> WW News Service Digest #162 > > 1) Iraq: Is Washington setting stage for another assault? > by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > 2) Mumia on 'Outside agitators' > by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > 3) Police brutality in Detroit > by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > 4) Philadelphia jailed child as adult > by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > 5) Pilots win contract at United > by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >------------------------- >Via Workers World News Service >Reprinted from the Sept. 14, 2000 >issue of Workers World newspaper >------------------------- > >IRAQ: IS WASHINGTON SETTING STAGE FOR ANOTHER ASSAULT? > >By Pat Chin > >The Clinton administration is threatening Iraq and setting >the stage for a massive military attack on that sovereign >country. > >On Sept. 1 the Washington Post reported that the Pentagon >had alerted an air defense artillery brigade in Germany to >be prepared for possible deployment to Israel over White >House "concern" that Iraq might attack Israel during the >U.S. presidential campaign. > >National Security Adviser Samuel Berger admits that the >United States knows of no threat against Israel from Iraq. >But the brigade was still activated. Israeli Prime Minister >Ehud Barak dismissed the report, saying that Israelis >shouldn't be distracted or alarmed by it. > >A month before the Washington Post piece appeared, the New >York Times ran an article headlined, "Flight Tests Show Iraq >Has Resumed A Missile Program." It claimed the Iraqis had >tested eight short-range ballistic missiles "that could >carry conventional explosives or the chemical and biological >weapons that Iraq is still suspected of hiding." > >The missile tests were given extensive coverage even though >they did not violate restrictions imposed on Iraq by the >imperialist-controlled United Nations Security Council after >the 1991 Gulf War. The source of information was Clinton's >Defense Department. > >On the day the Washington Post broke the "news" about the >anti-missile alert, Thomas E. Kelsch quit his position as >civilian editor of Stars and Stripes, a military publication >distributed to U.S. troops abroad. > >Kelsch resigned, according to the Associated Press, "to >protest what he called Pentagon pressure to kill a news >story." Kelsch had been forbidden from printing basically >the same report that appeared in the Washington Post due to >"national security interests." > >The Clinton administration's saber rattling against Iraq >comes during the election campaign season and against a backdrop of growing >international and domestic opposition to the murderous >sanctions slapped on Iraq after the Gulf War. > >Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush has accused >Clinton of not doing enough to "remove" Iraqi President >Saddam Hussein from office--a thinly veiled euphemism for >assassination. > >ANTI-SANCTIONS MOVEMENT GROWS > >Meanwhile, the anti-sanctions movement continues to grow. > >On Aug. 10, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez boldly defied >U.S. efforts to isolate and economically strangle Iraq when >he crossed the Iranian border into Iraq for a meeting with >Hussein on OPEC oil production. > >Eight days later, the UN Sub-Commission on the Promotion and >Protection of Human Rights, in a report, called for an end >to the economic and trade embargo that has "condemned an >innocent people to hunger, disease, ignorance and even >death." > >Moreover, the UN oil-for-food program, which has allowed >Iraq to sell limited quantities of its oil since 1996 for >food and other essentials, has met "only part of the vital >needs of the population," said the report. > >Sanctions have killed more than 1.5 million people since >1990, according to Iraqi estimates. > >Other events in August also challenged Washington's attempts >to crush Iraq. > >There was a rally of over 1,000 protestors outside the >Democratic Convention in Los Angeles, which took place >despite a massive police presence. People demanded an end to >the blockade and the almost daily U.S. and British air >strikes against Iraq, many of them on civilian targets. > >The latest was on Sept. 3, when U.S. jets bombed southern >Iraq. Since the air attacks started in 1998, 311 civilians >have been killed and 927 wounded, according to Iraqi >government figures. > >Meanwhile, representatives for UN Security Council members >Russia and France are also taking on the United States over >Iraqi reparations to Kuwaiti oil companies. The Kuwait >Petroleum Corporation, for example, has asked for $21.6 >billion in war damages, a sum that is grossly inflated, >according to oil industry experts. The award was blocked >after Russia and France challenged the amount. > >"The disagreement," said the Aug. 23 New York Times, "adds >another irritant to an already frayed Security Council >consensus on how to deal with the government of President >Saddam Hussein as economic sanctions imposed on Iraq after >its invasion of Kuwait a decade ago drag on. > >"As a critical moment approaches in the efforts of the >United Nations to return arms inspectors to Iraq--a key to >lifting the embargo--the new dispute over war reparations >reopens another divisive debate in a second important area, >the oil-for-food program." > >Iraq has rejected inspection of its defense and military >facilities, and the latest team put together by the UN, as a >violation of its sovereignty. > >The Clinton administration has blocked every effort at the >UN to lift sanctions on Iraq. But that hasn't stopped a >worldwide grassroots movement in support of that beleaguered >nation. > >As if that weren't enough, Clinton now has to deal with >international leaders like Chavez, who openly defied the >U.S. by visiting Iraq. And there's resistance from >imperialist allies like France, who--along with Russia--are >also challenging the U.S. chokehold on Iraq. > >Chavez and Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid have both >spoken out against sanctions. > >Yugoslavia, another country now being victimized by >imperialist sanctions, recently broadened relations with >Iraq. And a Russian-Belarusian oil company signed a deal >with Baghdad in late August that will go into effect once >the blockade has been lifted. > >With all of the above and November's elections fast >approaching, is it any wonder that the Iraqi missile tests >and the Clinton administration's rush to "defend" Israel >have been sensationalized in the big-business media? > >Anti-sanctions activists and their allies should remain on >alert. This is but the latest set-up to justify blistering >Iraq with an even bigger military attack for resisting >imperialist domination and neo-colonial plunder. > >- END - > >(Copyleft Workers World Service: Everyone is permitted to >copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but >changing it is not allowed. For more information contact >Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail: >[EMAIL PROTECTED] For subscription info send message to: >[EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.workers.org) > > > > > >Message-ID: <010201c01d16$a9adce80$0a00a8c0@linux> >From: "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: [WW] Mumia on 'Outside agitators' >Date: Tue, 12 Sep 2000 20:07:53 -0400 >Content-Type: text/plain; > charset="Windows-1252" >Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > >------------------------- >Via Workers World News Service >Reprinted from the Sept. 14, 2000 >issue of Workers World newspaper >------------------------- > >FROM DEATH ROW: MUMIA ON "OUTSIDE AGITATORS" > >"...people who pronounce themselves in favor of the method >of legislative reform in place of and in contradistinction >to the conquest of political power, a social revolution, do >not really choose a more tranquil, calmer and slower road to >the same goal, but a different goal. Instead of taking a >stand for the establishment of a new society, they take a >stand for surface modifications of the old society." > >--Rosa Luxemburg, >"Reform or Revolution" (1908) > >As the nation's Republican political leaders had their >feasts and festivities of opulence and splendor in the >shadows of poverty, depravation and want, Philadelphia >hosted hundreds of demonstrators, from a variety of >movements, who each and all came to register their strong >disapproval with the status quo and who opposed the >repressive state of affairs. > >What is interesting is how these people were projected and >represented in the corporate media. Almost without >exception, the people were likened to that infamous Southern >epithet, "outside agitator." > >Demonstrators were called "anarchists," and some ridiculous >media outlets seemed to whisper that they were ... (gulp!) >"terrorists!" Similar media hyperbole will no doubt be >projected at those who protest at the Dem wealth-fest in >L.A. > >Why? Because the media, certainly now more than ever, is a >tool of wealth, and as such, the instrument of those who >rule: the wealthy. When people challenge the status quo, no >matter how vicious, no matter how vile that status quo, they >are opposed by those who benefit from that status. There are >few Americans today who dare to criticize the late civil >rights leader, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Now >lionized, at the time of his early ministry of protest, he >was criticized by virtually every major news outlet in the >nation. > >It took the rise of unapologetic, militant activists like >the late Malcolm X, and the fiery young lions like Stokeley >Carmichael (later Kwame Ture), H. Rap Brown (now Imam Jamil >al-Amin), and the revolutionary Black Panther Party, to make >the Rev. Dr. King look appealing to the rulers, and their >media. For his national campaign of protests, however, he >was frequently condemned by the press for being an "outside >agitator." > >When the French bourgeoisie and workers were rebelling >against the Crown, Philadelphia's own Benjamin Franklin >(Ambassador) and Virginia's Thomas Jefferson were "powerful >alien subverters" of the French Government. French historian >Pierre Gaxotte wrote, in The French Revolution (1932), >regarding Franklin's influence: > >"His house at Passy at once became the headquarters of the >agitators. He was the high priest of the philosophers, the >Messiah of the malcontents, the patron of the framers of >systems.... People wrote to him from all quarters, begging >him for advice...." [pp. 55-56] > >In France, Franklin was an "outside agitator," spreading >dangerous and subversive ideas about the uselessness of >kings in the land ruled by Louis XVI. A young French lawyer >was inspired by him, and dedicated his first speech in court >to the American. That lawyer was Robespierre, one of the >most radical of the French revolutionaries. Today, who calls >Franklin, Jefferson, or Thomas Paine (who was made a French >citizen after the Revolution, and elected deputy for Pas-de- >Calais) "outside agitator"? > >The great African American scholar Oliver Cox wrote, in >Caste, Class & Race (1948): "In political-class conflict the >ruling class will always be intolerant. Speech is never free >to be used as a threat to the reign of a political class." >[p. 169] > >Isn't that precisely what was shown in Philadelphia, the so- >called "Cradle of Liberty," which threw over 400 men and >women into their most vile dungeon, Holmesburg Prison, the >second oldest prison in America? Didn't they show this when >they hit young protestors with fines of up to $1 million >(called "bail")? > >For daring to exercise their alleged rights of free speech >and protest, they were denied every other so-called right >imaginable. > >For true revolutionaries, there is no outside; for >boundaries of race, and of caste, and of language, gender >and nationality fade into the commonality of human, and >indeed of life. > >To the state, which draws its very meaning from social >conflict and separation, nothing could be more dangerous. > >We must all learn from this; and build from this, for a >revolution isn't a dinner party. It is a struggle to really >transform and change things. Let us begin. > >- END - > >(Copyleft Workers World Service: Everyone is permitted to >copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but >changing it is not allowed. For more information contact >Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail: >[EMAIL PROTECTED] For subscription info send message to: >[EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.workers.org) > > > > > >Message-ID: <010a01c01d16$be781280$0a00a8c0@linux> >From: "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: [WW] Police brutality in Detroit >Date: Tue, 12 Sep 2000 20:08:28 -0400 >Content-Type: text/plain; > charset="Windows-1252" >Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > >------------------------- >Via Workers World News Service >Reprinted from the Sept. 14, 2000 >issue of Workers World newspaper >------------------------- > >POLICE BRUTALITY IN DETROIT: COPS GUN DOWN DEAF BLACK YARDWORKER > >By Cheryl LaBash >Detroit > >Aug. 29 was a hot sunny day, a good day for grass cutting >and lawn work. But it was Errol Shaw Sr. who was cut down by >police bullets in front of his home in northwest Detroit. > >Shaw, 39, a deaf mute African American man, earned a living >doing yard work. He held a rake, facing five police officers >who yelled at him to put the rake down. As horrified >neighbors and relatives scream ed, "He's deaf, he's deaf, >he's deaf," the cops opened fire, hitting Shaw twice. > >Detroit Black Deaf Advocates picketed the Police Commission >meeting Aug. 31 and joined with the Detroit Coalition >Against Police Brutality for a picket line and rally at the >Eighth Precinct on Sept. 1. The rally was also supported by >the International Action Center/Millions for Mumia. > >At the rally Irving Perez, president of DBDA, said in sign >language, "Enough is enough." In his passionate address, >Perez called for firing the mayor and all his appointees to >make way for good representatives who will protect all the >people. > >He condemned police attempts to justify killing Shaw, >likening it to the 1992 beating death of Malice Green. >Police tried to excuse that killing because Green refused to >open his hand when ordered. > >Arnetta Grable, founder and president of the DCAPB, pointed >out that Detroit police have shown they will kill anyone-- >mentally ill, old or young, of all races, nationalities and >disabilities, women or men. Police Officer Eugene Brown >killed Grable's 20-year-old son, Lamar, with three shots in >the chest--all fired at close range--and two bullets in the >back. > >In his six years as a cop, Brown has single-handedly killed >three people and wounded six others. He is currently >assigned to desk duty but received a promotion to sergeant >and a pay increase last month. > >Richard Clay of the Michigan African American Leadership >Summit told the rally: "I had a police gun stuck in my face >when I was a passenger in a car. They told me to get out. I >had to reach for my cane to show them I was blind, but I >could have been shot." > >Clay continued, "The police are the modern day version of >the slave overseers that killed us and lynched us." > >HIGH RATE OF POLICE KILLINGS > >In 1998, the Washington Post analyzed police and FBI >statistics to determine how often residents were killed by >police in 10 major cities. Detroit had the highest per >capita rate. In the past five years Detroit police killed 40 >people. And the death toll continues to rise. Many of the >victims were shot in the back. > >Along with the outright killings, police brutality is >rampant. A recent example, reported in the Michigan Citizen >newspaper, took place at Northwest Activity Center on July >5. Lisa Williams, a Detroit schoolteacher and silversmith, >was supervising a group of 30 students on the playground. A >plainclothes police officer who had driven his civilian van >through the area twice assaulted her after she confronted >him for endangering the children. > >Shouting racist epithets, the cop chased her into the >recreation center where Williams and her co-workers >barricaded themselves in a room for protection. Williams was >cut and bruised. The children, mostly girls, required >counseling. > >DETROIT'S HISTORY OF STRUGGLE > >The struggle against police brutality has been pivotal in >Detroit's history. A major rebellion in 1967 was sparked by >a police raid on an after-hours club. In the early 1970s the >police vigilante program known as S.T.R.E.S.S. terrorized >the African American community. Cop gangs invaded homes, >breaking down doors. > >S.T.R.E.S.S. cops stopped workers on their way to and from >their shifts at the auto plants and killed them >indiscriminately. The police department was predominantly >white. The outrage and massive social movement against the >police lifted on its shoulders Detroit's first African >American mayor, the late Coleman Young, who was mayor from >1974 to 1994. > >Young had fought racism in the military as a Tuskegee Airman >and in the workplace as a union organizer. He stood up to >the Joseph McCarthy red-scare hearings in the 1950s. Young >integrated the police force and the city administration. The >racist officer corps resisted to the point of inciting >shootouts between Black and white cops. > >Although S.T.R.E.S.S. was disbanded and the police >department is now the most representative of any in the >United States, the class character of the police was not >changed. The bankers and land developers throwing people out >of their homes in Brush Park and Graimark are safe from the >police. > >The utility companies that shut off heat, light or water to >families that can't afford to pay are safe from the police. >The bosses who lay off workers, close plants or hire scabs >are also safe. But Errol Shaw Sr. and workers like him are >not. > >At the Sept. 1 rally, Arnetta Grable called for Detroit >residents to demand justice for Errol Shaw at the Sept. 7 >meeting of the Police Commission. Commission meetings are >held every Thursday at 3 p.m. at Police Headquarters. > >The DCAPB meets every Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. in the >Unitarian Church, located at Cass and Forest in Detroit. > >- END - > >(Copyleft Workers World Service: Everyone is permitted to >copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but >changing it is not allowed. For more information contact >Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail: >[EMAIL PROTECTED] For subscription info send message to: >[EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.workers.org) > > > > > >Message-ID: <011701c01d16$cea3c820$0a00a8c0@linux> >From: "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: [WW] Philadelphia jailed child as adult >Date: Tue, 12 Sep 2000 20:08:54 -0400 >Content-Type: text/plain; > charset="Windows-1252" >Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > >------------------------- >Via Workers World News Service >Reprinted from the Sept. 14, 2000 >issue of Workers World newspaper >------------------------- > >PHILLY JAILED CHILD AS ADULT > >By Joe Piette >Philadelphia > >"Justice ain't right, for you and me and Miriam White!" > >This and other chants, along with dozens of dolls, stuffed >toys and protest signs, made up a spirited demonstration >outside Philadelphia District Attorney Lynn Abraham's office >Aug. 25. Protesters were demanding the removal of Miriam >White, a 13-year-old African American girl, from the >Philadelphia Adult Detention Center. > >When Miriam was 11, Abraham charged her with first-degree >murder and had her tried as an adult for allegedly killing a >passer-by. Miriam has a tragic history filled with physical, >emotional and mental abuse. She has been in and out of >mental facilities and foster homes for most of her life. > >Activists were protesting on the second birthday in a row >Miriam has spent in an adult jail. She is held on 22-hour >lockdown each day, in a facility with no resources for >children. > >Daughters of Fine Lineage and the Brown Collective organized >the protest. They are demanding that Miriam be moved to a >facility where children's services are available. Supporters >are encouraged to attend a hearing on Miriam's case Sept. 15 >at 9 a.m. at the Criminal Justice Center, 13th and Filbert >streets, in room 1106. >For more information, call (215) 424-2579 >or (215) 241-7136. > >- END - > >(Copyleft Workers World Service: Everyone is permitted to >copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but >changing it is not allowed. For more information contact >Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail: >[EMAIL PROTECTED] For subscription info send message to: >[EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.workers.org) > > > > > >Message-ID: <011a01c01d16$dc8eb580$0a00a8c0@linux> >From: "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: [WW] Pilots win contract at United >Date: Tue, 12 Sep 2000 20:09:18 -0400 >Content-Type: text/plain; > charset="Windows-1252" >Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > >------------------------- >Via Workers World News Service >Reprinted from the Sept. 14, 2000 >issue of Workers World newspaper >------------------------- > >PILOTS WIN CONTRACT AT UNITED > >Pilots win contract >at United > >By Gery Armsby > >United Airlines, the largest commercial carrier in the >United States, reached a tentative agreement Aug. 27 with >10,500 pilots who refused to work overtime all summer to >protest stalled contract talks, company-designed speedups >and overwork. The pilots' actions hit the company hard and >resulted in grounded flights, severe delays, millions of >dollars in lost revenue and a bruised reputation for the >Chicago-based airline. > >The actions also laid bare United's strategy of planning >flight service based on forced overtime while refusing to >hire adequate numbers of full-time pilots. > >The United pilots won unprecedented 45- to 55-percent pay >increases over the four-and-a-half-year contract, a victory >that has bolstered pilots at other carriers. But rather than >hire additional pilots to fly previously scheduled service, >the airline will cut 1,950 flights for October. Already, >4,000 August and September flights have been canceled by >United. > >The pay increases included in the new contract make up for a >more than 15-percent wage cut the pilots took in 1994 in >exchange for a Employee Stock Ownership Plan, which expired >Aug. 12. > >- END - > >(Copyleft Workers World Service: Everyone is permitted to >copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but >changing it is not allowed. For more information contact >Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail: >[EMAIL PROTECTED] For subscription info send message to: >[EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.workers.org) > > > > > _______________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki - Finland +358-40-7177941, fax +358-9-7591081 e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.kominf.pp.fi _______________________________________________________ Kominform list for general information. 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