WW News Service Digest #210
5) Colin Powell: A willing servant of imperialism
by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
6) Whi Mideast peace is 'elusive'
by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
7) Did depleted uranium kill NATO troops?
by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
8) Serbian election: no surprises
by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
-------------------------
Via Workers World News Service
Reprinted from the Jan. 11, 2001
issue of Workers World newspaper
-------------------------
COLIN POWELL: A WILLING SERVANT OF IMPERIALISM
By Monica Moorehead
Colin Powell, the retired general and former head of the
Joint Chiefs of Staff, is expected to be confirmed as the
first African American secretary of state. No one
anticipates his facing any major opposition during
congressional hearings that must approve every appointee for
an incoming executive cabinet.
With the appointment of Powell, the Bush administration
wants to send a message to the rest of the world that U.S.
imperialism plans to strengthen its role of being the number
one policeman of the world with a gun in one hand and
capitalist investments in the other.
Many bourgeois analysts view the selection of Powell as an
important "political coup" for Bush. These analysts, who are
the public mouthpiece of the U.S. ruling class, understand
entirely too well that Bush has an abominable record on
civil rights. They know that obvious racism is a big
weakness of this new administration.
African Americans are still reeling over the racist
conspiracy carried out by Bush and his brother, Florida Gov.
Jeb Bush, to politically disenfranchise Black voters to help
win Bush the presidential election.
In addition, George W. Bush has executed more poor, death-
row prisoners--the majority of them African American and
Latino--after he became the governor of Texas in 1995.
By naming a "non-threatening, palatable" figure like Powell
to one of the highest offices in the capitalist world, the
U.S. ruling class hopes to placate moderate Black civil
rights representatives and more importantly, the Black
masses. The verdict is still out on whether the ruling class
is successful in its efforts. Neither Powell nor his
counterpart on the Supreme Court, Clarence Thomas, has held
any kind of elected public office.
POWELL'S RECORD
Along with the overall role Powell is expected to play, it
is also valuable to examine his sordid record since the
1980s. Despite his being a member of an oppressed
nationality, he stands in passionate opposition to the
aspirations of the workers and oppressed peoples here and
around the world. In fact, Powell's record is nothing short
of an expose of a war criminal.
During the Ronald Reagan presidency in the early 1980s,
Powell served as a national security adviser. He was
appointed deputy national security adviser and was also a
special military assistant to Defense Secretary Caspar
Weinberger.
It was no secret at the time that the Reaganites supported
right-wing military governments in Honduras, Guatemala, El
Salvador as well as the contras in Nicaragua who were
fighting the progressive Sandinista government. U.S.-backed
governments killed hundreds of thousands of civilians.
Powell wrote in his book, "An American Journey," that he had
become the "chief administration advocate" for the contras.
In defense of the contra leaders, Powell wrote, "In the old
days of East-West polarization, we worked with what we had."
During the Iran-contra scandal, Powell lied under oath when
he was asked if Weinberger had a diary of personal notes
that contradicted his Iran-contra testimony. These
statements helped Weinberger avoid prosecution and saved
Reagan and Bush from further scandal.
LED THE SLAUGHTER IN PANAMA
As the chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Powell was in
charge of the U.S. invasion of Panama in December 1989. This
invasion was carried out under the guise of removing the
legitimate president of that country, Manuel Noriega, who
had refused to give unquestioning obedience to U.S.
imperialism's demands he aid the contra war and who wanted
local control of the Panama Canal.
During this brutal, illegal invasion, U.S. troops were
responsible for the deaths of somewhere between 300 and
2,000 Panamanians and the wounding of thousands more in the
poor neighborhood of Chorrillo in Panama City, according to
a report put out by the rather conservative Americas Watch.
This report also stated that the U.S. troops had violated a
Geneva Convention stipulation of "failing to minimize harm
to the civilian population." In defense of the "Just Cause"
invasion of Panama, Powell wrote in "An American Journey,"
"Use all the force necessary and do not apologize for going
in big if that's what it takes."
Following the invasion of Panama, Powell was also Joint
Chiefs chair when the U.S. carried out the bombing of Iraq
beginning Jan. 16, 1991. These bombs destroyed much of the
country's infrastructure and at least 100,000 Iraqi people
were massacred unmercifully, including soldiers as they
attempted to surrender.
During the Gulf War, the media turned Powell and General
Norman Schwarzkopf into heroes. What these two really did
was to oversee a slaughter.
During the Vietnam War, too, Powell had a questionable
record on questions of principle. He was assigned to a post
as an executive officer in the Americal Division in July
1968. That division had carried out the infamous My Lai
massacre on March 16, 1968. That day hundreds of unarmed
Vietnamese women, children and men were slaughtered by U.S.
troops under the orders of Lt. William Calley.
Powell had already been promoted to the operations officer
post when a GI named Tom Glen sent a letter to this division
criticizing the U.S. military' s inhumane treatment of
Vietnamese civilians. Powell was assigned to check out these
allegations and after "interviewing" a number of officers,
Powell officially stated that Glen's criticism was
unfounded.
Powell did not bother to interview Glen. Powell simply took
part in a cover-up of countless, unspeakable atrocities
suffered by the Vietnamese people at the hand of the U.S.
military. Others exposed the truth about My Lai later.
CONTEXT OF POWELL'S APPOINTMENT
The appointment of someone like Colin Powell must be viewed
within the overall context of the rightwing Bush
administration that is outwardly anti-choice, pro-death
penalty and anti-affirmative action. The ruling class hopes
to divert attention away from Powell's war crimes by
portraying him as an African American who has reached the
highest levels of the U.S. government and the military.
Because of his "achievements," other African Americans are
supposed to look up to Powell and aspire to become someone
like him.
Yet Powell has never had any kind of real affinity to the
Black masses. He is just as much a willing servant of U.S.
imperialism as the current secretary of state, Madeleine
Albright, the first woman to serve in that capacity.
The fact that Powell, along with Vice-President-elect Dick
Cheney, the secretary of defense in the last George Bush
administration, and others are now a part of the capitalist
government confirms what the late chairperson of Workers
World Party, Sam Marcy, wrote in the 1980 pamphlet,
"Generals Over the White House--the Impact of the Military
Industrial Complex."
Marcy's words are as profound today as when he wrote these
articles during the Carter administration. In the section
entitled "Military Control vs. Bourgeois Democracy," he
wrote, "The difference between civilian and military control
does not derive from any fundamental class difference. Both
the civilian and the military wings of the capitalist
government are securely in the hands of the ruling class.
There is, however, a basic difference in this very important
respect: the more the military encroaches, the more it
erodes every conceivable element of what remains of
bourgeois democracy."
-------------------------
Via Workers World News Service
Reprinted from the Jan. 11, 2001
issue of Workers World newspaper
-------------------------
WHY MIDEAST PEACE IS "ELUSIVE": U.S. RULERS OPPOSE ARAB LIBERATION
By Richard Becker
Why, despite desperate efforts by Clinton and his foreign
policy advisors to reach an agreement between Israel and the
Palestinians before he leaves office on Jan. 20, does the
negotiating process keep breaking down? Is peace possible in
the Middle East?
The answer is encapsulated in a popular slogan: "No justice,
no peace." Without justice for the Palestinian people, peace
in the Middle East is impossible. And thus far, none of
Clinton's vaunted "peace plans" have offered close to a
minimum of justice for the Palestinian people on any of the
major issues.
This should come as no surprise. Contrary to the media myth,
the U.S. is no honest broker in the Middle East, but instead
the senior partner in an alliance with Israel.
Over the past half century, the U.S. has contributed
hundreds of billions of dollars in economic and military
aid, as well as critical political and diplomatic support to
the Israeli state. Without this vast assistance not only the
occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, but Israel's very
existence would have been unsustainable over the past three
decades.
The floating of new peace plans, rather than quieting the
struggle, often intensifies it. This is particularly so when
people have suffered through the seven-year-long Oslo "peace
process," during which time living conditions have sharply
declined for the vast majority of the Palestinian
population.
As the fourth month of the new Intifada (uprising) began,
the struggle intensified dramatically. On Jan. 1, Fatah
(Palestine National Liberation Movement), the party led by
Palestine National Authority President Yasir Arafat,
mobilized demonstrations marking its 36th anniversary.
In Nablus, Ramallah and other cities, thousands of young
Fatah militants marched in uniforms or wearing black ski
masks, carrying automatic rifles and other weapons.
Marwan Barghouti, a central leader of Fatah, joined with
left and Islamic Palestinian forces in calling for "an end
to the negotiations and an intensification of the Intifada."
Responding to Clinton's latest proposals, Barghouti said:
"We cannot anymore remain in the fold of on-going
negotiations while our people are killed and our children
are starved."
The day before, an undercover Israeli army squad
assassinated Fatah leader Thabet Thabet in the northern West
Bank city of Tulkarem. Even Israeli Prime Minister Ehud
Barak didn't dispute this version of the killing. Barghouti
warned the Israelis that by carrying out this "act of state
terrorism" they were "opening the gates of hell."
The same day, a well-known fascist settler, Binyamin Kahane
was shot and killed while traveling through the West Bank.
Kahane was the son of the late and infamous Meir Kahane,
founder of the misnamed "Jewish Defense League," an extreme
racist U.S. organization. The JDL and the Israeli parties
that are its offshoots, Kach and Kahane Lives, call for the
expulsion of all Palestinians from historic Palestine.
In 1994, a Kahane supporter massacred 29 Palestinians during
prayer at the Mosque of Ibrahim in Hebron.
These advocates of genocide are so extreme, that even the
U.S. government has labeled them as "terrorists," and Israel
has outlawed the Kach party. Yet, they are still allowed to
operate and raise funds openly in both Israel and the U.S.
The settlers act as a fascist, extra-legal arm of the
Israeli state in the West Bank and Gaza, much as the Ku Klux
Klan has operated in the United States. Their settlements
are modern and fortified housing developments usually
sitting atop hills in the occupied territories. With the
backing, and often active cooperation of the Israeli army,
they regularly carry out armed attacks on Palestinians
villages, farmers in their fields, and Palestinian vehicles.
CLINTON'S NEW PLAN--MORE OF THE SAME
The latest Clinton peace plan reportedly calls for the
Palestinians to take control of 90 percent of the West Bank
and all of the tiny but densely populated Gaza Strip.
"Reportedly" because neither the agreement nor any map have
been made public. Details are critical in an agreement like
this, as is the map.
The other 10 percent would be annexed or long-term leased by
Israel for the "settlement blocs" and connecting roads it
has built in the West Bank. The 10 percent of West Bank
territory annexed or leased by Israel would divide the
northern from southern sections of the West Bank. The bypass
roads between settlements would further cut up Palestinian
territory.
There are approximately 200,000 Israeli settlers living
illegally in the West Bank & Gaza.
Some non-connected Palestinian neighborhoods in East
Jerusalem would come under Palestine National Authority
sovereignty, while other Arab neighborhoods would remain in
Israeli hands.
Israel would be allowed to maintain "security posts," i.e.
military bases, at several locations inside the Palestinian-
controlled West Bank for long periods, and to mobilize its
troops in the Jordan Valley in case of an "emergency."
The borders of the new Palestinian entity, according to
press reports, would not be under Palestinian control. The
new Palestinian state would be "non-militarized," while
Israel would continue to be one of the world's leading
military powers, thanks to U.S. aid.
Finally--and crucially--the 4-5 million Palestinians and
their descendants driven from their homeland in 1948-49 and
afterwards to make way for the Israeli state would lose
their right to return, according to the Clinton plan. Under
international law and United Nations Resolution 194, all
persons expelled from their homeland have the unequivocal
right to return.
>From a legal point of view, it is a right that cannot be
terminated, yet this is a key element of Clinton's proposal.
What makes this provision even more offensive is the fact
that under Israeli law, any Jewish person from anywhere in
the world has the right to move to Israel (Palestine) and
become an Israeli citizen.
"The right of return is perhaps the one factor that
represents the liberation movement in its totality,"
commented Elias Rashmawi of the Committee for a Democratic
Palestine. "To concede on this point would be to concede the
movement as a whole.
"Moreover, Fatah, the Palestine National Liberation
Movement, the party which Arafat leads, historically had its
main support in the refugee camps," Rashmawi continued.
"Fatah leaders have come out very strongly on this issue in
total opposition. The only ones who would sacrifice the
right to return in order to achieve "peace" are those who
have investment interests, banking, etc., who represent much
less than 2 percent of the population."
"For Israel, the Palestinian right of return is seen as the
very antithesis of the Israeli state. If the Palestinians
were allowed to return it could only be to a secular
democratic state. It would destroy the essence of a Jewish-
only theocracy, as Israel is today." [Israel's population is
presently 6.3 million, of whom 1.1 million are estimated to
be Palestinian]
That Israel is a theocracy--a state where only one group is
accorded full rights -- might come as a surprise to people
in the U.S. accustomed to seeing media accounts about the
"Middle East's only democracy." But none other than the late
Binyamin Kahane had proclaimed in 1994: "There's a
fundamental contradiction between a Jewish state and a
democratic state."
The U.S. media has heralded the latest Clinton plan as
something new. It isn't. These proposals are pretty much a
rehash of what Clinton tried to shove down the Palestinians
throat at Camp David in July, where he held PNA President
Yasir Arafat hostage for two weeks.
After Arafat refused to sign, Clinton, Secretary of State
Albright and the U.S. corporate media attacked the
Palestinians for the collapse of the "peace process." This
helped set the stage for the new Intifada, the Palestinian
uprising which began on Sept. 29 and has continued unabated
to the present.
INTIFADA'S AIM: END COLONIAL OCCUPATION
Refusing to accept a colonial-style agreement that would
deprive them of true national independence, the Palestinians
launched a new wave of revolutionary struggle against
overwhelming odds. Their aim is to end the Israeli
military/settler occupation, and they have displayed
incredible determination and heroism, despite being at an
extreme disadvantage in military and economic resources.
In the course of the new Intifada, more than 365 people have
been killed, all but 45 of them Palestinians. More than
11,000 have been seriously wounded. The Israeli army has
regularly used tanks, attack helicopters, missiles and heavy
machine guns against unarmed demonstrators and residential
neighborhoods. The Israelis have cut off Palestinian towns
and cities from each other and attempted to strangle the
Palestinian population by means of economic blockade.
The Palestinians have fought back using whatever means are
at their disposal, mass demonstrations and street
confrontations, hit-and-run attacks, homemade weapons
including bombs-- the means that have always been used by
people, from France to Vietnam to South Africa, who are
resisting occupation. Despite the reality that Palestinians
are overwhelmingly the ones dying in the fight against
illegal and brutal occupation, the U.S. big business media
has demonized the Palestinians, labeling them as
"terrorists."
Despite the unrelenting U.S./Israeli repression, the
determination of the Palestinian people to achieve justice
has never appeared stronger, more united, more determined.
There will be no real peace in the region until there is
real justice for the Palestinians.
Real justice means a real state, with contiguous territory
and in control of its own borders, with its capital in
Jerusalem, and with the right to return for all the
Palestinians evicted from their homeland. Until the day
comes, the struggle will continue and so must the solidarity
of the peoples of the world with Palestine.
-------------------------
Via Workers World News Service
Reprinted from the Jan. 11, 2001
issue of Workers World newspaper
-------------------------
NATO IN THE BALKANS: DID DEPLETED URANIUM KILL TROOPS?
By John Catalinotto
Deaths from leukemia of Italian, Belgian, Spanish and
Portuguese troops occupying Bosnia or Kosovo and other
illnesses have aroused popular anger and concern about
dangers to NATO troops stationed in the region from the
residue of depleted-uranium weapons.
Italian progressives are already planning protest meetings
to blame NATO and the Italian government for this
consequence of the war of aggression against Yugoslavia.
As a result of popular pressure, governments in some of
these countries have begun medical examination of the troops
and investigations into the link between DU and the deaths.
DU is the waste residue made from the uranium enrichment
process. This radioactive and toxic substance, 1.7 times as
dense as lead, is used to make shells that penetrate steel
armor.
Many people, including physicists and physicians, believe
that uranium-oxide dust inhaled or ingested by troops in the
Gulf War is the cause, or a contributing cause, of the "Gulf-
War Syndrome" that has affected 100,000 veterans and
increased cancer rates in southern Iraq.
The Pentagon used DU in large amounts in Iraq in 1991, in
Bosnia in 1995 and in Kosovo in 1999.
When Italian soldier Rinaldo Colombo died last September of
leukemia, it brought the total of Italian soldiers believed
to have died from "Balkans Syndrome" to five.
In Belgium, five cases of cancer have been diagnosed in
soldiers who were on duty in the Balkans. In Spain, two
soldiers have also been affected. One died in October.
Portuguese Corporal Hugo Paulino arrived home in Lisbon from
Kosovo in mid-February complaining of headaches and feeling
sick. He died on March 9 in the military hospital.
According to his father, Luis Paulino, medical examinations
revealed neither meningitis nor encephalitis. His father is
certain "it was depleted uranium that killed him."
He demanded a new autopsy because Defense Ministry officials
had yet to clearly explain the cause of his son's death.
"The doctors should be appointed by Yugoslav specialists,
because they have better knowledge of the sickness and the
problems faced on the ground," said Luis Paulino.
INVESTIGATIONS BEGIN
The Spanish government has launched a study of the health of
the 32,000 Spanish soldiers who have been in the Balkans.
The Portuguese government will examine 900 of its country's
troops.
Belgian Defense Minister Andre Flahaut wrote a letter Dec.
29 to Bjorn von Sydow, the defense minister of Sweden. That
country takes over the European Union presidency Jan. 1. The
letter called on EU defense ministers to discuss health
problems suffered by troops stationed in Bosnia or Kosovo.
In mid-December the Italian government launched an inquiry
into why some of their military personnel have recently died
of leukemia. Defence Minister Sergio Mattarella had affirmed
that "10,800 depleted uranium projectiles were fired by
American aircraft" on Bosnia between 1994 and 1995.
Without naming them explicitly, Mattarella accused the U.S.
military officials of hiding information about DU from
allies. It's true the Pentagon avoids publicizing details of
its use of DU weapons and has covered up the extent of DU
use.
But there can be no doubt the NATO militaries knew the U.S.
was using depleted-uranium shells, which are the usual U.S.
anti-tank weapon. During the 1999 war the media prodded
Pentagon spokespeople to admit publicly that U.S. A-10
planes were firing DU shells.
Growing public anger over the dangers of DU to the troops
has pushed the governments of these NATO countries to
distance themselves from the U.S. over the use of DU
weapons.
The governments of these smaller imperialist powers--
Belgium, Portugal, Spain and even Italy--eagerly joined the
U.S.-led assault against Yugoslavia. But they are finding
that instead of getting a larger portion of the spoils of
the Balkans for their efforts, they just have their troops
exposed to danger.
The big transnational corporations of the major NATO powers,
especially the U.S. and Germany, have grabbed up the lion's
share in Kosovo and are poised to do the same in Serbia and
Montenegro.
Meanwhile Italian and Portuguese troops are patrolling DU-
polluted areas of Kosovo.
-------------------------
Via Workers World News Service
Reprinted from the Jan. 11, 2001
issue of Workers World newspaper
-------------------------
SERBIAN ELECTION: NO SURPRISES
By John Catalinotto
The Dec. 23 Serb elections brought no surprises. The former-
opposition and now-ruling coalition Democratic Opposition of
Serbia, which controls both the national and the private
media, got 64 percent of the votes. The Socialist Party of
Serbia, led by Slobodan Milosevic, got 13.5 percent. Two
Serb nationalist anti-NATO parties got a little over 13
percent between them.
No other parties won the 5 percent needed to get
representatives in the 250-seat parliament. With 176 seats
the DOS has more than the two-thirds needed to control the
government. The politician Zoran Djindjic, who many consider
a U.S.-German puppet, has been named the new Serbian prime
minister. The SPS won 37 seats, as did the two Serb
nationalist parties combined.
Like the Sept. 28 election when Milosevic lost the
presidency and the Oct. 5 right-wing coup that burned the
Parliament and State Television buildings, this latest
election is being celebrated in Washington, in NATO
headquarters and in the capitals of the other European
imperialist powers. These forces had used threats, sanctions
and actual bombings to push out the Socialist Party
government before they manipulated the elections, as they
themselves admitted. (Washington Post, Dec. 11)
A Dec. 21 interview by the Berlin daily newspaper Junge Welt
with one of the SPS leaders, Alexandar Rastovic, showed why
the results were no great surprise. "Our activists have been
working in an atmosphere of intimidation," said Rastovic.
"If we were to hold on to 15 to 20 percent of the vote under
these abnormal conditions, as I expect, that would be a
success. ... The forces now ruling only concede 5 to 7
percent to us."
WHY DID THEY VOTE AGAINST MILOSEVIC?
A correspondent for the Belgian weekly Solidaire, Michel
Collon, interviewed some people in Serbia to get their view
of the elections:
For Andrej, the elections have been distorted since
September by threats of a new NATO bombing attack or
invasion of Montenegro. And by the hundreds of million of
dollars from the United States to finance a very effective
propaganda campaign to criminalize Milosevic in the eyes of
the Serbs. On top of this, the main media outlets have been
strictly controlled.
Gordana agreed: "The people know that the SPS was more
'social' [aware of the needs of the poor and workers] than
the DOS but also that the West would continue to strangle
them as long as Milosevic remained in power. Four wars,
isolation, demonization, the embargo: Serb politics were
made neither in the streets, nor in Parliament, but in
foreign countries."
Tanja added, "However, the SPS limited its losses in light
of the circumstances and two splits that weakened it."
Bata, who opposed NATO, was resign ed: "Serbia is part of
Europe and has to accommodate to the way of the majority."
According to Natasha, who favored the DOS, "The bad economic
situation explains why the majority of his supporters turned
their backs on Milosevic. The people have seen too much
corruption, and the 'newly rich' directing the country. They
were disgusted by it."
The discussion Collon reported supported the basic truth
that war-weariness and a hope that a new government would
get NATO and the U.S. off their backs were the main causes
for the SPS setback. Even more, that aid and investment from
the West would restart the Yugoslav economy. So far all the
West has promised are loans that will have to be repaid out
of the sweat and blood of the Yugoslav workers.
'SHOCK THERAPY'?
The DOS's economic advisers have been promising "shock
therapy." This means massive privatizations right away and
quick price rises on basic necessities. Prices on basic
goods have already doubled and tripled since last
September's election.
Moves to lay off workers are expected soon. For example, 90
percent of the workers of the Zastava automobile factory
face layoffs from the new owner, Peugeot, a French-based
auto manufacturer.
The first act of the new government was to order electricity
shutdowns for 12 and 16 hours a day. It is unable to keep up
the power supply that the SPS government had kept going
throughout the war and sanctions.
Despite the "shock therapy" slogan, future Prime Minister
Djindjic has announced that the privatization could take two
years. He knows that it will run into opposition from the
majority of the population. President Vojislav Kostunica--an
open rival of Djindjic and much more popular--is also afraid
to cut jobs and workers' salaries too quickly as prices
continue to rise.
WHAT NEXT?
The new government--a coalition of 18 parties who were
united only in their opposition to the SPS and Milosevic and
their willingness to accept help from NATO countries--now
has the complete responsibility before the population for
its program for Yugoslavia.
Will it hold Montenegro in the federation with Serbia? Will
it be able to defend southern Serbia from attacks by the KLA
forces? Will it be able to keep contact with the few
majority-Serb areas of Kosovo?
Most important, will the Serbian economy develop because of
its contacts with the imperialist West? Or will it be like
most of Eastern Europe where the most profitable factories
are sold dirt-cheap to imperialist corporations and the rest
shut down?
The biggest danger for the Yugoslav left comes from a threat
that the new regime will make a mockery of the "democratic"
part of its name and launch a wave of repression, something
that SPS spokesperson Rastovic warned of in his Junge Welt
interview. Already there has been a purge of military
officers and threats to put Milosevic and other SPS leaders
on trial.
- END -
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