PROGRESSIVE NEWS OF INTEREST

Following are two progressive news items of interest which
were included the current issue of the biweekly Mid-Hudson
(N.Y.)  Action Newsletter/Calendar of Sept. 15, 2001--number
49.  We have eliminated all the calendar items and other
material. It is published in the town of New Paltz, N.Y., by
the Mid-Hudson National People's Campaign and the local
branch of the International Action Center.

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AFTER THE WORLD TRADE CENTER

By Jack A. Smith

All progressive people grieve for the dead and injured in
this week's terrible terror attacks and sympathize with
their families and loved ones.  And we all strongly oppose
the use of terror methods against innocent civilians
anywhere in the world, whether in the form of small-group
terrorism experienced in New York City and Washington, or
state terrorism against civilians as practiced with
appalling frequency in recent years.

At the same time, we totally oppose President Bush's plans
to exploit this moment of national trauma by launching, in
his words Sept. 14, "the first war of the 21st century."  On
the same day, the Defense Department prepared the American
people to accept a massive military retaliation in coming
days or weeks against targets not yet revealed.  "We will
use all our resources," emphasized Deputy Defense Secretary
Paul Wolfowitz.  "It's not just simply a matter of capturing
people and holding them accountable, but removing the
sanctuaries, removing the support systems, [and] ending
states who sponsor terrorism."  In other words, all-out war
against a variety of targets, probably including the
blameless--a tragedy that will without question provoke
further episodes in the U.S.  similar to those of Sept. 11.

In addition to the pain and suffering of the victims and
their families, a reprehensible byproduct of this week's
events is the eruption of anti-Arab and anti-Muslim
hostility in our country, too frequently leading to verbal
and physical abuse. We expect that all progressive people
will strongly denounce this form of vicious racism.  We must
stand with our Arab and Muslim brothers and sisters in this
moment of travail, just as we stand with innocent civilians
victimized in New York and Washington. At this writing,
several incidents have also taken place where authorities
have generated headlines by arresting innocent Arab or
Muslim people, then releasing them after hours of grilling.
We must also demand an end to such arbitrary arrests.

Although some organizations have canceled their scheduled
protest events in Washington later this month because of the
World Trade Center catastrophe, the International Action
Center is not only intent upon demonstrating against the
Bush administration in the nation's capital Saturday,
Sept. 29, as planned, but it has refocused its protest to
concentrate on the dangers of massive retaliation and
racism.  We urge all progressives in the Mid-Hudson region
to join this most timely protest.

It was a travesty for the government and media to define the
attacks in Washington and New York as "another Pearl
Harbor," in order to convince the American people to support
a war. Pearl Harbor symbolizes an attack by a strong
imperialist power, supported by an axis of powerful cohorts,
with the intention of destroying the U.S. in a world war.
This week's terrorism, despite the loss of thousands of
lives, was not an act of war by any rational interpretation
of the term.  Evidently, George Bush is out to start a war
if an enemy can be located.  Out of such a contrived
perspective will issue clarion calls to increase our already
bloated defense budget, a drumbeat of demands to expand and
further project U.S.  military prowess, commands to swiftly
construct a provocative anti-missile network, myriad
justifications for vastly increasing domestic surveillance,
and legislative proposals for "anti-terrorist" laws that
will significantly compromise our democratic freedoms and
civil rights.  The result of such maneuvers may well be an
endless spiral of terror and counter-terror, abroad and at
home.

Tuesday's deplorable terror attacks did not occur in a
political vacuum, despite the mass media's effort to depict
the events as simply the product of Middle Eastern "madmen"
with "no regard for human life" driven by fundamentalist
religious beliefs to hate the United States.  In reality,
Washington's role in the Middle East, which it has dominated
since the end of World War 2 to control the region's vast
petroleum resources, must be carefully examined to determine
the roots of our present situation.

The award-winning British journalist and filmmaker John
Pilger wrote an article for Znet Sept. 14 that summed up
U.S.-Middle East relations.  Arguing that the terror attacks
took place only after a long history of grievances, he wrote
in part: "An estimated 200,000 Iraqis... died during and in
the immediate aftermath of the slaughter known as the Gulf
War [where the U.S. lost a handful of soldiers]. This was
never news that touched public consciousness in the West.
At least a million civilians, half of them children, have
since died in Iraq [in the last decade] as a result of a
medieval embargo imposed by the United States and
Britain. In Pakistan and Afghanistan, the Mujadeen, which
gave birth to the fanatical Taliban, was largely the
creation of the CIA [which used them against the USSR]. The
terrorist training camps where Osama bin Laden, now
'America's most wanted man,' allegedly planned his attacks,
were built with American money and backing. In Palestine,
the enduring illegal occupation by Israel would have
collapsed long ago were it not for U.S. backing.  Far from
being the terrorists of the world, the Islamic peoples have
been its victims....It is only a few years ago that the
Islamic fundamentalist groups, willing to blow themselves up
in Israel and New York, were formed, and only after Israel
and the U.S. had rejected outright the hope of a Palestinian
state, and justice for a people scarred by imperialism."

Commenting in a similar vein, Professor Steve Breyman of New
York's Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, wrote Sept. 13 that
"The best way to prevent similarly motivated future
terrorist attacks on the U.S. is to rapidly reevaluate and
strongly modify U.S. foreign policy toward the Middle
East.... The most urgent, intelligent, economical, and
humane measure to prevent terrorism is adoption of a just,
fair, and balanced policy toward Israel and Palestine. This
has been the right thing to do for many years. It is needed
now more than ever."

Another important part of the motivation for the attack
stemmed from economic, social and political frustrations
that exist throughout much of Asia, Africa and Latin America
as a result of Washington's international policies.  The
U.S. is the most powerful national security state in
history, and dominates the globe militarily (with troops in
over 50 countries), economically, politically and, in many
places, culturally as well.  Its enemies, especially since
the implosion of the Soviet Union, routinely are crushed.
Is Yugoslavia "acting up?"  Let's bomb 'em for 78 days and
then fix their elections till they get rid of Milosevic.  Is
Iraq's Saddam Hussein "acting up?"  Let's starve the
population and deprive them of medicine, clean drinking
water and everything necessary for survival until they kick
him out.  Almost 1.5 million deaths later, an American
secretary of state says, "it's worth the price." Is Cuba
remaining socialist?  Let's blockade and subvert them for
four decades.  Is Nicaragua a problem?  Or Guatemala or El
Salvador or Grenada or Panama or Chile or Vietnam or Korea
or Iran or Angola or, or...."  The U.S., together with its
subordinate allies from the industrialized nations, are
masters of all they survey.  But more than 80% of the people
of the world are not members of this exclusive club.  They
are, for the most part, the powerless former colonized
peoples whose labor and resources have been exploited for
generations by this rich man's club.  In recent years, the
globalizaiton of capital--which has created spectacular
wealth for the relative few--has desperately impoverished
billions of people.  And then Washington is shocked, shocked
to be informed of manifestations of antagonism toward its
humanitarian, democratic presence in the world.

What should progressive people do about the current
situation after paying their respects to this week's victims
of terrorism?

It seems to us that every effort must be made to stop the
Bush administration from exacting bloody vengeance in a war
or near-war with missile attacks, bombardments and possibly
even invasions resulting in widespread casualties.  Those
responsible for the terror attacks should be tracked down,
arrested, tried as criminals, and sentenced--but not used as
pretexts for engaging in a violent muscle-flexing catharsis
intended to demonstrate the futility of threatening the lion
in his lair.  Suicide bombers by definition will not be
impressed by massive retaliation; it will in fact be an
invitation to try again.  It is also important to oppose
providing the Pentagon and assorted policing authorities
with billions of additional dollars for new weapons systems
and the like.  And we should be especially vigilant against
proposals to exchange democratic rights for enhanced
"anti-terrorist" security measures, keeping in mind Benjamin
Franklin's 1759 warning that, "They that give up essential
liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither
liberty nor safety."

Lastly, genuine national security and freedom from terror
depends primarily on a reevaluation of America's role in the
world; on taking sincere steps to end global poverty and
inequality; and on constructing a foreign policy based on
generosity, respect and fairness toward all peoples.  This
won't happen anytime soon, but it is worth fighting for all
the same because it not only would genuinely protect our
country against terrorism, but also serve as a splendid
humanitarian memorial to the victims of Sept. 11, who will
forever remain in our hearts.

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LET'S GO TO WASHINGTON!

A March on Washington and rally outside the White House will
take place on Saturday, Sept. 29, focused on opposition to
the new war threatened by the Bush administration in the
aftermath of the terror attacks earlier this week and to
growing anti-Arab and anti-Muslim racism.

The International Action Center (IAC) originally planned the
Sept. 29 event as a rally primarily against President Bush's
foreign and domestic policies during a week of scheduled
protests by scores of groups, largely in opposition to the
policies of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank.
The Bush administration's war preparations plus the need to
defend Arabs and Muslims have been pushed to the top of the
agenda.  Other aspects of Bush's program will remain
targets, of course.

Many of the organizations involved in the IMF/WB protests on
other days may drop their plans because the two institutions
of global capital are expected to cancel their joint
meetings over the weekend of Sept.  29-30.  Washington
police, anticipating massive protests and civil
disobedience, encouraged the two world bodies to postpone
their meetings.  The Latin American Solidarity Conference, a
coalition of 40 groups, is meeting this weekend to determine
whether or not to conduct their own Sept. 29 protests in
view of the tragedy in New York and Washington.  There is a
fair chance the LASC will go ahead with the protest,
probably joining up at some point with the IAC march and
rally.  Also being reevaluated this weekend as a result of
the attacks is the Sunday, Sept. 30, rally against
globalization organized by a number of progressive groups
including the AFL-CIO.

We have no information about whether D.C. authorities will
go ahead with earlier plans to erect a 9-foot fence around
some 40-square blocks of downtown Washington, a plan devised
when the IFM/WB meeting were expected to draw tens of
thousands of demonstrators, including large contingents of
people willing to offer civil disobedience.  Since the
attack on the Pentagon, however, it is expected the fence
will be erected.  The IAC has long secured march and rally
permits, and the protest is set to be legal and peaceful,
but the authorities want to shift the action to a point more
distant from the White House.  This is being worked out.

The Sept. 29 march and rally will emphasize the need for
activists to oppose plans to launch massive military
retaliation in response to the terror attacks this week, to
stand with Arab and Muslim people in the U.S., and all
people of color, against racism.  In a statement Sept. 13,
the IAC declared: "Now is the time for all people of
conscience, and all people who oppose racism and war to come
together.  The government is attempting to limit our civil
liberties and to create a climate in which it is impossible
for progressive people to speak their mind.  The Bush
administration seeks to take advantage of this crisis to
militarize U.S. society with an expansion of police powers
that will restrict basic democratic rights.  If you support
civil liberties and oppose racism and war, join us Sept. 29
in front of the White House."  The action also insists "that
the government pay for rebuilding New York City and
compensate the victims of the Sept. 11 attack and their
families, many of whom have lost not only loved ones but
also jobs and healthcare benefits."

In addition, of course, the protest will condemn the Bush
administration's general program because "It's been eight
months since George W. Bush assumed the presidency and it
feels like eight years.  Good-bye Kyoto global warming
accords.  Good-bye arms control treaties.  Good-bye
surpluses.  Good-bye Alaska wildlife preserve.  Good-bye
affirmative action programs.  And if the White House gets
its way, good-bye abortion rights and Social Security as we
know it.  It doesn't have to be 'good-bye to all that.'  We
have choices: We can do nothing but nurse our political
grievances and hope to get a better deal in the next
presidential election (lots of luck!).  Or we can take
action now to create sufficient mass political pressure to
forestall further "good-byes" to social programs that the
working people of our country fought for decades to
attain. We're for taking action now, in Washington on
Saturday, Sept. 29."

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