The Amerikkkan electorate: militarist and chauvinist

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Amerikkkan electorate: militarist and chauvinist

raims.wordpress.com

U$ imperialists, of both parties, appeal to the chauvinism and militarism of the Amerikans this election cycle. Then again, our readers will be asking by now, “What’s new?” For the past couple years, talking heads and ideologues from both of the main partisan wings of the US system have been rallying their respective “bases” in preparation for the contentious midterm elections. In just the past few weeks, the imperialist media had been inundated with political ads and substanceless, vitriolic rhetoric.

On the Republican side, their Amerikan grassroots “Tea Party” movement has whipped up a white chauvinist frenzy right in time to derail the “Obama phenomenon.” In the midst of this racist uprising by the recently dispossessed Amerikan settler white nation, the favorite target has been migrant labor from Mexico. The most egregious example of the consequences of this radical reaction is the “Papers, please” legislation in Arizona, on Mexican land stolen by Amerika no less! (1) Fast forward over 160 years later, and over 70% of Amerikan are in favor of some similar draconian and fascist legislation. (2) Another side-effect was the recent inflammation of Amerikan chauvinism against Islam in general, which had exceeded levels beyond anything seen during the Bush era. (3)

On the Democratic side, the Obama-lovers are attempting to paint the Republicans as “shipping Amerikan jobs overseas.” (4) This thinly-veiled “pro-labor” racism serves to merely shift the chauvinism of Amerikans towards Latinos, to chauvinism directed towards Asians. To pile onto this chauvinism, the White House itself is attempting to paint their GOP opponents with the “Chinese money” campaign corruption card. (5) As if US imperialism hasn’t attempted to influence political processes by whatever means, monetarily or militarily, worldwide.

The two political parties of US imperialism aren’t just battling over who Amerikans should be more chauvinist against. They are also battling for Amerikan public opinion over which Muslim-majority country to invade and occupy. The Republicans’ latest superstars have been some the most fervent Zionists, with a warmonger’s eye towards toppling the Islamic Republic of Iran. The Democrats’ “common-sense” militarism has its eyes toward continuing the existing occupations in Iraq and Afghanistan in a “non-direct, supervisory form,” as well as continuing the incursions into Pakistan. Long gone are the anti-war voices from the political spectrum, from either “libertarian” Republicans or “progressive” Democrats. One Tea Party-backed congressional candidate in North Carolina includes a US pig soldier suspected of killing two unarmed civilians in Iraq. (6) On the other side, Democrats in Washington State appeal to the votes of “workers” from Boeing, a major imperialist arms manufacturer. One such political ad, from a Democrat no less, makes a simultaneously chauvinist and militarist appeal to Boeing workers. The ad says, in essence, that Amerikans should continue to be paid handsomely for building and maintaining the imperialist war machine. (7)

What else is new with politics in the US empire? Certainly not the brain dead response of the First World so-called “left” to Amerikan elections. The constant meme coming from them states that the top two imperialist parties don’t really represent the “will of the [Amerikan] people.” The supposition here is that the Amerikan so-called “masses” are inherently progressive (if not “revolutionary”) in their majority. (8) Nothing could be further from the truth. One question for our First Worldists: If Amerikans are so inherently “progressive,” why do the two top imperialist parties pour billions of dollars into filling their airwaves with this chauvinism and militarism? (9)

A “democracy” that does not represent the will of the world’s oppressed and exploited majority is not democratic in any real sense. Bourgeois democracy in the First World seeks to affirm the unity of the imperialist populations against the global majority. RAIM struggles for a world where the needs and will of the global popular majority, who make less than $2.50 a day, are placed first per the democratic principle of “majority rules.” (10) To create a truly democratic society, the world must be turned upside down.

Notes:

1. http://antiimperialism.wordpress.com/2010/10/14/long-live-mexico-in-commemoration-of-the-100th-year-anniversary-of-the-mexican-revolution/

2. http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/05/12/94050/most-americans-approve-of-arizonas.html

3. http://www.lewrockwell.com/margolis/margolis201.html

4. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2013264531_bruce27.html

5. http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/politics/ap/china-bashing-is-bipartisan-in-us-races-106366768.html

6. http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/10/gop-candidate-killed-unarmed-iraqi/

7. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyk3QLaX2nQ

8. http://revcom.us/Constitution/constitution.html

9. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/us-politics/8093993/US-midterm-elections-2010-Campaign-spending-set-to-reach-2.5-billion.html

10. http://raims.wordpress.com/2010/10/01/the-anti-kolumbus-day-manifesto/

Drones kill 28 people, then hit the funeral

Drones kill 28 people, then hit the funeral

http://www.raimd.wordpress.com

A recent string of bombings, killing dozens in Pakistan, has the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, or “drone,” making headlines once again. So-called “Predator Drones” have become one of imperialism’s favorite tools of oppression. Bombing attacks by these vehicles are being carried out consistently and more frequently than ever. (1).

Predator Drones are center stage as the US ups its assault on Pakistan’s northwest border region. At least 28 people were killed as a result of drone strikes in South Waziristan during the week of September 19 (2). The week’s two bloodiest attacks, responsible for more than a dozen deaths, took place on September 22. The initial strike launched two missiles at a targeted vehicle, killing seven. A funeral was arranged for the victims in the following hours; subsequently, this funeral was also targeted by a drone strike, resulting in more deaths yet. This absurd sequence mirrors an incident that took place last summer. On the morning of Tuesday 23 June 2009, unmanned drones killed more than 45 people in a series of bombings including a strike on a funeral procession for victims of the earlier assault (3).

Violence caused by drone missiles has sparked outrage in Pakistan, where drones have killed at least 1,700 people(4). The mutilation caused by the bombings makes compiling a solid count of the deaths all but impossible. Even so, it is clear that hundreds of those killed have been civilians (5). Drones have been a fixture in Pakistan for over five years; however, US officials do not officially comment on any drone activities. The attacks fall under the veil of CIA secrecy. It is clear, nonetheless, that using drones has become particularly attractive to decision-makers in the past two years. Estimated death tolls clearly show drone attacks being responsible for more deaths in 2009 alone than in the four years between 2004-2008 combined (6).

With mounting numbers of casualties, drone attacks have become known for their haphazard destruction. Missiles fired from the unpiloted vehicles are often grossly off-target. This, and general belligerence have contributed to the high civilian deaths which have, embarrassingly for the US, included Amerikan citizens (7).

Part of the cause of the vehicle’s reckless imprecision is being revealed in an ongoing lawsuit. Accusations and evidence depict the as CIA consciously utilizing faulty targeting software in the unmanned vehicles. IISI, a small, Massachusetts-based software company alleges that IT firm “Netezza” facilitated the CIA with a pirated, and knowingly-unreliable, version of their software to the CIA for use in US drone vehicles. The location-analysis software in turn may have produced locations up to 13 meters off target (8). IISI was pressured to meet a quick deadline to provide the software, when the company voiced reservations, Netezza allegedly went ahead and reverse-engineered the program themselves. The IISI Chief Technology Officer summarized his earliest feelings on the situation, stating, “they want to kill people with my software that doesn’t work” (9). The lawsuit aims to halt use of the pirated software by Netezza and its clients, including the CIA. IISI has expressed concern that the buggy software may lead to loss of innocent life. Unfortunately, the host of civilian deaths cannot be declared a mere “software issue.” Such recklessness is hardwired into the logic of imperialism.

Predator Drones are becoming a standard instrument in the oppression of Third World peoples by . As RAIM has noted (xhttps://raimd.wordpress.com/2010/07/02/imperialism-drones-on/), US drones are now deployed everywhere from Afghanistan, Pakistan, and recently on the militarized US/Mexico border. Israel used US-provided drones in attacks on Gaza in December 2008. The First World is looking to a high technology, impersonal approach of fighting their battles. These machines cause much destruction, but high-tech gadgetry will not defeat Third Wold resistance. As comrade Lin Biao wrote in “Long Live the Victory of People’s War!”

However highly developed modern weapons and technical equipment may be and however complicated the methods of modern warfare, in the final analysis the outcome of a war will be decided by the sustained fighting of the ground forces, by the fighting at close quarters on battlefields, by the political consciousness of the men, by their courage and spirit of sacrifice. Here the weak points of U.S. imperialism will be completely laid bare, while the superiority of the revolutionary people will be brought into full play. The reactionary troops of U.S. imperialism cannot possibly be endowed with the courage and the spirit of sacrifice possessed by the revolutionary people. The spiritual atom bomb which the revolutionary people possess is a far more powerful and useful weapon than the physical atom bomb. (10)

The Third World majority, collectively terrorized by imperialism, must collectively defeat imperialism. The enemy’s extravagant technology cannot hold up against People’s War.

Notes.

1. Peter Bergen and Katherine Tiedemann’s drones database at the New America Foundation
xxhttp://counterterrorism.newamerica.net/drones
2. xxhttp://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2010/09/2010921181212227907.html
3. xxhttp://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2009/06/200962317958264507.html
3. Ibid. Protest
4.xxhttp://counterterrorism.newamerica.net/drones#2010chart
5. Ibid.
6. Ibid.
7. xxhttp://blog.washingtonpost.com/spy-talk/2010/09/cia_drones_killed_us_citizens.html
8. xxhttp://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/09/cia-inaccurate-software-drone-attacks/
9. Ibid.

Army “Kill Team” Targeted Civilians in Afghanistan, Business as Usual for Imperialists

Army “Kill Team” Targeted Civilians in Afghanistan, Business as Usual for Imperialists

(raimd.wordpress.com)

Recently it was revealed that a secret Amerikan “kill team” murdered Afghan civilians at random, and collected cut-off body parts as trophies, of “finger bones, leg bones, and a tooth taken from the corpses”. Twelve Amerikkkan soldiers are being court martialed, under trial in military court, and 5 of them are charged with murder. The others are charged in aiding a cover-up. There are 76 crimes total pinned on the twelve, including the murder of 3 Afghan civilians, and the beating of a soldier accused of blowing the whistle on their crimes. Whatever the results of the trial these atrocities are nothing new in Amerikan history, and will likely not generate any action on the part of the Amerikan people.

The “kill team” was formed by a group of soldiers from the Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington State. They were part of the 5th Stryker Infantry Brigade in Southern Afghanistan located at the Forward Operating Base Ramrod, west of Kandahar. The founder of this kill team was Staff Sgt. Calvin Gibbs, who served previously in the occupation forces in Iraq and boasted about the war crimes he committed there and how easy it was to get away with them. Talk of forming this team began in December 2009 after he arrived in Afghanistan for his 2nd tour of duty there. Gibbs emphasized throwing fragmentation grenades at civilians. This kill team performed that method of murder in its attacks on civilians, with 3 deaths being charged on this group.

The first attack happened the following January. A civilian, Gul Mudin, was killed when Cpl. Jeremy Morlock threw a grenade at him, giving other soldiers a reason to open fire. The carnage of this team went on until May of 2010. Another victim was Afghan cleric Mullah Adahada. They also murdered civilian Marach Agha and afterward placed a drop gun, a Kalashnikov rifle, by his dead body to justify the killing.

Six of these soldiers are accused of taking body parts as trophies. One soldier collected fingers for souveniers, and others posed for photos with the dead bodies. One, Michael Wagon, carried a skull of one of his victims.

This team came to light after a soldier was beaten after attempting to blow the whistle on this team. Spec. Adam Winfield, a member of the platoon the team was from, reported to his superiors about members of his unit smoking hashish stolen from Afghan civilians. Gibbs reportedly showed sliced fingers they collected to the informant soldier to force his silence. Gibbs also first solicited soldiers to cut off the fingers of the corpses. Winfield also purportedly discussed the actions of the kill team to his father over Facebook, stating that people there were getting away with murder. His father attempted to warn military authorities, and was repeatedly rebuffed. Eight days after he tried to warn the military the team killed Agha.

The troops are going through the trial process, all of them securing attorneys, and some of the families of the accused have set up websites for their defense.(1)

The military is attempting to sweep this away. This year has been the deadliest year for the occupation forces since 2001 when the invasion began. They have expressed concerns about how this case will effect the already declining support the Amerikan-led occupation has with the Afghan people. The military is painting this kill team as a rogue operation. In truth, this is likely just one of many war atrocities committed by the occupation forces.

With the release of the Afghan War Diary on Wikileaks, this kill team is shown as not news, but part of the official policies of the U.S. imperialists. As Wikileaks states in the introduction on the leaked documents:

“The material shows that cover-ups start on the ground. When reporting their own activities US Units are inclined to classify civilian kills as insurgent kills, downplay the number of people killed or otherwise make excuses for themselves.”

“The reports, when made about other US Military units are more likely to be truthful, but still down play criticism.”

“Conversely, when reporting on the actions of non-US ISAF (International Security Assistance Force) forces the reports tend to be frank or critical and when reporting on the Taliban or other rebel groups, bad behavior is described in comprehensive detail. The behavior of the Afghan Army and Afghan authorities are also frequently described.”(http://wardiary.wikileaks.org/)

The soldier who allegedly linked the documents, Bradley Manning, is currently in jail. He is also suspected of leaking the video of a helicopter attack, unprovoked, on civilians in Iraq. For bringing to light the secret atrocities of these two wars, he is subjected to court martial, attacked for being gay, had his facebook musings publicized, and had his psychology attacked. (2)

After taking over the imperial reigns of the presidency, Barack Obama has escalated the war in Afghanistan. He has increased the number of ground troops, expanded Predator drone attacks in both Afghanistan and Pakistan, and even authorized targeted assassinations including on U.S. citizens. With opposition to the Afghanistan occupation not only from the Afghan people but from the U.S. public itself, in spite of the lack of an antiwar movement, Obama seems to want to have a “peace with honor” before the withdrawal of Amerikan forces. But as seen in this latest case of Amerikan atrocities, the honor of imperialist war is and never was there.

The humanity of the troops reflects the humanity of Amerikans as a whole. Amerikans barely blink an eye when the troops they support commit murder, rape, and torture. In fact, a sizable fraction of Amerika cheers on these atrocities. War is nothing desired by the masses of the world, but in order to end war they must engage in war. The crimes of the imperialists will end when they are defeated through global peoples war waged to create a new world. The people of the world united against a common enemy will defeat the main oppressor.

Sources:

1.  This story was reported in the following news sites:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/18/AR2010091803935.html

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2010/09/2010994272865650.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/sep/09/us-soldiers-afghan-civilians-fingers

http://theweek.com/article/index/206971/did-a-us-kill-team-go-rogue-in-afghanistan

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/09/09/100321/stryker-brigade-soldiers-kept.html

2. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/afghanistan/7918632/Bradley-Manning-suspected-source-of-Wikileaks-documents-raged-on-his-Facebook-page.html

http://www.frumforum.com/wikileaker-struggled-with-dont-ask-dont-tell

Bradley Manning Support Network: http://www.bradleymanning.org

Leaked ‘Afghan War Diary’ Causes Reaction in US

(www.antiimperialism.wordpress.com)

On July 25th, 2010, the website Wikileaks released the ‘Afghan War Diary,’ over 200,000 pages detailing the US’s terroristic role in Afghanistan. (1) The documents, allegedly collected and leaked by Bradley Manning, a 22-year-old military intelligence analyst now being held on allegations of an earlier leak, consist of battlefield reports and classified intelligence estimates detailing what we already know: the US is increasing its reliance on private mercenary forces, covert operations and unmanned airstrikes; propping up a corrupt, unpopular government; killing civilians and lying about it; and quickly causing the Afghan masses to turn towards resistance. (2) (3)

The release of the ‘Afghan War Diary’ has caused some controversy in the US, with reactionaries waging a counter-offensive in the realm of ideas. Military and intelligence officials have described those involved with the leak as potentially emboldening the Afghan resistance forces and endangering Amerikan lives. “They might already have on their hands the blood of some young soldier or that of an Afghan family,” one high ranking official was quoted as saying. (4) This is an example of ruling-class double-speak. Not surprisingly, reactionaries malign anyone who resists or undermines the inherently violent and poverty-ridden imperialist system.

Similar oppressor-minded rhetoric has been provided by Adrian Lamo, a former computer hacker who snitched out Manning following private internet discussions between the two. An extreme sycophant of imperialism and the status quo, he didn’t want to be a “coward” and knew the leak of the Afghan War Diary would “endanger human lives,” he’s told mainstream media outlets. He has no regrets about snitching out Manning and describes him as “someone who was easily led.” (2)

Lamo’s reported comments provide a microcosm into the mindset of Amerikans. Values such as cowardice, and abstract ideas such as “human lives”, are seen through an extremely narrow, Amerika-centric lense. Though Lamo had frequent discussions with Manning in which the latter stated his negative views about Amerika’s wars, one gets the impression that Lamo always felt himself above and never connected with the dissident intelligence analyst. He completely disregards Manning’s view on the war, insisting on the imperialist narrative and defending his own role as a snitch. In short, like so many Amerikans, Adrian Lamo is a fucking pig.

Responding to the controversy, Julian Assange, founder, editor and spokesperson for Wikileaks, describes good journalism as controversial, stresses the need for truth in public knowledge and claims those in power often attempt to hide abuses and wrong-doings. Assange denies the leak endangers Amerikan lives and points to the fact that the documents detail massive killings of Afghan civilians by US-led forces. Wikileaks has reportedly withheld 15,000 pages for “further review,” because they possibly contain information which might endanger ongoing imperialist operations in war-torn Afghanistan. Assange and other spokespeople for Wikileaks claim they are attempting to contact Washington for help in vetting the documents before their release. (5) (6) (7)

These latter facts are troubling, raising questions about where Wikileaks’s true allegiances lie. It highlights the disparity between ultimately pro-imperialist, “social-democrat” thought and revolutionary anti-imperialism. ‘Social democrats’ oppose various aspects of imperialism: in the case of Wikileaks, secrecy by institutions of power. Yet, they fail to connect these aspects to the overall system and never make the leap to opposing the system as a whole. They ultimately seek to reform the existing system, not destroy it and build a better one. Why else would Wikileaks go to such lengths as withholding documents and contacting the White House to vet them. Though less extreme and overt, Julian Assange, an Australian, is also a sycophant of imperialism.

The release of the Afghan War Diary will not change Amerika’s public perception of the occupation. Amerikans support imperialism and its various wars, both explicitly and tacitly. This is not due to ignorance or “false consciousness,” but due to their economic proximity to the imperialist-bourgeoisie. The vast majority of Amerikans, like the Amerikan imperialist-bourgeoisie, stand to benefit from exploiting Afghanistan and the entire Central Asian region. Since the election of Barack Obama, the so-called US ‘anti-war movement’ has virtually disappeared while the reactionary ‘Tea Party Movement’ has grown rabidly. Julian Assange is himself out of his mind, if he believes the Afghan War Diary will ‘wake up’ the Amerikan so-called ‘masses.’

Since the release of the Afghan War Diary, reactionaries have also been working to spin its meaning. (8) One senior official in the Obama administration described the information in the leak as precisely the reason the US is escalating combat in Afghanistan.(9) Others have noted reports suggesting Iran is connected to the Afghan resistance forces, which the imperialists label exclusively as Al Qaeda and the Taliban. (10) Rather than causing Amerikans to take pause in their support for aggression against Muslim countries, the Afghan War Diary is actually being used to promoting expanding wars.

The real wake up call for Amerikans will come when their expanding wars of aggression are met with expanded wars of resistance; when the imperialist-bourgeoisie’s ‘Coalition of the Willing’ is met and defeated by a coalition of necessity and its massive army of the oppressed. Only revolution, the overthrow of imperialist power and installation of a peaceable, egalitarian society, will forever turn the tide against imperialists and their lackeys.

(1) http://wikileaks.org/wiki/Afghan_War_Diary,_2004-2010
(2) http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/07/29/lamo.profile.wikileaks/
(3) http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/wikileaks_afghan_war_diary_20100727/
(4) http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/07/30/2968456.htm
(5) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9uSd-CiD0c
(6) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bD5dxkPwibU
(7) http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/wikileaks-to-seek-pentagon-help-on-war-logs-20100804-11flb.html
(8) http://www.economist.com/node/16693313?story_id=16693313
(9) http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,708314,00.html
(10) http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jul/25/iran-backing-taliban-alqaida-afghanistan

Corruption skyrockets in Afghanistan

Corruption skyrockets in Afghanistan

(www.antiimperialism.wordpress.com)

Afghans paid nearly a billion dollars in bribes in 2009, up from 466 million in 2007, according to the Kabul-based NGO, Integrity Watch Afghanistan. The rapid growth of corruption in Afghanistan, which includes not just monetary payments but nepotism and sexual extortion, occurs only years into the US’s occupation of the country.

According to the report, 15% of households were affected by land-related corruption in 2009. Another report by the UN paints an even grimmer picture, stating Afghans paid out $2.5 billion in bribes, and that Afghans themselves consider corruption to be the country’s biggest problem.

Presumably, neither of the polls asked Afghans what role the occupation might have or if imperialism was the biggest problem facing the country. This is because both surveys were crafted to serve not the masses of Afghanistan, but imperialism’s long-term rule over them.

Nonetheless, the reports offer important insights. Though imperialists deliver pretty speeches about freedom, democracy and prosperity, they impose and maintain a social order which actively denies these things to the masses of the world. At places where imperialism is most directly involved, whether Third World industrial compounds or countries with militarily-imposed puppets, the masses have the least freedom, democracy and prosperity.

Compared with the paltry 1- 2.5 billion dollars in bribes, Afghans have paid many times more than this in the form of exploitation of their labor and resources, as well as in their lives due to the US’s war. This daily injustice occurs not just to benefit of the imperialists and their Third World lackeys, but their First World lackeys as well, i.e. the majority of people in the First World who are bought-off into supporting this rotten system.

Corruption, like many of the world’s problems, finds much of its root cause in imperialism. It is from the Third World masses’ struggle against imperialism that solutions to this and many more problems will arise.

Sources:

http://www.iwaweb.org/corruptionsurvey2010/Main_findings.html
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,672828,00.html

Imperialism Drones On

Imperialism Drones On

(www.raimd.wordpress.com)

Washington’s Homeland Security Department recently announced its plans to deploy unmanned “Predator” drones on the border of Mexico and Texas. In addition, 1,000 Border Patrol agents and 1,200 National Guard soldiers are being sent to the area. This is the latest in a series of ongoing attacks on Mexicano people and the escalation of militarism by Nobel Peace Prize-winning US President Barack Obama. (1)

Obama recently requested $500 million from congress for “emergency border security.” These funds will provide the drones, which cost nearly $5 million a piece (2), as well as the thousands of soldiers and police heading to the militarized border zone. Obama spending outrageous funds on brash military expenditures is no surprise. Obama has made sure that under his presidency military spending has been higher than it was under his predecessor George W. Bush. No price is too high for imperialism. (3)

Liberals have previously praised Obama for his rhetorical appeals to Chicano people; however, as president, Obama has stepped up the attacks of his predecessor. In his first year as president, Obama deported 5% more migrants than in George Bush’s last, a new record. The number is expected to grow again in 2010. Furthermore, despite some moderate condemnation from the White House, Immigration Custom Enforcement (ICE) raids and detention centers continue on unabated. (4)

The unmanned Predator drones set to be deployed are said to be strictly for surveillance. Such Unmanned Aerial Vehicles were first used by the US for spying in Bosnia and Kosovo in the early 90s. (5) As of late, however, these aircraft have been known for killing large numbers of civilians in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The US military arms these drones with “Hellfire” missiles and, from a remote location, bombs “enemy targets,” almost always killing sizable amounts of unsuspecting civilians. As Obama once joked of the victims, “Predator drones. You’ll never see it coming.” Nearly 1,000 Pakistani civilians have been killed in drone attacks. (6) The US military does not recognize these bombings on record and does not keep track of casualties.

The Amerikan public is predictably on board with this sort of reckless militarization of the border. A CNN/Opinion Research poll taken last month showed that a near uniform 88% percent supported an increased Border Patrol presence. Sizable majorities support a border wall. Majorities also support racist laws targeting Mexicano and Chicano people in the US, particularly the recent bills passed in Arizona. (7)

Amerikans will go to any extent to protect their stolen land. The US/Mexico border is lined with fences, Minuteklan thugs, pigs, troops and now remote controlled spy planes. All to keep Mexicans off their own land. First worldists call for assimilation. To them, the solution to oppression and exploitation is to beg to be a part of the exploiter-opressor nation. Anti-imperialists support national liberation. The only true way to dispose of arbitrary militarized borders and end oppression is to defeat the Fist World and its lackeys. Amerikan settlers are the real illegals. The Mexicano and other Indigenous nations have the only compelling claim to the occupied land in the southwest United Snakes.

Notes.

1. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/23/AR2010062305358.html

2. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/17/business/17uav.html

3. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0110/32272.html

4. http://motherjones.com/mojo/2010/05/morton-ice-illegal-immigration-deportation

5. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/17/business/17uav.html?_r=1

6. http://www.asiantribune.com/news/2010/03/21/us-engaged-%E2%80%98extra-judicial-killings%E2%80%99-civilians-af-pak-iraq-us ing-%E2%80%98unmanned-drones%E2%80%99

7. http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/05/26/poll.border.security/index.htm

ICS/05/26/poll.border.security/index.html

Obama sends US Special Operations Forces to 75 countries, up from 60 last year

Obama sends US Special Operations Forces to 75 countries, up from 60 last year

(www.raimd.wordpress.com)

The US Special Operations Forces, or Green Berets, are operating in 75 countries around the world, up 25% from last year. Under the Obama administration, special ops forces have been sent to Iran, Somalia, Yemen, Pakistan, Ukraine, Bolivia, Peru, Turkey, the Philippines, Columbia and Paraguay, among many others. Of the 13,000 Special Operations forces worldwide, 9,000 are split between Iraq and Afghanistan. [1,2]

Obama was and still is perceived by many to be fundamentally different than George W. Bush. This only reveals how widespread gullibility and self-serving ignorance are.  Under Obama, the number of US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan jumped to 189,000 at end of 2009, up from Bush’s high of 186,000. Aerial bombings by US-operated drones have increased under Obama. Obama additionally employs an ‘Intelligence Community’ of 200,000 at a cost of 75 billion dollars annually. [3,4]

The United States is, regardless of its individual leadership, the greatest menace to humanity today. There is no force which plays a larger policing or military role worldwide. There is no force which drops as many bombs, invades as many countries, trains as many armed forces and spies on as many dissidents.

While US imperialism and its goons may appear strong, this is not necessarily the case. The real strength lies with the people, the masses of the Third World which make up the broad majority humanity. United under common interest, for peace, freedom and equality, and without illusions about the antagonistic nature of imperialism, the world’s masses can defeat reactionaries and lay the foundation for a better future.

[1] http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/03/AR2010060304965_pf.html

[2] http://www.alternet.org/world/147104/obama_is_secretly_deploying_elite_u.s._forces_to_countries_across_the_globe

[3] http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/12/AR2009101203142_2.html

[4] http://www.fas.org/irp/news/2009/09/dni091509-m.pdf

Obama sends US Special Operation Forces to 75 countries, up from 60 from last yearThe US Special Operations Forces, or Green Berets, are operating in 75 countries around the world, up 25% from last year. Under the Obama administration, special ops forces have been sent to Iran, Somalia, Yemen, Pakistan, Ukraine, Bolivia, Peru, Turkey, the Philippines, Columbia and Paraguay, among many others. Of the 13,000 Special Operations forces worldwide, 9,000 are split evenly between Iraq and Afghanistan. [1,2]Obama was and still is perceived by many to be fundamentally different than George W. Bush. This however only reveals how widespread gullibly and self-serving ignorance are. By the end of 2009, under Obama, the number of troops in Iraq and Afghanistan jumped from Bush’s high of 186,000 to 189,000. Aerial bombings from US-operated drones have increased under Obama. While the exact numbers are unknown, Obama additionally employs an ‘Intelligence Community’ of 200,000 at a cost of $75,000. [3,4]The United States is, regardless of its individual leadership, the greatest menace to humanity today. There is no force which plays a larger policing or military role worldwide. There is no force which drops as many bombs, invades as many countries, trains as many armed forces and spies on as many dissidents.

While the US imperialism and its goons may appear strong, this is not necessarily the case. The real strength lies with the people, the masses of the Third World which make up a broad majority humanity. United under common interest, for peace, freedom and equality, and without illusions about the antagonistic nature of imperialism, the world’s masses can defeat reactionaries and lay the foundation for a new, better world.

[1] http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/03/AR2010060304965_pf.html

[2] http://www.alternet.org/world/147104/obama_is_secretly_deploying_elite_u.s._forces_to_countries_across_the_globe

[3] http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/12/AR2009101203142_2.html

[4] http://www.fas.org/irp/news/2009/09/dni091509-m.pdf

Code Pink: Pigs For More Pie

Code Pink: Pigs For More Pie

(raimd.wordpress.com)

Times have been tough for the remnants of the antiwar movement in the United Snakes.  Liberals crossed over to Obama, a recession has driven down donations, and healthcare reform and Tea Party opposition became the focus in Amerika.  Code Pink, led by non-profit profiteer Medea Benjamin,  is working to “extend an olive branch” to the  reactionary Tea Party, using their anti-tax rhetoric  to focus on military spending.  Benjamin sent an open message to teaklanners and Code Pink supporters:

“Don’t relax on tax day. Your country needs you to start a difficult conversation right now. Because building peace means reaching out to the other side, CODEPINK is extending an olive branch to the Tea Party. If the Tea Party is really against runaway government spending, then certainly we can work together to cut a slice out of the military pork that is bankrupting our nation. After all, one way to shrink big government is to rein in military spending.

Similarly, we are asking you to reach out to your conservative family members, friends and co-workers, with this very special e-card to start a conversation about how a bloated military budget is affecting our share of the pie. Maybe you will find common ground!”
http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/424/t/4589/postcard.jsp?postcard_KEY=470

And a graphic:

Besides the total lameness and lack of direction, Code Pink’s most recent campaign gives a clear message about “our share of the pie.”  According to Benjamin and Code Pink, Joe Amerikan  should be fat too, not just those at the Pentagon spending his tax dollars.

Certainly, Code Pink isn’t lying about the great amount of Amerikan tax dollars which go to war-making.   Obama’s “defense” budget for 2011 will be $663.7 billion, making up 42 percent of all the worlds military spending.  This is compared to China with 5.8 percent of world military spending and France with 4.5 percent of world military spending.  However, the real victims of this militarism are those killed by Amerikan bombs and locked into imperialist exploitation, not Code Pink and the Tea Party’s reactionary parasite constituency.

The Tea Party almost never brings up the spending on military.  In fact many of them are current or former troops and embedded in military culture.  Many Tea-baggers wear military caps and insignia and flirt with armed insurrection against the federal government.  Their message of reducing taxes and spending is one based on narrow labor-aristocratic interest, not of concern for non-Amerikans facing direct and proxy aggression from the US.

In their attempt to find “common ground,” Code Pink’s politics in essence are shown as no different from the Tea Party’s. Both pander to the base interests of Amerikans; neither question where Amerikan wealth truly comes from. Rather than raising principled opposition to the most murderous system the world has ever seen, US-led imperialism, Code Pink reveals their chauvinism as they opportunistically  ignore the blatant racism and jingoism of the Tea Party movement. Code Pink will likely find few supporters within the Tea Party movement, as many of the latter consider the former no more than traitors and subversives. Medea Benjamin and other modern Don Quixotes, rather than standing in principled solidarity with the world’s people, comes off as big chauvinists in an attempt to find and activate a mythical progressive Amerika majority.

The Amerikan right and the Amerikan “left” agree on one thing: Amerikans should have more. They do not question that Amerikans should have so much, just an argument over how it should be directed.  We at RAIM say the opposite, Amerikans deserve less.  They got their wealth from the beginning of their history  through stolen land, labor, and resources.  They already get a disproportionate share of the wealth of the world, maintained mainly through the expenditure on the military.  We realize this message will not get us supporters, money, or fame, but we say it anyway because it is the truth based on fact.  Half the world lives off only $2 a day or less.  So we can care less about the menial troubles of an average First Worlder about taxes, gas prices, healthcare, etc.  The oppressed and exploited peoples of the world, in the final analysis, will be the ones who in the end bring down Amerikan imperialism and subsequently all oppression.  We stand with the majority of the world who wants liberation, not for Amerikan morons wanting more.

Video: RAIM Confronting Tea Party Racists

On November 14 2009 there was a nationwide “Tea Party Against Amnesty”,  to spew hate against,  and promote violence against, non-white migrant workers. RAIM Denver went to confront these racists a few months back (see here). Someone sent a video from their side to us, here it is with some added comments.  RAIM pointed out that these crackers are on stolen land, that this is not only Mexican land but Cheyenne land and other indigenous lands.  We urged youth liberation by urging their youth to marry non-white people to piss off their parents.  Also, the tea-crackers claimed not to be racist; yet their racism comes out and is exposed, as they shout wetback, puta, and sneaks at us.  Crackerdom should be confronted whenever it pops up, and RAIM stands against settler Amerikkka.

Blackwater Runs Hi-Tech Dirty War in Pakistan

Blackwater runs hi-tech dirty war in Pakistan

(https://raimd.wordpress.com)

A recent investigation has uncovered a convergence of drone attacks, assassinations, ‘snatch and grab’ operations and intelligence gathering, launched from inside Pakistan and coordinated in part by the two private companies, Xe Services and Total Intelligence Solutions, formerly associated with the private security contractor, Blackwater.

In a recent article for the Nation magazine, journalist Jeremy Scahill exposed a web of covert dirty-war tactics involving Blackwater, the Central Intelligence Agency(CIA) and the US Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC). According to multiple well-placed sources, the military contractor, Xe, as well as a spin-off company, Total Intelligence Solutions (TSI), are providing intelligence for, planning and even carrying out drone bombings, kidnappings and assassinations. “The program puts Blackwater at the epicenter of a US military operation within the borders of a nation against which the US has not declared war,” Scahill says.

As Scahill’s investigation reveals, Blackwater secretly operates in Pakistan mainly through “rolling, no-bid contracts” with the JSOC. Unlike the CIA, which must gain congressional approval for covert operations, the JSOC, and hence Blackwater, does not. According to one of Scahill’s sources, the program through which Blackwater is involved is “so ‘compartmentalized’ that senior figures within the Obama administration and the US military chain of command may not be aware of its existence.”

According to the unnamed sources, Blackwater’s existences runs parallel to and is given cover by a CIA operation in the country. According to the report, many of the recent drone attacks with high civilian death tolls, thought to be carried out by the CIA, were coordinated by Xe and TSI. Of the known drone attacks in Pakistan between January of 2006 and April of 2009, 687 civilians have been killed. More worrisome, the Blackwater outfit in Karachi is said to help plan JSOC covert operations in neighboring Uzbekistan.  Additionally, Blackwater is working for the Pakistani government on a subcontract basis, putting it “on the ground with Pakistani forces in counter-terrorism operations, including house raids and border interdictions.”

For months in Pakistan, rumors have swirled that Blackwater was carrying out operations in the country. Blackwater, Washington and the Pakistani state have all denied this is the case.

In 2001, the Pakistani military-state was an early supporter of Amerika’s crusade against ‘terrorism.’ This alienated the vast Pakistani masses, for whom radical Islam’s message of singling out the ‘Great Satan’ has since resonated. In 2006, a deal was struck between Washington and Islamabad which allowed the JSOC to operate in country under the conditions that if discovered the Pakistani state would deny giving permission and condemn the US for violating its sovereignty. The CIA and Blackwater is working behind-the-scenes to support the Pakistani state, which many analysts say could collapse, leaving a vast array of armaments, including nuclear weapons, into unknown hands.

The current government, led by President Asif Ali Zardari and traditionally-oppositional Pakistani People’s Party(PPP), came to power during the 2008 general elections. Unfortunately, the change of political actors has done little to alter the social conditions on the ground. Military supremacy in the country and US covert operations go on and the still-impoverished Pakistani masses rightly continue to view the state with great skepticism and disdain.  Though the current PPP-led, civilian government may not have knowledge of Blackwater’s involvement, it doesn’t matter. The PPP, Pakistan’s ruling ‘center-left’ party,  has become a foil for imperialism in the region while providing no social reforms, save neo-liberal ones, for the vast masses. Abandoning anti-imperialism and national salvation altogether, the secular ‘social democrats’ represented by the PPP are becoming understandably hated by the masses of Pakistan.

While Blackwater and the CIA are using Central Asia and elsewhere as their playground and the PPP and Western liberals offer cover to imperialism, the masses of the world are lining up against comprador regimes and the imperialist First World. Real revolutionaries are anti-imperialists. The struggle for a new world will not be carried through by becoming part of the system, as the effete PPP has proven, but by leading the movement against imperialism and its agents.

Sources:
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20091207/scahill
http://www.democracynow.org/2009/11/24/blackwaters_secret_war_in_pakistan_jeremy

A Speech by a RAIM Comrade on the 8th Anniversary of the Invasion of Afghanistan

The following was delivered by Comrade Hector of RAIM-Denver on October 7th, 2009, the 8th anniversary of the invasion of Afghanistan. In the speech, the RAIM comrade tells the audience of anti-war and police brutality activists, anarchists and RAIM supporters that the problem is not Bush or Obama, it is Amerika.

“Leonard Peltier is a political prisoner – an artist, a writer, a father whose life has been stolen. Locked away for defending his land. Locked away in Amerikkka’s dungeons. He just sent an open letter to the president. To paraphrase: ‘I am not Bush’s political prisoner. I am your political prisoner now.’ He is Obama’s responsibility. This is an important point, especially for the liberals here whose politics begin and end with ‘throw out the Bush regime.’ Well, Bush is gone. Surprise, surprise. Amerikkka is still at war. Two wars wasn’t enough. Iraq, Afghanistan, and now Pakistan. And Iran is in the cross hairs. A recent poll shows a majority of Amerikans, Republican and Democrat or “Independent,” want to use force on Iran right now. Iran is in the crosshairs and it’s Obama with his finger on the trigger and your average Joe Amerikan cheering him on.

These wars are not just wars of the ‘right wing,’ or ‘conservative, or ‘Republican’ wars. These aren’t Bush’s wars. They are Obama’s now. More accurately, they are Amerika’s wars. And, it will take more to stop these wars, and the next war and the one after that, than marching in the streets holding signs. This shit goes back to 1492, even earlier. The crusaders, KKKolumbus, Manifest Destiny, chattle slavery, the endless imperialist wars of the last century.

In 1492, KKKolumbus sailed the ocean blue.. then he landed and killed everyone who wasn’t European.  Exterminated the Taino peoples. That’s the real story.

Yesterday, it was the US genocide of South East Asia, the propping-up and financing of death squad states in Latin America, the rape and enslavement of Africa. Today it’s killing Pakistanis with unmanned drones. What will it be tomorrow?

The problem is bigger than Democrats and Republicans. Bigger than Bush and Obama. The problem is Amerika, and Amerikans. We can’t let Amerikans, and the Amerikan working class off the hook. Even the poorest Amerikan benefits from imperialism.

Yet Amerikans have the hypocrisy to point their fingers at the Third World. They call the Iranian president a “holocaust denier.” Yet Amerikans are the biggest holocaust deniers on the planet. It was the US that largely exterminated the whole continent of North America, from sea to shining sea — the largest genocide in history, thousands of civilizations gone forever – tens of millions killed by Uncle Sam.

In Zimbabwe, a recent report condemned Mugabe because he ‘only’ paid three percent in compensation to the imperialists during his land reform program. Let me get this straight. The imperialist come to Africa, they steal the land from the Africans, they disrupt the African traditional way of life, the imperialists impose white supremacist terrorist states on Africans, then when those Africans take their land back, the imperialists call it ‘theft’ and impose sanctions to strangle Zimbabwe, to punish the Africans, to make them OBEY. When Mugabe turned the tables and gave land to the poor Africans, he is a ‘thief,’ yet the imperialists think nothing about stealing whole countries as was the case in Zimbabwe or whole continents as was the case in the Americas. The only compensation the Africans received was the whites imposing a terroristic white supremacist state to keep them in bondage. The only compensations the Indigenous received in North America was to be killed or herded into reservations on the worst land, to have their children stolen and culture stripped away.

Remember the pigs earlier today who dared us to cross their invisible line on the ground? The pigs told us that we could not stand on parts of the sidewalk in front of the building? Who the fuck are they to say anything about where we can and can’t go on this land? This is Mexican and Indigenous land. It’s Uncle Sam who squats here on borrowed time. This land will be returned to its rightful owners. These crackers will get a taste of socialism – the power of the Third World over the First World. RAIM opposes the war. More than that, RAIM opposes Amerika and Amerikans.

The vast majority of humanity in the Third World barely survives on about $2.50 a day. Yet, Amerikans and the First World as a whole plop themselves down in front of their stupid boxes, one hand glued to a remote controller, the other in a bag of Cheetos. Amerikans waste their lives away on the back of others. RAIM is out to settle the score. RAIM is going to turn the tables.”

Denver Protests Ongoing Imperialist Wars

Denver Protests Ongoing Imperialist Wars

(raimd.wordpress.com)

October 7 was the 8th anniversary of the start of the current war in Afghanistan by the United States.  A number of national groups in the remaining U.S. anti-war movement called for actions.  Locally the Denver Anti-War Network (DAWN) called for a march many months ago, and it kicked off this day.  Many activists gathered for two separate events in Denver on October 7th, a march against the Afghanistan war, and a “Justice and Peace Jamboree” right after the march.

About 50 people mobilized for a rally and march that started at the Denver Federal Courthouse downtown.   A rally was held there for an hour.  A street theater was held about the situation in Afghanistan.  The crowd consisted of nominal anti-imperialists, anarchists, national liberation supporters, and anti-police brutality activists, along with RAIM members and supporters.   As it was a broad-based march against the war in Afghanistan, there were many who advocated First Worldist, pro-Amerika politics.  RAIM provided many anti-imperialist, anti-Amerika, anti-troop, and pro-Third World signs and slogans to promote our politics.  After the rally the march then set down 16th Street mall.  It was small in comparison to previous anti-war rallies, but was spirited and opted for more charged slogans.  “Number One Terrorist, U.S. Imperialists” were chanted by a large majority of the protesters for much of the march. The protest itself stayed on message, the notable interject of the so-called health care debate in the march was a sign brought by a RAIM comrade: “The Real Health Care Crisis- Amerikan Imperialism.”

Protesters addressed multiple issues in their slogans. “From Iraq to Palestine, Occupation is a Crime” and “No Justice, No Peace, Control the Police” was chanted by the crowd.  The march ended at a military recruitment office along the way.  Visual images of the victims of the war were going to be displayed, for  some truth in advertising in military recruitment, but was prevented by the pigs who were already there blocking the recruitment entrance.

For the small size of the march, the police presence was large. The federal police at the courthouse put cameras in front of and photographed protesters, and generally intimidated those expressing free speech rights.  Before stepping off, a speaker noted one local cop who was involved in a brutality case against a citizen.  He called the pig, who is black, a “twisted uncle tom” through a megaphone. Along the march anti-police brutality activist Shareef Aleem noted the large amount of pigs who followed the peaceful march. The police repression locally was also brought up, as well as the recent piggery against activists in Pittsburgh who were protesting at the G-20 meetings.  Everywhere along the march route Denver pigs were there to meet us.

The after-event, the Justice and Peace Jamboree, was held at a local restaurant and music venue, the Mercury Cafe, and was attended by over 70 people.  It was quite diverse, featuring a moving play about the Israeli settler state entitled Seven Jewish Children; interesting poetry by local poet Lenny C, hip hop by local group the Golden Soldiers; and speeches by local activists for a number of causes and organizations.  Denver RAIM member, Hector, gave a short, powerful speech which highlighted the fact the it’s not Bush or Obama that’s the problem, it’s Amerika.  Several RAIM supporters picked up the latest issue of the RAIM Global Digest and we got a chance to meet and get our message out to new people.

The numbers at this march and rally were expectedly small, as it was one of the first anti-war actions under the Obama adminstration.  On the other-hand, Obamamania has pulled some of the most reformist, pro-Amerika elements out of the anti-war movement, leaving the more radical sectors.  This was evident in Denver, as more moderate activists were absent at this march, leaving space for anti-imperialist slogans and direction.

Nationally the remnants of the anti-war movement called for protests around this anniversary date as Obama escalates war in Afghanistan and Pakistan.  Earlier in a march in Washington DC the corporate media reported almost 100 arrests at the marches there.  It remains to be seen where the anti-war movement will go in the U.S. under Obama.

In the end, marches and protests of 40 people or 40,000, even with anti-imperialist slogans, will not end the war. Revolutionary Anti-Imperialists know occupied peoples can only be truly liberated through their own accord. However, as allies of the oppressed Third World masses in the First World, one thing we can do is build public opinion in favor of their struggle. For those who truly desire change, there is little reason to reach out to the middle ground, water-down our message and pander to a progressive Amerikan majority that doesn’t exist. For revolutionary anti-imperialists, our message to Denver’s anti-war movement is clear: true change will only come through an end to imperialism, through a revolution of the world’s oppressed people against First World imperialism and Amerika; those who really support real change must support the Third World struggle and the defeat of Amerika.

Afghan Locals Give U.S. Occupiers Proper Goodbye

Afghan Locals Give U.S. Occupiers Proper Goodbye

(https://raimd.wordpress.com)

On Saturday, October 3rd hundreds of insurgents stormed two remote military bases near the Pakistan border in Afghanistan. A proper goodbye– the attack killed eight occupiers from Fort Carson and injured many more as they were preparing to relocate from rural outposts to larger bases in more populated areas as part of a revised strategy by NATO war-planners.

This attack comes as the U.S. NATO Commander in Afghanistan, Stanley McChrystal, urges President Barack Obama to add 40,000 more Amerikan occupation troops on top of the 68,000 already there or en route. In a speech in London on October 1st, McChrystal acknowledged that the NATO occupiers are unpopular and advocated a “counter-insurgency” as opposed to “counter-terrorist” strategy, saying the latter was too narrow and would mean allowing Afghanistan to become “Chaos-istan.”

In reality, the U.S. and NATO are fighting a losing war: one of occupation waged by imperialists. Recent emphasis has been placed on training Afghan military and police forces to carry out the duties of the occupiers. However, the militarily imposed Afghan puppet government is also highly unpopular, as demonstrated by evidence of widespread fraud in the country’s recent elections. Saturday’s attacks were directed both at foreign occupation forces and those of the comprador state. U.S. military officials described the insurgents as members of “tribal militias,” a code word for fighters who receive support from the common Afghan rural masses.

Those occupiers killed in Saturday’s attack did not die heroically or with honor. Rather, they were killed as part of resistance by the Afghan people to foreign occupiers and a puppet regime. Rather than dying for abstract ideas such as “freedom,” the eight troops from Colorado Springs died for just the opposite reason: depriving Afghans of their freedom by enforcing imperialist rule.

Amerikan troops serve the interest of imperialism; therefore, they are rightly hated everywhere people are oppressed and exploited by imperialism. Unlike in Colorado Springs and the U.S., in Afghanistan there will be no mourning for these eight fallen Amerikans. For the Afghan masses, they are simply eight more dead occupiers.

Sources:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/05/world/asia/05afghan.html
http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_13485884
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/02/world/asia/02general.html

Upcoming Anti-Imperialist Actions in Denver: No War In Afghanistan, No Kolumbus Day

If you didn’t feel there is enough to do around Denver fighting imperialism, this week will be eventful.

First, this Wednesday a march, rally, and after event to protest U.$. wars in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq. Join RAIM as we do our thing and provide platform for revolutionary, anti-imperialist politics.

Then join us this Saturday as we oppose the celebration of indigenous peoples genocide (aka Kolumbus Day).  This year’s protest will be more low key but just as creative in letting oppressors know they are oppressors.

From the Denver Anti-War Network:

EIGHT YEARS IN AFGHANISTAN IS ENOUGH

March and Rally to Demand US Out of Afghanistan

DENVER, October 5, 2009— On Wednesday, October 7, as part of a month of actions around the country, the Denver Anti War Network will lead a march and rally to call for an end to the illegal US occupation of Afghanistan. The rally will be from 4:30– 5:30 at the Federal Courthouse, 19th & Stout, downtown Denver…

The march will be followed by a Justice and Peace Jamboree at the Mercury Café, 2199 California, at 7:00pm, where participants will enjoy music and poetry and share ideas for continuing opposition to the war…

and:

Saturday, October 10, 2009 at 9:30am

Demonstration at State Capitol

Confront the Racist Kolumbus Day Parade!

Oppose Settler Colonialism!

Obama: more troops, more imperialism, more of the same

Obama: more troops, more imperialism, more of the same

(raimd.wordpress.com)

The election of Barack Obama as president was promised as bringing a different direction to U.S. foreign policy.  But as recent news shows, Obama will continue U.S. imperialist policies, for one by increasing the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan.  In the beginning of his term this year he kept on Bush family crony Robert M. Gates as Secretary of “Defense.”  Gates announced recently the Amerikan military will increase the number of overall troops in service for these new imperialist wars.  Contributing to this increase are the Amerikan people, looking for jobs in the faltering economy, taking on military positions.

On Monday July 20 “Defense” Secretary Gates announced a “temporary” increase of the size of the army up to 22,000 troops.  This increase is to meet the “persistent pace” of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to Gates (1).

The increase is to occur over three years. In the end, the size of the army will increase to 569,000 active duty soldiers.  Previously, in 2007, Gates had given a goal of an expansion to 547,000 soldiers. This previous target was reached in May.

There are currently 130,000 Amerikan troops in Iraq, not including mercenaries and contractors. Also, by the end of 2009, there will be 68,000 troops in Afghanistan.  Obama’s promised removal of troops from Iraq has been carried out at a snail’s pace, at best. This removal is really a shift, or “phased redeployment,” of more troops from Iraq into Afghanistan. Obama is not pulling back Amerikan Empire, so much as shifting its focus.  In fact, only combat forces will be withdrawn from Iraq by August 2010, and other troops will be scheduled to remain at least until December 2011 (2).  Most withdrawals are not even scheduled until March 2010. In fact there have been no troop withdrawals since Obama came into office. In addition, Gates expressed concern that future U.S. operations in Iraq and Afghanistan would not have enough boots on the ground.  Military advisors and senators are advocating more troops be sent to Afghanistan than originally planned (3).

Some have pointed to some of Obama’s policies, like the defunding of the F-22 fighter program, as a sign of Obama’s dovish credentials. However, the defunding of this single program happened in the larger context of increasing the size of the military, including increasing funding for other fighter jets (4).

Obama, Another Side of the Coin

Despite what Amerikan pseudo-leftists say, to the world’s majority it does not matter who would have become U.S. president.  The United Snakes continues its tradition of militaristic policies.  All Obama changed was perception.  Amerikan public opinion tired of the war in Iraq not for any principled anti-imperialist reasons but because the war was becoming too costly; in Amerikan money, Amerikan lives, and to Amerika’s global image.  This last one was a key, for under Bush world opinion of the U.S. was lower than at any point in history. The jingoistic superpatriotism represented by McCain-Palin carried less appeal as the U.S. was being wound down in the resistance in Iraq.  Obama came along to shift world opinion of Amerika to a more positive view.  Amerikans also felt better in their relationship to the world under Obama, even though there has been no change to the foreign policies that enrich all Amerikans.  With a more positive world opinion, Amerikans are more willing now to embrace Amerikan imperialism, even joining its military to defend it.

Reasons For the Increase of Volunteer Troops

The New York Times also notes that the Pentagon, without the aid of conscription, will increase the size of its army by traditional means of recruiting and retention.  Since the advent of the all-volunteer armed forces over 30 years ago the military has relied on recruiting to fill its ranks.  Most have to be actively recruited.

The Iraq War made military service during a sustained military conflict unpopular.  The military could no longer count on those enlisting for easy college money or signing bonuses, obtained without leaving their bases and incurring risk (5).  Even the National Guard, with less commitment, suffered unmet recruiting goals (6). Recruiters talked about having “rolled doughnuts,” slang for going an entire month without recruiting anyone.

Also, antiwar activists, dealing with an all-volunteer army, took on the strategy of counter-recruitment to symbolically hurt the war effort. It met with mixed success in deterring some young people from the military (7), with many students removing their names from military recruiting lists that schools are required to give (8).  Military recruiters became more aggressive in their efforts.  But the recent recession has helped enlistment and re-enlistment.

In mentioning Gates’ proposed increase of troops this year, the New York Times also mentions that recruitment has been aided by those looking for a job in the recession, and troops reenlisting beyond their scheduled terms due to the job market.  Another source says military recruitment was up 9 percent from 2008, and potential soldiers are including not only those out of high school but those with bachelors and master degrees, looking for a steady paycheck without fears of layoffs (9).

Overall, the opposition to the Iraq War in the U.S. increased not because of any principled opposition to its military committing atrocities for profit, but because it was seen as too costly and unwinnable for Amerikans.  Even with the global recession Amerikans are still better off than the great majority of the world.  They still willingly join its military to further imperialist aggression in order to objectively keep their privileged position in the world.

The U.S. is the principal global empire. It must assert itself militarily around the globe.  To do this, it needs warm bodies for its never ending military adventures. Since 1900 the U.S. has continuously engaged in military confrontations of some kind or other nearly every year since. This will continue to be the case for the next hundred years, or until U.S. imperialism is defeated.

Domestic opposition will not stop aggression against the Third World. The liberal anti-war movement came to a halt with the end of the Bush administration. Most in the anti-war movement swallowed Obama’s lies. Progressives in the U.S. are deluding themselves if they still think the Obama administration will initiate major changes in U.S. foreign policy.

The masses of the Third World are also deluded, if they buy into Obama’s reinvention of Amerika. After all, recent polls show that Obama has improved the image of the U.S. in the Third World. The reality is that Obama and Bush are just two sides of the same imperialist coin. Given the promise of a paycheck Amerikans in their self-interest will help in the effort to expand the war machine. Amerikans have a material interest in maintaining imperialism. They are the ones who benefit, after all.  The masses of the world should not rely on opposition inside Amerika to stop imperialist wars.  If imperialism is to be smashed, then it will be the Third World masses who wield the hammer.  If First-Worlders support humanity they will side with the Third World masses in this endeavor.

Sources:

(1). Bumiller, Elizabeth.  “Gates Says U.S. Army’s Size Will Grow by 22,000.”  New York Times.  July 20, 2009.  http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/21/world/21military.html

(2). “With Pledges to Troops and Iraqis, Obama Details Pullout.”  New York Times.  February 27, 2009. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/28/washington/28troops.html

(3)  Bumiller, Elizabeth.  “With Boots in Iraq, Minds Drift to Afghanistan.”  New York Times.  July 31, 2009.  http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/01/world/middleeast/01memo.html

(4).  Drew, Christopher.  “Obama Wins Crucial Senate Vote on F-22.”  New York Times.  July 21, 2009.    http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/22/business/22defense.html

(5). Davey, Monica.  “Recruiters Try New Tactics to Sell Wartime Army.”  New York Times.  June 14. 2004.  p. 1, 8.

(6). Moniz, Dave.  “For Guard Recruiter, a Tough Sell.”  USA Today.  www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-03-07-recruits-cover_x.htm.  Accessed 3/8/2005.

(7). Some examples of earlier counter-recruitment strategies are here:  Weill-Greenberg, Elizabeth.  “Calling All Soldiers:  Military Recruiters Face Resistance From Young Anti-War Activists.”  New York Amsterdam News.  February 24, 2005.  Accessed from www.commondreams.org 3/8/2005; and Hampson, Rick.  “‘Counter-recruiters’ Shadowing the Military.” USA Today.  www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-03-07-counter-recruiters_x.htm.  Accessed 3/8/2005.

(8). “Students Want Off Recruiting Lists.”  Toward Freedom.  November 16, 2005.  http://towardfreedom.com/home/content/view/667/78/ Accessed 11/21/2005.

(9). “Slumping Economy Helping With Military Recruitment.” http://www.wjactv.com/news/20277281/detail.html

1,013 Afghan Civilians Killed in First Half of 2009

1,013 Afghan Civilians Killed in First Half of 2009

https://raimd.wordpress.com

A U.N. mission has reported that 1,013 civilians have been killed in combat in Afghanistan during the first half of the year, up 24% from the same period in 2008. Civilian deaths have not been restricted to Afghanistan. On January 23rd, less than three days after his inauguration, President Barack Obama ordered a drone attack into Pakistan which locals say killed three civilians.

Much of the world has been bamboozled by the Obama presidency. However, the people of Afghanistan and Pakistan are finding out that Obama is just another imperialist butcher. They likely won’t be the last as the Obama administration continues to redirect the “War on Terror.” The people of the Third World will not take such aggression lying down. This past July was the bloodiest month for occupation forces in Afghanistan since the start of the October 2001 invasion.

Sources:
http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/related/303214
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article5575883.ece

Amerikans Support Escalation in Afghanistan

(raimd.wordpress.com)

Nearly two-thirds of Amerikans back President Barack Obama’s recent decision to strengthen occupation forces of Afghanistan, according to a new public opinion poll conducted by the Washington Post and ABC News. These most recent figures are part of Amerikans’ long standing support for the onset, and in this case escalation, of imperialist wars of aggression.

Amerikans support imperialist aggression because they benefit from imperialist exploitation. Rather than a conscious decision or an instance of ‘false consciousness,’ Amerikans’ continual outward aggression is part of a historically formed class consciousness. According to this latest poll, support for a heightened occupation cuts across both Republican and Democratic voters.

Amerikans are a petty class of exploiters inseparable from U.S. imperialism itself. While they regularly support wars against Third World peoples, it is all too convenient for them to turn around and blame the leaders chosen to execute such wars when things don’t go well or when they’re called out as a nation of aggressors. With this latest poll showing clearer than ever Amerikans are in the imperialist camp, they should expect nothing less than resistance and reciprocity from those they favor violence against.

http://abcnews.go.com/PollingUnit/story?id‭=‬6957836
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2003-03-16-poll-iraq_x.htm
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/polls/vault/stories/data081202.htm
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,179449,00.html?iid=fb_share

Obama Signs Stimulus Bill, Escalates War in Afghanistan

Obama Signs Stimulus Bill, Escalates War in Afghanistan

(raimd.wordpress.com)

As part of a country-wide tour, Barack Obama arrived in Denver to sign the 787 billion dollar “economic stimulus package.” The bill was signed at a private media event held at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. Obama sycophant Governor Bill Ritter laughably described the event as “historic.”

The event was used to pimp Blake Jones, President of the Denver based Namaste Solar Energy Inc. The Obama-backed package includes provisions for renewable energy and “green jobs,” topics at the forefront of the media spectacle. For his part Jones didn’t skip a beat when it came to hopping on the “green” social-fascist bandwagon:

“And we’re at a crossroads. We cannot afford to be left behind. We must seize this opportunity to make sure that United States takes a leadership position in this movement.”

And, “…with every green job we create, our nation takes one step closer toward achieving energy independence, strengthening national security, bolstering the economy, protecting the environment and improving public health, all [at] the same time.”

Though Obama’s speech was mostly rosy rhetoric designed to make Amerikans feel good about themselves, he made sure to qualify this happiness by saying, “…we know we can’t power America’s future on energy that’s controlled by foreign dictators.” What Obama is really saying is that Amerika can’t rely on oil and other resources that are subject to the increasingly revolutionary Third World masses.

Obama’s real economic stimulus package was announced the next day: an escalation of the war in Afghanistan. Before any bridges get built, 17,000 troops will be joining the already 33,000 stationed in the war torn country. The domestic solar panel industry notwithstanding, the real engine of the U.S. economy is the exploitation of the Third World.

Both of Obama’s efforts, the so called “economic stimulus package” and his blatant escalation in Afghanistan, will do little to help Amerika in the long run. Be it 50,000 or 100,000 troops, the people of Afghanistan will continue to resist. This latest escalation will only lead to increased tension in Pakistan and throughout the Middle East. Furthermore, any aggressive action by U.S. imperialism is met by politicization and resistance the world over. Two days after Obama announced the escalation, the President of Kyrgyzstan signed a bill giving the U.S. 180 days to vacate the Manas airbase. Currently transporting 15,000 troops and 500 tons of cargo a month to and from Afghanistan, Manas is the U.S.’s only airbase in Central Asia. For all its mighty desperation, U.S. imperialism will be increasingly burned by fires provoked through its own actions.

Sources:

http://www.denverpost.com/commented/ci_11712939
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0902/17/cnr.07.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/18/washington/18web-troops.html
http://www.denverpost.com/nationworld/ci_11745825

May Day Around The World

In our ongoing coverage of Denver’s May Day events we’d also like to take the time to report on events from the rest of the world.

First to Turkey where demonstrators and police clashed. This was the first May Day protest in Istanbul since a 1980 military coup. Prior to that, in 1977 a May Day massacre left 34 radicals dead.

In Kabul student protestors burnt and beat an effigy of George Bush and shouted “Death to Amerika” type slogans. It looks like in Afghanistan students are embracing a revolutionary education.

Hezbollah attended the annual Cairo conference. There they encourage a united resistance to U.S. aggression in the middle east and also championed Iran as a main obstacle against U.S. supremacy in the region.

The Venezuelan state under the leadership of Chavez seized the last privately held oil fields in a move that has nationalized all oil production in the country. Venezuela also formally announced that they would be pulling out of the IMF and World Bank: another blow to western imperialism.

And worldwide, 24,000 people died from starvation or malnutrition.

So what will you be doing between now and next year to fight imperialism?!