and communism; how to end war; what revolution means; why capitalism breeds war; the importance of oil; and the need to sharpen the struggle at our colleges.

On Sunday about 110 delegates discussed the future of the northeast campus anti-war coalition. However, the International Socialist Organization (ISO) and some other students were determined to run the meeting bureaucratically, stifling real political discussion of anti-imperialist and anti-capitalist views. It became clear to many that the ISO is not interested in building collectivity but instead in grabbing power. This bureaucratic maneuvering stems from their opportunistic politics: they blame only Bush for the war and won’t discuss the underlying reasons for it or plan campaigns against it. Their outlook ends up supporting the Democratic Party.

As the war drags on, more students are opposing it. As communists in PLP, we must be in this movement, fighting for a real revolutionary communist answer to imperialist war and capitalism. We must lead the fight against the Universities’ support for military research, ROTC and racist ideology.

Many battles lie ahead. As part of these battles we must indicate that unless we destroy capitalism with communist revolution, there will only be endless wars.

Anti-War Sentiment Grows at University of Washington

Today 200 people rallied against the war on the University of Washington campus. Several speakers revealed the history of, and reasons for, U.S. government attacks on the people of the Middle East. One reported how the CIA trained Osama Bin Laden to fight the Soviet Union. Another spoke about U.S. sanctions on Iraq. I explained the main reason for U.S. expenditures of money and effort in the Middle East is to control the worldwide supply of oil. Some applauded while many others nodded in agreement

I also noted a resolution being debated on the floor of our student senate that says students here support the U.S. government’s "war on terrorism." Many people opposed it in committee, including students in the Black Student Union, MECHA and the University Coalition Against the War. Instead, an alternative resolution was drafted resolving that the students not support the U.S. actions. Upon hearing this, four senators asked me to put their names on as co-sponsors. Even more people are expected to support this one in committee.

Many members of a study group I’m forming on campus attended this rally and have become more committed to coming to the study group and campus activities.

We also distributed about 50 CHALLENGES. Lots of people approached me asking for a paper and to agree with what I said. There’s a lot of potential on campus and much work to do.

Although this was a step in the right direction, more than at any other time we must realize the importance of our ideas and be bolder in these coalitions and while speaking at rallies. People must realize that sharpening inter-imperialist rivalry is causing this war, as a direct result of capitalist economics. Without seeing this, people will not completely understand our idea that the only way to stop war is to have a revolution for communism.µ

 

—A U. Wash Comrade

Racism Elected NY Mayor Bloomberg

NEW YORK CITY, Nov. 7 — "You know who I voted for?" asked my friend. "Green," I responded, knowing well that he, like many Latin and black workers, usually vote Democrat, no matter how bad they are.

"No, I voted for Bloomberg," he responded. I wasn’t really that surprised. Billionaire Mike Bloomberg, a Republican, will become New York City’s next mayor, basically because the liberal Democratic candidate Mark Green blew it.

All the political pundits are saying Bloomberg won because he spent $50 million in ads and got current Mayor Giuliani’s endorsement. Since Sept. 11, the media has turned Giuliani into a national hero. Until then he was the most hated mayor in recent history among black and Latin workers. But the real reason Green lost and Bloomberg won was racism. Despite all the claims by the bosses and their media that, after 9/11, New Yorkers became "more united than ever," the fact is racism is still king in this city.

Black and Latin politicians did very little to turn out the vote for Green because Green’s people waged a racist campaign in Brooklyn during the primary runoff between him and Fernando Ferrer. They spread racism among white voters, saying that if Ferrer won, Al Sharpton would become Police commissioner. (Sharpton led a series of protests against police brutality when African immigrant Amadou Diallo was shot 41 times by the cops in the Bronx.) Green refused to fire the campaign workers involved.

So Roberto Ramírez, head of the Bronx Democratic Party political machine, refused to get out the Latino vote for Green. The night before the election, Sharpton basically called for people to vote for Bloomberg. Many black and Latino workers either voted for Bloomberg or sat out the election.

What’s next? Bloomberg’s main job as Mayor will be to impose draconian measures against city workers and workers in general, to make them pay for the economic crisis which NYC faces (worsened by 9/11). Bloomberg knows he needs Democratic support. Immediately after winning the election, Bloomberg met with Weingarten (head of the Teachers’ Union), Saunders (head of District Council 37’s city workers union) and with Ferrer and Sharpton. He must ensure these bosses’ lieutenants follow the rulers’ plan to "rebuild NYC" (meaning workers will pay for it). This will increase racist attacks against black and Latin workers. That’s the real purpose of the bosses’ electoral system.

Nearly 900,000 U.S. jobs have disappeared since March, nearly half since October alone. Workers’ wages fell. Bosses and union leaders blame the layoffs, wage cuts and impending service cuts on the World Trade Center attack. Yet New York Times columnist Paul Krugman wrote (9/30), "the economic repercussions from the World Trade Center, unnerving as they are, would soon fade out if the economy had been strong to begin with….even before the attack, our economic condition was looking unusually precarious."

Japan, the U.S. and Europe are all in an economic downturn, simultaneously for the first time in 20 years. Argentina is in a sharp crisis, with devaluation inevitable and default probable. Meanwhile, U.S. politicians are doing their patriotic duty by bailing out the corporations, while screwing the unemployed. Health benefits for retired workers are "expendable" but corporate debts must be honored!

The rate of profit has dropped from 13% in 1997 to 8% now. In the 3rd quarter of this year U.S. corporate profits were 25% lower than last year’s 3rd quarter. Overproduction has spread from the high tech industry to steel, auto and aerospace. The bosses "solution" is more layoffs and sharper competition to destroy their rivals, meaning misery and death for workers here and worldwide.

The New York Times (11/11) says, "The problem is that when the world’s pie is not growing, debates over dividing it become fiercer." These "debates" lead to more wars and eventually world wars over control of resources and markets.

Capitalist exploitation and competition for profit inevitably produces consolidation, overproduction, layoffs and war. Workers can’t have any "patriotic" unity with these bosses or their politician/union leader henchmen who are the very ones attacking us! Never has the slogan "Workers of the World, Unite!" been more important.

a name="Crisis Won’t Sink the System—That Requires Workers’ Revolution"></a>"risis Won’t Sink the System—That Requires Workers’ Revolution

The day before the attack on the World Trade Center, the U.S. found itself economically and politically more isolated than it had been for over a decade. It had walked out of the UN Conference on racism, refused to sign on to the Kyoto agreement on global warming and turned its back on agreements outlawing the use of landmines and child soldiers.

In an August article, the British magazine The Economist had written: "If one assumes that growth in the second quarter was close to zero in America and the euro area and that Japan contracted sharply, the …rich economies will have contracted for the first time since late 1990. But, unlike 1990, a growing number of emerging economies are also sliding into recession."

Like others, the Economist sees four negative forces at work.

First, the bursting of the hi-tech bubble. Secondly, since early last year stocks fell 28% worldwide, wiping out $10 trillion worth of stock value. (Millions of workers whose pension plans were invested in these stocks took a major hit.) Third, last year’s slump in energy prices reduced profits in oil-producing countries. And, finally, the spillover from the U.S. downturn. The Economist pointed out that the U.S. "accounted for two-fifths of the world’s GDP [Gross Domestic Product] growth over the past five years….That dependence left the world more vulnerable to an American slump."

The article offers two signs of hope. First, the continual cuts in interest rates by the U.S. Federal Banks to stimulate the bosses’ economy. Secondly, the oil price drop.

Both signs present problems, but the drop in oil prices is especially dangerous since it means a decline in oil revenues. That is already a shaky proposition for the stability of the main U.S. ally in the Middle East, Saudi Arabia. "Accustomed to an annual income of over $100 billion, the Saudi government can’t cope with anything less….The yearly per capita income plummeted to $6,000 in 1993, compared with $14,600 in 1982. Jobs are so scarce that unemployment among new university graduates is over 25%. Its lateness in paying foreign workers has led to sit-down strikes in Jeddah, Qassim and the Easter province." ("The House of Saud," Said Aburish, 1996) These conditions have only worsened since then and are fertile ground for political unrest.

The drop in oil prices also makes the more expensive, lower quality oil fields in other parts of the world increasingly marginal economically. This combined with the general crisis of overproduction — from oil, to steel, to autos to computer chips — means that whichever imperialist power controls the Middle East and Caspian Sea oil production, will in fact, dominate the world’s economies. The current economic downturn will likely sharpen the rivalry among the major imperialist powers for control of that most valuable of all raw materials, oil.

All these contradictions, however, in and of themselves will not sink the system by itself. The only thing that capitalism cannot survive is the working class organized into a mass communist party to make revolution. Presently U.S. rulers have a large measure of unity behind their policies, which can’t be dismissed. Secondly, they are still the world’s number one imperialist power and can export a lot of misery, which they are certainly doing now in Afghanistan. Finally, U.S. workers are not mobilized to oppose the rulers’ fascism and thus far, for the most part, have not fought the bosses’ "sacrifice-for-the-war-effort" ploy. It is up to our Party and our class to take advantage of the bosses’ dilemmas, heat things up and take the offensive. Joining and building PLP is the prerequisite for this to occur.

French Workers Strike

PARIS, Nov. 12 — Workers sitting in at a bankrupt Moulinex microwave plant in western France are threatening to blow the place up unless the company agrees to give $11,000 extra severance pay to each of 1,300 workers scheduled for termination. They have already set fire to one plant. The signs read, "Either the money or Kaboom"; and "Shutdown."

LETTERS

Workers of the World, Write!

a name="Gov’t Is Biggest Terrorist in Chile">">"ov’t Is Biggest Terrorist in Chile

Chile’s rulers have used the September 11 attacks to impose more police state measures on the working class. Soledad Alvear, foreign minister of Chile, has asked Congress here to approve Bush’s call to "fight international terrorism." At the same, Socialist President Lagos has called for the formation of a new intelligence agency to protect the "national interest."

The role played by Pinochet’s intelligence agencies (CNI and DINA) is still remembered by the working class of Chile and of many other countries in the region. They helped murder, torture and persecute thousands of workers and students opposed to the Pinochet-Kissinger-AT&T 1973 fascist coup. They also coordinated "Operation Condor" with the CIA, carrying out assassinations internationally, including the killing of exiled Orlando Letelier in Washington, D.C. Letelier was a major liberal opponent of Pinochet. It was the first major terrorist act carried out by a foreign body in the U.S., long before Sept. 11.

Amid plans for the new repressive police agency, the government is already set to attack workers. Recently, 100 cops manufactured an "anti-drug" operation, viciously raiding La Legua, a poor neighborhood in Santiago. Instead of providing jobs, the rulers use their cops to jail working class youth with the lame cover of going after a few drug dealers.

This raid is seen by many as the first of many more to come to stop workers from fighting back. Already, the official unemployment rate has reached 15% in Santiago and 10% nationwide.

So when the bosses talk about protecting the "national interests," they mean attacking workers.

A Comrade, Chile

Job Cuts Hit LA Garment Workers

I’m a Los Angeles garment worker who’s just been attacked once more by racist, criminal unemployment. My factory had 120 workers. Now that’s been cut in half. In what turned out to be our last day, the supervisor said, "There’s no work." Then the boss told us, "Those who can collect unemployment insurance should go." But one needs to be a legal resident to qualify. If not, you get nothing.

These are daily experiences in many garment factories. Although the economic crisis of unemployment and low wages has existed for eight years, after September 11 unemployment has risen sharply, leaving thousands more in greater poverty.

Our current plan is to organize with other laid-off workers in community groups and churches for aid, including food and rent money, especially for single mothers, who’ve been hit the hardest.

Garment workers problems have several causes. First, there’s the economic crisis confronting worldwide capitalism. Another factor is racism — the majority are immigrants, many undocumented. Most garment factories don’t even pay the minimum wage, despite working eight hours or more and subjected to speed-up and harassment. The bosses’ drive for maximum profits, their need to beat out the competition for markets, drives the speed-up.

These signify a system in crisis, willingly sacrificing the working class in order to maintain power. We must not allow these conditions to demoralize us. We’re determined to have confidence in our ço-workers to fight these attacks and to lead our class on the road to communist revolution. Everything depends on what we do now.

During my years in this factory, I’ve made many friends. Some are regular CHALLENGE readers. During breaks we discussed political ideas. We fought together against slashing piece rates. We will maintain ties with these workers so they can continue to read and distribute CHALLENGE to other workers and build the long-term fight against this profit-hungry system.

Costurero Rojo

Banks Win, Workers Lose

While newspapers report that workers’ consumption of meat in Mexico has declined 20%, consumption of tortillas is down 10% and tens of thousands are losing their jobs because of the capitalist crisis, not everyone is suffering. Although 5,000 bank workers have been laid off, the profits of five leading banks there have soared.

Under capitalism the rich get richer and the poor poorer, and fewer and fewer bosses control the wealth of each country and of the world. Bank workers are being fired as big banks swallow smaller ones (e.g., Citibank recently absorbed Banamex, Mexico’s largest bank; big Spanish banks are taking over local banks).

The government has cut social services for workers and their families but the banks have been getting a great deal from the rulers. Mexico’s government has paid the big banks regularly the high interests charged for helping bail out the savings institutions going bankrupt after the big peso devaluation in 1994. As Marx said, the state is a loyal servant of the capitalist class.

President Fox, the first in 60 years not from the old PRI Party, naturally, continues to favor the big banks. Fox, Bush’s buddy, came to power promising big changes. Now, because of the world economic crisis, mass layoffs are making life even more miserable for the workers here.

The lesson is that workers should never trust any politician: they all serve the bosses, not the workers.

A Comrade

a name="Huber über Alles""Huber über Alles

CHALLENGE has correctly warned workers throughout the world not to choose sides when bosses fight each other. We should organize to get rid of all the bosses. While U.S. imperialism continues in its Nazi tradition of "collateral damage," murdering civilians with its terror bombings of Afghanistan, the Nazi connection also includes the bin Laden group.

Ahmed Huber, a Swiss businessman and former journalist who converted to Islam, is on the Bush’s administration list of financiers of the Al Qaeda-bin Laden group. Who is this guy? Herr Huber is well known in Switzerland and Germany as a person who has tried to forge links between Islamic fundamentalists and neo-Nazi groups. He’s also a member of the group which claims the Holocaust never happened. He has been a regular speaker at NPD rallies (Germany main neo-Nazi outfit).

What unites Herr Huber with the Islamic movement? Millionaires from the Moslem world are backers of his Nada Management, a financial services and consultant firm.

Indeed, if workers should side with Nazis aspiring to replace the U.S. bosses as the ruling Nazis of the world, we lose.

A Teo

1. Oppose U.S. Bosses' Oil "Crusade"
2. Bush Oil `Crusade' Murders Millions in Afghanistan
3. Among `Evildoers' U.S. Rulers Numero Uno
   Bush's disgusting sermons about punishing "evil-doers" cannot hide the truth about the U.S. rulers' new war:
4. Imperialists' `Anti-terrorist' Love Affair Won't Last
5. U.S. Rulers Sinking In Afghan Quagmire?
6. The U.S. Nazis-Anthrax Connection
7. Nazis Support 9/11 Terrorist Attacks
8. U.S. Sanctions on Iraq = Biological Warfare
9. British GI's Want
   No part of U.S. Afghan War
10. Fascism Comes to the UFT
11. Charleston Five Freed from Home Arrest
12. RCC Students march against
    corrupt college prez
13. Opposition to Oil War Good for Public Health
14. LA Teachers Building Anti-War Movement
15. West Coast HS Students `Sticker' It to Oil War
16. PLP'er Turns Towson Teach-in Sharply to Left
17. Anti-war Struggle Rising Among NYC Welfare Workers
18. Newark PLP Forum Hits Police State
19. Workers of the World, Write
    LETTERS
    1. Fight For Exxon? Youth Say, `Hell, No!'
    2. Taking to the Streets in Germany
    3. `Seems the Problem is Capitalism . . .'
    4. A Little Work,
       Big Results
    5. New York City
       Anti-War March
    6. So Much for
       the `Heroes'
20. Special for Challenge Readers:
    1. NUCLEAR SPRING - A NOVELLA AND SHORT STORIES
    2. Comrades
    3. To Have in Common

---

Oppose U.S. Bosses' Oil "Crusade"

The rulers' lies about the purpose of their war are beginning to wear thin. Even the liberal media have begun to acknowledge that Bush's crusade against "evil" doesn't cover too well for the real goal of world energy domination.

A front-page New York Times article (10/25) quotes a "senior American official" in a rare moment of honesty: "Oil runs the world, and the Saudis are the linchpin of oil production." As CHALLENGE has frequently reported, Saudi oil and gas reserves are the world's largest and cheapest. Losing them would severely threaten U.S. imperialism's top-dog status. The forces that support bin Laden include a broad spectrum of powerful capitalists inside Saudi Arabia who intend to challenge Exxon Mobil's dictatorship there. The war in Afghanistan is, among other things, the first stage of an attempt to ensure, at gunpoint, that Saudi oil and gas doesn't fall into the hands of U.S. enemies.

But if Saudi Arabia remains the grand prize, it doesn't tell the whole story. The law of maximum profit requires the U.S. ruling class to control all important existing and future sources of energy. The Persian Gulf is the biggest. However, the huge potential of the Caspian region forces U.S. imperialism to command that energy source as well. A stable, pro-U.S. Afghanistan is central to that goal. "Afghanistan is as crucial to the regional control and transport of oil in central Asia as Egypt was in the Middle East," writes London Guardian columnist George Monbiot ("War and Oil: America's Pipe Dream." (10/23)

Barely two years ago, U.S. rulers under Clinton bombed the former Yugoslavia to bits. CHALLENGE readers will remember that the big lie justifying this atrocity was the "humanitarian" protection of Kosovar refugees. The truth, as we wrote at the time, was that that war was fought for the consolidation of U.S.- and British-run energy routes. Monbiot confirms this estimate, describing the rulers' "critical...concern" as "the development of `Corridor 8,' an economic zone carrying oil and gas from the Caspian to Europe."

Crucial to U.S. and British oil bosses' plans is the need to build Balkan pipelines under their own control. The war in Yugoslavia was fought largely to prevent Russian energy companies from horning in on the business. The imperialists in Washington and London share the same purpose in Afghanistan. That country holds a pivotal position as a possible transport route for energy exports from central Asia to the Arabian Sea.

"U.S. influence and military presence in Afghanistan and the Central Asian states, not unlike that over the oil-rich Gulf states, would be a major strategic gain," according to a former general in the Indian army ("The Oil Behind Bush and Son's Campaigns," Ranjit Devraj, Inter Press services, 10/5). But the oil and gas have no value until they can be brought to market. A route through Russia or Azerbaijan would defeat U.S. rulers' goal of cutting their potential Russian rivals out of the action. A route through Iran would give the anti-U.S. Iranian bosses a big boost toward their own aim of becoming the dominant regional energy force in the Persian Gulf. A route through China would cost too much to be profitable, aside from the strategic advantage it would hand to Chinese rulers, who represent a major long-range threat to U.S. imperialism.

However, a conduit through Afghanistan would give U.S. bosses two treasure troves. It would serve their need to diversify energy supplies as a hedge against trouble in their Persian Gulf paradise. It would also put them in the driver's seat in the scramble for energy riches to be plundered over the next 20 years by marketing oil and gas to India, Pakistan, and China. South and East Asia are areas in which energy demand "is booming and competitors are scarce. Pumping oil south and selling it in Pakistan and India...is far more profitable than pumping it west and selling it in Europe." (Monbiot ).

U.S. rulers are murdering Afghan workers and asking U.S. soldiers to die in growing numbers to corner an energy market with a potential value in the trillions of dollars. Imperialism always hides its greed in the rhetoric of high mission. It always pretends to defend "civilization" against "barbarism" and "evil." But facts are stubborn things. Bush and the Democrats who back him almost unanimously are spilling one oily lie after another.

Bush Oil `Crusade' Murders Millions in Afghanistan

The U.S. oil war in Afghanistan bears a deadly resemblance to Vietnam, Kosovo, and all the imperialists' other "humanitarian" interventions. Civilians are already dying in large numbers for the privilege of being "liberated" from Taliban rule by U.S. bombs. The loss of life over the next few months will dwarf the present tally. The air war has cut off energy supplies in large areas of Afghanistan. Nearly eight million Afghanis are already on the verge of starvation. The harsh Afghani winter, which is about to begin, will prevent even minimal food delivery to many areas. Many workers will die because of the resulting hardships.

Despite the rulers' strict media control, which prevents graphic coverage of the action, stories appear every day about "accidental" bombings of civilian targets, including a Red Cross facility hit twice, as well as homes for elderly people and other non-military sites. U.S. imperialism needs to minimize publicity about civilian casualties in order to avoid rebellions that are sure to erupt against it in the Moslem world. However, the nature of imperialist war makes the slaughter of civilians inevitable.

As horrific as the bombings may be, their deadly effect pales before the mass starvation U.S. imperialism is inflicting on the working class of Afghanistan. Before September 11, between seven and eight million people were already on the brink of death from hunger. This atrocity is the direct consequence of the murderous new "Great Game" played over the last generation by U.S. and former Soviet bosses to win Afghanistan as a strategic prize. Various international agencies, sponsored by different capitalists for their own political purposes, had been maintaining some of these people on a survival diet.

Access to that food is no longer available, however, thanks to the U.S. military. According to the New York Times (9/16), the U.S. demanded that Pakistan halt the truck convoys transporting food and other necessities to Afghan civilians. The UN's World Food Program didn't resume shipments until three weeks later, at a greatly reduced rate. The ongoing air war further reduces the delivery rate of supplies the U.S. military is allowing, which were inadequate in the first place.

To carry out his lofty ethical purpose of making Afghanistan safe for Exxon Mobil, Bush and the Democrats who also back this filthy war are therefore calmly contemplating the starvation death of between three and four million people in Afghanistan alone over the next few months. And this is only a fraction of the price imperialism expects the world's working class to pay for the bosses' oil profits. This is the true meaning of Bush's repulsive, hypocritical press conferences about punishing "evil" and "defending human life."

Among `Evildoers' U.S. Rulers Numero Uno
Bush's disgusting sermons about punishing "evil-doers" cannot hide the truth about the U.S. rulers' new war:

The main immediate purpose of the "war against terrorism" is to consolidate the international empire of U.S. oil and gas barons. Control of oil remains crucial to the big bosses' goal of world domination. The iron law of the capitalist system -- the need for maximum profit -- still applies. The conquest of Afghanistan would be a crucial step to ensure that U.S. energy companies dictate the supply, transportation and marketing of oil and gas in a region stretching from the Balkans, the Middle East and Central Asia, all the way to East Asia.

Like the September 11 assaults against innocent workers, the ongoing anthrax attacks against postal workers and others play directly into the rulers' hands. Regardless of the anthrax poisoners' identity, the attacks help the big bosses disguise the true nature of their oil war and justify their rapid domestic move toward a police state. The bosses may not be directly instigating the anthrax panic but with the help of their media they are attempting to take advantage of it as they plan for a future of mass terror against workers at home and around the world. For the moment, however, their "Big Brother" posturing hasn't exactly covered them with glory. The Bush White House has done more to reassure the pharmaceutical companies about future profit bonanzas than to convince millions of people that the U.S. government can protect them from bioterrorism.

Evil for evil, U.S. imperialism is unmatched in world history. Its aggression in Afghanistan is adding to that record, creating hundreds of thousands of new refugees, bombing civilians, and threatening to starve millions over the winter.

For all its apparent strength and despite its ability to inflict mass suffering and death, U.S. imperialism's war in Afghanistan isn't going well. The bosses have already murdered a lot of people. They will murder many more. So far, this is their only "success." The Taliban appear skillful and determined. They still have a political base. Bush's attempts to concoct an anti-Taliban coalition in Afghanistan are stumbling badly.

The war can't be won from the air. A ground invasion promises to be long and deadly for many U.S. troops. It could spread in ways the bosses don't intend, as alliances shift. Millions who now support the U.S. government may soon have second thoughts once the casualties begin to mount.

Despite Bush and Co.'s prattling about their "allies" and the "coalition against terrorism," U.S. imperialism is basically on its own in this war. Its only real ally is Britain, and even Britain has underlying contradictions with the U.S., based on different profit interests between U.S. and British oil companies. The rulers of other countries, big and small, have made at best minor tactical compromises with U.S. imperialism for the sake of later strategic gains against it. Even the Russians, who only appear to have handed the U.S. a peace pipe, are playing a cynical chess game in their own quest to control the Central Asian and eventually the Middle Eastern energy prize. The same is true of Chinese imperialists. Even the U.S.'s closest buddies in the Moslem countries are either keeping their distance or openly defying U.S. wishes. Despite appearances, the main aspect of this war is rapidly sharpening inter-imperialist rivalry.

If the U.S. loses this round, it won't be able to accept defeat and will become even more desperate elsewhere. If it wins, it will continue to expand its empire at gunpoint and its rivals will need to make plans to undermine and defeat it. Either way, the character of the present period remains unchanged, an age of inter-imperialist rivalry. Competition among bosses always leads to war. The profit system and peace are mutually exclusive.

History shows that imperialist war contains the seed of its opposite: communist revolution. The old communist movement of Lenin, Stalin and Mao proved that workers' power could be won from the mayhem of fascism and bosses' bloodlettings. But the first great revolutions reverted to capitalism. They made concessions to bourgeois forces and ideas. We can build on the accomplishments of these giants that preceded us and, learning from their errors, try to avoid their deadly mistakes. So a bright and qualitatively better future can emerge from the dark days that lie around us.

The imperialists are not omnipotent. They have many internal weaknesses. They can be defeated. They rely on terror, bribery, lies and the illusion that things can't change. Communists rely on the deep aspirations of our class worldwide -- abolishing poverty and imperialist wars -- on the truth, and on the as yet untapped fighting potential of hundreds of millions of workers everywhere, who can eventually do whatever is necessary to change the world. Our Party's great task as the storm clouds gather is to learn from workers, soldiers and others how to bring them the unbeatable weapon of communist ideology. The PLP has made some modest progress since September 11. We can make more. History and the survival of our class demand that we measure up to the task.

Imperialists' `Anti-terrorist' Love Affair Won't Last

Don't be fooled by the politicians' and media's hype about the U.S.'s "allies" in this oil war or about a U.S.-led "coalition against terrorism." U.S. imperialism has no allies other than Great Britain, whose rulers have entered the fight to protect the profits of BP Amoco and Royal Dutch Shell, both of whose interests frequently collide with those of Exxon Mobil, Chevron and other U.S. energy giants. As for a "coalition," it's a fiction. This is an imperialist war. Its purpose is to give U.S. imperialism what the government calls "full spectrum dominance" around the world. Other imperialists appear to have given the U.S. a free hand to launch its war in Afghanistan. The reasons are purely tactical. The rulers of each country involved all have their own selfish and temporary reasons for not opposing U.S. aggression.

For one thing, neither Russia nor China, which loom as eventual threats to U.S. world domination, can yet challenge the U.S. military frontally. Both need time and room to maneuver. Both the Chinese and the Russians have problems of their own with potentially destabilizing Islamic fundamentalist movements. The Chinese created their own monster in Xinjiang, on the Afghanistan border, when they backed Uighur Muslim separatists to help U.S. imperialism in its 1979-89 proxy war in Afghanistan against the crumbling Soviet Union. Today, the Uighur movement has turned into a threat to the internal rule of Chinese bosses. The U.S. is therefore doing China's own dirty work by intervening against the Taliban, who are politically allied with the Uighur separatists.

The same is true of the Russian ruling class, which has been fighting its own war with Islamic separatists in oil-rich Chechnya. Putin & Co. seem to have given Bush a long list of concessions. However, they are purely tactical, and they can be easily retracted. They also come with a price. It includes western credits and technology and, more than anything, a U.S. guarantee that Russian imperialism will no longer face CIA interference in Chechnya. Of course, guarantees between imperialists are good only until they're broken, but that's exactly the point. All this love-making is basically just a series of cautious maneuvers between deadly rivals. The U.S. goal of controlling international military, political and economic affairs conflicts with the aims and interests of Chinese and Russian rulers. Well before Bush's oil war had begun in Afghanistan, the Chinese military was arguing for the "establishment and maintenance of a new regional security order." Last June, China and Russia, which had already demilitarized their 4,000-mile common border, pulled four Central Asian Republics into a "Shanghai co-operation organization." Chinese leader Jiang Zemin identified its purpose as "fostering world multi-polarization," a fancy phrase for challenging U.S. super-power status (see George Monbiot, Guardian, 10/23).

Both the Chinese and the Russians have an enormous stake in the future exploitation and transport of Persian Gulf and Caspian energy. China, as an expanding imperialist power, needs a dramatic increase in its oil and gas supply over the next generation. It is building a deep-water navy. Russia has no intention of handing over its Caspian prize to Exxon Mobil, et al. U.S.-Russian unity against Islamic fundamentalism is cautious and unstable. If the present fighting in Afghanistan overflows into Tajikstan and Uzbekistan, "Russia will feel bound to intervene" (Financial Times, 10/23). The U.S. already has troops stationed in Uzbekistan. For the time being, however, Putin and his cronies are only too happy to let the U.S. play the heavy for inflicting massive civilian casualties in Afghanistan. The Russian bosses can keep slaughtering tens of thousands in Chechnya and use U.S. atrocities as a convenient cover.

Then there's the matter of Russian interests in Iran and Iraq, the U.S. imperialists' two biggest headaches in the Persian Gulf. Russian companies have weapons contracts for $1.5 billion with Iran over the next five years, as well as plans to build an $850 million nuclear reactor there. Russian oil firms, along with the French and Chinese, have multi-billion dollar contracts pending for Iraqi oil. If the U.S. imperialists feel compelled to expand the present war to Iraq, the Russians, French and Chinese won't sit still. The Financial Times (10/23) quotes Putin's closest aide as saying, "We do not intend to lose [markets] because the U.S. does not like some country."

Added to this murderous mix comes the Indian ruling class, which has a long-standing rivalry with Pakistan (a U.S. collaborator of convenience, which could easily turn into an enemy in a big hurry). Both India and Pakistan have nuclear weapons as well as key designs on Central Asian oil and gas. Saudi Arabian oil and gas remain the biggest prizes of all, and U.S. rulers will go to any length to keep them. Yet the Saudi royal family, which the U.S. military keeps in power, isn't playing ball with its big uncle. The U.S. hasn't managed to arm-twist the Saudis into blocking the financial assets of anti-U.S. terror groups, and the Saudis have also refused to give U.S. intelligence services police records of the 14 September 11 highjackers who were Saudi citizens. So even the U.S.'s closest pals are playing a double game, for the sake of their own survival and selfish class interests.

As Thomas Friedman, a key mouthpiece for the interests of the liberal U.S. ruling class whines, "except for the...Brits, we're all alone." (10/26) This war for oil in Afghanistan has several potential immediate outcomes. Every one of them will lead to a drastic sharpening of inter-imperialist rivalry. Every time the conflicts sharpen between the major imperialists, the threat of world war increases. It may still take some years to develop, but the direction is clear and irreversible. Capitalism offers only darkness and death at the end of the tunnel. Communist revolution is the only light. The PLP pledges to keep it alive today so that it can engulf the world tomorrow.

U.S. Rulers Sinking In Afghan Quagmire?

The "war against terrorism" seems to have hit some serious snags. The Taliban are no pushovers. They still mislead workers with religion and nationalism. U.S. efforts to form a coalition capable of ruling in Exxon Mobil's interest have flopped so far. The U.S. suffered a significant reversal when the Taliban captured and executed Abdul Haq, a U.S. agent considered "a key player in eroding support for the ethnic regime among ethnic Pushtuns [a group whose backing is necessary for any government in Afghanistan -- Ed.]... Haq's death is a body blow to U.S. attempts to destabilize the Taliban." (Stratfor, 10/26)

Making plans to corner oil and gas supplies and delivery routes from Kosovo through the Middle East and Afghanistan is one thing. Executing those plans is another, especially when it requires conquering and holding territory. It can't be done from the air.

Compared to the millions of Vietnamese workers and farmers who ground the U.S. military into the dust 30 years ago in People's War, the Taliban aren't much. Compared to the tens of millions of Soviet workers who heroically smashed Hitler's Nazi barbarians in World War II, or to the many millions of Chinese workers and farmers who crushed Japanese imperialism and then drove out Chiang Kai-shek's pro-U.S. capitalist thugs in 1949, the Taliban are even less impressive. Yet, for the moment at least, the Taliban, an under-equipped motley force of national-capitalist holy rollers, are giving U.S. imperialism all it can handle.

We must never fall into the trap of choosing sides when capitalists fight. The brutality of the big capitalist should never delude us into uniting with the smaller one. A boss is a boss is a boss -- they're all rotten. We should view U.S. imperialism's predicament in Afghanistan as proof that although they can inflict deadly damage, they aren't omnipotent. Each of their adventures creates problems they can't solve. The bosses' dilemmas in Afghanistan and the Persian Gulf provide our class and our Party with a window of opportunity to organize and grow.

The U.S. Nazis-Anthrax Connection

The evidence is mounting that the current spread of anthrax is coming from "white Christian," U.S. citizen, domestic neo-Nazis, not Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda group. These home grown fascists have been responsible for the vast majority of previous terrorist acts on U.S. soil, from the Oklahoma City bombing to anthrax attacks on hundreds of abortion clinics and doctors to the bomb planted at the Atlanta Olympics.

Bush and the media blamed bin Laden (and Iraq) to generate popular support for imperialist wars in Central Asia and the Middle East, and to pass the "anti-terrorist" law (similar to the laws passed in Hitler Germany), to build a fascist police state. After the bombing of the Oklahoma City federal building in 1995, Clinton and the media directed suspicions at, and rounded up Arabs, before it turned out that all-American Timothy McVeigh was the culprit.

Last May, former FBI director Louis Freeh testified to a Congressional committee that domestic terrorists had planned "potentially large-scale, high-casualty attacks" including blowing up a large propane storage facility in Elk Grove, Calif., raiding National Guard armories and right-wing militia attacks on electric power lines in several Southern states.

Anthrax and vials of bacteria causing bubonic plague were recovered from Larry Wayne Harris, a U.S. microbiologist and member of the fascist Aryan Nation. He had participated with the racist Christian Identity Church and wrote a book on Germ Warfare whose "scope and depth of information...make it an effective do-it-yourself manual for mass destruction through biological terrorism" (Intelligence Report).

From January 1998 to April 2001, there were 172 false anthrax reports in the U.S., one-third against abortion clinics. Some of the current anthrax threats sent to abortion clinics, "contained references to the Army of God, a militant anti-abortion group that had endorsed violence against clinics and doctors." (William Lutz, N.Y. Daily News, 10/18)

The Washington Post (10/24) reported that investigators "say privately that the mailings do not have the earmarks of an al Qaeda terrorist operation and seem more likely to have come from a domestic source." The N.Y. Post (10/26) reported that federal agencies believe that "members of several [U.S.] anti-government hate groups...have obtained anthrax...from several U.S.-based laboratories before it surfaced in Florida, Washington and New York." The Post also said that the FBI was analyzing a dozen letters, "including several that pre-date the World Trade Center attacks and the anthrax scare that were sent to various media outlets [which]....had similar messages and handwriting as the [current] germ-tainted notes."

Many of the targets of the present anthrax letters -- Senate majority leader Tom Daschle and "liberal media" spokesmen like Tom Brokaw and Dan Rather -- are the kinds of people the neo-Nazis have hated for years.

The Washington Post (10/26) ran a front-page article reporting that, "A government official with direct knowledge of the investigation said...the totality of the evidence...suggests it is unlikely that the spores were originally produced in the former Soviet Union or Iraq." It is far more likely that the anthrax was either stolen from the U.S. military or supplied by neo-Nazis within the military. Many of the religious fundamentalist groups linked to the neo-Nazis were also heavily involved in electing President Bush.

As these links of anthrax to the neo-Nazis spread, the FBI might, just might, arrest some of them in order to calm the panic and use it to claim that the people can look to the rulers for "protection." But meanwhile the government will use the anthrax attacks that are infecting and killing postal workers to enforce the new "anti-terrorist" laws, tighten the screws on U.S. workers and crush any mass opposition to their imperialist wars.

Nazis Support 9/11 Terrorist Attacks

"Anyone who is willing to drive a plane into a building to kill Jews is all right by me," declared Billy Roper, the coordinator of the National Alliance, the largest umbrella organization of U.S. neo-Nazis. And Gary Bruer, whose racist writings are circulated widely among white supremacists groups, posted a website message reading, "Is there not a single person who has received these anthrax letters that isn't an avowed enemy of the white race? Tom Brokaw [NBC anchor], Tom Daschle [Senate majority leader] and the gossip rag offices have all been 100% legitimate targets." (N.Y. Observer, 10/28)

U.S. Sanctions on Iraq = Biological Warfare

"Researchers have just learned...that the U.S. government expressly destroyed Iraq's sewage and water treatment facilities, knowing full well the result would be widespread disease and epidemics. In short, biological warfare. The U.S. refuses to allow Iraq to import chlorine to purify water.

"According to the UN, 500,000 Iraqis, mostly children, have died from disease and malnutrition caused by U.S. sanctions. Thousands more Iraqis have died from cancers linked to U.S. depleted uranium munitions." (Eric Margolis, Toronto Sun, 10/24)

British GI's Want
No part of U.S. Afghan War

Twenty-two thousand "British soldiers taking part in a big exercise in Oman...displayed little public enthusiasm to join the U.S.-led military campaign in Afghanistan," reported the British Financial Times (10/24). "I just want to go home," said Wayne Knighton, a senior aircraftsman. Another said, "The one thing on my mind is to get home."

Mark Jones, a member of Britain's joint helicopter force, said his family was worried he could go to Afghanistan. "I have to reassure them I am just here to carry on with" the exercise in Oman.

Only some officers said they were "keen to swap the rigors of [the] Exercise...for [a] full-blown war in Afghanistan."

Fascism Comes to the UFT

NEW YORK, NY, October 16 -- Once again the leadership of the United Federation of Teachers (UFT) has shown its true (fascist) colors. At this month's Delegate Assembly (DA), several teachers held up a sign reading "Don't Sacrifice Students' Education -- No War Contract." Delegates around them joined their chants "No give backs, no war contract."

After they were escorted from the auditorium, UFT president Randi Weingarten gave the assembled delegates an angry lecture, saying that in a "democratic assembly" acts of "physical harassment" used instead of "words" were the equivalent of "terrorism." As she spoke, boos erupted from around the room. DA members were so outraged that a protest letter is now circulating demanding that Weingarten apologize for her repression of dissent.

The UFT leadership is busily exposing itself as the class enemy of the workers it supposedly serves. At this same meeting the leadership presented a resolution supporting the U.S. war in Afghanistan. It called on teachers to train their students to be patriotic citizens. Many delegates vehemently opposed this resolution. Finally a PLP comrade gave an impassioned speech linking the history of U.S. imperialism with the current war and called on teachers to protest this war as they did Vietnam. Although the pro-war resolution finally passed, afterwards many delegates approached the comrade with hugs and handshakes to thank her for her speech.

The UFT rank and file can and must be won to see the truth about its leadership. Weingarten & Co. do not serve the interests of teachers or students. No matter which mayoral candidate they decide might give teachers a fraction more wage increase, the UFT leadership supports the war machine that will send our students to die while killing other youth and workers. These union leaders are part and parcel of the capitalist system which needs them to help keep the working class miseducated. It's the job of communist teachers and students to see through the illusions in the system and recognize the need for revolution.

Charleston Five Freed from Home Arrest

Charleston, SC--Five dockworkers who were among hundreds of fellow unionists attacked by 600 riot cops in January 2000 were released from more than 18 months under house arrests. The workers, four black and one white, were fighting the unloading of a ship by scab labor. Their trial is due to start in mid-November. The International Transport Workers Federation, with millions of air, sea and land members worldwide, had pledged to organize an international one-day strike when the trial opens.

RCC Students march against
corrupt college prez

BOSTON, Oct. 28 -- A large group of Roxbury Community College (RCC) students marched through the halls of this predominantly black school protesting the corrupt and racist practices of president Grace Brown and her administration, demanding they be fired. A teach-in on the RCC crisis was scheduled for Oct. 31. See next issue for full story.

Opposition to Oil War Good for Public Health

ATLANTA, GA., Oct. 30 -- Thirteen thousand public health workers attended the annual meeting of the American Public Health Association (APHA) here last week at which opposition to oil wars became official policy for the coming year. Hundreds of workshops convened under the conference theme of "One World - Global Health."

The struggle over war and biological weapons dominated the meeting. Members and friends of the Progressive Labor Party concentrated on building the struggle against imperialism and war. They distributed thousands of leaflets entitled, "Terror or Territory? Why the US Makes War" and many CHALLENGES with a special anti-imperialist supplement. Representatives on the policy-making Governing Council introduced a resolution calling on APHA to oppose "wars motivated by economic objectives, such as dominance over regions rich in petroleum reserves (which) are not in the interests of ordinary civilians or the soldiers of the countries concerned."

We had attended numerous meetings to argue against the war and leafleted and lobbied the 200 members of the Governing Council. With some friendly modifications, the resolution passed the Governing Council and will serve as interim policy for the coming year (and permanent policy if ratified next year), a significant step forward.

People attending the hearing applauded the resolution and thanked the presenter for raising it. However, the real test will be winning the thousands of public health workers and others to understand how the war serves the interests of the oil companies and the needs of capitalism to secure resources and markets. One question asked was, "So then, what do we replace this system with?" This can lead to discussions rejecting a system based on profiteers' control of oil and help workers take power to organize a society based on sharing according to need.

While the struggle against war dominated our work, it is not the only issue demanding attention. Due to many years of government cutbacks from the Carter to the Clinton administrations, public health departments are seriously under-funded and insufficiently trained to protect the public against emergency situations. Now with the anthrax deaths, the federal government is appropriating millions for vaccine development and drug stockpiling (with a sweet deal for Bayer, the manufacturers of Cipro). Yet little is available for tens of thousands of young people infected with HIV, for children unvaccinated for measles, and for seniors unable to afford prescription medications. U.S. capitalism pumps billions into its wars for oil and markets and a minimum to keep the working class barely healthy enough to work.

Another issue involved members and friends of the Coalition Against CRACK (Children Requiring a Caring Kommunity). We won a battle against this private organization that pays $200 to women who use drugs if they agree to sterilization or long-term birth control use, typically targeting poor black women. Last year, the Governing Council passed interim policy rejecting CRACK's strategy, and APHA members and leaders publicly condemned their coercive and racist methods.

CRACK threatened to sue APHA for libel. When APHA's policy committee tried to withdraw the resolution from consideration this year, activists mobilized support to retain it among grass roots organizations, epidemiologists, students and physicians. The decision to withdraw was overturned and the resolution became permanent policy. Supporters will use this victory to develop wider opposition to CRACK and to launch a campaign for much-needed drug treatment programs for women.

We also campaigned against the over-medication of young children with Ritalin and other psychological drugs, pointing out that social problems contribute to children's behaviors more than biology. Plans are under way to sponsor a session on this next year.

Our efforts here taught us that many professionals will organize against racism and imperialism, and fight to ensure the health of the public. Many were outraged that APHA took pharmaceutical donations from, and named an award after, GlaxoSmithKline, a leading HIV drug manufacturer that refused to lower prices in Africa.

As one Party member said to a room of anti-war activists, "It's time we raise our ideas about communism and taking state power with our friends and colleagues. It's not enough to oppose another war without building support for revolution." She spoke for all of us.

LA Teachers Building Anti-War Movement

LOS ANGELES, CA, Oct. 29 -- Many teachers with differing viewpoints are trying to build a movement against the war in this city's teachers union. In the union's Human Rights Committee, there was agreement on introducing a resolution against the war in Afghanistan. However, there was a debate about whether or not to say that this is a fight over control of oil profits, and to condemn international AFT union president Sandra Feldman for her letter to President Bush offering the union's support for efforts "to hunt down and punish those who committed these atrocious acts as well as those who harbor and help them."

Most committee members, feeling this would make the resolution less likely to pass, were unwilling to criticize Feldman and didn't think the war was for oil or oil profits. Others arguing that it was a war for oil, convinced some and interested others.

On the floor of the union's House of Representatives, there was a sharp fight about the resolution. It nearly passed, losing by only 70 to 79. It was clear, however, from the sharp disagreement, that there was a lot of patriotism and support for the bombing, and that any resolution condemning the bombing would have been defeated, whether or not it included oil or Feldman.

More teachers are reading CHALLENGE, which makes sense out of the current situation. In one local area meeting, a motion passed to support the coalition anti-war demonstration this weekend. At the demonstration, high school students played an enthusiastic role, carrying signs saying, "End terror for oil profit" and "No war for oil" and in leading chants against war for oil.

West Coast HS Students `Sticker' It to Oil War

The September 11 attacks drew mixed emotions from West Coast student and teacher Party members and friends. We felt sadness and pain at the deaths of so many of our working-class brothers and sisters. We feared that bombing Afghanistan would kill many more workers. We were angry with those who committed the 9/11 attacks, as well as with those whose policies made war and this attack inevitable.

At ensuing meetings we tried to clarify the events and discuss how to build a long-term movement against the war. One person had been wearing a black armband. A former student and campus worker said she was denied a candle at a university vigil and made to feel unwelcome because she was a "lowly" campus worker, not a student. Others related attacks on immigrants, including Moslems, Arabs and even Mexicans.

We analyzed how the U.S. bosses are using this attack as an excuse to send ground troops to seize control of Middle East oil reserves and institute more fascism here against workers and youth in the U.S. who will oppose the bosses. We showed "The Three Kings" at a high school movie night, a film that admitted the Gulf War was a fight for oil, but said the U.S. should have taken out Saddam Hussein.

We shared our analysis with our friends but began feeling overwhelmed by the American flags around us and the reaction of many teachers and students. We decided we had to take the initiative, to build a broad movement opposing the war and struggle sharply with our friends and within this movement for people to understand this war was not against terrorism but for control of oil.

Teachers at one school received permission from the Social Studies department to invite speakers to discuss U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East, what's happening in Afghanistan, Hart-Rudman and the growth of fascism and anti-immigrant racism here in the U.S. We also planned T-shirts showing U.S. soldiers propping up a gasoline pump, and to distribute stickers saying "No War for Oil!"

When the bombing of Afghanistan began we were having a picnic and were able to ensure that students at three different high schools had the stickers. The next Monday 400 students wore those stickers, with a big black oil drop, overlaid with the words in red NO WAR FOR OIL. On the Friday morning before the Social Studies assembly, we distributed CHALLENGES and 300 leaflets with the same oil drops and headline.

We have really emphasized the oil question, using articles in the bosses' press and cartoons from the Internet, and shared them with our friends. We've overheard other teachers trying to figure out if oil is somehow involved.

In the Social Studies class discussion, after a speaker discussed oil, one student member spoke eloquently about how working-class students, especially black and Latin, have no stake in this system. Since we don't own oil wells or stock in oil companies, we should definitely not go to kill and die for them in the Middle East.

PLP'er Turns Towson Teach-in Sharply to Left

TOWSON, MD, October 15 -- The Baltimore CollegeTown Network sponsored a "teach-in" panel tonight entitled "Crisis in Context: Terrorism and the American Response." About 800 people attended, including many students. The panel was moderated by Goucher College's president and featured a representative of Voice of America's (VOA) Pashto Service, another from VOA's Dari broadcast service, a University of Maryland Law faculty member (and former adviser to Janet Reno) and three "terrorism and military specialists" from the Brookings Institute, University of Maryland, and Johns Hopkins University (see photo above).

Several left-wing panelists reportedly resigned in disgust when they saw the above list. One panelist was conveniently omitted initially, Joe Morton, professor of Peace Studies at Goucher College He was the only one without pro-capitalist, pro-imperialist leanings.

The initial statements from all panelists combined lasted at least an hour. All except Morton refused to delve into the question of U.S. terrorism in the Middle East. Instead they concentrated totally on the "essentials" of "homeland security" and a superficial "analysis" of the Taliban.

Their prevalent right-wing agenda hindered Morton when his turn came because he had to go "against the grain" after all previous panelists had established an ultra-nationalist mood. But when the floor was opened, things changed.

The first speaker, immediately identifying himself as a communist and Party member, dove headlong into explaining the dark past of U.S. involvement in the Middle East, starting as early as the mid-1950s and the rule of Iran's Shah. He brought that "three-letter word" nobody mentioned, oil, to the forefront. Most of the audience applauded thunderously at various points. Finally the panel moderator cut him off and he sat down to more modest applause. This forced the entire panel to deal with issues it had ignored; the debate shifted sharply to the left.

The next speaker drew on these same themes, including control of resources, U.S. support of fascistic and dictatorial governments in the Middle East -- including Israel -- for decades, and the gradual but steady extermination of over a million children in Iraq from U.S. economic sanctions and bombings since Desert Storm. Both continue in full force today. This speaker was also cut off before he could finish.

The third speaker was less vocal, but by then it didn't matter. The panel was clearly incompetent to address such issues, skirting around them and emphasizing "the present, not the past." The audience laughed uproariously and clicked their teeth at such an obvious display of fancy verbal footwork and attempts to justify the unjustifiable. When the moderator asked the VOA's Pashto Service representative (an Afghan immigrant) if all these claims about the U.S. committing international atrocities and building up Osama Bin Laden were correct, she replied coolly, "I think it is." Many questioners following this were seeking the real issues behind September 11th.

The pro-capitalist, ultra-nationalist, skirt-around-root-causes theme never fully re-emerged once audience members stepped forward. As the crowd filed out, we distributed a Party flyer. Most took it and a few gave their names. Others congratulated the PLP comrade for his courage, and for sparking views that otherwise probably would have been completely ignored. Out of these efforts, we will work to expand our club in Baltimore.

A Student Comrade

Anti-war Struggle Rising Among NYC Welfare Workers

NEW YORK CITY, Oct. 17 -- "I liked what you said tonight", exclaimed a delegate in Social Services Employees Union Local 371 (SSEU) as he made a small donation to PLP. The delegates assembly had just debated a resolution opposing the Homeland Security Agency and also war as the answer to the attack on the World Trade Center. Although the resolution was defeated by a 3 to 1 margin, it was a good start in combating the bosses' pro-war patriotic offensive. After the meeting, several delegates continued the discussion and offered suggestions on how to raise these issues in the future.

At our worksites the struggle is taking other forms. At one office the aim is to have workers put up a poster reading, "END ALL Government, Police, Religious, Ethnic TERROR. UNITE ALL THE PEOPLES OF THE WORLD! The text is written over a world map. This poster is being posed as an alternative to flying the bosses' flag. At another job site, the city bosses have attacked a delegate for circulating a PLP anti-imperialist flyer. We're planning to fight this attempt to silence us.

Some co-workers have argued that terrorism must be fought and that therefore Bush's war must be supported. The Local 371 leadership argues that anti-war resolutions are "premature."

We've said that we're caught in the middle of a battle between two sets of bosses who are fighting for control of the world's wealth, and in particular its oil. We shouldn't take sides with either but rather fight in the interests of our class worldwide!

Newark PLP Forum Hits Police State

NEWARK, NJ, October 20 -- Tonight 27 people attended a forum sponsored by a New Jersey PLP club to discuss the World Trade Center attack.

A Party speaker labeled the bombing of Afghanistan not as a "war against terrorism" but as phase one of the first oil war of the 21st century.

A second speaker related this to the growth of fascist laws in the U.S., among them the "New Jersey Domestic Security Preparedness Act." It establishes a nine-member task force:including the State Police Superintendent, the Attorney General and three appointed members, at least one a "bio-terrorism" expert. This will be the state connection to the federal Homeland Security Council. It will have the power to make regulations with no public input, to issue subpoenas and to go to court to force "anyone who doesn't furnish information required by the law to do so." Other new laws broaden the definition of terrorism and increase the mandatory penalties to 30 years in jail. This could include militant anti-racist action against the KKK/Nazis.

A lively discussion covered everything from the possibility of World War III to whether the U.S. government had something to do with the WTC attacks. When the question arose about what we could do, one worker pointed out the critical importance of getting CHALLENGE to more people. Others raised the need to make more friends in our neighborhoods, interact with people in a more communal way and raise issues with our co-workers.

The forum ended with a call to join PLP. Many stayed to eat the delicious food prepared by our host and continue the discussions. This forum showed a good response from PLP's friends in New Jersey in fighting the growth of war and fascism following the WTC attack.

Workers of the World, Write
LETTERS

Fight For Exxon? Youth Say, `Hell, No!'

I teach at a New York City high school. Just two days after the World Trade Center attack, I discussed the event with both teachers and students. Along with the grief and sadness, many are following the ruling class's drumbeat of racism and patriotism, but when that was challenged, a number either backed down or had no answer.

A discussion among a group of teachers in the lounge led to the "culture of Arabs." One teacher, an African immigrant, said "only Arabs highjack planes; it's part of their culture." (!) I asked if he meant all Arabs worldwide. He replied, "You know what I mean."

Another teacher, a Christian minister, said terrorism is an underlying root linking all followers of Islam. I asked him if racism is an underlying root of all Christians because many Christians believe in racism. He had no answer.

Then another teacher said Arabs just "hate freedom." I asked her, do you mean all people fleeing economic and physical repression hate freedom? Unbelievably she said "yes." We have our work cut out for us.

I reminded my colleagues we teachers have a responsibility to counter the racism U.S. leaders are passing off as patriotism, that our students will be on the front lines fighting students from Afghanistan or some other poor oppressed country. We must talk to our students about the racism many of our working-class Arab brothers and sisters are facing.

Another teacher said that much of the discussion reminded him of when he was living in Georgia. He said some teachers were expressing a lynch-mob mentality. Again, there was no response.

In class, my students told me how some kids on their block were planning to attack Arab workers at a neighborhood store. When I asked them how they felt about that, they honestly said they didn't know. I told them they must be careful not to get caught up in the hype being drummed into all of us. Most of all, we must resist becoming racist thugs for the bosses. I reminded them how Japanese-Americans were put into concentration camps after the attack on Pearl Harbor, that we must fight against racism in all its forms.

One student asked how old you must be before being drafted. I said eighteen. I asked him how old he was. He quietly responded, "eighteen but I'm not going in the army." That sentiment was echoed around the classroom.

Since these initial discussions, a few weeks had passed and things are getting clearer. I've raised the idea in my classes that the U.S. is waging war not necessarily to fight terrorism but to control the world's oil. In one class I took down a globe and the students and I mapped out the areas where the current battles are occurring, and their relationship to the oil fields. They immediately saw how the countries were connected and that this indeed may be a war for oil. Not one student completely disagreed with the idea.

Most of my students are at or near 18. I reminded them they would be asked to fight this war for the bosses. I asked if they were willing to fight for the oil companies. One student responded, "If you put it that way Mister, hell no!" Again most students seemed to nod their heads in agreement.

A NYC Teacher

Taking to the Streets in Germany

(The following are excerpts from a letter received from friends in Germany's MLPD party who recently visited the U. S.)

Thank you once more for showing us your city and for explaining the situation for the U.S. working class. It was really good to get a deeper view of what's going on. Your Chicago friends' description of their political organizing was very important to us.

You can imagine how shocked we were hearing about and seeing the terrorist murders in New York and Washington. In our newspaper we published your editorial in which you explain that, "These bombardments are not part of the international class struggle of the working class against capitalism. They damage the class struggle...."

The U.S. and NATO are already threatening to bomb other countries, as they have done in the Balkans. We're participating in demonstrations against a possible new war. Lots of people are in the streets saying Schröder (the Chancellor) does not speak in the name of the people when he backs U.S. policy. In the factories there is a very politicized situation, a lot of discussions.

We heard that there are demonstrations in the U.S. too, especially at the universities. Could you send us some information as soon as possible?

Thanks and greetings,

Comrades from Germany

`Seems the Problem is Capitalism . . .'

For about two years I've been active in a pro-Democratic Party group. It concentrates on elections and community problems, usually with very little emphasis on national and international events. Recently I was surprised when the person leading our meeting started talking about the Twin Towers. After briefly introducing the subject, he asked for comments or questions. Everyone spoke and not in patriotic terms.

People expressed their fear of a vast unleashing of racism nationwide and of its affect on black and Latino workers, as well as the ruling class's attempt to win them to racism against Arabs or Muslims. One person asked about the history the government doesn't teach us, which could help explain why the world hates the U.S. so much. Another was suspicious about the government spending so much on security ($30 billion for the CIA and FBI and $300 billion on the armed forces) but not to have anticipated these attacks. He insinuated that the government knew about it but allowed it because they want people to support their wars.

Everybody commented and no one supported the war against Afghanistan or against terrorism. Near the end I presented the Party position, including that this was a war for oil profits. Everybody listened. Some exclaimed, "That's exactly what I thought!" Any doubts they had about the imperialist motives behind this bosses' war were being dissipated. One woman who has considerable confidence in the electoral process, and to whom I had previously explained that racism was caused by the profit system, told me afterwards, "It seems to me the problem is capitalism, the search for profits."

A Comrade

A Little Work,
Big Results

If you want to gain confidence in the Party's communist ideas, just do a little something. Soon after the U.S. attacked Afghanistan, I distributed a flyer to teachers, explaining this was a war for oil. I included a somewhat liberal resolution that I planned to present at a larger union meeting. Reactions to this flyer were varied and very encouraging.

The next morning I received a note thanking me, indicating agreement with most of the flyer. Later that day I had a heated discussion about the U.S. world role. Was the U.S. an imperialist country that savaged most of the world for profit or was it a great democracy? Was it the best country in the world, that had made a few mistakes (killing millions in Vietnam) and compromises (arming Saddam Hussein in his war against Iran) along the way? Somehow Hitler and the Nazis came up in the conversation. I was somewhat agitated and said U.S. rulers were worse than Hitler. Well, my friend flipped out. "How could I say such a thing?" My friend left, outraged at me. Then several people joined me. They explained I was correct, citing genocide against the Native Americans, slavery and the Vietnam War as three examples of U.S. government atrocities. I mentioned the million Iraqis killed since the Persian Gulf War, including 500,000 children.

The next day several others told me how glad they were I had distributed the flyer. One very shy fellow pulled me aside, saying how nice I had said what people were afraid to say. Many people were grateful for an opposition voice. I tried to explain I had a communist perspective but this was very difficult in short conversations. I offered CHALLENGE to everyone for a fuller analysis. Six people took it. One said she had always liked communism but just wasn't sure it could work.

Several students were upset about my flyer and wanted to see it. I obliged. One student saw a cartoon about oil pipelines through Afghanistan. She suggested I distribute it as a follow-up to the flyer.

There's a lot to do. The working class is wonderful. People really want to understand what's going on. One teacher who supported the war was still very interested in receiving anti-war information from a communist perspective. He wants to read CHALLENGE and talk about it.

Every day comes with a little struggle, a little excitement, as we inch ever closer to a decent world, communism. Between the working class and communism, life is really worth living.

Brooklyn Teacher

New York City
Anti-War March

In New York City on October 27 there was a vigorous anti-war rally and march in midtown Manhattan. Speakers at the Times Square rally and the teach-in which followed correctly pointed out the horrors of fighting another imperialist war for oil - massive attacks on workers in Afghanistan and in the entire Middle East. Many U.S. workers, who up to now have been largely deceived into believing that this is a "war against terrorism," will also suffer.

Comrades distributed hundreds of CHALLENGES and other PL literature and made numerous contacts. The large police presence was very intimidating. Firemen also joined the threat. The herding of all demonstrators into metal pens, surrounded by cops, made it very difficult to get in and out, an example of growing fascism.

One political drawback was the revisionist ideas of the March leaders. At the workshop I attended on the politics of the Middle East, Palestinian nationalism was presented as "good," while others, such as the Jewish/Israeli one, were presented as "bad." They're doing the bosses' work by dividing the working class according to ethnicity. Nationalism is designed to lead workers to support "their" bosses' wars. Never has the PLP's idea of opposing all nationalism been more necessary. A united working class can truly never be defeated. It's unfortunate that honest people who are anti-imperialist can be confused by this, but the correctness of our ideas will prevail.

NYC comrade

So Much for
the `Heroes'

It's just an ordinary day in a NY public high school, except that students will be released early for parent-teacher conferences. A representative of the Municipal Credit Union (MCU) visits our school offering various financial services to the staff: bank accounts, loans, insurance, etc. Usually the rates and fees are better than the big banks'.

It turns out that MCU was located on Church St. across from the World Trade Center. Its main records were destroyed. In fact checks and deposits with the MCU are still running a few days late. I overhear that Con Edison cut off the lights of one city worker because an MCU check bounced. I wonder how many flags Con Ed is flying...

Thousands of city employees bank with the MCU. Their accounts were totally inaccessible for two days after September 11th. So the MCU decided to just credit balances to its depositors and do the bookkeeping later. As the representative notes, "people need to eat." Not bad.

It didn't take city workers long to notice the change. All accounts were replenished at $500 every day for thirteen days straight. Then many depositors began withdrawing cash from ATMs, exceeding their original balances. Now many face charges as District Attorneys try to help the MCU catch up with the missing money.

I ask the MCU man whether any particular branch of city employees behaved the worst in this little episode. His response is immediate and unequivocal: the cops.

Try reading this story in your local newspaper. Long live CHALLENGE!

A New York Reader

In these times more than ever we need to give our friends a communist gift

Special for Challenge Readers:

THREE books for the price of one

NUCLEAR SPRING - A NOVELLA AND SHORT STORIES

Envisions a communist future growing out of World War III

Comrades

In 1975 in Boston, the racist anti-busing movement turned violent.

The anti-racist reaction to these events are part of the history of our class. The personal struggle to improve our lives now is drawn in these pages.

To Have in Common

A novel about a hospital strike during which workers run the hospital; 

Nine stories about people in ordinary circumstances developing communist values.

All three books for only US$20, send check or money order in name of Challenge Periodicals, to PLP GPO Box 808, Brooklyn, NY 11202, USA

 

(This issue of Challenge has a special supplement on the war against Afghanistan and how the fight for oil profits is is main cause)

---

Front Page :Patriotism Protects Profits

War Fever, Not Anthrax Is The Real Epidemic

What is Anthrax?

Editorial 1: U.S. Bosses Terrorize the Unemployed

a href="#‘Low-Income Workers Left Out in Cold As Layoffs Mount’">Lo"-Income Workers Left Out in Cold As Layoffs Mount

Editorial 2: Nissan Clobbers UAW . . . and Ford and GM, Too

Never Unite With Any Boss: Fight Massive Aerospace Layoffs

Rank-&-File Strike Solidarity Shafted by Liberal/Fascist Union Honchos

a href="#Excerpts from Union Machinists’ Open Letter To Boeing Workers:">"xcerpts from Union Machinists’ Open Letter To Boeing Workers:

Anti-War Movement Growing on Campuses

U.S. Is No Novice When It Comes To Terror Bombing

a href="#Bosses ‘Sacrifice’ Crap Lays Off NYC Workers">Bo"ses ‘Sacrifice’ Crap Lays Off NYC Workers

Florida Comes To NYC Mayorality Election

a href="#Afghanistan—Latest Chapter of New World Disorder">"fghanistan—Latest Chapter of New World Disorder

Letter From Israel

a href="#Terrorists—Big and Small">"errorists—Big and Small

Mobilize in Mexico Against Bush and Fox War

LETTERS

Michigan Workers Build Solidarity

a href="#NCO’s Had Better Watch Their Back">"CO’s Had Better Watch Their Back

Uniting With Arab Workers

a href="#‘9/11 has made me believe in what PLP fights for’">‘9"11 has made me believe in what PLP fights for’

Stands Up to Boss Attack Over WTC

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CHALLENGE SUPPLEMENT, Oct. 31, 2001

U.S. Rulers Expand War For Oil To Central Asia

Afghanistan has always meant oil.

Bosses Bicker Over When To Invade Iraq

a href="#The ‘Vietnam Syndrome’">Th" 'Vietnam Syndrome'

U.S. Rulers Mask War Aims With ‘Crusade’ Crock

It Is All About Oil, Stupid!

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Front Page

Patriotism Protects Profits

The present and future mass slaughters on all sides of a coming oil war should help the world’s workers learn the bitter lesson that "patriotically" uniting behind any capitalist means mayhem or death for us.

U.S. rulers are attempting to mobilize workers here to sacrifice our blood for the "national interest." It is clear that our class has nothing to gain from backing the terrorist atrocities that killed thousands on September 11. But we have even far more to lose by marching off to fight and die for Exxon’s super-profits.

The bosses are spouting one big lie after another to win our loyalty. The latest is their media’s hero-worship of the racist police, whose main job is to serve as the profit system’s first line of defense against workers in the class struggle. Suddenly the capitalist newspapers and television are idolizing the same blue-suited, armed Klansmen who have been gunning down black working-class youth for years under orders from above, and who will ruthlessly break strikes, as they always have. The U.S. "national" interest is the interest of the Exxon Mobil gang that holds state power. We mustn’t allow ourselves to be suckered into confusing our class interest with the rulers’ flag-waving lies.

The same principle applies in evaluating the bosses now lining up to fight U.S. imperialism. The bin Laden terrorists and other factions in the Muslim world can wrap themselves in the justified hatred millions of oppressed workers everywhere feel toward the murderous U.S. ruling class. Many people worldwide, as well as some here who sincerely oppose U.S. imperialism, are rooting openly or secretly for the defeat of the U.S. Empire in the present struggle.

But this is a fight among bosses. No worker anywhere should choose sides when capitalists do battle to realign the pecking order among them. There is no "lesser evil" capitalist. The laws of the profit system have an iron logic, regardless of the nationality or religion of the capitalist who dominates at any given time. This the logic of maximum profit. Replacing the barbarous, brutal Saudi royal family with another group of exploiters won’t reduce the misery of workers in the oil fields or diminish the inevitability of imperialist war. Replacing the pro-U.S. Shah of Iran with the present regime of holy roller nationalist mullahs hasn’t improved the life of Iranian workers one bit — and the threat of oil war involving Iran is as great as ever.

Workers who want to smash imperialism must not choose sides among imperialists or would-be imperialists. All-class unity behind any boss is a deadly loser. Our job is to build revolutionary unity among the workers of the world, across all borders and against all bosses.

War Fever, Not Anthrax Is The Real Epidemic

Anthrax is making big headlines. While the news media would have us believe we were in the middle of an epidemic, as of October 15, a tabloid editor in Florida is still the only American to die from the disease. US workers are much more likely to die from injury on the job, a stroke, or a racist cop’s bullet, than see a case of anthrax.

An anthrax epidemic is impossible, since the disease cannot be passed from person to person (see box). But that doesn’t stop the newsroom editors and TV news producers, with ever-increasing government direction, from playing on our fears to justify a police state and a major ground war.

More than 10,000 members of the American Public Health Association (APHA) will attend the annual meeting in Atlanta on October 22. This year’s theme is "Global Health," with a major focus on bio-terrorism. The ruling class will try to win public health workers to help spread the bio-terrorism hysteria. The struggle over ideas is likely to be intense. This must be resisted, exposing the hysteria based on lies, thereby calming exaggerated fears. This provides an atmosphere to fight against capitalism. At last year’s meeting, we saw a video of military jets flying in formation during the playing of the national anthem. This was followed by a keynote address by the U.S. Surgeon General in full military dress uniform. And that was before the current war.

Public health workers, students and professionals can truly promote "global health" by fighting for a world without racism and imperialist war. A communist society, run by the working class, would mobilize millions to provide desperately needed health services and build up health infrastructure, from Afghanistan and Iraq to lower Manhattan.

An imperialist oil war is not in the interests of the international working class. U.S. bombs will kill thousands of workers in Afghanistan. About 5,000 children die in Iraq every month, from US-imposed sanctions and the aftereffects of depleted uranium bombs dropped during the last Gulf war. Fighting the growing pressure to militarize public health, including the panic over biological and chemical warfare, is an important current struggle.

What is Anthrax?

Anthrax is a disease caused by the bacterium Bacillus anthracis, a germ that infects livestock and wild animals in many parts of the world. Human disease occurs after exposure to an infected animal or to the spores, microscopic seed-like particles. The spores typically infect the skin of agricultural workers or gardeners, since they can remain dormant but infectious for years in the soil where an infected animal has been.

How would anthrax be used in germ warfare?

Spores are the form of the bacterium which bio-terrorists – including the US and British Armed Forces – have developed for spreading the disease. In a dry form, spores can be ground into a fine powder, which if inhaled can infect the lungs, leading to death in a few days.

How do you get anthrax?

The disease is transmitted to humans by infectious forms of the bacterium, usually spores, entering the body through the lungs, skin or the intestinal tract.

How bad is the disease?

The respiratory form of the disease is fatal in 90 to 100% of cases, the intestinal form (from eating meat of infected animals) can kill 25% of those who develop symptoms during an outbreak, and the skin or cutaneous form, is not fatal unless untreated.

Is anthrax contagious?

There has never been a confirmed case of respiratory anthrax being passed from one person to another. Epidemics of this disease are unknown.

[Sources: Center for Disease Control website and Journal of American Medical Association, May 12, 1999.]

EDITORIAL 1

U.S. Bosses Terrorize the Unemployed

As the U.S. ruling class drops bombs on Afghan workers, U.S. workers are on the receiving end of another type of bomb from those same bosses — mass unemployment.

During the year 2000, 18.5 million U.S. workers experienced joblessness at one time or another, according to the bosses’ government’s own calculations. If that was the figure for a "prosperity" year, the amount of workers without a job for some period during 2001 — when the bosses’ economy tumbled into a recession — may very well reach somewhere between 20 and 30 million. (Note that if you work just ONE HOUR in the course of a month, you are NOT counted as unemployed!)

The latest government report, for September, reports a job loss of 200,000 as compared to the previous month. And this excludes the layoffs occurring in the hundreds of thousands after the Sept. 11 attacks. If you worked one hour before that date, you’re counted as "employed" for the whole month.

Factory employment in September fell for the 14th consecutive month, reaching the lowest point in ten years, losing more than a million jobs since July 2000. Service jobs had the largest drop in a decade. "The unemployment numbers," reports the New York Times ((10/5) "were likely to become significantly worse" next month.

‘Jobless SafetyNet in Tatters’;

a name="‘Low-Income Workers Left Out in Cold As Layoffs Mount’"></">‘L"w-Income Workers Left Out in Cold As Layoffs Mount’

Such were the headlines over a report from Gannett News Services (Sept. 2) about how the budget was balanced during the Clinton years on the backs of the unemployed.

The $93.4 billion surplus in state and federal unemployment benefit trust funds at the end of 2000 was put into what the Democrats and Republicans call the "unified federal budget." This allows the bosses’ government to use this surplus to either balance the budget and/or pay for things like the invasion of Afghanistan or Iraq. (That’s what they did with Social Security surpluses for 20 years, using hundreds of billions to pay for the "defense" budget.) Therefore, with less money available for unemployment benefits, they just cut out millions from qualifying:

• A former welfare recipient in Ohio laid off from a minimum-wage job making $154.50 for 30 hours of work can’t collect unemployment benefits because one needs a $169 weekly wage to qualify;

• In ten states, a parent who can’t work week-ends because of children at home can’t collect benefits;

• Thirty states disqualify workers from unemployment benefits if they didn’t work "full-time" (more than 30 hours a week).

This Gannett News Services dispatch says the government reported only 38% of last year’s jobless — 7 million workers — qualified to receive jobless benefits. That means 62% of the jobless, another 11.5 million, couldn’t collect unemployment checks, which adds up to a total of 18.5 million workers who were jobless at some time during 2000. And these are pre-recession figures!

Such are the fruits of U.S. capitalism’s profit drive, grinding workers — especially at the lowest end of the wage scale — into the dust. The bosses will do anything to squeeze workers so they can spend billions for war, and kill workers’ children to boot. Talk about terrorists! No one beats the U.S. ruling class.

EDITORIAL 2

Nissan Clobbers UAW . . . and Ford and GM, Too

DETROIT, MI, October 5 — The United Auto Workers suffered a stinging defeat when 4,500 Nissan workers in Smyra, Tennessee, voted 2-1 to remain non-union. This repeated the margin of defeat at a previous UAW effort in 1989, and comes after abandoning a campaign to organize Daimler workers in Alabama last spring. Another attempt to organize 9,000 Honda workers in Ohio is underway. In over 20 years, the union has failed to organize a single foreign-owned "transplant" assembly plant.

According to the Detroit Free Press (10/5), "Detroit’s auto makers may be lamenting the [UAW’s] defeat…as much as the union." The Free Press said, "Executives at GM, Ford, and DaimlerChrysler had been ‘silently rooting’ for the UAW," and quoted the president of an engineering firm that consults automakers and suppliers as saying, "Nothing would make those executives happier than to see everyone unionized." That’s because U.S. auto bosses have higher labor costs than Nissan, placing the former at a big disadvantage. They want the competition to have to pay the same in pensions, healthcare and work rules. And if the UAW can’t do it by organizing non-union plants, they’ll have to do it through give-backs at unionized ones.

"Transplant" workers make comparable, but lower, wages compared to Ford, GM and Chrysler workers. Also, there are no pensions, grievance procedures or work rules. On-the-job injuries are more than double, and workers have no seniority or job assignment protection. The turnover rate is very high, with many more "new hires" than veterans. These are young workers on their first good paying jobs, in areas that are historically anti-union. A fat paycheck and a new SUV in the driveway, plus threats and intimidation from the company, are formidable obstacles to any organizing drive.

But the problems run much deeper than such obstacles, high-priced union busters, or what kind of campaign to run, which certainly are factors. With the sharpened rivalries and the worldwide crisis of overcapacity, the UAW leadership is absolutely loyal and committed to the U.S. auto bosses. Their patriotic, nationalist outlook plus fat paychecks have made their fates inseparable. This Nissan defeat is a reflection of the "second invasion" of Japanese and German automakers made possible by the fact that GM, Ford and Chrysler are getting a shrinking share of a dwindling domestic market.

The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks pushed an economy already rolling down hill into a full-blown recession. According to the Oct. 8 Business Week (BW), auto sales are expected to drop to 16.1 million this year, down from 17 million last year. For 2002, sales are projected at just 15.2 million. A Merrill Lynch analyst said, "The impact…on the U.S. auto sector is devastating."

Ford is expected to lose $274 million in the third quarter and earn $604 million for the year, down from $3.5 billion last year. GM is expected to earn $2 billion for the year, down from $5 billion last year. Despite 26,000 firings in February, the Chrysler recovery is in deep trouble. To attempt to reverse this profit trend and get back to the previous year’s levels, the auto bosses will make deeper cuts and close plants here and internationally.

They are not alone. According to BW, Boeing is expected to see earnings fall 35% next year. The CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplane said, "Never in our wildest dreams did we believe we’d be in this kind of situation." As for steel BW says the mood is "pitch-black." "This industry is devastated and there could be a lot of pain and agony ahead." Of course, no mention is made of the pain and agony inflicted on the workers by the bosses’ past massive profits or the increased exploitation that is coming as the bosses use the gloomier profit picture as an excuse to squeeze workers even more.

In its own way, the failed Nissan campaign is a reminder that the union leaders are indeed ruling class lieutenants in the labor movement. Either you serve the bosses, or you serve the international working class. In this time of heightened war and rapidly developing fascism, every worker must organize against their union leaders and stand with the workers of the world.

Never Unite With Any Boss: Fight Massive Aerospace Layoffs

"I can’t believe how passively we are accepting these layoffs," complained a machinist, who decided to help distribute an open letter on the subject to aerospace workers. "People are just rolling their tool boxes out the door."

Internationally between 500,000 and a million aerospace workers will lose their jobs in the coming months.

"It’s because we lack class-consciousness," volunteered another union member at the meeting.

"Yeah, but that begs the question," responded the machinist, now clearly frustrated. "Why do we lack class-consciousness? I know a little history. It wasn’t always like this."

"A big part of the answer is that our understanding of class has been poisoned by nationalism. All this flag-waving undermines our ability to organize as a class. The weakness of the communist movement on this has opened us up to bosses’ attacks," answered a comrade self-critically.

The meeting decided to write an open letter labeling the bosses’ nationalism, "the patriotism of profits." About two dozen workers reviewed the draft with the majority giving valuable suggestions sharpening it considerably. For two weeks we distributed the letter massively within the plants.

Workers Expose Bosses’ Lies At Mass Crew Meetings

Amid this distribution, the bosses held mass crew meetings. They said it was like the Gulf War. The terrorist attack was an "external shock" they couldn’t have predicted and couldn’t be blamed for. The union followed suit with a headline blazoned across its paper’s front page, "Terrorism Impact Hits Home."

A number of workers boldly questioned the bosses’ pleas of innocence. In many ways, this crisis is completely different from the Gulf War. This "external shock" occurred when the industry was already in a capitalist crisis of overproduction. As the open letter said, the company had spent $6.7 billion over the last three years buying back its own stock in a desperate gamble to drive up the stock price. Much of this money was borrowed. The company was in hock. "Is the company going to end this speculation, or are they just going to continue to fire us to pay for more speculative adventures?" asked one worker. As expected, the bosses refused to answer.

"United We Stand" — Who’s "We"?

The bosses may have inadvertently hit on one truth. This is like the Gulf War in that the "War on Terrorism" is, more than anything else, about controlling Mid-East oil. The horrendous murder of thousands of innocent workers has given the U.S. ruling class the excuse they need to build a fascist police state to pave the way for that oil war.

Nonetheless, capitalism’s logic must assert itself. The union leaders, tied to the capitalist system, said we must first fight for government money to "save the airline industry." How far did this support for the airline companies get our class? The airline CEOs "thanked" us by introducing federal legislation to outlaw strikes! Capitalism, especially in crisis, intensifies exploitation, even as it builds for war. The continued attacks on aerospace workers have opened up more eyes than even a few weeks ago.

"I’m so disgusted after the meeting with the boss that I took my flag down," said a bench mechanic. "I didn’t believe you before, but I do now. It’s about which empire controls the oil! It’s time we started kicking some trash cans [a reference to the pre-strike tradition of "rolling thunder," the banging of metal on metal, hour after hour, throughout the factory].

Many other workers have not taken down their flags, even some who will soon be laid off. Nonetheless, the "United We Stand" banners throughout the plant must increasingly ring hollow, as the only "uniting" for many of us will be on the unemployment lines.

Two trends exist in the plants: nationalism and class-consciousness. These two trends are incompatible. "Workers of the world, unite" and "never unite with any boss" must be our guiding mottos as we broaden the fight against these layoffs.

Rank-&-File Strike Solidarity Shafted by Liberal/Fascist Union Honchos

SEATTLE, Oct. 15 — "At a time when striking is being called ‘unpatriotic,’ it is important to remember that you are fighting for your class brothers and sisters and that our fight is international."

This simple sentence in a support letter to be sent to the striking Minnesota state workers was enough to set off the biggest debate at my Union meeting in a long time.

When the Strike Committee of the University of Washington chapter of SEIU Local 925 met on campus a few weeks ago, one member’s proposal that such a letter be sent was agreed to. The member who proposed it volunteered to write it and present it at the Organizing Council (OC) meeting the following week.

This member’s draft letter saluted the actions of the state workers, mentioned our own strike earlier this year and included the above phrase. She sent it to all Strike Committee members, and showed it to some other union members in her office. Everyone except the union hack thought it was good. The hack wrote his own version, saying. "I referred to the world situation in a different manner." Yes, a very different manner — there was no mention of international working class solidarity! He also said the letter must be approved by the Executive Council, a higher body that meets less often, further delaying this already late response.

A co-worker proposed a slightly different sentence: "Your strike being called unpatriotic by your local newspaper is the height of hypocrisy in an era when strong unions and international worker solidarity are needed more than ever." They agreed to present that version at the meeting.

I really hadn’t believed Party members when they told me the SEIU, traditionally a "liberal" union, would be just as fascist about this oil war as the Machinists, whose president called for revenge following the Sept. 11 attack. Well, here was clear proof. The OC’s right-wing all supported the hack’s arguments. One said, "All of our members don’t believe like we do. We don’t want to offend anyone." Translation: we have orders from the International to push patriotism and help the bosses get these workers in line to maintain profits. However, rank-and-file support for mentioning internationalism moved the letter to the Executive Council with that sentence, for them to determine the final version.

That evening I discovered that 1199-SEIU, the union for most NY City healthcare workers, had published an ad in the New York Times jointly with the hospital bosses agreeing to extend their contract deadline from October 31 to March of 2002. Round one goes to the bosses, whose labor lieutenants have been charged with keeping workers in line.

The lessons? (1) Scratch a liberal union hack and you’ll find a fascist; and (2) Don’t underestimate how serious the ruling class is in its push towards fascism.. They need all of their labor misleaders to control their union members. They don’t say it’s unpatriotic when Boeing lays off 30,000 workers or 135,000 are dumped by the airline bosses. It’s only when workers fight for themselves that the bosses push this fascist line.

Our appropriate response is: sell more CHALLENGES, helping workers realize that nationalism is deadly for all workers. Discuss with co-workers the role of the unions in the move toward fascism. Make sure you and your co-workers, classmates, shipmates fight this drive.

a name="Excerpts from Union Machinists’ Open Letter To Boeing Workers:">">"xcerpts from Union Machinists’ Open Letter To Boeing Workers:

"Boeing Chief Executive Confident On Profits" screams the Financial Times (9/21) headline. Mulally calls an editorial critical of Boeing’s layoffs, "hurtful and sad."

Hurtful and sad! Imagine how hurtful and sad the next year will be for those 30,000 families of laid-off workers, not to mention the untold thousands that will be downgraded and shuffled from plant to plant. Many of these Boeing jobs will not likely reappear if management gets its way.

Five hundred thousand may be laid off in the travel industry alone. We should have no illusions that the layoffs, downgrades and benefit cuts will be limited to the travel industry. The economic attacks on our class will spread worldwide.

No doubt, some of the layoffs at Boeing were already planned. A systemic crisis of overproduction had already spread throughout the world. Boeing had spent $6.7 billion…buying back its own stock — nearly twice what management had invested in the company. Large parts of the company were put in hock…to artificially jack up the stock price. [CEO] Condit referred to commercial production as the "cash cow" for all sorts of speculative adventures. As the crisis sharpened after September 11, the logic of the system necessitated intensified attacks on the company’s workforce, lest this "cash cow" be threatened.

Where profits are concerned, "United We Stand" goes out the window. Thousands — and, in this case, perhaps millions — of our working-class brothers and sisters will be "united" on the unemployment lines. Meanwhile, the captains of industry are "united" defending their profits and perks.

The horrendous murders of thousands of innocent workers on September 11 has given the U.S. ruling class the excuse they need to pave the way for an oil war and a police state. In the same vein, CEOs in industry after industry have used this atrocity as a signal for layoffs and cutbacks. We can expect Boeing to attack our standard of living and working conditions in the next contract. History has shown the company will wrap these attacks in the flag.

We must prepare for the forthcoming contract battle now. First, we have to reject the passive outlook that accepts job cuts. We must advance a class conscious outlook. "You lay off my brother or sister and you attack me" must be our motto.

Crumbs in the name of retraining for non-existent jobs are not the answer. Lining up behind the bosses to "save the airline industry" is a loser. We’ve already seen how that means protecting profits and bonuses of the CEOs and layoffs for us.

You can bet your last dollar — and it might very well be your last dollar —that management will work out a scheme to blame other workers for the bosses’ attacks on us. Make no mistake about it, dividing us along national or racist lines only weakens our ability to organize against the bosses’ attacks. The bosses’ nationalism is the patriotism of profits. Contrary to lining up behind airline industry bosses, we must understand that our interests and strength lie with the workers all around the world.

We are known as "the fighting machinists." In these difficult times, we must be sure who is on our side and who is not.

Concerned Union Members

Anti-War Movement Growing on Campuses

BINGHAMPTON, NY—PLPer’s at SUNY here have led two teach-ins exposing the imperialist and capitalist roots of terrorism and "retaliation." Twenty-five students came to the first teach-in, examining how inter-imperialist rivalry kills workers and what they could do about it. Those attending wanted more teach-ins, to discuss how to take an active stance against anti-Arab racism and U.S. rulers’ war plans.

Many of the same students, along with some new ones, returned to the second teach-in. We discussed the importance of oil and how capitalists are willing to use workers’ blood to secure oil profits. Connections were made between bin Laden and Exxon-Mobil’s goals for Saudi oil. We talked about how this supposed "war on terrorism" is really a war for control over the flow of oil and represents the U.S.’s need to secure its power in the Middle East. Students expressed the need to choose anti-racism and workers’ rights rather than choosing bosses’ sides in an imperialist war.

During both teach-ins, many CHALLENGES and leaflets were distributed. The PLPer’s and others there seemed pumped to continue to organize against imperialism and war.

PLP students have also been actively involved in organizing a rally and speak-out against the war. Many graduate and undergraduate students, faculty and community groups are joining together to oppose the bombing of Afghanistan. We’ve also been preparing a pamphlet on the history and politics of events in Afghanistan and the Middle East, as an alternative to patriotic, nationalist and distorted information spewed out in the mainstream media. We will use this pamphlet, along with leaflets and CHALLENGES at the event. We’ve seen many opportunities to incorporate anti-imperialist, anti-nationalist and pro-communist ideas into the growing anti-war movement.

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 15 — Students from several southern California schools gathered at the Univ. of Southern California on September 12 to protest a lecture by Clinton’s former Secretary of State, Madeline Albright. It was on Albright’s watch that the U.S. ruling class committed numerous acts of terrorism — the Iraqi sanctions (currently killing 5,000 children per month), the war in Kosovo—which terrorized working-class neighborhoods with daily bombing. Now Albright is on a national speaking tour spreading propaganda and lies hoping to gain support for the current oil war.

When PLP’ers arrived, they rallied the group and started picketing. Holding signs reading, "Capitalism terrorizes the working class," we chanted, "Albright, Albright, you can’t hide, we charge you with genocide." We stopped picketing at key moments and invited open discussion. Students listened to our exposé of the office of Secretary of State as being one of the main arteries of the ruling class’s imperialist foreign policy. We declared that Bin Laden and George Bush both represent competing ruling classes who are fighting for control of the world’s oil supply. They both will use terrorism, nationalism and racism to divide and exploit the working class and secure total imperialist control. We can end them only be destroying capitalism with working-class revolution.

When the protest ended, several people thanked us for our leadership and wanted more information. Although many students went inside and applauded this mass murderer, the PLP members saw that if we’re bold, take leadership, and offer a revolutionary class argument, people will listen.

Fifty Students Sign Up

Last week, our campus PLP study group participated in a student club activity setting up a table with PLP literature, a red flag and a giant banner behind us depicting workers fighting fascism. Students were interested in our placards reading, "Students Against Oil War" and "Capitalism is the Cause of all Terror." We had many conversations involving a communist analysis and how it differs completely from the media’s.

A Middle Eastern woman was especially moved by our display. She sat down next to our table and quietly but very emotionally told us it was good to see what we were doing, that "we needed to talk about the present situation." We also distributed CHALLENGE and invited students to our study group, as well as to a PLP forum. Over 50 students signed our contact sheet for more information. This positive experience taught us that PLP can play a decisive role in the outcome of this crisis when so many are simply trying to understand what’s going on.

BOSTON — PLP members at Boston University (BU), Harvard and Roxbury Community College (RCC) have been active in the growing anti-war movement on campuses here. We’ve been involved in the Boston Campus Anti-War Coalition (BCAWC) that led the student anti-war actions in Boston. Students at UMASS-Boston, Harvard, BU, Northeastern, Emerson and others have been a key factor in leading the anti-war protests. On Sept 20, the BCAWC organized a rally and march of about 800. On Oct 14, Boston students played an important role in a city-wide rally and march of over 2,000 (see letter).

PLP’ers are linking this current U.S. oil war to our university administration’s support of U.S. imperialism by allowing and supporting military research on campus. We just won the BCAWC to unanimously endorse a call for protests against military research at all Boston colleges (e.g., at BU and MIT).

At a recent Harvard No War meeting, one PLP’er said trying bin Laden in an international criminal court would be hypocritical because the biggest war criminals are those running the U.S. government — bin Laden’s war crimes pale compared with those of the U.S. ruling class. He urged the anti-war movement to make clear that a major cause of war and terrorism is U.S. imperialist policies. He also declared that the Harvard No War Group should definitely fight Harvard’s promotion of imperialism, past and present, including its support for the U.S. invasion of Vietnam, conducted by its former Professor and war criminal, Henry Kissinger, as well as the Kennedy School of Government’s help in planning and supporting war in the Middle East and central Asia.

Since Sept 11, PLP college members have distributed over 1,000 leaflets and many CHALLENGES at BU, RCC. Harvard and others.

Many students are upset by this war and want "peace now." We must explain that as long as capitalism exists, we’ll only have more war. We’re planning study groups on imperialism and a teach-in on the Mid-East and oil.

Boston Marcher Takes to Subways

I just returned from an anti-war rally of 2,000 in Boston, including old and young pacifists to anarchists and radicals to students and workers. PLP members passed out about 1,000 leaflets exposing the war in Afghanistan as an imperialist fight over oil, the world’s most important resource. We distributed CHALLENGES and 500 leaflets calling for our upcoming demonstration against police murders.

The rally assembled in downtown Boston and was followed by a short march to an integrated, working-class neighborhood. The response to our leaflets was amazing. Most people along the route took the anti-war leaflets with interest, only a few politely expressing disagreement. One Caribbean man gave $5 for a copy. We carried a banner saying, "Oppose U.S. Imperialist War for Oil." Many speakers and signs simply called for "peace" and "negotiations" with the terrorists. Our leaflet made the strongest argument about the importance to U.S. rulers of controlling Mid-East oil.

During the march we led chants such as "Arab, Latin, Black and White, Workers of the World Unite"; and "1, 2, 3, 4, We don’t want your Racist War; 5, 6, 7, 8, We don’t want your fascist state." We witnessed little pro-war patriotism.

On the subway home I was talking to some student peace activists when a working-class guy, seeing a peace sign, challenged us. The students said, "We want justice without violence," but I gave him a PLP leaflet, talked about oil and how Bin Laden is a smaller capitalist competing with the U.S. He agreed, but still loudly declared that we should "bomb them all." Others on the train became interested. I gave a copy of DESAFIO to a Latin couple who were listening. As they got off the train they and another woman who’d been listening thanked me (for explaining things to the pro-war guy). A Latino man asked for a DESAFIO. I began to tell him it was a communist paper and he replied, "I know," pulling out a dollar for two copies.

When I left the train, I ran in to another marcher, gave him CHALLENGE and exchanged phone numbers and addresses. He invited me to an anti-war meeting in our neighborhood.

There were exactly five pro-war counter-demonstrators near the opening rally. I pointed this out to a Boston Globe reporter (the media loves to focus on these tiny counter-demonstrators, and lies about the size of the anti-war rallies). I said, "What are you going to report as the size of the march, 200?" We must realize that the media will mislead people about the anti-war movement. So get out there, march and sell CHALLENGE! People may even thank you for it. A Boston Comrade

Texas Students And Faculty Oppose Racist Oil War

After the September 11 terrorist bombings, students and faculty participated in teach-ins to raise awareness about U.S.-Arab relations and to give historical context to Middle East politics. PL members exposed the imperialist oil interests behind the plundering of the region now under attack by U.S. cruise missiles.

The audience, including many Mexican-Americans and others, expressed concern about the U.S. attack as a potential race war. Arabs have already been assaulted here. In one city, a Pakistani man was forcibly removed from a jetliner. In the same city, rock-throwing goons attacked a Middle Eastern restaurant.

The U.S.-Mexico border has been on a heightened state of alert, despite Mexico’s President Vicente Fox’s blessings for the U.S. war on Afghanistan. Bush and Fox represent the interests of bosses at the border where thousands of Mexican workers live and die working in maquiladoras or trying desperately to cross into the U.S. The bosses not only conspire against the international working class, but now are united to attack all foes of U.S. imperialism.

Many active duty soldiers and reservists have been called to fight the "war on terrorism." Some of these working-class youth see this for what it is: open season on any opposition to U.S. economic interests. We are organizing a film showing and discussion that will relate this war to the U.S. war in Vietnam. Comrades everywhere must stand and reveal the true nature of recent world events. Build a mass PLP that can take whatever the rulers dish out, and advance.

A Texas comrade

U.S. Is No Novice When It Comes To Terror Bombing

This term I’m teaching a large first-year University technology course. The third lecture took place just after the WTC bombing so I began with a discussion of that.

I said like everyone else I found it hard to believe what had happened — but only because it happened in the USA. Elsewhere it’s not unusual to see large numbers of civilians wiped out in wartime attacks on cities. I told of a French friend whose parents’ home town was completely destroyed by U.S. bombs the day after D-day. In fact, during World War II, 1,700 cities in Europe and Asia met the same fate.

I said many people wondered what could motivate the attackers to destroy thousands of innocent lives. Is it because, as the media says, they’re "madmen." Or, as Bush says, "they don’t share our values"? Just the opposite. The attackers were driven by nationalism, the idea that people of one’s own country are worth more than others. And by the principle that the citizens of another country are responsible for their rulers’ actions. That is exactly what U.S. rulers want us to believe.

I mentioned the bombing and blockade of Iraq, and the bombing of Belgrade. These attacks killed hundreds of thousands of civilians but were justified as punishment for the crimes of Saddam Hussein and Milosevic.

Today when it comes to terror bombing, the U.S. has no real competition. [During WWII they tried to match the Nazis and Japanese fascists when] they destroyed almost every major city in Germany, and every one in Japan.

In fact, the WTC was not the first 9-11 terror attack. On September 11, 1944, the British Bomber Command dropped 580 tons of incendiaries on Darmstadt, a small German town of little military or industrial importance. The firebombs created a firestorm (as planned) and more than 10,000 civilians were burned alive or suffocated in their shelters.

Yet the Darmstadt 9-11 was nothing compared to the March 10, 1945, firebombing of Tokyo, led by General Curtis LeMay. The Tokyo raid created a much bigger firestorm and killed ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND Japanese. After the Tokyo raid, LeMay’s commander sent him a telegram:

CONGRATULATIONS. THIS RAID SHOWS THAT YOUR CREWS HAVE THE GUTS TO DO ANYTHING. Bin Laden couldn’t have said it better!

When I asked for the students’ own views, I was pleased to learn that for the most part, they agreed! A student with a Slavic accent spoke movingly of how little concern was shown for the people bombed in Belgrade. Another student said his fiancé was Japanese and that her family was very distressed by the jingoistic "Pearl Harbor" movie (in which Ben Affleck volunteers for a suicide bombing mission on Japan).

A few people said that, after all, the poor and downtrodden have no choice but to resort to terror. I said, not necessarily, and explained how the young Soviet Union beat off the invasion by 14 different nations from 1918 to 1925. Not by bombing and terrorizing the workers of the U.S., Canada or Britain, but by appealing to their international solidarity. Communism doesn’t need nationalism and terror to win — and put an end to these catastrophes forever.

I’m sure I didn’t convince everyone but they listened very carefully. In fact the reception was much more positive than that given similar talks during the Gulf War. This is good news for us and bad news indeed for the U.S. terror bosses.

Red Prof

a name="Bosses ‘Sacrifice’ Crap Lays Off NYC Workers"></">Bo"ses ‘Sacrifice’ Crap Lays Off NYC Workers

NEW YORK CITY, October 14 —- CHALLENGE was right on target when it pointed out (10/3) that "we should not be fooled by the bosses’ call for unity and shared sacrifice." We live under a class dictatorship where the bosses use every trick in the book to maintain their system of exploitation and find ways to profit from every tragic occurrence. NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani has already announced plans to slash most city agency budgets by 15% (except police, fire and Board of Education, cut by "only" [!] 2.5%.) This will mean major cuts in city services and jobs.

Contrast that with the massive bailouts promised to the airlines (but not the airline workers) and the insurance companies by the Bush administration and the incentives Giuliani has dangled before businesses promising to stay here. NOT ONE BOSS IS BEING ASKED TO SACRIFICE ONE DOLLAR OF PROFIT.

A recession, starting before September 11 and fiscal shocks after the attack on the World Trade Center combined to produce a deficit forecast of $1.6 billion in this current fiscal year and $4-$6 billion more for the next one.

Workers should not be fooled by calls to save "our" city like those made during New York City’s fiscal crisis of the 1970’s. Back then, it was the working class that bailed out the city bosses’ financial mess. Union leaders like Gotbaum of AFSCME poured billions of city workers’ pension dollars into municipal bonds when city bankers wouldn’t touch them. Tens of thousands of "permanent" city workers were laid off. There were drastic cuts in city services for working-class families.

A state-authorized Financial Control Board headed by Wall Street banker Felix Royatan actually ran the city via its power to void any contracts with unions or businesses. This board could be back in business whenever a deficit of $150 million exists. Quickly, trustees of the two biggest city worker pension funds jumped in to pour our money into Wall Street investments to shore up the shaky stock market. Then major city unions suspended negotiations on contracts that had already expired over a year ago.

Workers will be asked to be "patriotic" and sacrifice because of terrorism. We should refuse. Our only pledge should be to ally with workers of the world. When civic or union leaders call for cuts, we should fight back. When they speak of terrorists we should expose the terror capitalism causes every day worldwide and that U.S. capitalism has caused the lion’s share of it. If we’re to sacrifice, let it be in our class interests, in the fight for a communist future!

Florida Comes To NYC Mayorality Election

NEW YORK CITY, Oct. 15 — "It looks like Florida again" was a common comment heard about this city’s runoff election for the Democratic Party’s mayoral candidate. The Board of Elections released a new vote total showing Mark Green leading with 392,492 votes to Fernando Ferrer’s 371,436. The previous figures were 417,329 for Green and 387,523 for Ferrer.

"Revisions in the vote total—the result of accidental double counting by the police Thursday night—triggered a firestorm of complaints yesterday from Ferrer and his supporters, who called into question the accuracy of either count."(Newsday, Oct. 15).

It seems that racism and fraud are increasingly becoming the norm in U.S. elections. Bush "won" with the help of his governor brother and the cops who prevented many black people from voting for Gore in Florida (without a peep from the Democratic Party). Now liberal Green is following the same road. First he waged a racist runoff, with his supporters telling white voters that a vote for Ferrer, who is Puerto Rican) would be a vote for Al Sharpton (who is black and backing Ferrer). Then, to make sure Green won, the cops (who hate Sharpton because — for his own political ambitions—he has organized many protests against police brutality) double-counted votes.This demonstrates how racism is always part and parcel of capitalism and its electoral system.

CHALLENGE doesn’t support either candidate. All of them represent capitalism. No matter who’s the next Mayor, his job will be to ensure workers sacrifice for the war effort and for the "rebuilding" of the financial district, partially destroyed by the terrorists on Sept. 11.

Ferrer was attacked by Green and the New York Times for being "divisive" — for saying there are two cities: the rich one and the poor one—in this period when "national unity" is crucial for the rulers. Then Green and his supporters used the age-old divisive racist scare tactics against a Puerto Rican candidate and his black supporters while cheating to steal the election.

Capitalism never disappoints when it comes to topping its own racism, even against some of its own lackeys.

a name="Afghanistan—Latest Chapter of New World Disorder">">"fghanistan—Latest Chapter of New World Disorder

In the first week since Bush, Jr. began bombing Afghanistan back to the Stone Age, already the "smart" bombs have done their job of missing their targets and killing civilians. The question now is whither the Bush, Jr./Tony Blair war?

If they thought the Taliban would collapse after a few days of mass terror bombing, someone in the White House and 10 Downing Street needs to read history. In 1857 Frederick Engels wrote how the British/Indian invasion of Afghanistan was crushed — of 16,000 troops only one made it back alive. The U.S.-British imperialists should have listened to the Soviet generals who warned them about Afghanistan being a trap. Their choices now are:

• Reliance on the unstable Northern Alliance creates two problems: (1) This collection of warlords spent so much time fighting each other after taking power from the regime abandoned by Russia's Yeltsin that they could not hold it and were easily defeated by the Taliban. However, (2) if the Alliance did manage to take and hold power, Pakistani rulers won't accept it since the Alliance is supported by Pakistan's two main enemies, India and Iran, and armed by Russia.

•Sending U.S. and British commandoes into Afghanistan’s caves and mountains to hunt down bin Laden and his Al Qaeda gang. It’s not an easy task, some say almost impossible. If this fails, a ground invasion could suffer the same fate as past Soviet and British armies.

•Even should the Taliban and bin Laden group be defeated, the big winner will be Russia. Already, Putin, helping the U.S. in its war against the Taliban/bin Laden, has won a lot of concessions in Russia’s war in Chechnya. Putin claims the Chechen holy warriors fighting Russia are trained by Al Qaeda and the Taliban. Also, Russia will become stronger in the oil-rich Caucasus, weakening the government of Georgia (a key U.S. ally). Many fundamentalist warriors in Chechnya come from the refugee camps in Georgia.

Whatever happens in Afghanistan, world disorder will increase, from Saudi Arabia to Central Asia, and more wars will follow. Workers and youth must not be fooled into siding with any bosses in this conflict. Our class interests don’t lie with Bush, Blair, Putin or the holy warriors, but with organizing to fight for a society without any bosses — communism.

Letter From Israel

September 11 was (unfortunately for the workers who lost their lives) a catalyst that sharpened inter-imperialist rivalries. We can see it in the Islamic world in countries like Pakistan where the masses have been led astray by bin Laden and the Taliban, but the rulers sided with U.S imperialism, which then lifted its embargo.

Something similar, though on a smaller scale, is happening in Palestinian Authority-controlled areas. There the Arafat gang seized the opportunity to attack Hamas, which took to the streets in support of the Taliban and bin Laden. Thus, Arafat did the Zionist’s dirty work, the role intended for him when Israel brought him from Tunis to sign the notorious Oslo agreement. Arafat wants to put an end to the Intifada that went too far (from his point of view), and he got some promises from the Bush Administration. The latter needs him in the so-called "coalition against terror" to demonstrate the principle that the U.S. is not fighting Islam but terrorism. I think we’ll seeing in many "Islamic" countries something similar to the above scenario.

Just one note on the U.S. press. It is totally mobilized to serve the interests of the U.S ruling class. The mask of democracy does not exist, and the "holy" principle of "innocent until proven guilty" is not seen anywhere as far as bin Laden goes. This can be seen in the negotiation with the Taliban, who were ready to hand over bin Laden if the U.S provided solid evidence (it seems that they did not have it), but they were so eager to attack they managed to convince the U.S. public bin Laden is the only party responsible for September 11. I guess they know he’s not, and this is why they keep warning the public about possible attacks similar to September 11.

Another amazing thing is the vulnerability and the panic displayed by U.S imperialism on the day of the attack: closing all airports, closing the stock market for four days (a record), stopping major league baseball (things they did not even do after Pearl Harbor). On top of it all, they flew W. Bush to Nebraska !).

Not even one helicopter went up to try to save lives, to try to put out the fire in the towers, or to pick up people who went to the roof trying to save themselves. Instead they sent the poor fireman to their death in the burning building, even though every second-class engineer knows that 50 tons of burning petrol will easily melt the steel construction that holds the towers. This is why the second-hit tower went down first; it was hit lower, and the heat needed less time to travel to the bottom of the building. All these things are signs that imperialism, with all its missiles, police and technological know-how, is "human" after all and is very vulnerable.

It’s a pity that PLP is not a mass party yet, and thus the U.S. working class succumbed to nationalism and patriotism. The ruling class has a field day as millions are willing so easily to give up their civil rights, thus putting their faith in the biggest terrorist of them all, U.S imperialism.

A long-time Party Comrade from Israel

a name="Terrorists—Big and Small">">"errorists—Big and Small

In his press conference last week, President Bush said some people all over the world hate the U.S. The usual response from Bush and the U.S. media is that the U.S. "is a free democratic country" and those who dislike the U.S. "hate our freedom."

Well, in general the opposite is true. Millions see U.S. imperialism as a supporter of the world’s worst regimes, from the corrupt Saudi monarchy to the brutal Israeli rulers. The bin Laden group is taking advantage of this to build a case for itself in the Moslem world. They emphasize that the U.S. has tens of thousands of troops in the "holy land" of Saudi Arabia to protect the corrupt and reactionary Saudi king and his 20,000 princes.

There are many workers and youth worldwide who hate imperialism, particularly U.S. imperialism, but are confused about what happened on Sept. 11. Some see it as a "big blow against imperialism" and therefore as a "progressive action." They point particularly to the suicide attack against the Pentagon, the military center of U.S. imperialism.

As Marxists, we must condemn this idea. Firstly, there’s nothing progressive about using hundreds of passengers in commercial jets as cannon fodder. The use of "collateral" damage is something the imperialists always use and justify. Second, there is nothing progressive about the bin Laden group or whoever did the suicide bombings. They are violently anti-communist, rich and reactionary; they will just impose a regime seeking a better deal for their faction of bosses from any or all imperialists.

But most important, individual acts of terrorism, isolated from the masses, just give the bosses an opportunity to do what Bush and the U.S. bosses are doing: wage war and impose a global police state. The Nazis burned their own Reichstag (parliament), trying to strengthen their fascist regime by blaming their strongest opponents. They arrested the Bulgarian communist leader Georgi Dimitrov, but he used his trial to expose the frame-up and denounce the Nazis before the world. Instead of killing workers in the name of some God or reactionary cause, we revolutionaries use the the 9/11 attack and the war in Afghanistan to win masses to our side . We expose the real motives of the bin Laden and U.S. bosses—oil.

The thousands murdered on Sept. 11 were mostly working people, many from the Middle East, Asia, South America, the Caribbean, etc.. Once these and other workers grasp communist politics, they can be mobilized to fight for a world without Bushes, bin Ladens, Blairs, kings and gods.

A. Teo

Mobilize in Mexico Against Bush and Fox War

MEXICO CITY — The terrorist attacks of Sept 11 have opened a higher level of political discussion among students and workers. Many students celebrated and said U.S. bosses are "getting back what they have done to millions of people around the world." They describe the events as a "social consequence" of U.S. imperialism.

Unlike U.S. comrades, the Party here had to fight against nationalism disguised as "hatred" of the entire U.S. population. We‘ve explained that the attacks in New York and the bombings in Afghanistan are caused by inter-imperialist rivalry. We’ve also explained that the main victims of this attack were class brothers and sisters, workers with families, many of whom were immigrants from dozens of countries as well as U.S. born workers.

The youth club has been having study groups. In the marches (one had 20,000 people), we’ve distributed leaflets containing the CHALLENGE editorial and have carried banners reading, "Capitalism only produces exploitation, poverty, racism, and war for the working class. LET’S DESTROY IT!"; "Turn the Imperialist War into a Civil War for Communist Revolution"; and "Workers of the World, Unite!"

The day the bombing started in Afghanistan, there were mass protests in front of the U.S. Embassy. One Party banner said, "No Worker to the Imperialist War." We chanted, "Bush, Fascist, Imperialist Criminal" and "Bin Laden and the CIA—birds of a feather"; "First Yugoslavia, then Afghanistan, NATO is committing genocide." Our friends who aren’t in the Party, but who participate with us have been won to:

(1) This is a war among the imperialists; the working class has nothing to win and everything to lose by siding with any of them.

(2) It’s reactionary simply to demand "peace" because in times of "peace" they kill and exploit the workers of the world.

In our study groups we’ve discussed the urgent need to build the Party. If we don’t , the working class will be unable to destroy capitalism and its wars and exploitation.

We’ve started to emphasize the following:

Wars and crises go with capitalism. Here, as everywhere, President Fox and all the capitalists are using the terrorist attacks to justify more layoffs, cutbacks and wage-cuts.

It’s always been communists who’ve ended the bosses’ world wars.

It’s a time of danger and opportunity. Now more than ever, capitalism shows its genocidal nature. It’s time to fight to win masses of workers and students to communism.

Workers of the World, Write!

LETTERS

Michigan Workers Build Solidarity

State of Michigan Mental Health workers took a stand against the war and sent relief aid to the victims of the NYC terrorist bombing. After September 11, everyone was discussing the attacks, the threat of war and areas of the world many of us had never thought about before. While there is overwhelming sympathy for the victims, and some degree of patriotism, support for the bosses and an oil war is very thin. For the most part, workers want to know what is really happening, and many are turning to PLP to find out.

We explained that Bush, Giuliani and the bosses were using this tragedy to whip up racism, nationalism and war fever. We talked about how capitalism and the U.S. ruling class murder thousands daily to secure their profits. We said that all these victims are our casualties, the workers of the world. While everyone doesn’t agree with everything, workers are eager to talk.

We organized workers to attend our last union meeting where we passed a resolution unanimously to send $1,000 to the World Trade Center victims, based on a worker-to-worker solidarity, not patriotism. These activities, plus the very modest increase in the CHALLENGE readership, are sure signs that despite the massive, non-stop war propaganda, workers are open to PLP.

Detroit Comrade

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My sister's nephew is in the military. His unit was placed on high alert and sent overseas. Before that my sister talked with some soldiers in his unit and learned the following.

Right after September 11, the whole atmosphere at the base changed. Now every vehicle driven onto the base was being searched. Long lines of cars became common. All leaves were cancelled. Soldiers were told to be ready to leave on 24 hours notice. Rumors circulated about going to Afghanistan. A few soldiers ordered to leave immediately (probably to a point near the battle zone) were moved to a building fenced and patrolled by armed guards.

Tensions were high. My sister's nephew was among a small group of soldiers and some NCOs (Non-Commissioned Officers) training with gas masks in a simulated chemical weapons attack, using real but less toxic gas. Shortly after the gas was released, an NCO ordered one GI to take off his mask to see if the gas had dissipated. Some soldiers asked the NCOs why they didn't take their masks off first. One NCO replied that in a battle situation they had to follow orders or risk getting shot. The soldiers then told each other this wouldn't happen if the NCOs got shot first.

Before the September 11 WTC attack, the bosses were promoting the military as an "Army of One," where workers could learn a skill and receive college tuition. The "Army of One" is really an army of two classes: the working class represented by the rank-and-file soldiers and the ruling class represented by the brass and their lackeys.

As bombs rain on our Afghan brothers and sisters and workers here are fooled into waving the flag, it appears that the rulers are all-powerful. However, that is just appearance. The essence of imperialist war is workers dying for the bosses and their profits. With PLP's leadership, soldiers can be won to refuse to fight a racist, imperialist war for oil and to turn their guns around as a class. When that happens the days of the bosses and their horrific system will be numbered.

A Reader

Uniting With Arab Workers

Monday night after soup kitchen we had a discussion of issues concerning the September 11th atrocity. At its peak 22 people were involved, by far our largest political meeting ever. There was gratitude that no one personally close to us had died, but the reality of over 6,000 deaths – most of them working people – is just beginning to sink in. Our priest — a union activist — calculated that at least 150,000 jobs are now lost because of the World Trade Center destruction. He is very angry that most of these workers will receive little or no long term support from any unemployment sources.

A colleague of mine from work had read the current CHALLENGE and did a superb job of fighting for our line, that what ultimately is at stake is the U.S. bosses’ desperation to control the oil of the Persian Gulf. An activist friend from a neighboring church suggested we reach out to other congregations, particularly mosques. So we planned to tour the largest one in town in a couple of weeks. We agreed to build ties with some members there, and a number of other Christian and Jewish groups in order to have an ongoing study of how U.S. imperialism has brought us to this crisis and how we can fight war and racism together at the grass roots level.

Most important, another volunteer at the kitchen agreed to take five CHALLENGES per issue to distribute.

Shaken but Unsubdued, Red Churchmouse

a name="‘9/11 has made me believe in what PLP fights for’"></">‘9"11 has made me believe in what PLP fights for’

The three weeks since college started up again has been one of the most intense political times in my life. Early on I felt the political tension on campus. Several Arab students had been beaten between Sept. 11 and the semester’s opening on September 25.

Several groups had posted leaflets reading, "Islam is not the Enemy, and War is not the Answer." A march for "Peace and Justice" had the biggest turnout of any political event in four years here. My work had to take advantage of the growing contradictions around us.

I distributed CHALLENGES at the Peace and Justice rally and made several contacts. From this group and from some close friends we started a PL study group of eight people. We planned to read CHALLENGE every week, post signs and pass out leaflets to combat the campus Republicans’ fascist signs. In the campus plaza next to signs which read "Love it or leave it" and "Support our troops" we placed posters reading, "No blood for oil" and "Oil imperialists, you can’t hide, We charge you with genocide."

Overall this time has made me believe in what PLP fights for. For the last three years I’ve been telling friends that an oil war was coming; they thought I was paranoid. Now they see it was true and it has brought them closer to our ideas. Building ties and struggling with friends really does work.

We are organizing a November concert to benefit "Victims of U.S. imperialism in the Middle East" and hope to get some well-known acts to perform. We wrote a letter to our school paper citing September 11 as a step in the war between rival imperialists over oil. It was attacked by fascists on campus but also received a lot of favorable responses. We’re trying to win these people to our group.

Anti-imperialist Students

Stands Up to Boss Attack Over WTC

Since Sept. 11, I’ve learned some hard lessons. Following the attacks, individuals and our agency encouraged patriotic/nationalistic propaganda. Our department was giving free "united we stand" flag posters. We were receiving patriotic e-mails. Signs appeared saying, "They will pay." I finally had it, and hastily e-mailed a PLP flyer, encouraging everyone to "keep an open mind." In retrospect, I acted too quickly.

I had a great lunch with some friends, discussing imperialism, communism and capitalism. Later that evening I had a great dinner with one of these friends and her husband because he was the one "interested in politics." We debated while she listened.

A few days later, a co-worker told me some workers were angry. She said their arguments were based on ignorance, and confided in me that she was not very patriotic either. She thanked me for showing her Party literature.

I was beginning to feel like I would not get any response from my supervisor. Again out of frustration, I responded to another patriotic e-mail. A friend told me some workers were talking behind my back. I was called in by one of the managers. My friend and I decided that if management wanted to do something about my "politics," then they would need to do something about all the nationalist "politics" too. Another close friend was very supportive and suggested I call the union before meeting with management. The union rep told me to go it alone unless the meeting was for disciplinary action.

The manager claimed he simply wanted to provide me with some "words of advice." He warned me that my e-mail had evoked a lot of anger in my co-workers and that he had received a "flood of complaints." My PLP study group discussed my situation at work and was very supportive.

The following week I received a phone call from someone claiming to be an investigator with the District Attorney’s Office. Then I received a "memorandum of concern" from my supervisor, who had already told me if I didn’t like this country, I should leave. I felt overwhelmed, but a friend helped me organize an "emergency meeting" with seven other friends.

The next day I sent out an explanation to diffuse the situation. I explained that I was in mourning like my co-workers, but had a different view as to what should come next. I was called into the manager’s office for the third time, but this time I didn’t go alone. He admitted that out of a building of 1,300 workers, he had received only 8 to 10 complaints. He was no longer trying to intimidate me, but rather to cover his ass. He knew that I was not going to keep quiet, and that I was gaining support. I continue to receive backing from co-workers and friends I never knew I had. They have come by my desk, sent e-mails, and called.

I’ve learned some valuable lessons. Don’t get too comfortable because "freedom of speech" is only an illusion. Learn to plan with others rather than react impulsively. One last thing: ALWAYS have confidence in your friends and the work you do. Don’t ever let the bosses isolate and scare you.

California Worker

CHALLENGE SUPPLEMENT, Oct. 31, 2001

U.S. Rulers Expand War For Oil To Central Asia

Bush’s "war on terrorism" is for control of the world’s cheapest oil supplies in the Persian Gulf which allows the U.S. to keep its super-power status. Loss of this control means the end of U.S. world supremacy. Therefore, the political and military conquest of Central Asia with its vast future reserves is indispensable to Rockefeller/ExxonMobil’s goal of world oil domination (see map above).

According to military expert Michael Klare, the danger to U.S. oil rule is "most acute in a vast triangular region stretching from the Persian Gulf in the west to the Caspian Sea in the north and the China Sea in the east. Within this ‘Strategic Triangle’ can be found some of the world’s largest concentrations of petroleum, along with numerous territorial disputes of powerful states." (Resource Wars, The New Landscape of Global Conflict, Metropolitan Books, New York, 2001, p.49).

The demise of the old communist movement has left U.S. imperialism dominant but increasingly threatened. These include nationalist-religious challenges, such as bin Laden and others who want the Persian Gulf’s energy resources for their own class interests. Also there is the potential emergence of Russia, China and the European Union as super-power competitors. Clinton’s 1999 air war against the former Yugoslavia was part of this process. The Balkans form the western flank of the Middle East and provide a vital link in the energy transportation system.

In the current war U.S. rulers are already committing atrocities. Hundreds of thousands of desperately poor Afghani workers are joining the two million refugees forced into exile by more than 20 years of bosses’ wars for control of that ravaged country. Bush & Co. are bombing cities and causing so many civilian casualties that they no longer bother to pretend otherwise.

Bush openly states that Afghanistan is only the beginning. The U.S. wants the huge Baghram air base in Afghanistan, now under control of the Northern Alliance. They also intend to gain control of airports and areas in Turkmenistan (Pravda, Sept. 20). The New York Times (10/13) reported on U.S. plans to use Uzbekistan as a military base in return for "guaranteeing" that country’s security (from Islamic or Russian bosses). The hunt for bin Laden will lead into Kyrgystan, which by next spring should "emerge as a hotspot in the anti-terrorism campaign" (Stratfor.com, 10/10). These three countries are former Soviet republics.

According to Stratfor, the rulers’ tactical goal is "a conventional military cordon around Central Asia." If the September 11 atrocities had not occurred, U.S. imperialists would have found another excuse to do what they’re doing internationally and at home. In fact, they rehearsed the operation under the Clinton presidency.

On September 15, 1997, 500 U.S. paratroopers from the army’s 82nd Airborne Division landed in Kazakhstan for war games. The mission was "to link up with friendly forces from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyztan, and Uzbekistan and engage in simulated combat against ‘renegade forces’ opposed to a regional peace agreement" (Klare, p.1). Now Bush has the 10th Mountain Division in Uzbekistan.

This war has long been in the planning. As early as 1993, former Secretary of State Warren Christopher announced that the Clinton White House would "advance America’s economic security with the same energy and resourcefulness we devoted to waging the Cold War" (Klare, p.8). War games in 1997 and 1998, coupled with the1999 Clinton/NATO air war over the former Yugoslavia for Balkan energy pipelines, exposed U.S. imperialist strategy for the period ahead. Bush’s expanding war in Central Asia, establishing U.S. military bases in parts of the former Soviet Union, is a logical extension of the Christopher "doctrine."

Currently the Bush White House seems somewhat divided over attacking Iraq (see article on next page). This is an important, but secondary tactical disagreement. However, on fundamental strategic questions, the rulers are absolutely united. This includes maintaining U.S. super-power status, holding on to Persian Gulf oil, guaranteeing that Russia can’t use Caspian oil to threaten the U.S. energy monopoly and using military force and their state apparatus to crush threats from rival bosses or revolutionary workers.

As Klare says, "This is not a Democratic strategy or a Republican strategy. It is a strategy that enjoys near-unanimous support from both sides in Washington…From this perspective, it mattered little who won the presidential election in November 2000 — the same strategy would prevail under George W. Bush or Albert Gore." ("Permanent Preeminence: U.S. Strategic Policy for the 21st Century," NACLA Newsletter, Nov.-Dec. 2000).

This war will continue for many years. It will grow and eventually pit the U.S. against other great-power rivals like Russia and China. The ultimate death toll in this imperialist butchery will far surpass the casualties of World War II. The rulers will exploit or concoct terrorist incidents as provocations to justify their own genocidal military adventures. They will further militarize society on the home front and do their utmost to stifle mass rebellion. All in the name of "humanitarianism, freedom and democracy."

The profit system can hide behind many disguises. But its essence remains instability, war, oppression and mass carnage for workers everywhere.

Communist revolution remains the only hope for humanity. Our Party is committed to keeping the flame of that hope alive and burning brightly, in the face of all obstacles the rulers throw in our way.

Afghanistan has always meant oil.

From Peter Schweizer’s Victory (1994):

As one member of the Saudi royal family told the New York Times [02/08/80]: "The Soviet military presence in Cuba is not nearly so serious a threat to western military as the Russians in the Gulf and in the Horn of Africa."

The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan was also widely interpreted in Saudi ruling circles as a move toward the Persian Gulf, with the end hope of capturing rich oil fields on the Arab peninsula. The head of Saudi Arabian intelligence put Soviet objectives in the region in very clear terms: "The answer is simple: our oil….At this moment we do not expect an invasion, but we do expect the Soviets to use their power to maneuver themselves into a position to make arrangements for a guaranteed oil supply." [same NYT edition]

Bosses Bicker Over When To Invade Iraq

Immediately after the terrorist atrocities of Sept. 11, a debate arose among U.S. rulers concerning Iraq. Paul Wolfowitz, a deputy secretary of defense, said the U.S. should seize the opportunity to invade Iraq and take out Saddam Hussein. Secretary of State Colin Powell, on the other hand, called for more long-term coalition-building against the U.S.’s many enemies, not just Iraq. On one level, the spat reflects maneuvering among groups of U.S. capitalists competing for profits. But, more profoundly, it reveals the "world’s only superpower’s" growing dilemma, in the face of its abiding need to control the Middle East’s oil. Forces beyond Washington’s control dictate both the Powell and the Wolfowitz scenarios.

For decades now, the "Vietnam Syndrome" (see box) has haunted U.S. rulers. This, combined with an unraveling of the 1991 Desert Storm coalition, has frustrated the fondest dream of the main Rockefeller wing of U.S. capitalism: seizing Iraq’s oil fields. The best U.S. rulers can manage in Iraq is a haphazard bombardment campaign, which, though it kills many workers, flops militarily. Powell aims at gradually building popular support within the U.S. for invading Iraq with a massive force that will also include many allies. Vice-President Cheney and the New York Times side with Powell, the latter labeling an invasion as "premature now but necessary in the long-run, a step that the nation is not yet prepared to take"(our emphasis, ed.).

But an event such as the collapse of Saudi Arabia’s revoltingly corrupt royal family could force the Pentagon to go it alone in Iraq, and soon. So the Eastern Establishment also has Wolfowitz’s Plan B up its sleeve. His "invade now" proposal issues directly from a meeting of the Defense Policy Board he and Defense Secretary Rumsfield attended on Sept. 19 and 20. Exxon Mobil loyalists Henry Kissinger and Harold Brown, both members of the Trilateral Commission, headlined the meeting, which recommended "the occupation of southern Iraq with American ground troops to install an Iraqi opposition group based in London at the helm of a new government" (New York Times, 10/12). "American troops would also seize the oil fields around Basra in southeastern Iraq."

The shakiness of the U.S.-backed oil monarchies also compels the main wing to retain policy rivals Scott Ritter and Richard Butler as potential advocates for whichever direction it has to pursue. Both took part in UN arms inspections in Iraq in the late 1990s. Ritter has appeared on Exxon Mobil-funded PBS and at the Rockefeller-led Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) proclaiming that Hussein poses no immediate threat. Butler, the CFR’s "resident diplomat," calls Hussein the most dangerous tyrant since Hitler.

Another side of the debate involves opportunistic bosses pushing for an Iraqi war to boost their bottom lines. On Sept. 20, conservative scribbler William Kristol published an open letter urging Bush to carry the fight to Baghdad. One co-signer was Frank Gaffney, head of the Center for Security Policy, a think tank that lobbies for arms merchants like Lockheed, Boeing and Northrop. Christian Coalition honcho Gary Bauer also endorsed the "Whack Iraq" letter. In his ill-starred run for the White House in 2000, Bauer received major funding from the Independent Petroleum Producers’ Association. Exxon Mobil’s recent large-scale imports to the U.S. of Iraqi crude, which sharply undercut the prices of the domestic product, have turned the traditionally isolationist Oil Patch into sworn enemies of Saddam Hussein.

At the heart of all this bickering is a tactical spat over the allocation of oil profits among big bosses and the timing and details of their oil war. They are not arguing over whether or not imperialism needs war. All these bosses are enemies of the working class. We have no choice among them. Our only alternative is the patient, steadfast commitment to communism and to the eventual destruction of the bosses as a class.

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Although U.S. rulers murdered three million Vietnamese, they couldn’t win the war. The Vietnam Syndrome developed when large sections of the U.S. public became convinced the war was not in their interest, especially as tens of thousands of GI’s were being killed, and millions began protesting at home against the war. U.S. soldiers and sailors also rebelled, shooting their officers, sabotaging aircraft carriers and deserting in the hundreds of thousands. PLP played a central role in influencing the anti-war movement in an anti-imperialist direction, until the ruling class, through its liberal wing, took it over to turn it away from revolutionary politics.

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U.S. rulers continue to disguise their imperialist war as a crusade against terrorism. The atrocities of September 11 gave them the excuse they needed to begin the first phase of this war.

The media hysteria about anthrax and other real or imagined threats helps them to:

•Expand their war from Afghanistan through Central Asia as a prelude to securing the oil fields of the Persian Gulf;

•Warn anti-U.S. Saudi bosses, including those outside the bin Laden gang, that U.S. imperialism will stop at nothing to keep the Saudi oil prize;

•Create a ring of military bases to prevent the emergence of alliances involving Russia and/or China that would threaten U.S. imperialism’s super-power status;

•Implement the strategic goal of a police state at home, in order to stifle class struggle that could eventually give rise to a mass revolutionary communist movement led by PLP;

•Fool U.S. workers into relying on the murderous state apparatus to guarantee our security.

For the time being, the rulers enjoy significant mass support. However, it is far less solid than what they will need for the working class to accept mass casualties. It appears strong but stands on shaky ground. Many workers and others can learn over time to see through the rulers’ Big Lies and act in our deepest class interest.

Imperialist war and the bosses’ police state will provide the raw materials. The imperialists will soak their hands in our blood as never before. The key to defeating them lies in our Party’s collective hands. We must act resolutely, defiantly and resourcefully to teach the truth about this war and provide the leadership necessary for turning imperialist slaughter into working class internationalism and communist revolution to overthrow imperialism and the profit system everywhere.

It Is All About Oil, Stupid!

(The following is excerpted from an article in the Oct. 16 New York Times by Mark Danner, a staff writer for The New Yorker and author of "The Massacre at El Mozote.")

The Spectacular of Sept. 11 prepared the battlefield; the blows that are sure to come will strike more effectively at the true target: Americans’ commitment to the country’s role in the world, and particularly the Persian Gulf….

The "evildoers" who gave their lives on Sept. 11 and those who sent them….want to bring about a new order of purity and righteousness in the Islamic world and particularly in the moderate states of the gulf, where they see only wealth and corruption and autocracy, all of it held in place by the power of America, the inheritor of the old colonial order. They see American planes and ships not as symbols of freedom but as the mainstay of the corrupt order they seek to replace….

President Bush…calls on Americans to battle a vast, worldwide enemy — an enemy of apocalyptic proportions that hates "our freedoms" — by appealing to them as representatives of an indispensable nation…. Unfortunately, as we know from the last quarter-century or more, political support thus purchased tends to be brittle and weak, having been built on emotion. In the days and hours following the next terrorist Spectacular, or the next, Americans may well begin to ask themselves why exactly they are being targeted and what exactly it is they are risking their lives for. Crusading against evildoers is likely by then to seem a less satisfying answer.

The American troops and warships in the gulf, the unpopularity of our presence there, the fragility of the regimes we support — these facts are not secrets, but among Americans they are not widely known. In the gulf, as in other places and at other times, America stands not for freedom…. Its interest is in the unfettered flow of oil from the gulf to the industrialized world. Now, as in 1991, American policy makers will struggle to achieve this interest within the bounds of the forbearance of the American public. We should be aware that it is precisely that forbearance that the terrorists have begun to attack. That they have chosen a point of vulnerability is incontestable; that our leaders are prepared to defend against that political vulnerability — rooted in a longstanding refusal to speak honestly about the country’s interests — even now is less clear.