U.S. imperialism needs to control militarily whatever it can of the world’s energy supplies. This hard fact underlies U.S. rulers’ selective response to uprisings and crackdowns across North Africa and the Middle East, and enables us to make sense of these responses.
Libya contains 42 billion barrels of oil and over 1.3 trillion cubic meters of gas. Testifying before the Senate on April 6, Richard Haass, president of the Rockefeller think-tank Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) representing the dominant wing of U.S. capitalists, said: “U.S. interests in Libya simply do not warrant such an investment [of ground war]…” But nevertheless, Libya’s oil and gas resources do make it worth killing Libyans from the air — invoking a phony “responsibility to protect” Libyan citizens — while saving U.S. resources for strategically more important areas.
Meanwhile, hypocrite-in-chief Obama stands by as Syrian ruler Assad slaughters protesters — even mourners — since that country possesses little oil and gas. U.S. imperialism’s top oil source, Saudi Arabia, holds a hundred times more crude than Syria. So, when demonstrations in neighboring Bahrain — where the U.S. Fifth Fleet is stationed — threatened to spill over the Saudi border, Obama, instead of “protection,” saw a “responsibility to suppress.” The invading Saudi troops that shot Bahraini protesters got a White House green light.
Main U.S. Bosses Favor All-out Gulf War and/or World War over Ground Strikes at Individual Foes
The Israel Lobby in the U.S. (ignoring Israeli massacres of workers in Palestine) howls at Obama’s “shameful U.S. inaction on Syria’s massacres.” (Washington Post editorial, 4/22): “It [Syria] is Iran’s closest ally; it supplies Iranian weapons to Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in the Gaza Strip for use against Israel.”
However, Exxon Mobil-JP Morgan Chase, the dominant wing of U.S. capitalists — whom Obama strives to serve — keeps its eyes on the Saudi grand prize. New York Times scribe and CFR member David Sanger explained: “The Europeans, and some of Mr. Obama’s political opponents at home, sense a lack of commitment. Inside the White House, the opposite argument is made — that after a bruising decade of misadventures, the United States is preserving American power for the moments when truly vital interests need to be protected.” (NY Times, 4/24)
In 1980, following Exxon’s ouster from oil-rich Iran, Democrat U.S. president Jimmy Carter declared access to Persian Gulf oil and gas as being a supreme U.S. “vital interest,” to be defended or regained “by military force.”
In his April 6 Senate testimony, CFR president Haass clarified the main wing’s focus on gearing up for conflict throughout the entire Gulf and with North Korea and China: “Far more important than Libya for U.S. interests in the region are Egypt, Syria, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Jordan, and Iran. The United States also needs to reserve resources for other parts of the world (the Korean Peninsula comes to mind), for possible wars of necessity, for military modernization central to our [U.S. rulers’] position in the Pacific.” Even as they hold oil profits and control of supplies above all else, U.S. rulers’ power has limits.
The only thing holding Obama back from putting GI boots on Libyan soil, or attacking Syria, is not moral scruples, but his ruling-class masters’ need for larger wars. Haass named Syria only in the context of a general Gulf land invasion by U.S. forces.
Obama-McCain-Rockefeller
Imperialists ‘Protect’ Libyan Workers By Bombing Them
War criminal and major strategist Anthony Cordesman, who now toils for the Rockefeller-funded Center for Strategic and International Studies after decades at the Pentagon said: “France, Britain, the U.S. and other participating members of the [NATO] Coalition need to shift to the kind of bombing campaign that targets and hunts down Qaddafi’s military and security forces....Qaddafi, his extended family, and his key supporters need to be targeted for their attacks on Libyan civilians, even if they are colocated in civilian areas....This kind of operation cannot be ‘surgical’ — if ‘surgical’ now means minimizing bloodshed.” (CSIS website, 4/20)
Obama’s bosses intend to “protect” Libyan workers from Qaddafi by blowing them to bits. Cordesman wrote on the eve of a visit to Libyan rebels by John McCain, whom he advises. McCain’s trip had two related goals: boosting U.S. imperialist interventionism and discrediting isolationist GOP Tea Partiers, who obstruct the Rocekefeller-led rulers’ agenda.
Big Oil & Qaddafi Hedge Their Bets, Value Profits over Workers’ Lives
Qaddafi is still holding on despite the imperialists’ willingness to launch more intense air strikes — including U.S. predator drones. The Libyan dictator is hedging his bets, possibly hoping to make a deal with his enemies, with whom he’s been making deals for decades.
Exxon & Co.’s owners know that air raids (unless nuclear ones, which don’t seem worth it here) seldom turn the tide, as proven in Vietnam. So, with Joint Chiefs of Staff boss Mike Mullen talking of a stalemate in Libya, U.S. rulers, allied imperialists and Big Oil are also hedging their bets there. As Businessweek magazine reported weeks into the “allied” campaign (4/14), “Most foreign companies are not taking sides. That appears to be particularly true of the U.S. companies, among them Marathon Oil, ConocoPhillips and Hess.”
Oil Bosses Plan An October Meeting with Qaddafi
Exxon, British Shell and BP more brazenly remain number-one sponsors of Qaddafi’s National Oil Company’s scheduled October 2011 investor conference in Tripoli. And even as NATO bombs rain down on his compound, the equally-opportunist, profit-hungry Qaddafi entices Western firms: “Only 25% of Libya’s surface territory [has been] explored to date.” (oilandgaslibya.com)
Some see in the latest revolts a promise of liberation. Such potential may very well exist whenever masses risk their livelihoods and lives to mobilize against the rulers. But without a class-conscious, revolutionary outlook and a working-class army led by a working-class party to fight for it, more profit wars and exploitation are inevitable. The “Arab Spring” is a signal to keep rebuilding the international communist movement led by PLP.
All this means communists and our militant supporters must intensify the spread of our internationalist line, in every mass organization to which we belong — as is happening in shops and unions, among GI’s, in schools and colleges, community groups and churches. From Colombia to Palestine, Mexico to Haiti, Pakistan to El Salvador, the U.S. to Portugal, we must expose capitalism’s inherent exploitation and lead class struggle against it until communist-led revolutionary forces can bury capitalism and establish a society based on workers’ rule for workers’ needs.
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PL’ers, Workers, Students Force Nazis Out of Worcester, Mass.
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- 29 April 2011 91 hits
WORCESTER, MA., February 23 — Members and friends of the Progressive Labor Party (PLP) helped force the Nazis out of Worcester. The North East White Pride had been using the Worcester Library for their monthly meetings, violating Library policy about groups holding monthly meetings as distinct from educational events.
When anti-racist forces here recently found this out, we began to organize to stop the Nazis. Clark University students initiated this effort and PLP joined with them, calling for an anti-Nazi rally at the Library. Within hours of PLP’s organizing efforts, the Library — at the Mayor’s request — told the Nazis they couldn’t meet there due to “public safety concerns.” They did this in order to reduce the number of people at the anti-fascist rally but we still held it.
Over 60 people came — workers and students, Asian, black, Latino and white. We served notice to the bosses that Worcester would not become fertile ground for racist, sexist and fascist ideas and actions. We also sent a message to the Nazis that if they returned there would be strong opposition. We urged all workers, students and soldiers to unite and fight back against these fascist ideas and to build an egalitarian world.
Many people indicated their reasons for coming. One cited the war at home and abroad and explained that we all have a stake in fighting this capitalist profit system, from Wisconsin to Worcester. He said the bosses use racism to divide us and we can’t let that happen here. He connected conditions in Haiti to attacks on workers in the U.S.
The Nazi organizer lives in New Hampshire, about 90 miles from Worcester. One reason the Nazis chose to meet here is the City Council’s vote favoring the Tea Party and its refusal to allow anti-racists to expose Arizona’s racist anti-immigration Laws before that vote. Thus, the city councilors sent a message to the fascists that the Worcester government opposed any anti-racist actions. It was the only city in New England to back the Tea Party in this manner.
The city councilors consider themselves to be liberals. Yet not one came to the anti-Nazi rally. Politicians will never work in our class interest.
Capitalism is a system that allows racist groups like the Nazis, Minutemen and Tea Party to terrorize workers. Its laws, courts and cops serve and protect the rich. We fight for a communist world where the wealth will be shared and where we, the working-class, women and men of all backgrounds, will decide what’s needed. Join us in this struggle!
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Black and White Workers in NJ Back PL’ers’ Anti-Nazi Protest
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- 29 April 2011 91 hits
TRENTON, NJ, April 16 — The Nazis of the National Socialist Movement celebrated Hitler’s birthday in Trenton and Progressive Labor Party was there to protest their celebration. New Jersey Governor Christie continually prattles on about not having enough money for schools, health care, or any of the other services that the working class needs. However, he had the funds to protect the Nazis with SWAT, attack dogs, armored personnel carriers, helicopters and other elements of the state apparatus. This is a clear slap in the face to the mostly black working class of Trenton.
PLP changed tactics on the ground after surveying the area in which the state would permit us to protest. The KKKops had set up a metal detector and a cage and were not allowing any signs or bullhorns. They wanted to set us up in an isolated area, many blocks away from the working class, and with a canal to our backs.
This was too dangerous a scenario due to the fact that we would be in the cage with the anarchists and the New Black Panther Party, whose beliefs are just as racist and destructive as the Nazis. We would not have been able to get to the Nazis who were demonstrating their “freedom of speech” to push hate and genocide, protected by the KKKops. But there was a big chance that the black nationalists would have attacked us for our belief in internationalism and multi-racial unity.
Instead of entering the KKKop’s pens, we chose to rally on a busy corner a few blocks away, where workers and their families were waiting for buses and shopping. While we picketed in front of a Bank Of America branch, the black workers on the corners surrounding us joined in with chants, and several, disregarding the very cold rain, joined our protest. Instead of giving in to the bosses by marching into their cages, PLP decided to stay where the workers were and distributed hundreds of CHALLENGES that were quickly read by workers driving and walking by. We brought communist consciousness to the workers in a way that we would not have been able to do trapped in the official protest area.
It was inspiring to see black workers join us instead of the black nationalists in the New Black Panther Party. Workers had the opportunity to do so, as the Black Panthers rallied across the street from us for a few minutes before marching to where the bosses wanted us to rally. Watching them posturing and then almost getting run over and endangering one of the families with them as they tried to cross the street highlighted the difference between PL’s mass line versus their elitist line.
Despite the cold rain and the state’s intimidation, PLP made an impact on Trenton’s working class. One young black worker in particular enthusiastically took our chant “The only solution, is communist revolution,” then picked up some CHALLENGES, walked across the street and helped to distribute the paper in spite of the cold downpour.
PLP is correct when we say “no free speech for racists” because the bosses need a fascist movement. The last time the Nazis were given free reign to organize, over 100 million men, women, and children died during World War II. The Red Army smashed the Nazis before, and we in PLP work hard to smash them again.
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Beware of Bosses’ School ‘Reform’ Schemes Philly Rulers’ Attack on Teachers Will Hit All Workers
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- 29 April 2011 101 hits
PHILADELPHIA, April 20 — Workers across the country are being forced to supposedly “share” the sacrifices by giving up raises, benefits, pensions, and even their unions! There are some differences among the ruling class as to how the attack should be carried out (out-right smashing of unions as in Wisconsin vs. using the sellouts to “only” roll-back wages and benefits) but in the end, all of the ruling-class plans will be devastating to workers.
Here in Philly, the main brunt of the attack is on teachers. Teachers are being blamed for lousy test scores and the general deterioration of education. The offensive against teachers is more than “just another group of workers being singled out for punishment.” They are a key part of the bosses’ anti-communist arsenal. The schools both teach and reinforce all of the anti-worker lies that the ruling class wants the next generation of workers to learn: (1) anti-communism, the bosses’ trump card in destroying worker fight-backs, (2) racism, the key to worker disunity, (3) individualism, the basic philosophy of capitalism, and (4) patriotism, loyalty to the ruling-class government.
While the bosses need the schools to miss-educate the working class, they can no longer afford the expense that requires. As a result, it is vital that teacher salaries, benefits, and pensions be drastically reduced. Here are some of the ways this is being done in Pennsylvania (and Philadelphia in particular):
• Privatizing “public” education by creating low-wage, non-union, for-profit charter schools.
• Passing laws that require teachers to teach for at least 10 years to receive a pension while also reducing the amount that teachers will receive for each year taught. The Pension “Reform” law passed last September in Pennsylvania requires new teachers to teach for 50 years to receive a full pension!
• Making teaching as oppressive and distasteful as possible (by requiring teachers to do all kinds of extra duties) so that very few people would even consider teaching as a life-time job. In Philly, for those schools that have not been immediately turned into charter schools, the school board has created Promise Academies. These require a longer school day, Saturday school twice a month, and summer school. As of this writing, not enough teachers even want to sign up for this grueling program. In addition, how could a person with family responsibilities participate? Clearly, the Philadelphia School District wants young, low-salary people for these schools.
• Using several “teacher-training” programs (such as Teach for America) in which college graduates get various benefits for two years of teaching in an urban or rural setting. Most of these “teachers” leave after finishing their two years, virtually ensuring a high turnover and low salaries.
The ruling class is still not fully unified as to how to deal with the educational system. On the one hand, they are still using the phony “to-get-a-good-job, you-need-to-get-a-good-education” slogan but the lack of “good” jobs is making this less and less useful. On the other hand, the bosses do need a lot of low-level functionaries (lawyers, accountants, scientists, politicians, etc.) to keep their system running so they can’t simply abandon the schools. For our purposes, it is important that we not fall for any of their supposed “reform” schemes. It is also crucial that we expose the schools as one of the primary ways that the ruling class spreads anti-communism and racism.
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France: Bosses’ Divisive Strategy Victimizes Hard-Hat Strikers
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- 29 April 2011 83 hits
PARIS, April 15 — Construction workers here have won an illusionary “victory” against Eiffage Construction and Eiffage Public Works, two subsidiaries of the country’s third-largest construction company. A two-week strike brought an overall 2% wage “increase,” which is no increase at all given a 2% inflation rate over the past year, which meant a wage-cut for those workers awarded a 1.7% hike.
The strike froze work on a score of construction sites in Paris and on the 282-million-euro (US $385 million) Great Stadium in Lille. It came within legally-mandated annual wage negotiations.
“It’s the first time that a strike has gone on this long against this company, which makes fat profits but never gives anything to its workers,” said a union spokesman.
The workers had been demanding an 85-euro (US $115) across-the-board hike, averaging to a 3% increase. (An across-the-board pay hike narrows the gap between the highest- and lowest-paid workers, whereas a flat percentage raise widens the gap. Unions here generally demand across-the-board increases.)
Eiffage is the third-biggest construction company in France and the fifth-biggest in Europe. The company’s Public Works subsidiary employs 22,000 workers worldwide. The company made a 232-million euro (US $315 million) profit last year. Company chairman Jean-François Roverato is paid over 133,000 euros (US $189,000) a month.
The strike ended in stages, with the bosses punishing the workers who held out the longest. Thus, Paris workers won a 2.5% raise when they ended their strike on April 11. Construction workers in Lille returned on April 13 and got a 2% raise. The Eiffage Public Works workers in Lille held out until today, the 15th, and so obtained an across-the-board 30-euro (US $40) raise for those making less than 1,765 euros (US $2,400) a month and 1.7% for those making more.
Thus, the company’s manipulations generate bad feelings and competition among the various groups of workers. It hopes this divide-and-conquer strategy will bring it victory in the next round of wage negotiations, scheduled for September 2011.
While the company promotes a law-of-the-jungle race to the bottom, it carefully protects itself from competition from rival capitalists. The French government is the largest single shareholder in Eiffage, owning 20% of company shares through the Strategic Investment Fund (SIF) created by President Nicolas Sarkozy in 2008. This Fund protects strategic French companies against hostile takeovers by foreign capitalists. Such is the hypocrisy of the French ruling class, creating divisions within the working class but uniting against foreign capitalists.
This strike showed once again that workers are fighting giant monopolies and the latter’s government, protecting a financial oligarchy. The choice that global capitalism puts before the working class — given that unions work within this system — is either “put yourself at the mercy of capital and sink lower and lower” or “adopt a new weapon.” This weapon is the revolutionary communist Progressive Labor Party. We need to build the PLP whose aim is to destroy a system that offers such phony “victories” and erect one that is run by and for the working class, in which workers collectively reap all the value that our labor creates.
