>parliament and crush the Serbian Socialist Party and its >allies. They wanted to send a message to anyone in East >Europe who would resist Washington and Wall Street. > >In 1993 the White House encouraged Boris Yeltsin to send >tanks to shell Russia's parliament when it refused to accept >IMF "shock therapy." Hundreds were massacred. Clinton called >that a "triumph for democracy" too. > >The Pentagon, State Department and CIA have decades of >experience overthrowing independent governments. They've >done it in Iran (1953), Guate mala (1954), Congo (1961), >Guyana (1962), Indonesia (1965), Ghana (1966), Chile (1973), >Argentina (1976), Romania (1989), Bulgaria (1990) and >Albania (1991). > >In Indonesia a CIA-backed junta executed nearly 1 million >people in the name of "democracy." The New York Times called >that slaughter a "gleam of light in Asia." > >The formula is generally the same. Cause tremendous hardship >for the people of the target country. Create a pro-U.S. >"opposition" and pump it full of dollars. Promise that if >Washington gets its way, people may again live a "normal" >life. > >It's a lie! The IMF and World Bank are agencies of >destruction. They aim to destroy all avenues of economic >life that are not controlled by Wall Street. When they take >over a country life always gets worse. Workers in Bulgaria >now live on 56 cents a day. > >FIGHT THE POWER > >The media call the coup in Yugoslavia an "endgame." But it >is unlikely that the U.S.-backed regime can implement its >program without force. The new movement against corporate >globalization must stand with all those around the world who >are fighting injustice--from Colombia to Zimbabwe to >Palestine. > >That includes those in Yugoslavia and across East Europe who >are resisting the tyranny of NATO and the IMF. > >- 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) > > > > >From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Date: Wed, 11 Oct 2000 23:03:44 -0400 >Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII >Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT >Subject: [WW] Middle East Rises in Solidarity >Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >------------------------- >Via Workers World News Service >Reprinted from the Oct. 19, 2000 >issue of Workers World newspaper >------------------------- > >MIDDLE EAST RISES IN SOLIDARITY > >By Joyce Chediac > >Hundreds of thousands of Arabs, Iranians and other peoples >of the Middle East have taken to the streets daily to rage >at the killing of more than 80 Palestinians by the Israeli >government. The protests have so strongly targeted the U.S. >that Washington has closed all its diplomatic offices in the >Middle East. > >"Country shows solidarity with Palestinians," said the >Beirut Star as tens of thousands in Lebanon took to the >streets of Beirut, Tyre and Sidon virtually every day. On >Oct. 8, when about 500 Palestinians from the refugee camps >gathered at the Israeli border, they were fired on by >Israeli soldiers and two were killed. > >The Lebanese Hizbullah movement responded by crossing the >border and kidnapping three Israeli soldiers. Hizbullah said >the kidnapping was carried out in the name of the 12-year- >old Palestinian boy, Muhammad al-Durrah, who was shot dead >in the Gaza Strip. The soldiers are being held pending the >release by Israel of Lebanese prisoners. > >Mass outpourings continue, with 25,000 marching through >Beirut Oct. 9 with the coffins of the two Palestinians >killed. > >Half-a-million people demonstrated in the capital city Rabat >in Morocco. They demanded the closing of the Israeli >attachment bureau, burned U.S. and Israeli flags, and >carried banners denouncing Israel's "war of extermination" >against Palestinians. > >Ten thousand people demonstrated Oct. 5 in Teheran, Iran. >The demonstrators burned a U.S. flag. Iran's local Jewish >leaders joined the protest. "The brutalities committed by >Israeli forces have nothing to do with the divine Jewish >religion. They are fascists,'' said the head of Iran's >Jewish Society. > >In Egypt, daily student protests have swelled to more than >2,000 at al-Azhar University in Cairo, 6,000 at Alexandria >University, 7,000 at Cairo University, and 5,000 at al- >Menoufiya--northwest of Cairo. Students burned U.S. flags >and called for an end to relations with Israel and the >expulsion of Israel's ambassador. They also urged Arab >leaders to adopt a unified stand in support of the >Palestinian people. Egypt was the first country to enter a >formal peace treaty with Israel. > >There were student protests in Oman, the United Arab >Emirates and Abu Dhabi. > >Officials in Egypt, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Qatar have >pledged to send emergency medical aid and to evacuate >wounded Palestinians. But Israel closed the Gaza airport, >stopping this effort. > >In Yemen several demonstrations were held on Oct. 8. Tens of >thousands of protestors marched on the U.S. Embassy, >shouting, "America wake up! There will be no America after >today!'' When more than 20,000 people in the southern town >of Ad Dali protested the killings, police dispersed them >with tear gas and live ammunition. > >In Amman, Jordan, police used batons and tear gas to >disperse hundreds of high school students protesting outside >the Israeli Embassy. Riot police confronted Jordan >University students who tried to leave their campus to march >to the Israeli Embassy. The protest caused Jordan to delay >sending its new ambassador to Israel. > >Some 20,000 demonstrated in Iraq on Oct. 8. The Iraqi News >Agency said top officials have decided to open military >training camps for "volunteers to liberate Palestine.'' A >main street in Baghdad was being renamed "The Martyr >Mohammed al Durrah Street.'' > >On Oct. 4, 1,000 students pelted the U.S. Embassy in >Damascus, Syria with stones, branches and bags of rubbish. > >Thousands marched and rallied in Khartoum, Sudan. They >burned an Israeli flag and shouted "Down, down, USA.'' > >Hundreds of Indonesian demonstrators burned Israeli flags >and threw stones at the United Nations headquarters in >Jakarta during massive demonstrations Oct. 6. > >[Sources include the New York Times, Washington Post, >Reuters, Associated Press, Agence France Presse, >Beirut Daily Star, Syria Times and the following Web sites: >www.arabicnews.com; www.palestinedaily.com; >www.alternativenews.org; and www.palestine-net.com.] > >- 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) > > > > >From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Date: Wed, 11 Oct 2000 23:03:45 -0400 >Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII >Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT >Subject: [WW] The Drug Bust that Wasn't >Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >------------------------- >Via Workers World News Service >Reprinted from the Oct. 19, 2000 >issue of Workers World newspaper >------------------------- > >EDITORIAL: THE DRUG BUST THAT WASN'T > >A group of executives from some of the biggest Fortune 500 >U.S. corporations were invited last June to a meeting at the >Justice Department. Attorney General Janet Reno, Deputy >Attorney General Eric H. Holder and Deputy Treasury >Secretary Stuart E. Eizenstat came personally to talk to >them. Hewlett-Packard was represented, as were Ford, General >Motors, Sony, Westinghouse, Whirlpool and General Electric, >according to Treasury officials. > >Some of the corporate execs were worried about coming to the >meeting. They were afraid they might be in for trouble. But >their fears were quickly allayed. There was no >unpleasantness. After a very interesting discussion, the >corporate bigwigs were all graciously ushered out to their >waiting limos. They went back to their plush offices and >that night slept at home in their nice comfortable beds. > >The little chat they had with the top officials of the >Justice and Treasury departments was about drug money >laundering. The press sat on the story for almost five >months, until an article on the get-together finally >appeared Oct. 10 in the New York Times. > >It seems that hundreds of millions of dollars in drug money >are being laundered through a complex scheme whereby brokers >for Colombian drug cartels exchange dollars for pesos at a >cut rate. They then get Colombian businesses to buy U.S. >products with these cheap pesos. These businesses receive >the pesos at a discount of 30 to 40 percent. > >The drug cartels are happy. The Colombian businesses are >happy. And so are the U.S. businesses, which have seen their >markets in Colombia grow by over 20 percent. > >Two other U.S. companies not present at the Justice >Department meeting, but that have been in court in recent >years on related charges, are Philip Morris and Bell >Helicopter. Philip Morris was sued in the Eastern District >Court earlier this year by tax collectors from Colombia. The >federal lawsuit accused the company of being involved in >cigarette smuggling and in the laundering of drug proceeds. > >But not to worry. Nothing bad has happened to anyone from >this fine old institution. Philip Morris made an agreement >with the Colombian government pledging to stop its products >from entering the covert market or being used to launder >money. End of case. > >In 1995, in Federal District Court in San Juan, Puerto Rico, >Phillip Morris's former distributors in northern South >America had been indicted for laundering $40 million in >covert market pesos. > >Somehow the newscasters who get all those close-up shots of >handcuffed youths being shoved into squad cars by police who >claim they were selling nickel bags on the corner didn't get >around to filming, or even mentioning, this case. > >The Bell Helicopter connection is even more interesting. >Says the Times, "Bell Helicopter is challenging the seizure >of $300,000 from its accounts, money, according to court >documents, that was generated by drug smuggling. > >"It was part of more than $1 million that the United States >believed was supplied a peso-exchange broker to buy a Bell >aircraft. The helicopter was seized in Panama at the request >of the United States. > >"The case has become a sore point for American law >enforcement in part because the helicopter was sold to a >Colombian businessman linked to the country's right-wing >paramilitaries." > >Bell Helicopter is indignant and wants to get its money back >from the government. After all, it's a very patriotic >corporation. Its parent company, Textron, is number nine on >the Defense Department's list of the Top 100 Defense >Contractors. Textron was awarded a whopping $1.28 billion in >military contracts in fiscal year 1998-99. > >The people at Bell probably even know Gen. Barry McCaffrey >by his first name. He's Bill Clinton's "drug czar," and he >is really tough on those peasants in Colombia who grow coca >plants in the mountains. He's the guy who's been leaping in >front of the cameras every chance he could get--and the >networks are always so obliging--to excoriate the guerrilla >armies in Colombia, calling them "narco-guerrillas." > >He must have been sleeping on the job, though, when his >number one man in Bogota, U.S. Army Col. James Hiett, the >person at the U.S. Embassy in charge of the "war on drugs," >was caught laundering thousands in drug money through his >personal account. Hiettwife, Laurie Anne Hiett, even >admitted sending $700,000 worth of heroin to the United >States, some of it in Embassy pouches. Col. Hiett admitted >on April 17 of this year in Federal District Court in >Brooklyn that he knew about it and helped launder some of >the money. > >Hiett reaassigned to a base in Virginia and later sentenced >to five months in prison. His wife, however, got 5 years. > >This sordid case was being played out at the same time that >the U.S. Congress was voting on a $1.3-billion aid package >to Colombia, mostly for its war against the Revolutionary >Armed Forces of Colombia. How much of that will go for Bell >Helicopters, we wonder? > >The complicity of the media with the U.S. government's >criminal intervention in Colombia has gone beyond the worst >days of the Vietnam War. Then, at least, we got a few honest >reports. Now even a sensational case like this is swept >totally under the rug so as to protect the Pentagon's >sinister war plans. > >Who profits from the drug trade? It was never clearer. It's >corporate America, corporate Colombia, and the right-wing >paramilitaries--who are just as much thugs for the U.S.- >trained army as they are in El Salvador or Indonesia. The >paramilitaries have slaughtered whole villages to punish the >people for their support of the revolution. > >No wonder that the struggle in Colombia against the >oligarchy and its U.S. backers continues to grow. > >- 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) > > > > >From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Date: Wed, 11 Oct 2000 23:03:42 -0400 >Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII >Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT >Subject: [WW] Palestianians Stand Up >Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >------------------------- >Via Workers World News Service >Reprinted from the Oct. 19, 2000 >issue of Workers World newspaper >------------------------- > >ISRAELI ARMY THREATENS WIDER WAR AS PALESTINIANS >STAND UP/ U.S. BACK REPRESSION BY APARTHEID REGIME > >By Richard Becker > >The new Palestinian uprising, or Intifada, continues, backed >by millions marching in the streets throughout the Arab >world. At the same time, the Israeli army, backed by the >United States, continues its deadly repression. Since Sept. >29 at least 90 Palestinians have been killed and more than >2,500 seriously wounded. > >On Oct. 9, the Middle East appeared to be on the brink of >war. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak's ultimatum to >Palestinian Authority President Yasir Arafat--to end the >Intifada or face "the full force" of an Israeli army attack >in the West Bank and Gaza--was set to expire. > >That day the front page of the New York Times revealed that >the Israeli military command "was weighing a major strike >against Lebanon and Syria." > >Such a momentous decision could lead to the overturning of >the established order in this strategically key region. >Therefore, it could not be made by Israel alone. Top U.S. >officials intervened, forcing Barak to back off--at least >for the moment. > >As we go to press Oct. 11, a furious round of diplomatic >moves is underway. In addition to U.S. representatives, a >familiar cast of diplomatic players has appeared on the >scene, including United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan >and Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov. In the past, both >diplomats have advanced U.S. interests in the region. > >The U.S. ruling class fears that while the Israelis might >achieve a short-term military victory, the long-term >consequences could be catastrophic for its interests in >Middle East. > >One very real scenario could be the collapse of the >genocidal sanctions against Iraq. As anger against the >United States and Israel has risen, so has the number of >Middle East governments defying Washington by flying planes >to Baghdad loaded with humanitarian relief. > >Even the most compliant regimes, like those in Saudi Arabia, >Kuwait and Jordan, have been compelled to create at least >the impression of distance from Washington's anti- >Palestinian policy. > >DECADES OF SUFFERINGPROPEL OUTRAGE > >Behind the immediate mass outrage in the area lie decades of >suffering and humiliation at the hands of imperialism. >Israel is almost universally seen in the Middle East as a >settler, garrison state, established--at the Palestinians' >expense--to safeguard the interests of the Western >imperialists. > >In this oil-rich region, the masses live in poverty while a >thin layer at the top lives in luxury. These rulers serve as >the junior partners of Washington, London and Paris. > >The inherent instability of the situation is well understood >by the strategists of the U.S. national security apparatus. >They also know that nothing is more destabilizing than war. > >At the same time, the United States and Israel are proposing >no viable solutions to the crisis. So the danger of a new >and wider Middle East war remains very real. > >The Israelis, who have military superiority thanks to >massive U.S. assistance, would like to shoot their way out >of the crisis. It is certainly possible that U.S. decision- >makers could still reach the same conclusion. > >ISRAELI FASCIST PROVOKES UPRISING > >The latest uprising began on Sept. 28, when the notorious >war criminal Gen. Ariel Sharon and his entourage invaded the >Haram al-Sharif, site of the Al-Aksa and Dome of the Rock >mosques. The site is revered by Muslims worldwide and >administered by Islamic and Palestinian authorities. > >Sharon presided over the massacres of more than 2,000 >Palestinians at the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps in >Lebanon in 1982. He is known as a virulent anti-Arab racist. > >His "visit" was intended to affirm Israeli control of Haram >al-Sharif. It was a gross insult and provocation to the >Palestinians, who fought back, despite the fact that Sharon >was accompanied by over 1,000 Israeli troops. > >The next day, 2,000 Israeli soldiers surrounded people >coming to the mosques for Friday prayers. Intense fighting >broke out and rapidly spread throughout the West Bank, Gaza >and inside the 1948 borders of Israel, where more than 1 >million Palestinians--called "Israeli Arabs" by the media >here--live. > >Some Palestinian Authority police joined in the fighting, >siding with the people, after the Israeli Army began to fire >indiscriminately into crowds armed only with stones. > >In addition to the nearly 90 Palestinians killed, hundreds >more have suffered disabling injuries. On the Israeli side, >four have died. > >Despite this enormous disparity, U.S. Ambassador to the UN >Richard Holbrooke abstained on a Security Council vote >condemning the Israeli brutality. Holbrooke said the >resolution was "one-sided" and that "Israelis are dying, >too." The resolution passed 14-0 with the U.S. abstaining. > >Washington didn't veto the resolution out of fear that it >could provoke widespread anti-U.S. revolts in the Middle >East and beyond. But the abstention makes clear that the >United States is far from being the "honest broker" it >pretends to be. > >Despite the lethal repression, the new Intifada has spread >to virtually every city and town in the West Bank and Gaza. > >RACIST MOBS BACKED BY ISRAELI GOV'T > >Inside the 1948 Israeli borders, an unprecedented, >widespread rebellion broke out. Palestinians inside Israel >are concentrated in the northern part of the country, with >the largest concentration living in Nazareth. > >While the "Israeli Arabs" are citizens, they face heavy >discrimination in jobs, housing, social services and every >other respect. Their communities receive few development >funds from the central government. > >Sitting above Arab Nazareth is the well-to-do Israeli town >of Nazareth Illit. On Oct. 9, thousands of Israelis came >down the hill to attack the Arab residents, shops, mosques >and churches in Nazareth. > >The Nazareth authorities called for help. According to press >accounts, when the Israeli police showed up, a number of >Palestinians were backed into alleys. They fought >desperately with stones to hold off their attackers. > >The Israeli police pulled back the racist mob, then opened >fire on the trapped Palestinians. Two were killed and >several wounded. > >Similar attacks were reported in many cities, including >Haifa, Bat Yam and Tiberias. The same day in Tel Aviv, more >than 500 Israelis chanting "Death to the Arabs" set fire to >a restaurant because they thought there were Palestinian >workers in the kitchen. > >These attacks bear an indisputable similarity to the anti- >Semitic pogroms that targeted oppressed Jewish people in pre- >1917 Russia, Poland and other European countries. > >In the West Bank, fascist settlers protected by the military >launched many attacks. They besieged small villages, smashed >cars with Palestinian license plates and attempted to burn >down mosques and churches. > >U.S. MEDIA DRAW EQUAL SIGN > >The U.S. corporate media have attempted to draw a false >equal sign between the Palestinian uprising and the Klan- >like Israeli mob attacks. > >But there is no similarity between the two. The Palestinians >are waging a just struggle against a brutal and illegal >occupation. Even under bourgeois international law, they >have the right to fight to liberate themselves from >occupation by whatever means they choose. > >The Israeli fascists and their followers, on the other hand, >are using mob violence and terror to crush any challenge to >their racist apartheid-style state. In this respect, their >attacks are reminiscent of white racist assaults on African >American communities in the United States after World War I. >Those assaults were meant to crush the mood of Black >assertiveness that arose out of the war. > >The Palestinians' long, determined and heroic struggle >richly deserves the support of all those who fight for >economic and social justice. Against incredible odds, the >Palestinians have stood against the militarized Israeli >state and U.S. imperialism's plans for domination in the >Middle East. > >The latest developments make crystal clear that there will >be no peace until there is real justice for the Palestinian >people--including a truly independent state with its capital >in Jerusalem and the right of the 5 million Palestinian >refugees to come home. And there will be no peace in the >Middle East as a whole until the United States gets out. > >- 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. Subscribe/unsubscribe messages to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Anti-Imperialism list for anti-imperialist news. Subscribe/unsubscribe messages: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] _______________________________________________________
