>From: "Jon Corlett" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >From: > >http://www.plp.org/cd00/cd0517.html > > >CHALLENGE, MAY > >Imperialist Vultures Descent On Diamond-Rich Sierra Leone > >Since the start of the violent civil war in Sierra Leone in 1991, tens of >thousands have died and half a million people have become refugees. The >various warring factions mutilated many thousands. Finally, last year >Britain and the U.S. got UN chief Koffin Annan to send "blue helmets" (UN >"peace-keeping" soldiers) to enforce a cease-fire. They came mainly from >African countries. The Nigerian army was the leading force, imposing a >brutal "peace" among the various factions. Once the Nigerian army left, the >10-month old cease-fire between the government and the "Revolutionary" >United Front (RUF) ended when the RUF kidnapped 500 soldiers from the >remaining UN forces. > >Like many other conflicts in Africa and the rest of the world, this civil >war is not mainly about ethnic rivalry, as the racist Western capitalist >media says. It�s about which of these warring factions will control the rich >diamond mines, used to finance the armies and the power of faction leaders. >The Libya-trained RUF, which began in the early 1990s as a "people�s >movement" fighting the corrupt Sierra Leone ruling elite and its imperialist >backers, degenerated into a brutal reactionary force. The RUF now controls >the lucrative mines in eastern Sierra Leone. Over the last two years, the >value of diamond exports has dropped from $60 million to $30 million. The >RUF has grabbed this $30 million. > >For the imperialists it is more than regaining control of the diamond mines >for British and U.S. mineral companies and saving the government of their >puppet, President Kabbah, from the RUF forces closing in on Freetown, the >country�s capital. British and U.S. bosses fear the Sierra Leone conflict >will endanger the cease-fire planned in the Congo. UN forces will be sent >there shortly to end the civil/regional war involving armies from Angola, >Zimbabwe, Uganda, Rwanda and South Africa. Congo is the largest country in >Central Africa, and rich in many key minerals, including those used for >military weapons. France, fighting for its imperialist interests, is also >involved in the Congo, many times conflicting with U.S. interests. > >Also, oil-rich Nigeria is not exactly a land of stability for Royal Dutch >Shell and Chevron, with billions invested there. Recently Nigeria has been >wracked by religious and tribal clashes. Also, many workers and youth are >fed up with the corrupt ruling classes, who share the oil bonanza with the >big imperialist oil companies while the masses get poorer and poorer. > >Britain immediately sent 800 elite troops from the 1st Battalion of the >Parachute Regiment, which led the NATO forces that occupied Kosovo when the >war ended there last year. These paratroopers supposedly were sent to >evacuate foreigners. In reality they�re trying to save the President of this >former British colony. Royal marines will follow. Britain also sent a >carrier off the coast of Sierra Leone, the sixth Royal Navy ship in the >region. > >Increasingly, oil, minerals and other huge deposits of wealth are being >uncovered throughout Africa. Internally, different factions are fighting for >control of this wealth. Civil wars are erupting with murderous violence, >with no clear end in sight. So while UN chief Koffi Annan asked U.S. Secy. >of State Madeleine Albright to send a U.S. rapid deployment force to Sierra >Leone, Albright appears reluctant to committing any troops. U.S. bosses are >still affected by the Vietnam and Somalia Syndrome. Both U.S. invasions >ended in costly defeats, militarily, financially and, at the time, in rising >opposition of an anti-imperialist character. > >For African workers, already ravaged by civil wars, AIDS, mass poverty and >hunger, imperialism and capitalism are a living hell. This situation cries >for organizing a mass communist movement to unite workers and peasants >against all their local and international tormentors. > > >Rules Of Engagement: Hitler Would Give It Four Stars > > >If there ever was a film made by U.S. bosses to promote fascism, this is it! >It opens with scenes of Vietnam in which the Viet Cong kill U.S. marines >with almost documentary-like realism. It focuses on the friendship of two >colonels, one black, the other white. Billed as a "courtroom drama," its >political implications are both subtle and glaring! The black officer >(Samuel L. Jackson) is shown executing a Viet Cong soldier for refusing to >call off (by radio) a group of Viet Cong soldiers about to kill his friend. > >Later in the movie the black officer, ostensibly to save his own troops, >orders a massacre of hundreds of men, women and children who are attacking >the U.S. embassy in Yemen (The film is based on a true incident in which >U.S. rangers massacred Somalians who attacked and killed several U.S. >rangers and shot down a Black Hawk chopper.) Another black officer initially >balks at this order, but then agrees. The scenes of gratuitous violence are >impressive in their realism, right down to scenes of maimed children seen >later in a decrepit hospital. > >A civilian national security officer and the U.S. ambassador are portrayed >as cowardly and corrupt, trying to blame the massacre on this one "rogue" >soldier. The protesters, including children, are later seen in a videotape >shooting at the embassy, supposedly justifying the massacre, in line with >the so-called "rules of engagement." > >The reason for this protest, U.S. imperialism�s role in the Middle East and >its need to control oil at all costs are not addressed. For that matter the >Vietnam scene implied that war is hell, but for an "honorable" cause. Near >the end of the movie the Viet Cong officer, who was not summarily executed >because he called off the attack, is forced to admit he would have killed a >POW in an effort to save his own troops. He is seen shortly thereafter >saluting the black officer. > >The movie tries to imply this was a "true story" by reporting in the credits >what "happened" to the characters." The theater drew an integrated audience. >To their credit there was no revelry at the outcome. It was a subdued group >as we filed out. > >Interestingly, this movie opens right at the 25th anniversary of the defeat >of U.S. imperialism in Vietnam and of John McCain's fascist pronouncements >while visiting there recently. McCain, a former POW, won't "forgive" his >former captors. As a bomber pilot he undoubtedly participated in the killing >and maiming of untold numbers of men, women and children. He himself is a >war criminal! > >Jackson's character, like McCain, comes off as a hero (if a flawed one) >because he followed the "rules of engagement." The message? Fight, die, kill >and maim for the glory of U.S. imperialism). I'm sure the Nazi storm >troopers felt the same way fighting for "Deutschland �ber Alles!" > > >LETTERS > >Journey Thru Hell > >I made a long journey north from my country because I couldn�t find work >there and have a family to support. The trip was miserable. The first border >was crossed in a locked trailer holding 150 of us. We endured this for eight >hours, but eventually couldn�t take it any more. The "coyote" (smuggler) in >Guatemala had provided us with three hatchets to break open the walls just >in case we ran out of air. We had to hack out a few holes from inside the >trailer to keep from suffocating. Once we were unloaded from the truck, we >were taken to a mountain where for eight days we were without food or water. >After the fourth day, when we were starving to death, we spotted some >monkeys and thought of catching one to eat, but couldn�t do it. > >Following our ordeal in the mountain, all 150 of us were shoved into a bus >with a maximum capacity of 70, one on top of the other. The ride was >supposed to be 60 hours non-stop, but the tires could not sustain this extra >weight. Frequent stops were made to fix many flat tires. After another 30 >hours drive to Agua Prieta, we were dumped in the desert, but couldn�t walk >because of exhaustion. We were left there that entire night amidst a huge >snowstorm. Everyone began to freeze and shout or pray or demand that God >explain why he had abandoned us in this endless nightmare. Everyone, >particularly the children, could no longer walk because our feet had turned >purple and lost all feeling. We still had no water or food. The "coyotes" >told us the "solution" was "not to think about food or water." > >To get us moving they showed us numerous crosses marking the graves of all >those who died trying to cross the border. In the desert an older man became >very sick and fainted. We helped him to his feet, but he became delirious. >Another brother got very ill after losing a lot of weight. The "coyote" >said, "I cannot take this guy as he is." Two coyotes grabbed him, one at his >feet and the other at his wrists, and threw him to the ground. The man >struggled back to his feet and begged not to be left there to die. We never >found out what happened to him. > >After a nightmare crossing from Mexico, we were imprisoned in a "jail" run >by the Coyotes in Phoenix for another 28 days, unable to see any light this >whole time. We were kept that way until our families came up with the money >to get us out. > >The saddest part of it all is that now I am here in the "land of >opportunity" without work, without money and without family. > > > > >_______________________________________________________________________ > > >REVOLUTION, COMMUNIST & CONTINUOUS ! ! ! > > http://www.fortunecity.com/meltingpot/macau/1178 > > >E Mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >To Subscribe or Unsubscribe; Click Reply in E Mail Program, > >enter 'Subscribe' or 'Unsubscribe' on Subject line and Send to: > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >If wish to receive only certain types of Revolutionary Communist Information >Please Specify. > > >_______________________________________________________________________ > > __________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. 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