STN statement - NC's connections to CIA torture

North Carolina Stop Torture Now

Media Advisory

Senate Intelligence Releases Portions of Landmark Torture Report; Will North Carolina’s Role in Torture Be Addressed?

December 9, 2014

North Carolina Stop Torture Now welcomes today’s release of the historic report on CIA torture by the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee. The report validates what human rights investigators and journalists have demonstrated for a decade: the CIA conducted a years-long, illegal, and immoral program of torture that has cost our nation terribly in lost credibility, the enmity of millions around the world, and the undermining of our democracy.

The report has special significance in the Tar Heel state for two reasons. First, Senator Richard Burr is poised to become Chair of the committee in January. Sen. Burr voted to release the report, but at the same time signaled his intention to attack its conclusions. Second, North Carolina is deeply involved in the human rights abuses described in the report (details below).

“It is not only the obligation of the federal government to commit to transparency and accountability for torture, but our state and its political subdivisions are also required to provide facts and details about torture and to accept responsibility for human rights violations,” said Prof. Deborah Weissman, UNC School of Law. “The Convention Against Torture and other treaties oblige us to uncover and take responsibility for our state’s role in the systematic torture of human beings, now confirmed by the Senate report.”

In addition to grassroots activists, prominent North Carolinians have been calling for torture transparency. More than 190 faith leaders wrote to Sen. Richard Burr in 2013, calling on him to support release of the Senate torture report. In addition, over 1,200 North Carolinians have called for an inquiry on North Carolina’s role in torture.

North Carolina and CIA-Directed Torture

Although the report’s executive summary is coming out, North Carolina’s connections to torture may be buried in the body of the report itself. A large volume of evidence has been compiled by journalists and human rights investigators:

North Carolina has been extensively involved in torture in contravention to state, federal, and international law, particularly by sustaining key aviation infrastructure for extraordinary rendition at our public airports. The Johnston County Airport has hosted Aero Contractors since 1979, and Aero remains the airport’s largest tenant. In 2005, the New York Times exposed Aero as “a major domestic hub of the Central Intelligence Agency’s secret air service.” Aero-operated craft secretly flew detainees to torture chambers in Jordan, Egypt, Syria, Afghanistan, Morocco, and Libya. They also repeatedly visited the CIA black sites in Poland and Romania where torture was performed directly by U.S. officials. Documentation was supplied to public officials and the media in this 2012 report.

NC-based planes and crews played key roles in the CIA rendition program. One of the planes operated by Aero (N379P) was a Gulfstream V jet nicknamed the “Guantanamo Express.” For a critical period during the height of the rendition program, Aero also operated a Boeing business jet (N313P) from a hangar it built at the Global TransPark in Kinston. Together, these two aircraft conducted dozens of missions in which incapacitated detainees were taken secretly to prisons where they were held indefinitely and without access to lawyers, family, or the Red Cross. There, they were interrogated using torture. Highly skilled pilots and crews operated and maintained these aircraft, likely with full knowledge they were working for the CIA. The names of several of the pilots have been in the public record for many years.

Many of the detainees transported to torture by Aero were clearly innocent, were never given due process, and were profoundly damaged. Those who survived still suffer deeply. This includes Khaled el-Masri, a German citizen of Lebanese descent; Abou ElKassim Britel, an Italian citizen of Moroccan descent; Binyam Mohamed, a UK legal resident of Ethiopian descent; Khaled al-Maqtari, a Saudi national detained in Iraq; and many more. These men were subjected to brutal treatment. They were strung up in painful stress positions for long periods and endured vicious beatings including to their genitals and torso. They suffered prolonged detention in complete darkness, or were bombarded with blasting sounds. So far, human rights investigators have documented that over 135 persons were subjected to extraordinary rendition. Over 30 of these people – and probably many more – were rendered on flights originating at Smithfield or Kinston, NC, as documented by flight logs and other data here.

Since 2005, concerned citizens have repeatedly contacted North Carolina’s elected officials with information about the state’s role in torture. With the release of the Senate Intelligence report on torture, there can be no excuse for public officials to refuse to address responsibility and accountability for North Carolina’s role in such serious human rights violations.

Stop Torture Now vigil Saturday

NC Stop Torture Now ( www.ncstoptorturenow.org ) will hold a short vigil at the Johnston County Airport, home base for torture taxi and CIA front company Aero Contractors, Ltd, this Saturday (the 27th) at 9:30am.  They are pushing for the release of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence's report on the treatment of CIA detainees before Congress recesses.  Aero Contractors is allegedly mentioned by name in the report.  Participants should wear orange and bring signs to the new terminal, at 3149 Swift Creek Road in Smithfield.

STN adopted Swift Creek Road through the NC Adopt-a-Highway program and will pick up trash after the event.  Anyone age 12 or over is welcome to participate (but kids age 12-17 have to be supervised by an adult).        

Report back from the people's climate vigil in Chapel Hill

I saw about 80-100 people at the vigil at Peace and Freedom Plaza in Chapel Hill. It was just across Franklin Street from UNC, but it looked like the crowd was mostly from the community (though it was almost all white), with a range of ages.  Solarize Chapel Hill (solarizechapelhill.org) had a table offering a free residential or business solar assessment (but only for Orange County locations) and information about financing and how fast solar would pay for itself.  There will be a NC Conference on Religion and Climate Change Monday, October 13, 10am-3pm at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Raleigh, on "the moral duty to take care of creation" (RSVP www.eventjoy.com/e/creationcare , contact info is northcarolinacreationcare at gmail). I might have missed some other flyers.  The founder of UNC Freedom Club (uncfc.web.unc.edu , also on Facebook and Twitter) spoke and gave out some literature.  When things are looking bleak, I often wonder if human civilization and nature in general are fundamentally incompatible (also emerging technologies versus human life), and major changes are definitely needed, but this seems to be anti-industrial anarchism I can't agree with, being more optimistic about technology and a Marxist.  

Trekking around the UNC campus afterward I found flyers for a Spartacist League "Meet the Marxists" event September 18th.  They probably do this every fall, but I doubt there is a club at UNC.  FRSO (the one that publishes Fight Back!) seems to be gone, leaving anarchists as the only trend left of liberals organized at UNC.  I don't think there is even a Green group.  An SDS zine came out in the spring, promising activity this semester, and advocacy groups like Student Action with Workers and SEAC are still around, but not many political groups.              

More local people's climate actions

You can find other People's Climate Mobilisation demonstrations at:  http://events.peoplesclimate.org/event/peoples_climate/search/

Around here, it does not list the event in Raleigh, but I didn't know about the march at 2pm tomorrow on Duke's West Campus.   

Besides tomorrow's day of action around climate change, there has also been a lot of talk about resisting the new war in Iraq and Syria, but so far it is mainly about lobbying Congress. If the Administration knows what it is doing, I see this war against the Islamic State as a pretext to control Iraq and topple the secular government of Syria, and there will be "boots on the ground."  And all of this relates to oil and the climate change resulting from powering civilization with oil.        

Vigils for climate justice this Sunday in NC

For people not taking the Greenway Transit bus from Durham to NYC for the People's Climate March this Sunday, there will be vigils for climate justice Sunday (the 21st) in Chapel Hill, Raleigh, and Asheville:

Vigil 2-3pm at Peace and Justice Plaza in Chapel Hill (in front of the Post Office on Franklin Street, opposite UNC).  It is being organized by the United Church of Chapel Hill's United Earth Ministries.

There will be a prayer vigil at 4pm at the Community United Church of Christ in Raleigh (814 Dixie Trail), organized by the Triangle Interfaith Alliance, but with other sponsors, such as the Wake County Audubon Society.

There will be a vigil and voter registration 1-3pm at the Vance Monument in downtown Asheville.

This seems to be a religious initiative (see NC Interfaith Power & Light for more information: http://www.ncipl.org/event/local-vigils-and-rallies/ ), but people of all faiths and none should demand that action be taken to deal with climate change.  This year should be a wake up call for our area.  It is probably impossible to say if our greenhouse gas emissions caused the unusual weather patterns this year, but the impacts have been obvious and may be long-lasting.  After the repeated and late cold snaps and ice last winter, there have been very few butterflies around this summer, in numbers of individuals and diversity of species.  That was followed by an unusually cool and wet summer, which helped my corn, but I wonder if this strange weather heralds another bitterly cold winter.  Note that our winters could get worse for a while even though the Earth as a whole is warming up; snow isn't evidence that human-caused climate change isn't happening.      

Forum on human rights abuses on NC tobacco farms this Sunday

The Farm Labor Organizing Committee, the National Farm Worker Ministry, the NC AFL-CIO, and Triangle Friends of Farmworkers are hosting a panel discussion on abuses of farmworkers in the local tobacco industry, Sunday, July 27th, 4-6pm at the Pullen Memorial Baptist Church's Fellowship Hall (1801 Hillsborough Street in Raleigh).  Two British members of Parliament have been on a fact finding mission here for two days in relation to the company British American Tobacco and will speak about what they have seen and heard, as will farmworkers and advocates, including a representative from OXFAM.  FLOC President Baldemar Velasquez will lead a discussion of what can be done to improve conditions in the fields. Representatives Price and Butterfield were invited, but it isn't certain if they will show solidarity.      

Some upcoming protests

Against the Israeli attack on Gaza:

"Join concerned citizens and the Coalition for Peace with Justice in advocating for peace with justice in Palestine/Israel and an end to the shelling of Gaza

EMERGENCY RALLY #GAZAUNDERATTACK

Saturday, July 19 • 12:00-4:00 p.m. • Capitol Building Grounds • 1 East Edenton St.• Raleigh, NC

Speakers

Dr. Ralph McCoy, CPWJ member, Ralph was part of a delegation that visited Gaza in November 2012 as Operation Pillar of Defense, the Israeli shelling of Gaza, began.

Dr. Rania Masri, Arab-American writer, professor, and human rights activist, Dr. Masri is assistant professor at the University of Balamand in Lebanon. Her research and activism have centered on environmental justice, civil rights, and anti-war (Iraq) and anti-occupation (Palestine) and anti-apartheid (Israel).

Since the Israeli shelling of Gaza began on July 8*:

• 197 persons killed: 149 civilians including 38 children and 28 women

• 1,390 injured: 393 children and 252 women

• 20,000 displaced people in need of emergency food assistance

• 18,000 civilians have taken shelter in UNRWA schools

• Water supply to 170,000 people cut due to Israeli rockets hitting water and sanitation facilities in 18 different locations

• 1,370 homes destroyed or severely damaged

• 79 schools damaged

• 23 health facilities damaged

* Source: United Nations 7/15/14"

Carrboro:  July 19th at 6pm at the corner of Weaver and North Greensboro streets [I'm not sure about this, because the announcement says it is on a Thursday).

Durham:  July 23rd at 5:30pm at the corner of Chapel Hill and Main streets (Little Five Points)

              July 25 at 6pm at the corner of Main and Gregson streets.

The ANSWER Coalition is organizing Stop the Massacre in Gaza! rallies in cities across the country in the coming week and a National March on Washington outside the White House August 1, starting at 1pm (www.answercoalition.org). 

There are also the regular vigils - Fridays 5-6pm at the corner of East Franklin Street and Elliot Road in Chapel Hill and the Stop the Arms Race and Build a Culture of Peace Vigil on the first Wednesday each month, 12-1pm at the First Century Post Office on Fayettville Street in Raleigh.  There is also an anti-death penalty vigil every Monday, 5-6pm, at Central Prison in Raleigh (corner of Hunt Drive and Western Boulevard).  

NC public worker union UE150's convention is this Saturday, the 19th, at NCCU and there will be a protest against State Budget Director Art Pope at 12pm at 1000 North Miami Boulevard in Durham (related to www.raiseupfor15.org).    

There will be a Vigil for Children at the Border Monday, July 21st at 7pm at Chapel Hill's Peace and Justice Plaza (corner of East Franklin Street and Henderson Street, at the Post Office across Franklin from UNC).  Organizers are also seeking donations of money or new pencils, crayons, paper, coloring books, small toys, etc. for detained minor asylum seekers.    

Durham County Library seed banks and the Spring Book Sale

The Durham County Library is starting the Digging Durham Seed Library, where people can donate and check out seeds that grow well in the area ( http://durhamcountylibrary.org/2014/02/announcing-the-digging-durham-seed-library/ ).  The seed library is open for donations now, and seeds can be checked out starting on the 23rd.  The Library is also holding workshops on seed saving - there was one at the South Regional Library last Sunday, but there will be two more at the Southwest Regional Library April 12th, 3-5pm, and at the Main Library April 15th, 6:30-8:30pm ( http://durhamcountylibrary.org/2014/03/seed-saving-workshops/ ).  Hopefully this will encourage more people to garden or grow their own food, and it could help preserve food biodiversity.        

The Friends of the Durham Library's Spring Book Sale (one of two each year) is also coming up this weekend in the garage at the Main Library.  This Friday's sale, 4-7pm, is for FODL members only (new members can join starting at 2pm) and the regular sale is Saturday, 10-4.  On Sunday (2-5pm) you can buy a paper grocery bag of books for just $7.  The regular price is a dollar for hardcovers and trade paperbacks and 50 cents for smaller paperbacks, with higher (but still pretty low) prices for special items.  They have over 50,000 books, tapes, CDs, DVDs, flash cards, etc. This is one of my favorite annual events in Durham and it's a good place to find old or rare political works, though you have to search to find them.    

A moment of silence for Becky Heron

This evening NPR announced that former Durham County Commissioner Becky Heron passed away. It seemed like she was a permanent part of the Commission until she retired a few years ago. She was a commissioner from December 6, 1982 to August 1, 2011, and the first woman chairperson from December 1994 to 1996. In 1995 the NC Association of County Commissioners selected her as that year's Oustanding County Commissioner. She was known for her green and progressive stands. I knew she was doing good work on the Commission, though I was young, but it wasn't until recent years that I followed local government closely, and witnessed her courageous stands on land use issues. I offer my condolences to her family.

Hopefully one or both of the county commissioners elected in 2012 will continue Heron's pro-environmental stand.

For more information, see:

http://www.heraldsun.com/news/showcase/x849279415/Former-Commissioner-Becky-Heron-dies

http://dconc.gov/index.aspx?page=31&recordid=803&returnURL=%2findex.aspx

http://www.newsobserver.com/2014/01/23/3557442/longtime-durham-county-commissioner.html

Anti-war rallies Monday, Petraeus at Duke, etc.

Reject aggression against Syria:

There will be at least two rallies against attacking Syria Monday in central NC. You can see how your representative is leaning at: http://firedoglake.com/syria-war-whip/ As of now, it looks like David Price and Mel Watt lean toward approval of a war that would violate international law. G.K. Butterfield has not made a statement. Walter Jones plans to vote against war, and George Holding leans towards a no vote.  Many Republicans are cool to Obama's war plans, but it would be a mistake to call the Republican or Democratic parties anti-war, since that usually means or should mean principled rejection of imperialist wars or war in general, not temporary opposition to wars that are unpopular or launched by a president from the other party.   


Chapel Hill (Orange County Peace Coalition):


Vigil for US Diplomatic Response to Crisis in Syria
Monday, September 9^th, 6-7 pm at Peace and Justice Plaza (in front of the Chapel Hill Post Office, at the corner of East Franklin and Henderson streets. They say to bring signs.

As always, there is a separate vigil Friday 5-6pm at East Franklin and Elliot streets, near University Mall.

Greensboro (World Can't Wait):

“What: NO WAR ON SYRIA rally

When: Monday, Sept. 9, 2013, 5-6pm

Where: Federal Building, corner of W. Market and Eugene St.

With or without Congressional approval, an attack by the U.S. military can only mean more suffering for the Syrian people. History shows this very clearly: more than a decade of war for US empire in Iraq and Afghanistan has brought devastation to those countries that will take decades to undo. A widespread campaign of drone bombing and US-led air-strikes across the Middle East and North Africa has brought instability and massive suffering to millions of people. The US-led wars have resulted in hundreds of thousandsof civilian deaths, all for the benefit of strategic economic interests of US elites, whose concerns about Syria are anything but “humanitarian.”

Our empathy with the Syrian people and the people throughout the region leads us to stand against US military strikes. We will not let our empathy be twisted into a cry for war for empire!

We are not taking sides in the Syrian civil war. We are taking responsibility for the actions of the U.S. government! Our empathy with the Syrian people is NOT a cry for war!

Monday, Sept. 9, 2013, 5-6pm: Rally at the Federal Building, corner of W. Market and Eugene St.”


General Petraeus Speaking at Duke:

Retired general and alleged war criminal David Petraeus will be speaking at Duke's Page Auditorium 6 to 7:15 pm on the 11^th, as part of Duke's Program in American Grand Strategy (see http://sites.duke.edu/agsp/2013/08/07/ambassador-dave-and-kay-phillips-family-international-lecture/ ).

Here is how they plan to greet Petraeus Monday at the City University of New York, where he will be teaching a course:

 

“Protest Petraeus’s first day of class

Monday, Sept. 9th, 2:30 p.m.

CUNY Must Not Be A War College!

War Criminal Petraeus, ROTC, Military Contracts, and Military Recruiters: Out of CUNY!


Protest Petraeus’s first day of class

When: Monday, September 9th, 2:30 p.m.

Where: Macaulay Honors College, 35 West 67th St.
(between Central Park West and Columbus Ave.)

CUNY has signed up a war criminal to “teach” at the Macaulay Honors College. Join with us in protesting this outrage.

The Board of Trustees has appointed former CIA chief David Petraeus – ex-commander of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars – to give a course titled “Are We On the Threshold of the North American Decade?” at the Macaulay Honors College. Whether being paid $200,000 or $1 (the amount his pay has been reduced to following widespread indignation at his salary), this mass murderer must not be allowed to teach at CUNY. The importance of mass protest is highlighted by the fact that many CUNY students and their families come from countries targeted by the U.S. military and dominated by U.S. imperialism.

As commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, Petraeus rained death on Afghan civilians. As commander of “coalition” forces in Iraq, he ran the imperialist slaughter of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis. Petraeus brought Col. James Steele – who commanded death squads in Vietnam and Central America – to Iraq to organize and train death squads which carried out “the worst acts of torture” during the U.S. occupation (London Guardian, 6 March).

As CIA chief, Petraeus was the architect of almost 3,000 “targeted killings” by drones.

Meanwhile, the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) program is being revived at CCNY, York, Medgar Evers and the College of Staten Island. ROTC was ousted from CUNY in 1971 after widespread protests against its role recruiting and training officers for the U.S. war in Vietnam that killed an estimated 3 million Vietnamese.

The appointment of Petraeus follows CCNY’s recent establishment of the Colin Powell Center, named after the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the U.S. invasion of Panama (1989) and the first Persian Gulf War (1991).

The increasing militarization of CUNY is also reflected in military recruiters; Army and Navy “missile command” and “air warfare” representatives’ participation in a CCNY conference on “Automatic Target Sensing”; arms manufacturers Raytheon, Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin’s backing for CCNY’s $198 million Advanced Science Research Center, etc.

CUNY security’s relationship with the NYPD has expanded in recent years. While campus cops work closely with the NYPD to repress student and worker protests, business-as-usual for the NYPD includes spying on Muslim students on campus. CUNY campus “peace officers” are able to make arrests and to use deadly force (included in the CUNY administration’s arsenal are hollow-point bullets, which even the NYPD is not supposed to use (New York Post, 6 May 1999).

Against this growing militarization of CUNY, the time for massive protest is now!

Ad Hoc Committee Against the Militarization of CUNY

The September 9 protests demanding “CUNY Must Not Be a War College” and “War Criminal Petraeus, ROTC, Military Contracts and Military Recruiters: Out of CUNY!” have been endorsed by the following organizations and individuals (list in formation): Internationalist Group, CUNY Internationalist Clubs, Revolutionary Student Coordinating Committee, Students Without Borders at Queens College, Class Struggle Education Workers, Workers Power-US, IGNITE, Movimiento Socialista de Trabajadores-NYC, Asociación de Estudiantes Latinas/os y Latinoamericanas/os of CUNY, Sister Circle Collective, Dr. Hester Eisenstein of Queens College and the Graduate Center, CUNY, Carmelina Cartei, Anakbayan-NY.

Communist Voice for September:

Last Tuesday was the last airing of the August programs (Manchuria 1945... & The War on Freedom on TPC and Truth & Politics, a David Ray Griffiths lecture on DCM, and the difference is because there was a disc problem). This Tuesday Loose Change: Final Cut, a 9/11 truth documentary, should begin airing on both cable access stations at 6pm on Tuesdays.

Demonstrate against an attack on Syria

There were demonstrations and protests against the prospect of a war with Syria last weekend and today, and more are coming up this weekend before Congress votes next week:

Every week there is an anti-war vigil in Chapel Hill at the corner of Franklin Street and Elliot Road (Village Plaza), from 5-6pm at this time of year. 

As part of this year's Radical Rush at UNC, there will be a speak out against "bullshit" at 6pm in the Pit in front of the Student Union, and imperialist war should be included. 

Saturday (9/7) at 2:30 Black Workers for Justice is organizing a rally against the war at the MLK Gardens (900 Rock Quarry Road) in Raleigh. 

[ More rallies scheduled for Saturday in Raleigh, Charlotte, and Asheville (and on the 12th) are listed at www.unitedforpeace.org/stop-syria-strike/syria-actions/ ]

There will be two national demonstrations in Washington, DC, marching from the White House to the Capitol.  One will be Saturday at 12 and the other Monday at 10am.  For more information, visit: answercoalition.org 

A petition to the members of Congress representing the Triangle and Obama is online at:

http://bit.ly/WeSayNoWarWithSyria

[ Pledge not to vote for the members of Congress who authorize war with Syria at:  http://www.petitionbuzz.com/petitions/peacevoter ]

May Day 2013

Here are some local events marking (or sort of marking) International Workers' Day (May 1st), labor day for much of the world. 

 

5/1 Raleigh:  There will be a rally 3-4pm in Moore Square followed by a march to the NC Legislature and then a rally 5:30-8 at Halifax Square (16 West Jones Street).  For more information call 919 533 9203, see Facebook http://bit.ly/May1Ral, or maydaytrianglenc.wordpress.com/ . 

 

The NC Student Power Union is rallying 1:30-2:20 at the NCSU Bell Tower before marching to join the rally at Moore Square.  See http://studentpowernc.org/mayday/ for more information and transportation. 

 

I thought there was traditionally a marijuana legalization rally in Raleigh on the 1st, but a quick search doesn't turn up any events this year. 

 

5/1 Chapel Hill:  Anarchists will be rallying at the Peace and Justice Plaza in front of the Post Office on Franklin Street at 5pm. 

 

5/5 Sanford:  Workers Taking a Stand Against Fracking  There will be a rally by Workers for Clean Water at Lee County Depot Park (106 Charlotte Avenue) in Sanford at 3pm.  It is organized by Cumnock Preservation, Ed Harris (Stand Your Ground), and Blue Ridge Environmental Defense.  For more information see:  http://croatanearthfirst.com/2013/04/23/may-5-workers-for-clean-water-event/ .  

 

5/5 Durham: 

 

Profit versus the common good in NC government

 

Legislators are rolling back democratic decisionmaking and laws protecting the social good in favor of elite profits. Join a discussion of this business first policy and what can be done, Sunday, May 5th at 3pm at Durham's Southwest Library (3605 Shannon Road), meeting room A.  For more information email michael_pollock at yahoo dot com. 

 

If you know of other events, please comment or email me. 

 

 

ANSWER statement on the 10th anniversary of the invasion of Iraq

This is from www.answercoalition.org/national/news/setting-the-record-straight.html :

Confronting the lies about the Iraq invasion

Statement by Brian Becker, ANSWER national coordinator

March 18, 2013

Ten years ago, the United States and Britain invaded Iraq. The history of how this invasion came about has been largely falsified by both the right-wing supporters of the invasion and the liberal commentators who opposed the war.

The core argument of the professional liberal commentators and historians is that Bush hoodwinked the country and the general public, with the help of a supplicant media, by scaring people into thinking that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction and the Bush administration had to invade to defend America and its people.

The fallacious handwringing liberal position was typified in the recent 10th-anniversary account of the war by Micah Sifry, published by the National Memo.

"But 10 years ago, it was not a good time to be a war skeptic in America. It rarely is. The vast majority of 'smart' and 'serious' people had convinced themselves that in the face of Saddam Hussein's alleged stockpiling of weapons of mass destruction, the prudent thing to do was to go to war to remove him from power," writes Sifry.

This is a fanciful and false account.

The "country" was not hoodwinked. There was no general feeling that the U.S. must strike first or be engulfed by Saddam Hussein's military.

The opposite was true. The people of this country—and the world—mobilized in unprecedented numbers prior to a military conflict under the banner: "Stop the War Before it Starts."

An unprecedented, massive anti-war movement

In the months prior to the invasion, I was the central organizer of the mass anti-war actions in Washington, D.C., that brought many hundreds of thousands of people into the streets of the capital in repeated demonstrations—on Oct. 26, 2002; Jan. 18, 2003; and March 15, 2003.

The Jan. 18, 2003, demonstration filled up a vast expanse of the Mall west of the Capitol building, which houses the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. The Washington Post described the Jan. 18 demonstration as the largest anti-war protest since the end of the Vietnam War.

In addition to the Washington demonstrations, there were mass anti-war protests in cities throughout the United States, on both the east and west coasts and nearly everywhere in between.

Thousands of organizations and millions of individuals were participants and organizers in this grassroots global movement.

On Feb. 15, 2003, there were coinciding demonstrations in more than 1,000 cities in almost every country—including many hundreds of cities and towns in the United States.

The rise of a global anti-war movement of such magnitude—before the actual start of military hostilities—was without precedent in human history. Mass anti-war movements and even revolutions have occurred inside one or more of the warring countries at the time of their defeat or perceived defeat, but the Iraq anti-war movement of 2002-2003 was in anticipation of a war and before the gruesome impact of the slaughter could be seen and felt.

The depth of the movement was breathtaking for the organizers and the participants. Millions went into the streets over and over and over again. They knew that they were in a race against time. Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld were likewise racing to go to war, not because Iraq was getting stronger or closer to having weapons of mass destruction but because this global grassroots anti-war movement had the potential to shake the political status quo to its very foundations

In February 2003, The New York Times described the global anti-war movement as the world's "second super-power."

Why the race toward war

It was under these circumstances that the "mass media" went into overdrive to promote the war. Anti-war voices on television were booted off the air. The airwaves were filled up with the obviously bogus imagery that Iraq in league with unspecified "Muslim terrorists" was about to engulf the United States in a nuclear mushroom cloud. The message was that war was inevitable and that protests were futile.

Bush rushed hundreds of thousands of troops to Kuwait in a race to launch the invasion that they knew was likely to destroy the Iraqi military in a few weeks.

The Democratic Party leaders in Congress had already acquiesced to Bush and Cheney's war demands. Even though the calls and letters to Congress against the war were running 200 to 1, both the Senate and the House of Representatives, by lopsided margins, passed resolutions on Oct. 11, 2002, authorizing Bush to use the armed forces of the United States against Iraq.

The Iraq invasion was a criminal enterprise. Millions of Iraqis died, more than five million were forced into the miserable life of refugees, thousands of U.S. troops were killed and tens of thousands of others suffered life-changing physical and mental injuries.

Today, Bush and Cheney are writing books and collecting huge speaking fees. They are shielded from prosecution by the current Democratic-led government.

The war in Iraq was not simply a "mistake" nor was it the consequence of a hoodwinked public. It was rather a symptom of the primary reality of the modern-day political system in the U.S. This system is addicted to war. It relies on organized violence, or the threat of violence, to maintain the dominant position of the United States all over the world. The U.S. has invaded or bombed one country after another since the end of the so-called Cold War. It has military bases in 130 countries and spends more on lethal violence than all other countries combined. Yes, in the United States the adult population is encouraged to vote every two or four years for one of two ruling-class parties that enforce the global projection of U.S. empire with equal vigor when they take turns at the helm. And this is labeled the exercise of "democracy" and proof that the United States is indeed the land of the free.

The invasion of Iraq succeeded in creating mass human suffering and death. What Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld failed to anticipate was that the Iraqi people, like all people everywhere, would never willingly accept life under occupation. It was the unanticipated resistance of the Iraqi people that eventually forced the withdrawal of the occupation forces nine long years later.

Brian Becker was the lead organizer of the largest anti-war demonstrations in Washington, D.C., between Oct. 26, 2002, and the start of the Iraq invasion on March 19, 2003. The October demonstration drew 200,000 people. Less than two months later, on Jan. 18, 2003, approximately 500,000 demonstrated again in what the Washington Post called the "largest anti-war demonstration" in Washington, D.C., since the end of the Vietnam War. On Feb. 15, 2003, millions of people demonstrated in nearly 1,000 cities around the world, including several hundred cities and towns in the United States. On March 15, just four days before the start of the invasion, 100,000 demonstrated once gain in Washington, D.C.

Celeberate Durham Creek Week 2013

Durham's annual Creek Week ( www.durhamcreekweek.org) is coming up, March 16th - 23rd, with many different kinds of events for all ages throughout the County.  There will be trash cleanups along Sandy, Third Fork, and Northeast creeks in the New Hope River basin and Ellerbe and Warren creeks, Eno River, and Lake Michie in the Neuse River basin.  People will be able to see trout lilies, bloodroot, and other spring ephemeral wildflowers, amphibians, dragonflies, butterflies, beavers, and the importance of wetlands at hikes and presentations at Eno River State Park, Penny's Bend, the Museum of Life and Science, 17 Acre Wood, Sandy Creek Park, and elsewhere.  Kids can participate in intersession camps such as the Schoolhouse of Wonder's camp that will create art from junk otherwise marring the Eno River.  No dumping storm drain labels can be requested from Durham Stormwater Services at City Hall and March 21st dog owners can pledge not to leave waste out to pollute our waterways. 

 

For those in the Winston-Salem area, Durham Creek Week is inspiring a similar celeberation in Forsyth County (watch this space: www.forsythcreekweek.org/index.html ).          

Two Communist Parties on the Passing of Hugo Chavez

Statement of the PCMLV on the death of Commandante Chavez

The Marxist-Leninist Communist Party of Venezuela, PCMLV, expresses its grief and solidarity at the physical loss of Commandante President Hugo Chavez Frias to all the workers, peasants, students, women's organizations, revolutionary, anti-imperialist, socialist and Bolivarian parties and organizations of the masses.

We also express our condolences to all his family, friends and to the national government for the loss of a great humanist, a patriotic, progressive and consistent revolutionary statesman, as President Hugo Chavez proved to be until the last days of his existence.

We call on the working class, which knows how to rise to the challenge in the revolutionary struggle in the most pressing moments of history, to prepare to resist and defeat the reactionaries who will not hesitate to take advantage of this difficult time to thwart through violent means the gains and demands that we have achieved under the leadership of President Chavez. Imperialism will set stronger traps at this sorrowful moment that the national revolutionary movement is going through.

The call is to not renounce the struggle to build socialism, the banner that President Hugo Chavez raised in all circumstances; this banner needs to be taken up rigorously and courageously by all the workers of this nation in this difficult moment in history. We, as Party of the working class in Venezuela, make the call for the struggle and building of socialism and communism from the scientific conception of Marxism-Leninism.

The acts of sabotage, of hired killers, the terrorism, food shortages, the propaganda of disinformation, anxiety and manipulation will intensify. The national and international reactionaries feel victorious at this time, but the national and world working class will go forward with the necessary and strategic battles to continue the path of victory and the accumulation of forces to confront the fascists and imperialists.

The death of the President of the Republic must not mean the decline in popular organization, but rather it must serve as an impetus for future struggles against the class enemy. We must not believe in the phony condolences local right wing, which on dozens of occasions tried to assassinate the commandante. These sectors are moved by a single impulse: profit at any cost whatever.

The right wing is evaluating what actions to take in the coming days. It is no coincidence that the Venezuelan government expelled two U.S. military attaches for conspiratorial work.

We strongly call on all the revolutionary elements to close ranks against the capitalist and imperialist enemy. The working class must be prepared for a possible difficult situation; it must not trust the bourgeois enemy that has historically proven to be traitorous. If the pro-imperialist bourgeoisie tries to take advantage of this hard time of grief of the humble and exploited masses, the masses should respond forcefully and applying revolutionary violence.

Socialism can only be built with the worker-peasant alliance in Power and the people in arms!

PCMLV

Caracas, March 5, 2013.

 

Communist Part of India (ML) Liberation Mourns the Death of Venezuelan
President Hugo Chavez, and Salutes His Legacy of Struggles Against Neo-liberal
Polices and US Imperialism!

New Delhi, 6 Mar. 2013

After two years of battling cancer, Venezuela's
President Hugo Chavez passed away today. CPI(ML) Liberation deeply mourns the
death of this architect of the Bolivarian Revolution; an iconic crusader against
US imperialism and neo-liberal policies. His loss will be deeply felt, not just
in Venezuela and other parts of Latin America, but all over the world. Whether
it is in Palestine and Lebanon in the Middle East or India, Chavez was and will
always continue to be a symbol of hope and resistance to millions of people
struggling for their rights.

During his long tenure as Venezuela's President from
1999 onwards, he continued to dream of and champion his vision of 21st century
socialism, successfully battling right-wing sponsored military coups, strikes
and recall referendums. He used his Presidency to try and bring in several
fundamental changes in Venezuela's polity: he introduced a new constitution
which increased rights for marginalized groups and altered the structure of
Venezuelan government, he put in place a remarkable system of public referendums
with mass participation to decide major public policies, he introduced
participatory democratic councils, he ensured nationalization of several key
industries including oil, increased government funding of health care and
education which led to significant reductions in poverty.

Moreover, Chavez emerged as a symbol of Latin American
resistance to US imperialism, and as a strong pole for a united Latin American
response to US domination. He tried his level best to unite Venezuela, Bolivia,
Cuba, Argentina, Brazil and other Latin American countries in an attempt to
isolate US in Latin American politics. This unity, initiated by Chavez, posed a
huge challenge to the long history of US plunder, corporate loot, state
repression and CIA-backed coups in Latin America. Chavez also stood against
US-Israel sponsored genocide in Palestine; after the most recent Israeli attack
in Gaza, Venezuela was one of the few governments which showed the courage to
dismiss the Israeli ambassador to Venezuela and support the struggling
Palestinian people.

CPI(ML) Liberation stands in solidarity with the
mourning, struggling people of Venezuela, who have pledged to keep alive
Chavez's legacy and his dreams. Struggling people and movements across the world
join hands in mourning this great architect of the Bolivarian revolution. This
fight will continue in the universities, factories and mines across the world.
(Kavita Krishnan)
Member, Central
Committee

--
Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation

The hope of peace at last: The Russian Revolution in documentary and song

The November-December episode of Communist Voice premieres on The Peoples Channel Tuesday (the 6^th) at 6pm, but because of some problems, the previous episode will be air one more week on Durham Community Media, so the new episode will start there on the 13^th at 6pm. The title of this episode comes from a line from an excellent Irish song, The Red Flag, sung to the tune of O Tannenbaum or Maryland, My Maryland. It was written by Jim Connell in 1889 (see webpages.dcu.ie/~sheehanh/lsongs.htm ). This episode includes Chronicle of October – 1917; Song is Our Friend, which has some famous Soviet songs like the World War II song Holy War; a short YouTube video from the Communist Party of Great Britain Marxist-Leninist, which I won't describe because it is going to surprise many people, though many communists will already know this song; and two music videos by the Pakistani group Laal. There were a lot of problems getting the Laal videos off of Youtube. Inqalab [Revolution] is dedicated to the millions of bonded laborers in South Asia. There might be some problems with the video, but it can be viewed, with English subtitles, at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtrV6o2fCpI&feature=relmfu . The episode ends on Jaago [Awaken], a Pakistani version of the famous leftist song The Internationale. It can be found in a few places on YouTube, but this video comes from www.youtube.com/watch?v=v07kRN1VnlA&feature=related . Because of technical problems, the video and audio were added separately, and something might have happened with the audio, since it should have vocals. I would have liked to include Utho Meri Duniya ( www.youtube.com/watch?v=owHGL8ZG0WI&feature=relmfu ), but there were technical problems and lack of time in this episode.

Some political notes

It could be said that Alliance Marxist-Leninist was disbanded at the beginning of the year. The archives are still online at http://ml-review.ca/aml/index/subject.html , and I still generally agree with its positions, but I was left without an affiliation. I am currently distributing the US Marxist-Leninist Organization's Voice of Revolution, so look out for it at libraries, bookstores, etc., for now in Durham and Orange counties, but maybe later in Wake.

The election is of course Tuesday. I will probably be following the Durham People's Alliance voter guide on most of the races. The presidential vote is complicated to decide, because I don't want Romney to win (but it probably wouldn't be the end of the world if he does), I don't want to vote for Obama, and from what I've read write-in votes for a left candidate such as Jill Stein of the Green Party will not be counted

( www.ncgreenparty.org/ and the last article at www.usmlo.org/arch2012/2012-09/VR120905.htm#04 ). I still need to research the judicial candidates. Most of the other Federal and state offices are easy to decide about, and a candidate's position on the 751 South project is very important in the Board of County Commissioners election.

Celebrating the 95th anniversary of the Russian Revolution on The Peoples Channel and Durham Community Media

The September-October episode of Communist Voice has been broadcast for 8 weeks, so under TPC/DCM rules it won't be shown October 29^th, but the next episode should air November 6^th, just in time for the anniversary of the socialist stage of the Russian Revolution, November 7^th. This is the most complex episode to produce up to now, editing together videos from DVD, VHS, and YouTube. It includes a re-airing of the English language Soviet video Chronicle of October- 1917, another short Soviet video and a YouTube clip featuring songs of the October Socialist Revolution, and a few music videos from the Pakistani communist pop band Laal [Red]. Laal's channel on www.youtube.com is laalpakistan and the lead singer and guitarist is a leader of the Communist Mazdoor Kissan Party (Communist Workers and Peasants Party).

Friends of the Durham Library fall book sale is this weekend

The fall Friends of the Durham Library book sale is this weekend at the Main Library downtown. There are several copies of Marx's Capital and the Communist Manifesto this time, in the expanded and now more prominent philosophy section. In the special price section there is a nice $6 set containing the Chinese (English language) editions of classic Marxist-Leninist texts such as the Manifesto, Lenin's Imperialism, and Stalin's Foundations of Leninism. Someone helpfully wrote “Workers of the world unite!” on the price tag. I almost bought it myself, but I already have most or all of the books in one printing or another. They are also online and some are being reprinted by Red Star Publishers. Unfortunately there is not a separate Russian/Soviet history section this time. There is also a wide selection of books in other subjects, as well as music and videos, and even a Whitewings paper airplane kit. Books are only 50 cents for paperbacks and a dollar for hardcovers and large paperbacks. The sale is 10-4 Saturday and the bag sale ($7 for a grocery bag of books) Sunday is 2-5. The branch sales going on all year at other libraries are separate and do not include decommissioned library books and seem to sell novels mainly. The spring 2013 sale will be the weekend of April 12^th.  

Looking back at the Iraq War and forward at Syria and Iran

The February episode of Communist Voice (6pm Tuesdays on cable access in the Durham and Chapel Hill areas) is a double feature from 911TV on the brutal occupation of Iraq, comprising Fallujah, The Hidden Massacre and Poison DUst.

The first program is by Sigfrido Ranucci and Maurizio Torrealta and was shown on the Italian channel RAI November 8, 2005. It is about the US attack on Fallujah, Iraq in November 2004, especially the illegal use of white phosphorus and napalmlike weapons. The program starts with some background on the use of napalm in Vietnam, and shows footage from the bombing of Trang Bang by the Republic of Vietnam in 1972, which resulted in the famous photo of a girl, Kim Phuc, fleeing naked from the napalm. The narration says no one won the Vietnam War, but the Vietnamese liberated their country from Japanese, French, and American occupation and division. The use of napalm against civilians or military targets near civilians was apparently banned in 1980, but former Labour parliamentarian Alice Mahon forced the British military to reveal that the US military used napalmlike Mark-77 in Fallujah. According to an Army veteran interviewed, Garret Reppenhagen, there were many intentional civilian casualties. White phosphorus (WP) can be used to illuminate a battlefield, but it causes terrible burns if it touches flesh, burning that can't be stopped by just washing with water. At Fallujah, white phosphorus was used in an urban area and in March-April 2005 Field Artillery magazine said "WP proved to be an effective and versatile munition. We used it as a potent psychological weapon against the insurgents in trench lines and spider holes when we could not get effects on them with HE. We fired "shake and bake" munitions at the insurgents, using WP to flush them out and HE to take them out."

In between the two main programs is a segment of Trophy Video, which appears to show an infrared film of an aircraft shooting at a tractor and then killing the crippled driver when he is writhing on the ground and other clips show vehicles driving in traffic in Iraq and shooting any cars behind them, yet allowing many vehicles to pass by in the other lane.

Poison DUst is about the use of thousands of tons of radioactive and possibly toxic depleted uranium weapons used against Iraq since 1991 and the alleged effects on civilians and US soldiers. These weapons have been used by the US elsewhere, such as in the former Yugoslavia and presumably in Libya. Personally I was afraid this program would contain overblown claims about radioactivity, but it is actually reasonable and convincing and includes interviews with well-known physicist Michio Kaku. .

One of the reasons given for the aggression against Iraq was the claim that it had weapons of mass destruction, but these two programs argue that the country using chemical and radioactive weapons, and using them on civilians, is the US.

How quickly Iraq has been forgotten, because now the Obama Administration and other imperialists want to start wars with Syria and Iran. As with Libya, they first claim they will not get involved, but then grab whatever UN figleaf they can get for wars to topple governments for geopolitical reasons. Our representative in the UN, Susan Rice, is disgusted by Russia and China's vetoes of the Security Council resolution against Syria, but what I find disgusting is this government's desire to start yet another war to control the Middle East, saying it is war for the sake of the Syrian people. The US is just as self-interested as the others in the Security Council and is trying to set up a friendly government in Damascus that is against Iran and Palestinian and Lebanese national liberation forces, to further isolate Iran and prepare for war. The US was late in backing demonstrators in Egypt and didn't do anything about the violence in Bahrain or Israeli violence and mistreatment of Palestinians. The situation in Syria is not the business of the US and it is in the interest of working class Americans to attack Syria. If the majority of Syrians want a more democratic government, they should overthrow Assad themselves and not ask imperialist powers to attack their country.

It also looks like Obama wants a war with Iran, when there is little evidence of the nuclear weapons program being used as justification. Meanwhile Israel has hundreds of nuclear weapons and is occupying and brutalizing Arab countries and Obama's recent comments could be taken as threatening Iran with nuclear attack. Obama certainly isn't doing much to reduce international tensions and war propaganda in the media.     

Durham Bill of Rights Proclamation Monday and Loose Change on Communist Voice

The 9th annual Bill of Rights/Human Rights Proclamation will be presented at the beginning of the Durham City Council meeting December 5th at 7pm in City Hall.  The Durham Bill of Rights Defense Committee invites people to attend and it can also be seen live on cable's DTV8. 

 

Communist Voice is showing a one hour version of Loose Change - Final Cut this month, starting this Tuesday at 6-7pm on both Durham Community Media and The Peoples Channel.  Loose Change is a famous 9/11 truth documentary, available in several versions covering many of the holes in the official story and this version leaves out some questionable claims in previous versions.  This cable access version was provided by www.911tv.org.  There are enough shows on 9/11, US war crimes, Soviet history, leftist music, etc. available now and our cable access channels have space for new programming, so Communist Voice now has an hour every week on Tuesdays.     

Commemorating the Russian Revolution on TPC/DCM

The October Socialist Revolution began November 7th (October 25th by the calendar the Russian Empire was using at the time), 1917, so this month's showing on Communist Voice is the 1986 Soviet video Chronicle of October - 1917, starting tonight.  The Occupy Movement should study the proletarian revolutions in Russia and elsewhere, instead of relying on small capitalist discourse, as it seems to right now.  Chronicle of October has been shown in full on The Peoples Channel before, but the Cyrillic credits and the opening scenes in Leningrad (St. Petersburg) had to be cut for space.  The video was donated by the US Friends of the Soviet People.  Communist Voice might soon switch to an hour long time slot, probably around the same time.      

IAC statement on NATO's war against Libya

Below is a statement from the anti-imperialist International Action Center (www.iacenter.org) on the NATO attack on Libya.  Whether it is Bill Clinton attacking Iraq and Yugoslavia, George Bush attacking Afghanistan and Iraq, or Barack Obama attacking Libya, these are wars of aggression for geopolitics, markets, and resources, justified as "humanitarian intervention."  The US government claims to have humanitarian concern for Libya, but rewards the bloody repression in Bahrain, which hosts a US naval base.  Russia and China allowed the war against Libya to have UN Security Council approval, and then protested as if they didn't know NATO intended to topple the government.   

People who opposed Bush's wars were duped by Nobel Peace Prize recipient Obama or revealed that they believe in imperialism as much as Obama and the Democratic establishment does.  The strange result was that Republicans were referred to as anti-war in the media.  The media, including NPR and Amy Goodman's Democracy Now attempted to delegitimize the sovereign government of Libya by referring to "Gadhafi forces" and the media in general trumpeted opposition statements that turned out to be false, such as the claims about Viagra and sub-Saharan African mercenaries.  .     

With its success in Libya, and the killing of Gadhafi in a way reminiscent of what the Afghan warlords did in the early 90's, NATO might now turn to Syria and Obama may be creating the foundations for an attack on Iran.  Since this statement, it has been revealed that Somalia is being secretly bombed by the US, in addition to Yemen and Pakistan.  

- Murder of Gadhafi is next step to wider U.S. wars in Africa

INTERNATIONAL ACTION CENTER STATEMENT ON LIBYA: Lynching in Libya – Made in U$A

The brutal lynching of Moammar Gadhafi, the leader of Libya, is the latest criminal act in NATO's seven-month war of regime change and conquest.

Gadhafi died resisting to the very end U.S.-NATO war, as he said he would. He refused to negotiate with NATO an ignominious departure for himself or to surrender. He chose a martyr's death for Libya's independence and sovereignty. Despite ridicule in the West, in Africa Gadhafi will be remembered as an anti-imperialist fighter.

The gross and disrespectful behavior of the National Transitional Council (TNC) in the display of Moammar Gadhafi's body confirms to the world in the most graphic way that these elements, who the imperialist powers have given official recognition, are in fact crude, low-life gangsters.

Instead of burying Gadhafi within a day as required under Islamic law, they chose to display Gadhafi's battered, half naked body -- bloody, unwashed and uncovered -- on a soiled mattress in a meat locker at a shopping center.

This affront to religious and national custom will further deepen outrage and resistance.

TNC militias did no real fighting. These divided, competing military bands operate as scavengers or vultures, calling in air strikes and lying in wait to pick over the death that NATO bombers have blasted in front of them. In seven months of NATO bombing they have shown themselves capable of firing endless weapons in front of cameras and brutalizing Black Libyans, yet incapable of conducting any independent military action.

U.S. and NATO forces bear responsibility for this latest crime and the way it was carried out. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sounded like a gunslinger in a Hollywood western in Tripoli the day before Gadhafi's murder, demanding his capture – dead or alive.

Loyalist forces in the city of Sirte, Bani Walid and several other cities have held out heroically two months after NATO seizure of Tripoli.

NATO bombers targeted Sirte and Bani Walid's electrical grid, communications, food storage, the city water supply, the water towers on apartment buildings and even the water tower on the roof of the hospital. Again and again the TNC has announced that all resistance in these small cities have has been destroyed, only to be driven out each time.

The imperialist war in Libya is reminiscent of past colonial wars in Africa and Asia. Targeting of any civilian necessities, such as water, food, medicine, and communication is specifically prohibited under international law and considered a war crime under the Nuremburg and Geneva Conventions. Yet during seven months of war those are exactly the civilian targets that NATO planners focused on again and again.

The bombing of lines of cars fleeing the NATO besieged city of Sirte that led to Gadhafi's capture is an example of systematic targeting of civilians.

U.S. British, French and Italian imperialist forces claimed to be protecting civilians and implementing a United Nations Security Council No-fly zone. But the Libyan government used no aircraft at all. U.S. and other NATO jets ruled the skies and civilians were their targets. This is an expanding war. Today U.S. drones strike with impunity at defenseless peoples around the world.

Gadhafi's greatest threat to the imperialist countries was promoting a development plan for an African Federation and a stable African currency backed by Libya's $90 billion reserves to help Africans free themselves from the IMF and World Bank's onerous dictates.

Forty-two years ago Libya was one of the poorest, least developed countries of Africa. Gadhafi and other young military officers overthrew the Western-supported Libyan monarchy of King Idris in 1969, then held the imperialist's off as the Libyans built with nationalized oil revenues a series of modern cities and infrastructure. Before the NATO bombing this year, the Libyan people had achieved the highest educational and health standards in Africa, according to UN development statistics.

In the same week that Secretary of State Clinton traveled to Tripoli and that Gadhafi was murdered, President Barack Obama ordered U.S. Special Forces and military advisors to Uganda, South Sudan, Central Africa Republic and Democratic Republic of Congo. These are countries that hold a vast reservoir of strategic minerals, including cobalt, coltan, industrial diamonds, copper in Congo and newly discovered oil in Uganda and South Sudan.

Anyone who expects that U.S./NATO forces or their corrupt collaborators will rebuild the schools, hospitals, modern housing, sports complexes, vast underground water system, electricity, advanced communications, reorganize free health care or reconstruct essential infrastructure that they have laid waste to in months of bombing need only look at their ignominious record in Iraq after eight years or in Afghanistan after ten years. The promised peace, national reconciliation, democracy and development were empty words.

Today, the vast majority of Iraqi people, even in the capital city of Baghdad, still struggle with a few hours of electricity a day. Potable water is a memory of a past, pre-occupation epoch, so is free education and health care. NATO is a war machine for corporate profit, not a social service agency. It has shown itself as incapable of reorganizing a decent life.

In Afghanistan after a decade of occupation, the rubble of U.S. bombs and rusting tanks still litter the roads. None of the promised social progress has reached beyond Pentagon press releases and politicians visits.

In Iraq the indignities and humiliations were so numerous and such an affront that even the government of compliant collaborators established by the U.S. has been forced by mass sentiment to refuse immunity to U.S. troops scheduled to remain in Iraq as relabeled trainers and advisors.

As in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Yemen the resistance in Libya to U.S. NATO domination will continue and take on new forms.

The imperialists never expected mass mobilized resistance to their plans. They predicted a war that would be over within a week. Instead a small population of six million, spread across a largely desert country, managed through mass mobilizations of millions of people, military resistance and emergency measures to withstand more than 200 days of non-stop bombardment, more than 9,000 air strikes.

U.S., British and French corporate looters are planning a new assault on Africa, but they are finding that this is not the world of 100 years ago.

The tens of thousands of youth occupying sites in cities across the U.S. and Europe need to stand in solidarity with resistance to corporate domination at home and to imperialist wars abroad.

Occupy Wall Street!

NOT Libya, Iraq or Afghanistan.

Part Two of Truth and Politics Starts 10/4

Part 1 of Truth and Politics: Unanswered Questions About 9/11 / A Talk by David Ray Griffin ended rather abruptly, so viewers contacted me thinking it was cut off, but there is a Part 2, starting on Communist Voice tomorrow evening. Because of the time limit, a few minutes had to be cut at the beginning and the end.

 

Part 1 left off with Dr. Griffin questioning why the Secret Service didn't rush Bush out of the Florida elementary school he was visiting that morning, in contrast to how they hurried Cheney into a bunker. He says this reflects the 9/11 Commission's typically uncritical acceptance of whatever officials say, and that when questions were asked, they were not included in the final report. Griffin says the 9/11 Commission Report's general consistency indicates that it was edited by one person, Executive Director Philip Zelikow. The 9/11 Commission did not examine the numerous very general to very specific warnings received before 9/11, and in his remarks Griffin mentions San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown being warned not to fly on 9/11 and how Attorney General John Ashcroft stopped taking commercial flights that summer. Part 2 starts with a discussion of how Ashcroft rebuffed former Clinton impeachment prosecutor David Schippers, who was trying to bring to Ashcroft's attention a group of FBI agents who knew six weeks beforehand the general time and location of the attack in New York, who would carry it out, and how it was funded.

 

The credits also had to be cut:

 

Videography: Jim Terrell, Celestine Star, Lee Beale, Brad Larsen, and Gabriel Kish

 

Video Recording: Hummux

 

Graphics: www

 

Editor & Technical Director: Ken Jenkins

 

They recommend that viewers educate themselves and others, and support these organizations:

 

911truth.org

justicefor911.org

septembereleventh.org

9/11 Truth on DCM/TPC

A new episode of Communist Voice is premiering tonight on Durham Community Media and The Peoples Channel, part 1 of Truth and Politics:  Unanswered Questions About 9/11, which is a recording of a 2004 address by philosophy of religion professor and leading 9/11 truth author David Ray Griffin.  Griffin and others raise many important questions about the al Qaida conspiracy theory put foward by the government to explain how 9/11 could have occurred and what happened that day.  It is clear that the government knew an attack was coming, and knew at least some of the details, and benefitted from the attack.  I'm more agnostic about issues like what crashed into the Pentagon and whether explosives were planted in the three buildings that collapsed at the World Trade Center.  Defenders of the official theory argue over these issues, rather than the evidence that the Bush Administration knew 9/11 was going to happen, and let it happen so they could invade Afghanistan and Iraq and carry through their domestic policies.

 

It should be noted that I critically endorse the content of Communist Voice, and the programs may or may not have been created by members of a communist party.  I have no reason to think David Ray Griffin is a Marxist, but I think it is important for people to hear his arguments and communists should not join capitalist media and opportunists in attacking the 9/11 truth movement with a broad brush, as some have.     

 

 

Manchuria - August 1945

Starting this evening, the Communist Voice series on The Peoples Channel and Durham Community Media will be showing Manchuria – August 1945, a Soviet documentary about the USSR's role in liberating northeastern China from Japanese occupation. The program was donated by US Friends of the Soviet People. In September 1931 Japan attacked China and seized Manchuria, and in July 1938 the Sino-Japanese War began, lasting until the defeat of Japan in 1945. In this way WWII's roots extend back to the 20's and 30's, and in a few decades, US aggression against Iraq in the 90's and the invasion in 2003 may be seen as the quiet beginning of the next inter-imperialist war.

As the Allied powers had agreed at conferences, the USSR was to have a role in the war against Japan, but by August 1945 Roosevelt was dead and President Truman wanted a free hand. Japan's fascist government, all but defeated already, knew it had lost when the USSR and Mongolia entered the war, but the US still dropped a nuclear bomb on Hiroshima August 6^th and on Nagasaki August 9^th. It can be argued that, other than the radiation, there is not a huge difference between being incinerated or boiled by a nuclear bomb versus the conventional firebombings that struck other Japanese and German cities. Two cities were destroyed and tens of thousands of Japanese and Korean civilians were killed so the US would be the sole occupier of Japan and could intimidate the USSR, an attempt which failed (ml-review.ca/aml/AllianceIssues/All30iii.htm). The US went on to preserve part of Japan's fascist leadership for use during the Cold War, divided the Korean nation, and fomented the Korean War (ml-review.ca/aml/China/KoreaNS.htm). China liberated itself from imperialist domination and feudalism, and helped defend the DPRK, but its revisionist leadership did not build socialism, and now openly advocates capitalism and supports imperialism, from Haiti to Libya.

There is an annual vigil in August commemorating the atomic bombing of Japan at the Chapel Hill Post Office on Franklin Street.

Karl Marx featured on Communist Voice this month

Karl Marx was born May 5, 1818, so Communist Voice is featuring the first half of Karl Marx: the Scholar, the Revolutionary, and the Man this month.  The time is also moving, to Tuesday evenings at 8 on The Peoples Channel and 6pm on Tuesdays on Durham Community Media (but the Life of Vladimir Lenin will continue a week or two into May on the Durham station).  

 

    

Events this week

In honor of the great Russian communist leader VI Lenin's birthday, April 22, 1870, this month's episode of Communist Voice is the Soviet film The Life of Vladimir Lenin, more for its unique archival footage than for its political clarity.  Communist Voice is available on cable Mondays 4-4:30pm on The Peoples Channel in Orange County and parts of Chatham County and on Durham Community Media. 

 

April 22 is also Earth Day and the 25th annual Pilgrimage for Peace and Justice is this week, and stops in the Triangle area April 21-22 (see www.ncjustice.org/?q=node/793#thu for the schedule). 

 

Please let me know if you know of events planned for International Workers' Day/May Day.  The annual marijuana legalization rally will probably happen May 1st at the State Capitol, but I am not aware of any labor events planned in the area. 

France and other imperialists launch war with Libya

Below is a message from the International Action Center (www.iacenter.org/anti-war/stop_the_us_war_on_libya_and_bahrain/) exposing the hypocrisy of the Obama administration and the other imperialists, who have started a war with Libya to aid the opposition, but stand by or encourage the bloody crackdown in Bahrain, and prevent UN action against Israel whenever it attacks its neighbors and targets civilians.  Bush is unpopular and many Americans now see that he is a warmonger, but now the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize is supporting a new unjustified war in the Arab world the day before the anniversary of the start of the Iraq War.   

 

STOP THE U.S. WAR ON LIBYA AND BAHRAIN!

The International Action Center calls on all anti-war and social justice activists to call Emergency Response STOP THE U.S. WAR AGAINST LIBYA AND BAHRAIN actions in their areas on Friday, March 18 or Saturday, Marcy 19, or to mobilize support for any already existing anti-war demonstrations called to mark the anniversary of the Iraq War, with this statement and signs to STOP THE U.S. WAR AGAINST LIBYA AND BAHRAIN, as well as to intensify the mobilization for the April 9th and 10th Anti-War demonstrations in New York and San Francisco called by the United National Antiwar Committee.
 
On March 17, 2011, Washington showed its true intentions by pushing through a U.N. Security Council resolution that amounts to a declaration of war on the government and people of Libya.
 
A U.S. attack is the worst possible thing that could happen to the people of Libya. It also puts the unfolding Arab revolutions, which have inspired people across North Africa and Western Asia, in the gravest danger.
 
The resolution goes beyond a no-fly zone. It includes language saying U.N. member states could "take all necessary measures" ... "by halting attacks by air, land and sea forces under the control of the Gadhafi regime."(CNN.com, Mar 17)
 
The new resolution not only calls for attacks on Libyan aircraft and air defenses, but authorizes the strafing and bombing of ground forces as well. The U.S. and French governments immediately announced that they were ready to go. Britain and Italy are aiding. In essence the former colonial powers have begun an armed attack on the Libyan government and its people, backing one side of a civil war.

No matter how one feels about Libya today and the role of the Gadhafi government; regardless of how one evaluates the Libyan opposition, a U.S.-led war or intervention in Libya is a disaster for the Libyan people, and for peace and progress around the world.

BAHRAIN EXPOSES THE LIE ABOUT "PREVENTING ATTACKS ON CIVILIANS"

 
The U.S. and its allies are repeating over and over the lie that they are trying to "prevent attacks on civilians" and are acting from humanitarian motives. But nobody should be fooled. Consider these "humanitarians" and how they react to Bahrain.
 
The U.S. Fifth Fleet is based in Bahrain, which is an absolute monarchy. Its people have been valiantly trying to change their government for weeks. They had some initial success. The king responded with deadly repression and later with hints at reform.

On March 14, however, hours after Secretary of Defense Gates visited Bahrain, the Bahraini government commenced a brutal crackdown, backed up by Saudi Arabian troops. Helicopters, tear gas, rubber bullets, and live ammunition were used, killing and injuring many people. Nearly all of Bahrain's security forces are foreign mercenaries.
 
Unlike the Libyan rebels, the Bahraini people have absolutely no arms. But there has been no talk of a no-fly zone over Bahrain, let alone attacks on the murderous Bahraini and Saudi armies.

NO BLOOD FOR OIL

 
This is because the real motivation for the U.S. and its allies in both Bahrain and Libya, and indeed the whole region, is to control the OIL! It is Washington's main strategic interest and a primary financial interest for U.S. big business.
 
This is true even though the U.S. is not directly dependent on imported oil from Libya. Oil is a worldwide commodity, and any country which imports oil must deal with a world market, no matter from which individual country or countries they import the oil.
 
Of even more importance to the U.S. and Europeans is who controls the flow of oil. A military presence or a reliable puppet in Libya would give Washington --and to a lesser extent the European imperialists -- control of the oil spigot to Europe and also establish a military presence in North Africa from which to influence or prevent the development of the revolutions, especially in Egypt and Tunisia.
 

ARAB LEAGUE "VOTE" FRAUD

Not only a demonization campaign against the Libyan leader, but every form of fraud and propaganda is being used to push for this intervention, including a supposed "vote" by the Arab League supporting the latest U.N. resolution. Left unsaid is the fact that only 11 of the 22 members of the League even attended the meeting, which was held behind closed doors. Two of these 11 attending members, Syria and Algeria, made clear that they were completely opposed to military intervention in Libya.

Meanwhile the corporate media has ignored a resolution by the African Union, representing 53 countries, which adamantly rejected a no-fly zone or other intervention.
 

WHAT ABOUT GAZA?

The U. S. blocked any UN action, even a toothless resolution, during the massive Israeli bombardment of Gaza in 2008 and also during the Israeli bombing and attempted invasion of Lebanon in 2006, as well as the continued bombardment of Gaza as recently as this week!.
 
It is important that peace-loving and progressive people around the world develop a consistent approach opposing ALL U.S. intervention. This is the only way to avoid becoming just an echo of the U.S. State Department and Pentagon.

U.S., French, British, Italian hands off Libya!
NO to the U.S. supported attack on the people's movement of Bahrain!
U.S. Out of Arab and African Lands!

Some events this month

The annual Durham Creek Week is March 19-26; see http://www.durhamcreekweek.org/ for a calendar of events. There will be trash cleanups throughout Durham on the Saturday and the 26th, hikes, kayak excursions, workshops, and storytime events throughout the week, a panel discussion at the Hayti Heritage Center on the 24th, etc.

The first Friday after March 15th is also Arbor Day in North Carolina.

March 20th is the anniversary of the beginning of the Iraq War in 2003, though murderous sanctions and bombings had been going on for over a decade. Lots of events in the USA and elsewhere are listed at warisacrime.org/content/upcoming-events, but nothing in North Carolina. [ Actually, a rally March 26th in Fayetteville is listed by ANSWER: www.answercoalition.org/national/news/march-19-day-of-action.html ]. NC Peace Action's Spring Lobby Weekend is this weekend in Washington. The weekly peace vigil in Chapel Hill continues on Fridays at Village Plaza, and is probably on the summer 5-6pm schedule starting Friday, instead of 4:30-5:30. There is also a monthly vigil, 12-1 on first Wednesdays at the Raleigh Post Office, 300 Fayetteville Street. The Durham peace vigil might still continue 12-1 on Saturdays at Brightleaf.

I believe "humanitarian interventionism" in Iraq and possibly soon in Libya (but not in Bahrain or Yemen or any other Arab country) only masks imperialist aims, and now the Arab people are carrying out their bourgeois democratic revolutions without the US having to invade and devastate their countries. The Arab revolutionaries should be wary of imperialists trying to subvert their revolutions, and halt them at the overthrow of authoritarian leaders, before they can go deeper.

The 100th anniversary of International Women's Day was March 8th, and the media here was praising women leaders like Hillary Clinton and Condolezza Rice. According to Wikipedia, International Women's Day began with American socialists, the Second International, and later the USSR, and it is only a legend that it originated in an 1857 demonstration by female textile workers in New York. Whatever the truth about its origins, I did not hear about any local commemorations for peace, socialism, or economic justice to post about.

Khrushchev Lied

I recently came across a so-called museum of communism online, with a board of directors including Grover Norquist, and a national anti-communist monument planned under Clinton. The website has a hall of heroes, but strangely enough, they left out such great anti-communists as Franco, Hitler, Syngman Rhee, Suharto, Augusto Pinochet, the Colombian AUC paramilitaries, Gulbuddin Hektmatyar, Osama bin Laden, and Luis Posada Carriles. They also left out Khrushchev, who damaged the communist cause on a global scale with his lies and social imperialist policies.

The website ends with Stalin in its list of Soviet villains, and no wonder, because under Stalin's leadership the USSR provided an attractive political and economic model to the international working class and had the diplomatic skill and economic and military might to protect the gains of the October Revolution and aid allied countries. Khrushchev's betrayal began the process of counterrevolution that ended with Gorbachev and Yeltsin, fractured the communist movement, and aided revisionists in taking control of most of the parties with state power.

Scholarship in the USA is dominated by anti-communists who accept nearly every allegation made by counterrevolutionaries from the former USSR, but a blow has been struck with the publication of Montclair State University professor Grover Furr's book Khrushchev Lied, first in Russia and now in the USA. It is time to challenge the anti-communists who control the history curriculum at UNC-Chapel Hill, Duke, and the Durham Public Schools.

From the publisher, Erythros Press (www.erythrospress.com/store/furr.html):

Khrushchev Lied The Evidence That Every "Revelation" of Stalin's (and Beria's) Crimes in Nikita Khrushchev's Infamous "Secret Speech" to the 20th Party Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union on February 25, 1956, is Provably False In his "Secret Speech" of February 1956 Nikita Khrushchev accused Joseph Stalin of immense crimes. Khrushchev's speech was a body blow from which the worldwide communist movement never recovered. It changed the course of history. Grover Furr has spent a decade studying the flood of documents from formerly secret Soviet archives published since the end of the USSR. In this detailed study of Khrushchev's speech he reveals the astonishing results of his research: Not a single one of Khrushchev's "revelations" is true! The most influential speech of the 20th century—if not of all time—a dishonest swindle? The very thought is monstrous; the implications for our understanding of Left history—immense. Basing their work on Khrushchev's lies, Soviet and Western historians, including Trotskyists and anticommunists, have effectively falsified Soviet history. Virtually everything we thought we knew about the Stalin years turns out to be wrong. The history of the USSR, and of the communist movement of the 20th century, must be completely rewritten. Reviews and Comments on Khrushchev Lied "Khrushchev Lied is a marvelous piece of work, formidable in its research and reasoning, clear and precise in its writing, and breathtaking in its findings and implications. Revisiting old sources and using new material from the Soviet archives, Grover Furr's study demands a complete rethinking of Soviet history, socialist history, indeed world history of the 20th century." - Roger Keeran, Empire State College, co-author of Socialism Betrayed: Behind the Collapse of the Soviet Union. "Grover Furr has performed a valuable service to the field of Soviet studies by grappling in depth with Nikita Khrushchev's Secret Speech of 1956. … While some of the charges Khrushchev made have long been rejected in the West and in Russia, for example the idea that secret police chief Lavrenty Beria was a foreign agent, many other points Grover Furr raises are new and worthy of a great deal more attention." - Robert W. Thurston, Phillip R. Shriver Professor of History, Miami University; author of Life and Terror in Stalin's Russia, 1934-1941. "Grover Furr has written an intriguing book that challenges much of the existing historiography of the Stalinist 1930s. His insights and the sources he brings to bear question many of the views held by historians for decades and deserve our consideration. This book raises issues and questions that most scholars in the West today would not and does so in a sober and penetrating manner. He reaches fascinating conclusions, debunking much of what we thought we knew about the Stalinist era. … The translation of this pathbreaking work, which has already made quite a splash in Russia's academic circles, into English is long overdue." - Jeff Jones, Associate Professor of History, University of North Carolina at Greensboro; author of Everyday Life and the "Reconstruction" of Soviet Russia During and After the Great Patriotic War, 1943-1948.

 

Communist Voice premiering on Durham Community Media Monday

Starting next week, the Communist Voice series is coming to Durham Community Media (cable channel 18) at the same time it is on The Peoples Channel (channel 8 in Orange County and parts of Chatham, www.thepeopleschannel.org), Monday afternoons at 4. The new episode starting Monday, after being delayed by technical problems, is Part 1 of Felix Dzherzhinsky: Champion of the Revolution. Dzherzhinsky was a leader of a Polish-Lithuanian socialist party separate from the Bolsheviks and he led the All-Russian Extraordinary Commission (the Cheka), which fought sabotage and counterrevolutionary plots in the early years after the Russian Revolution.

Let me know if you want to sponsor the series so it can be broadcast in Raleigh or elsewhere, or have an idea for future programming. Non-Soviet videos will probably start this fall.

US Friends of the Soviet People is seeking volunteers in the New York area and money and material contributions to digitize and distribute an archive of around 300 Soviet films in Russian with subtitles.