AUSTRALIA $1.50 · canada $1.50 · france 1.00 euro · new zealand $1.50 · uk £.50 · u.s. $1.00 INSIDE SWP in 1950: ‘Stop US Korea War! US troops out now!’ — PAGE 7 A SOCIALIST NEWSWEEKLY PUBLISHED IN THE INTERESTS OF WORKING PEOPLE vol. 81/no. 17 May 1, 2017 Join SWP Build May Day Socialist Workers Party: to campaign protests: ‘Stop ‘US hands off Korea!’ against US deportations! war moves Amnesty now!’ By Mary Martin by seth Galinsky At the end of the second week of the “I urge working people to join me and SWP spring campaign to introduce turn out in force May 1. March, rally, the party, the Militant and books from take off work, protest Washington’s Pathfinder Press to working people, moves against undocumented workers,” SWP members report they find real Mary Martin, Socialist Workers Party interest in discussing the party’s op- candidate for Seattle mayor, said April position to Washington’s war moves 19. from Korea and Afghanistan to Syria “And join in demanding amnesty for and Iraq. Workers are keen to discuss all immigrant workers here,” Martin and debate what is behind Washing- said. “That’s the road to unify the work- ton’s wars and what workers should ing class, to make us stronger to combat think about them. the growing attacks by the bosses and The goal of the effort is to expand their government on workers and farm- the reach of the party’s publications ers today.” U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Kurtis A. Hatcher and to increase the number of work- In Seattle representatives from the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier, center, and other U.S. warships March 28 in joint exer- ers involved in its activities. M.L. King County Labor Council and cise with Japanese Navy. The Vinson Carrier Strike Group is on its way to Korean waters as part of escalation of U.S. threats against Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. The drive runs concurrently with SEIU Healthcare 1199NW have joined the Militant Fighting Fund, to raise in planning and building the May Day US armada heads to Korea, All US troops, warships, $112,000 to cover the Militant’s op- march. Washington threatens to act fighter bombers out now! erating expenses, reporters’ trips to An increase in the arrests of undocu- flashpoints in the class struggle and to mented workers in the first three months by terry evans The following statement was is- help subsidize subscriptions to pris- of this year, along with threats by At- As a U.S. Navy armada steamed sued April 15 by Osborne Hart, oners. The fund drive chart is on page torney General Jeff Sessions to “ag- to the Korean Peninsula, Washington Socialist Workers Party can- 3. gressively” prosecute immigrants, are continues to threaten to take unilater- didate for mayor of New York. “We urged workers and young fueling May Day protests all across the al military action against the Demo- people we met to join us in calling for country, already expected to be the big- cratic People’s Republic of Korea if I call on fellow working people to U.S. hands off Korea and for the im- gest in years. they conduct a sixth nuclear weapons join the Socialist Workers Party in Continued on page 3 SEIU 32BJ, which organizes thou- test. sands of building porters, maintenance The armada is led by the nuclear- Socialist Workers Spring Campaign to workers and cleaning staff in the North- powered aircraft carrier USS Carl east, is promoting May Day actions Vinson, carrying over 60 warplanes Party statement expand the reach of across the region. Their slogan is “Here and some 7,500 troops, along with ‘Militant,’ books to Stay.” destroyers, cruisers and submarines. speaking out against Washington’s Continued on page 4 Upon entering the East China Sea the threats against the Democratic Peo- April 1–May 23 (week two) strike force will be joined by several ple’s Republic of Korea. Hands off Sub Subs Books Books Continued on page 6 Continued on page 6 Country quota sold quota sold UNITED STATES Washington, Albany 60 32 60 23 Atlanta 65 28 65 11 OAS threaten US rulers press military escalation Chicago 80 37 80 15 Denver 25 12 25 7 Venezuelan Lincoln 20 10 20 7 in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen Los Angeles 110 39 110 23 by Jim Bradley April 4 nerve gas attack in opposi- Miami 35 5 35 14 sovereignty Following its deadly April 6 Toma- tion-held Idlib province. Trump’s war New York 135 48 135 34 by PATRICIA MARSHALL hawk missile attack against the Bashar moves have won bipartisan support Oakland 80 44 80 35 AND RÓGER CALERO al-Assad dictatorship’s Al Shayrat air from Democrats and Republicans Philadelphia 50 12 50 10 Tens of thousands of demonstra- force base in Syria, Washington has Continued on page 8 Seattle 70 42 70 15 tors for and against the government of continued its diplomatic and media Twin Cities 50 14 50 14 President Nicolás Maduro marched in campaign targeting the regime’s dis- Washington 50 21 50 15 Caracas and across Venezuela April regard for human life and brutalities Total U.S. 830 344 830 223 19. against working people there. The Inside These follow almost three weeks of U.S. rulers’ goal is to give cover to Prisoners 15 11 US, state courts halt protests involving tens of thousands, Washington’s escalation of its mili- Arkansas executions 2 UNITED KINGDOM organized by the pro-imperialist par- tary forces in Syria, Iraq, Afghani- London 50 21 50 25 ties of the Democratic Unity Round- stan, and Yemen, seeking to defend Free Hassan Diab, arrested in Manchester 45 19 45 18 table (MUD). Initially called to pro- their economic and political interests Canada, jailed in France 2 Total U.K. 95 40 95 43 test the March 29 decision of the Su- in the region. CANADA preme Court to dissolve the National At an April 12 joint press confer- SWP disclosure exemption Montreal 40 9 40 13 Assembly, demonstrations continued ence with NATO Secretary General hearing is set for April 20 4 Vancouver 30 9 30 2 even when that was reversed follow- Jens Stoltenberg, President Donald Total Canada 70 18 70 15 ing the intervention of Maduro. More Trump called Assad a “butcher,” say- –On the picket line, p. 5– protests took place after opposition ing he bombed Syria because he was New Zealand 40 16 40 11 Support grows for silver leader Henrique Capriles, governor of so moved by “the vicious slaughter miners’ strike in Idaho Australia 35 19 35 13 Miranda state, was banned from hold- of innocent civilians with chemical ing office for 15 years on charges of weapons, including the barbaric kill- Rail workers in UK strike over Total 1,085 448 1,070 305 “administrative irregularities.” ing of small and helpless children and bosses’ moves to cut crew size SHOULD BE 1,100 314 1,100 314 Continued on page 9 babies.” He was referring to Assad’s Free Hassan Diab, arrested in US, state courts halt Arkansas executions Canada, imprisoned in France by Katy LeRougetel secret intelligence agency had received VANCOUVER, British Columbia information from an unidentified — Over 80 people gathered here April source that Diab was involved. How- 5 for a meeting to support the fight to ever, they said, the information could free Hassan Diab from French prison. not be turned over to prosecutors, much The event was sponsored by the British less to the court or the defense. Columbia Civil Liberties Association, So he has never been charged for an Critical Muslim Voices, Independent explosion he has denounced that took Jewish Voices, the Canadian Associa- place three decades ago. In fact, Jean- tion of University Teachers and others. Marc Herbaut, the magistrate in charge The University of Ottawa professor of his case, ordered him released on was arrested in Canada in November bail last October, saying, “There exists 2008, when French authorities demand- consistent evidence tending to establish ed his extradition for alleged involve- that Hassan Diab was in Beirut” at the ment in the bombing of a Paris syna- time of the bombing. But the prosecutor gogue in 1980 — 28 years earlier. Diab, objected and the French Appeals Court AP Photo/Kelly P. Kissel a Canadian citizen, born in Lebanon, overturned the ruling. In a series of see-saw legal battles, from the U.S. Supreme Court to state was extradited to France in 2014, hav- The French government said Diab courts, so far Arkansas authorities have been prevented from implementing ing suffered six years of imprisonment shouldn’t be released because it would plans to execute eight prisoners over an 11-day period, the first executions and house arrest in Canada. cause “public disorder,” said Bayne. scheduled there in more than a decade. First, federal District Judge Kristine Donald Bayne, Diab’s lawyer, went “How can this be true, unless Diab is a Baker issued a preliminary injunction April 15, saying the proposed method over the so-called “evidence” of his political prisoner.” of execution could expose them to “severe pain,” violating the Eighth Amend- guilt, ripping apart every shred put for- Diab has steadfastly maintained his ment protection against “cruel and unusual” punishment. ward by French authorities. In fact no innocence and explained he thinks the The day before the judge’s ruling, supporters of the Arkansas Coalition to charges have ever been filed against bombing was a horrible crime. His de- Abolish the Death Penalty rallied by the state Capitol in Little Rock, above. Diab. His extradition was sought and fense campaign is backed by numerous At issue is use of midazolam, a sedative that is supposed to render inmates granted, and he is being held in solitary unions and Jewish, Muslim and civil unconscious while two other drugs paralyze and kill them. Use of midazolam today because he is “under examina- liberties groups in Canada. has led to botched executions with prolonged torture in at least four states: tion” for a possible crime. The continuing imprisonment of Alabama, Arizona, Ohio and Oklahoma. Diab was studying for university ex- Diab by French authorities is part of Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson rushed to set all the executions for April be- cause the state’s supply of midazolam expires at the end of the month. ams in Beirut at the time of the bomb- their continuing attacks on political The U.S. Circuit Court in St. Louis overturned Baker’s ruling. Then the U.S. ing in Paris. The explosion killed four rights in the name of fighting terrorism. Supreme Court and state Supreme Court put stays on the first two executions, people and injured scores more. The French rulers imposed a state of preventing them from taking place April 17. Two other executions were put off There is no evidence tying Diab to the emergency in November 2015 after at- earlier by court rulings. attack. At first French officials said they tacks in Paris by the reactionary Islam- — Brian Williams used handwriting analysis to show his ic State killed 130 people. The state of handwriting looked like that on a hotel emergency, which grants greater pow- registration form in Paris. It turned out ers to cops and prosecutors and curtails “Canada knew about the lack of evi- who have been jailed, extradited and/or the handwriting they used from Diab workers’ rights, has been extended re- dence, but Canadian extradition law has denied due process under special “anti- was in fact that of his first wife. peatedly since. It is set to run at least a low threshold of proof,” making it vir- terrorism” laws. Many of the victims of Then French authorities said their through July 15. tually certain that extradition requests these attacks have fought for their rights will be granted, Bayne said. Canadian through public campaigns, he said, extradition judges are ordered to pre- pushing them back. sume the evidence presented is credible. The defense campaign is urging peo- So when the French government ple in Canada to press the government asked for his extradition Diab was ar- there to demand Diab’s return from rested and imprisoned. In Canada he France. Pointing to the wide legal lati- was only allowed out on bail by agree- tude allowed in anti-terror cases, Bayne ing to wear a special GPS-equipped said, “it will take ordinary Canadians” Defend Cuba’s socialist revolution! ankle bracelet, but had to pay $2,000 a to pressure the Canadian government to month to cover its expense. act in this case. For the first time, partici- Panelist Hasan Alam from Critical For more information and to get in- pants from the U.S. will join Muslim Voices described well-known volved in defense activities, go to www. the International May Day cases in Canada of Muslim Arab men justiceforhassandiab.org. Brigade to Cuba this year, an

opportunity to learn about the Africa, Asia, and the Middle East: For revolution there. The ‘Mili- The Militant one year send $85 drawn on a U.S. bank to tant’ covers the Brigade, the Vol. 81/No. 17 above address. Closing news date: April 19, 2017 Canada: For one year send Canadian $45 fight to end the U.S. embargo to the Militant, 7107 St. Denis #204, Mon- Militant/Sam Manuel of Cuba and get the U.S. out Editor: John Studer treal, Quebec H2S 2S5. Georgia farmer Willie Head, left, meets Managing Editor: Naomi Craine of Guantánamo now. Braulio Arbeláez at his farm in Cuba, 2015. United Kingdom: Send £26 for one year Editorial volunteers: Róger Calero, Seth by check or international money order Galinsky, Emma Johnson, Jacob Perasso, made out to CL London, 2nd Floor, 83 Maggie Trowe, Brian Williams. Kingsland High St., Dalston, London, E8 2PB, England. SUBSCRIBE TODAY! Published weekly except for one week in January, one week in June, one week in Republic of Ireland and Continental July, one week in December. Europe: Send £85 for one year by check or international money order made out to CL NEW READERS NAME Business manager: Lea Sherman London at above address. The Militant (ISSN 0026-3885), 306 W. France: Send 120 euros for one year to 37th Street, 13th floor, New York, NY q.$5 for 12 issues ADDRESS 10018. Telephone: (212) 244-4899 Diffusion du Militant, BP 10130, 75723 Fax: (212) 244-4947 Paris Cedex 15. New Zealand: Send NZ$55 for one year RENEWAL CITY STATE ZIP E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.themilitant.com to P.O. Box 3025, Auckland 1140, New Zealand. Correspondence concerning subscriptions PHONE e-mail Australia: Send A$70 for one year to P.O. Box q.$10 for 12 weeks or changes of address should be addressed to the Militant, 306 W. 37th Street, 13th 164 Campsie, NSW 2194, Australia. Pacific Islands: Send NZ$55 for one year to UNION/SCHOOL/ORGANIZATION floor, New York, NY 10018. q.$20 for 6 months P.O. Box 3025, Auckland 1140, New Zealand. Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY. Submissions to the Militant may be pub- Clip and mail to the militant, POSTMASTER: Send address changes to lished in the newspaper in print and digital q.$35 for 1 year 306 W. 37th st., 13th Floor new york, ny 10018. the Militant, 306 W. 37th Street, 13th floor, format. By submitting, authors represent New York, NY 10018. that their submissions are original and 12 weeks of the Militant outside the U.S.: Australia and the Pacific, A$10 • United SUBSCRIPTIONS: United States: For consent to publication in this manner. Kingdom, £3 • Canada, Can$7 • Caribbean and Latin America, US$10 • Continental one year send $35 to above address. Signed articles by contributors do not Europe, £10 • France, 8 euros • New Zealand, NZ$7 • All other areas, US$16 (Send Latin America, Caribbean: For one year send necessarily represent the Militant’s views. payment to addresses listed in business information box) $85 drawn on a U.S. bank to above address. These are expressed in editorials.

2 The Militant May 1, 2017 Join SWP campaigning UK: Communist League speaks to African church Continued from front page they kill when they do that?” Fair said. mediate withdrawal of all U.S. troops “It’s just like when they got bin Laden, and planes from Syria, Iraq and Af- they killed family members.” ghanistan,” Margaret Trowe, Socialist “Four members of the Oakland Workers Party candidate for mayor of branch of the party went knocking on Albany, New York, said when she and doors in San Leandro, California, after other SWP members campaigned across work,” Eric Simpson writes. “They used the city April 15-16. “Some people dis- the SWP statement, ‘Stop the Raids agreed, others liked what we had to say. and Deportations! Amnesty for all im- But everyone thought this was impor- migrants in the US!’ to open discussion tant for working people to discuss. We on the need to fight to unify the work- explained how Washington’s wars are ing class and strengthen our unions, and an extension of the capitalist rulers’ of- about the upcoming national May Day fensive against our class here at home.” protests against deportations. From Chicago Dan Fein writes that Gerardo Sánchez offered a package of SWP campaigners Ilona Gersh and Le- the three books on special with a three- roy Watson debated the war question on month Militant subscription — Are They workers’ doorsteps in the ex-coalfield Rich Because They’re Smart? and The town of Morganfield, Kentucky. “I think Clintons’ Anti-Working-Class Record Obama should have taken out Assad both by Jack Barnes, national secretary Militant/Caroline Bellamy years ago when chemical weapons were of the SWP, and Is a Socialist Revolu- MANCHESTER, England — Communist League candidate Peter Clifford, first used in Syria,” Wesley DeTalente, tion in the US Possible? by party leader above, speaking to 200 members of the congregation at the start of the a retired pipefitter, told them after look- Mary-Alice Waters — for only $20. Easter service April 16 at the Église En Mission, a predominantly African ing at the SWP statement, “Get US out “Two of the workers Sánchez spoke church in the Ardwick area here. A meat worker, Clifford is the party’s of Syria, Iraq!” on the front page of the with decided to go for it. An autowork- candidate for mayor of Greater Manchester and for the parliamentary seat Militant. er did the same and purchased a copy in the Manchester Gorton constituency in the May 4 by-election. Clif- After more discussion, including of Cuba and Angola: The War for Free- ford’s presentation was translated into French for the many participants from Congo. about how U.S. bombings make it hard- dom,” Simpson said. The book is about Fidele Dasi Munsungu, this worker correspondent’s co-worker in an er for Syrian toilers to organize to over- how Cuba sent 400,000 volunteers to electronics factory, took the initiative to get Clifford invited. throw the Bashar al-Assad dictatorship, help the Angolan people fight off an in- “Our platform is to strengthen all workers so we can build a movement not easier, he subscribed to the Militant, vasion by apartheid South Africa in the to replace capitalism, carry out a revolution like Cuban working people saying, “I’m going to enjoy this paper.” 1970s and ‘80s. did,” Clifford said. “The League campaigns to build solidarity and unity Rachele Fruit from Atlanta writes that “Four workers got a total of four sub- among all workers, including by opposing all restrictions on jobs and rights SWP member John Benson met Henry scriptions and 11 books — in both Eng- facing immigrant workers.” Fair, a 54-year-old ironworker, when he lish and in Spanish — on one block in After the service many participants stopped by a table set up by party knocked on his door in East Point. Fair less than one hour,” he said. “And there’s members in the lobby to check out the Militant, Pathfinder books and said he liked what Benson said about a lesson: Make sure to carry more than learn about the work of the Communist League. Munsungu encouraged workers’ ability to organize society for one set of books!” people to talk with the League members. human needs if we take political power, Edwin Fruit reports that party mem- “That was great, I want to join in,” one participant said. Two signed and that we need to build a working- bers from Seattle traveled to Idaho to up for subscriptions and got Are They Rich Because They’re Smart? by class leadership capable of leading the join with United Steelworkers on strike Jack Barnes, national secretary of the Socialist Workers Party in the United transformation. at the Lucky Friday silver mine at a States. “We say the U.S. should get out of union support rally in Coeur d’Alene — Caroline Bellamy Syria, Iraq and everywhere else Wash- April 12. They also campaigned for soli- ington has its troops,” Benson said, darity with the strike and introduced the handing Fair a copy of the SWP state- party to workers in three small towns by electing someone to office,” Rosen- “I can relate to that!” Xiong said. “It ment protesting Washington’s bombing near the mine. A total of 14 miners and feld replied. “But we can work to build is dog-eat-dog now. I never heard some- in Syria. “Do they care about the kids their supporters signed up for subscrip- a powerful movement to unite work- one put it that way. This is great.” She tions to the paper. Another three picked ing people to fight for jobs, amnesty for bought a subscription and The Clintons’ up copies of the special campaign books. undocumented workers, universal gov- Anti-Working-Class Record and kicked David Rosenfeld, SWP candidate for ernment-funded health care, and other in $15 to the Militant Fighting Fund. Militant Fighting Fund mayor of Minneapolis, met Kao Xiong things workers need. Donations from workers at their door- April 1- May 23 (week 2) while campaigning door to door in East “We have to counterpose class soli- steps are a key source for expanding St. Paul, Rose Engstrom reports. darity and internationalism to the dog- the base of the Militant Fighting Fund. Country Quota Paid % “You’re running for mayor. So I am eat-dog values of capitalism,” he said. Please send your money in early! To join UNITED STATES curious, what are some changes you “Only then can we begin to discover our in the campaigning and fund efforts, Albany $4,100 $630 15% want to make?” Xiong asked him. worth and the capacity of our class to contact the nearest branch of the SWP or Atlanta $10,725 $2,975 28% “Workers can’t accomplish anything take power and reorganize society.” Communist League, listed on page 8. Chicago $11,850 $383 3% Denver $750 $305 41% Lincoln $350 $106 30% Los Angeles $8,450 $1,086 13% Special Spring Party-Building Campaign Miami $3,200 $400 13% Available for $5 each (half price) with Militant subscription New York $16,600 $2,620 16% Book (trial offer 12 weeks $5) Oakland $13,700 $4,820 35% Philadelphia $3,600 $81 2% Seattle $7,300 $1,762 24% Offers Are They Rich Because They’re Smart? Twin Cities $4,100 $0 0% Also at special prices: Class, Privilege, and Learning Under Capitalism Washington $7,350 $568 8% by Jack Barnes Total U.S. $92,075 $15,736 17% The Clintons’ Anti-Working-Class Record CANADA Why Washington Fears Working People Montreal $5,100 $981 19% by Jack Barnes Vancouver $3,000 $75 3% Total Canada $8,100 $1,056 13% Is Socialist Revolution in the US Possible? “It’s the Poor Who Face the A Necessary Debate Among Working People NEW ZEALAND $4,575 $1,200 26% Savagery of the US ‘Justice’ by Mary-Alice Waters System” AUSTRALIA $1,175 $480 41% The Cuban Five Talk About Their Lives Within the US Working Class. $7 $7 each without subscription (normally $10) UNITED KINGDOM Malcolm X, Black Liberation, London $2,450 $215 9% and the Road to Workers Power Manchester $925 $231 25% by Jack Barnes. $15 Total UK $3,375 $446 13% Cuba and Angola: The War for Freedom To subscribe or purchase books at these prices, Total $109,300 $18,918 17% by Harry Villegas “Pombo.” $7 Should be $112,000 $32,000 29% contact Socialist Workers Party or Communist League branches listed on page 8.

The Militant May 1, 2017 3 SWP disclosure exemption Nebraska meeting builds May Day Brigade to Cuba hearing is set for April 20 by brian williams such diversion is entirely contrary to After two postponements, the Federal the reason the SWP runs election cam- Election Commission will meet April paigns, which is to advocate its own, en- 20 to debate and vote on the Socialist tirely distinct and independent political Workers Party’s request to renew its ex- positions.” emption from disclosing the names of Draft “B” also claims that harassment contributors to its election campaigns. against the Socialist Workers Party The Socialist Workers Party first won hasn’t been “serious” enough to merit an the exemption in 1974. “This is an im- exemption. Krinsky and Frank say that portant gain in defending workers’ right criteria would be an unprecedented hur- to engage in political activity indepen- dle that would “further chill the exercise dent of the bosses and their parties,” of important First Amendment rights.” John Studer, Socialist Workers Party na- One example they gave is the censor- Militant/Reilly Stoddard LINCOLN, Neb. — About 30 people attended an April 15 send-off here for tional campaign director, said April 15, ship of the Militant newspaper in several participants in the 12th May Day International Brigade to Cuba April 23-May by providing protection against govern- state and federal prisons. “Draft B im- 8. The event took place at Meadowlark Coffee and Espresso. ment harassment. properly dismisses as merely ‘actions by Phillip Brown, right, a student at the University of Nebraska in Omaha, and “Regardless of what the FEC decides, corrections officers that were reversed’ Lincoln resident Wyatt Nelson, a lawn maintenance and construction worker, the SWP won’t change what we do po- the nine separate documented incidents spoke to the gathering. Both will be making their first trip to Cuba. They spoke litically, including running candidates, in which both state and federal prison on the social advances of the Cuban Revolution that have provided working and doing so within the law in a way that officials throughout the U.S. singled out people with free health care and schooling. When they return they plan to maximizes protection for our contribu- issues of The Militant, the newspaper speak to university students and working people about their experiences, why tors and supporters.” that editorially supports the SWP, and the 55-year U.S. economic embargo of Cuba must end and why the Cuban ter- A 15-year-long lawsuit the party won refused to permit inmates to receive ritory at Guantánamo held illegally by Washington must be returned to Cuba. in 1986 brought to light that the FBI had these issues,” write Krinsky and Frank. Over 55 people from a half dozen cities are participating — the first ever gathered over 8 million documents on Officials at New York’s Attica U.S. delegation in this long-standing international brigade. They will join a the SWP, wiretapped supporters, car- Correctional Facility have refused to an- couple hundred people from around the world, working in the fields on farms ried out at least 204 burglaries at party swer challenges by the Militant to their alongside Cubans, visiting historical sites, meeting with youth and workers in- offices, and tried to get members fired confiscation of three issues in November volved in the country’s mass organizations, and marching in the International from jobs and evicted from apartments. and December, as have authorities at Workers Day Parade in Havana. The commission has before it several Illinois River Correctional Center in Other fund events to help get the delegation to Cuba have taken place in Los “advisory opinions.” Drafts “A” and “B” Illinois over the past two months. Angeles, Chicago and Washington, D.C. call for ending the exemption. A third “These instances exhibit the contin- — Chris Steffen opinion, draft “C,” backs extending the ued, deep-seated government hostility exemption through the end of 2020. toward supporters of the SWP,” said the In an April 17 letter to the FEC, April 17 letter. These actions “violated and Milo Yiannopoulos, a former editor closure not granted,” wrote Krinsky and SWP attorneys Michael Krinsky and The Militant’s and the prisoners’ First for Breitbart News. Frank. Lindsey Frank, of the prominent firm Amendment rights.” “Attempting through violence to si- The lawyers submitted an affidavit to Rabinowitz, Boudin, Standard, Krinsky lence those you disagree with from ex- the FEC reporting on an individual who and Lieberman, urge extending the ex- Sharpening political polarization pressing their views is a method that can for the past four years had regularly con- emption. They explain the extension is The request for extending the SWP’s and will be used against the workers’ tributed to the Socialist Workers Party merited both on constitutional grounds exemption occurs amid a sharp polar- movement as well,” said Studer. but recently decided to stop doing so. of the right to privacy and political as- ization in U.S. politics today. This in- These attacks on free speech and the “He fears attacks on democratic rights sociation and on the long documented cludes attacks aimed at speakers with polarization show there “is a reasonable whether from the left or right — and history of attacks on the party and its controversial views on campuses from probability that SWP supporters would backed by forces in the government,” campaigns by government spy outfits, Middlebury, Vermont, to Berkeley, also be subject to threats, harassment the affidavit states, “may escalate in the local red squads, employers and rightist California, to Seattle. Among those and reprisals and the reasonableness of coming period making it more danger- thugs. attacked were conservative Charles potential supporters’ fears of supporting ous for individuals to have open political One of the claims in draft “B” is that Murray, co-author of The Bell Curve, the SWP were an exemption from dis- affiliations.” the SWP could be used by major-party interests to divert votes from other con- tenders and skew the elections. “There is not a scintilla of evidence May 1 protests: ‘Stop deportations! Amnesty now!’ of any vote diversion, nor has there ever Continued from front page Their policy, carried out by Democratic time the majority of deportations were been in the more than 75 years of the “Attacks on workers have been go- and Republican administrations alike, labeled forced removals. By 2015 it SWP’s participation in elections,” the ing hand in hand with attacks on immi- is to ensure a large layer of superex- was more than 70 percent. SWP’s attorneys replied. “In addition, grants and immigrant workers,” 32BJ ploited workers the bosses can use to Even more telling is the number of President Hector Figueroa told the Mili- try and push down the value of work- felony prosecutions on charges of ille- tant April 18. “Immigrants should be ers’ labor power, seeking to maximize gal re-entry — on average more than treated with dignity and respect.” their profits and to compete more suc- 35,000 every year of the Obama ad- militant Teamsters Joint Council 16, which cessfully against their capitalist rivals. ministration. includes 27 union locals in the New Before 1996 workers deported as By the time Obama left office more labor York area, has featured on its web page “voluntary departures” did not face than 50 percent of all federal criminal the call to turn out at New York’s Foley criminal charges if they returned to convictions involved immigration- forums Square at 5 p.m. May 1. U.S. soil. related offenses. As a result, one in ILLINOIS The New York Immigration Coali- Bill Clinton signed into law the An- four people in federal prison today is Chicago tion, the immigrant-based community titerrorism and Effective Death Pen- a previously deported undocumented How Protests Against the Lynching of group Make the Road, and numerous alty Act and the Illegal Immigration worker. Emmett Till Spurred the Fight that Overthrew Jim Crow: Lessons for Today. area unions have been building the pro- Reform and Immigrant Responsibil- Attorney General Sessions told Cus- Speaker: Ilona Gersh, Socialist Workers test. ity Act. This laid the basis for a shift toms and Border Protection agents in Party. Fri., April 28, 7:30 p.m. Donation: $5. In Wisconsin, Voces de la Frontera to “forced removals,” which steeply Nogales, Arizona, April 11 the U.S. 2018 S. Ashland Ave. Tel.: (312) 455-0111. is organizing a march from Madison to increases the penalties for “illegal re- government will step up felony pros- Milwaukee to join the May 1 Day With- entry” into the United States. Four ecutions for re-entry and, wherever calendar out Latinos, Immigrants and Refugees years later, during his last year in of- possible, tack on charges of identity action there. fice, Clinton deported 1.8 million im- theft on any undocumented workers AUSTRALIA According to figures obtained by migrants, more than any president in they pick up. This would add at least Sydney the Washington Post, Immigration and U.S. history. two years to their sentence. Communist League Election Campaign Customs Enforcement arrested 21,362 Under the administrations of “One of the key slogans on May Day Launch: Protest Washington’s and Canberra’s War Moves from the Korean immigrants from January through mid- George W. Bush and Obama the shift will be ‘We are workers, not crimi- Peninsula to the Middle East! Protest March, reversing a two-year decline. to “forced removals” took off. nals,’” Mary Martin said. “Deporta- Government and Employer Attacks Over 5,000 of the arrests — almost In 2006 a bill was submitted to Con- tions aren’t popular among working on Workers, Unions! Speaker: Joanne one-quarter — involved grabbing im- gress making it a felony for an undoc- people. These are our co-workers, Kuniansky, Communist League candidate for mayor of Canterbury-Bankstown. Sat., migrants whose only offense is not hav- umented worker just to be in the U.S. neighbors and co-combatants, when April 29. Reception, 6.30 p.m.; program, ing a valid visa. This was met by an outpouring of mil- we stand up against the attacks of the 7 p.m. Donation: $5. Upstairs, 281-287 The U.S. rulers have no intention of lions on May Day that defeated the bill. employers and their government, cops, Beamish St., Campsie. Tel.: (612) 9718-9698. deporting most undocumented workers. In 2011, under Obama, for the first courts and prisons. All out May 1!”

4 The Militant May 1, 2017 Support grows for silver miners’ strike in Idaho by Edwin Fruit against those holding power. It’s all MULLAN, Idaho — As United Steel- about control and the bosses have it and workers enter their fifth week on strike we don’t.” at Hecla Mining Company’s Lucky Kevin Winans, a Machinist Local 86 Friday silver mine here, their fight for member at Triumph Composite, is one safety and to defend their livelihood and of a number of workers there who have union is holding strong, gaining support joined the miners’ picket lines to show in the labor movement. USW Local 675 support. They were forced out on strike in Carson, California, is sending $1,000 last summer. a month to the strikers. “I voted for Trump and we’re mad as In the towns of Mullan, Wallace, hell. Neither the Democrats nor Repub- Pinehurst and Kellogg, all along the I-90 licans care about working people,” he interstate in the Idaho panhandle, signs told Socialist Workers Party member are displayed in gas stations and restau- Mary Martin. “We need to have labor rants showing support for the strikers. unite to defend our own interests.” Militant/Mary Martin A spirited expanded picket line was At the rally, workers passed around a United Steelworkers on strike at Lucky Friday silver mine in Mullan, Idaho, picket the own- ers, Hecla Mining Company, in Coeur d’Alene April 12 in fight over safety and union rights. held April 12 outside Hecla bosses’ copy of the Spokane Spokesman-Review headquarters in Coeur d’Alene, 55 miles with an ad by the Steelworkers Interna- is for our medical care on the company what they owe you!” from here. Striking miners were joined tional explaining the union’s position. insurance. The company wants to push A memorial to honor Marek was held by family members and other unionists, out us older guys once you are no lon- on the picket line on the sixth anniver- including from Machinists Local 86 Defending gains of past strikes ger the thoroughbred you once were,” sary of his death. from Triumph Composite Systems and “We had to go on strike. These are said Ron Haynes, a 25-year miner, 11 Knocking on workers’ doors in Pine- Steelworkers Local 338 at Kaiser Alu- very hard jobs. A jackleg [drill] weighs of them at Lucky Friday. “But we’re the hurst, Martin, who is the SWP candi- minum, both in Spokane, Washington. 125 pounds. You hold it and carry it ones that have the safety knowledge that date for mayor of Seattle, met striker USW Local 5114 members went on around for hours,” Chad Martello, 29, has to be passed down to the new guys. Chris Spiers. “I had been working at strike March 13 when the bosses said a miner with 10 years at Lucky Friday, We don’t want a gap to open up on this Lucky Friday mine for about a month they would begin imposing their “fi- told Martin. This is the method used for know-how. There is no concern for that when things got heated real fast with the nal offer,” including increasing miners’ most of the mining done there. “The rea- from the company.” company and issues came to a head,” medical insurance payments, cutting son we have what we have is what was Local 5114 Treasurer Rick Valeria the 22-year-old miner said. “I listened the silver premium and bonus payments gained in past strikes. Where would we said that the USW International pays to both sides but for me what Hecla was that are a key part of miners’ pay, and be without these union benefits? for a health insurance policy for strik- trying to do just didn’t seem right or gutting safety protections. At issue here “This valley exists on silver. Without ing miners and also has a hardship fund. fair.” is a team bidding system based on se- these jobs many will have to leave the The local has set up a food bank to help At the union hall here, Phil Epler, Lo- niority that lets workers choose their area to get work,” continued Martello. striking families get groceries. cal 5114’s president, told us the strike is crews, an arrangement that helps protect “How are the older miners going to be In 2011 there were a number of rock solid, no one has crossed the picket line. miners’ safety. able to compete with younger workers bursts and two miners were killed at Just a few miles west of the Lucky “I think it is time to bring working for some construction job someplace? Lucky Friday. The Mine Safety and Friday mine is a memorial to 91 miners people together,” said striker Darren To win we have to stay strong. This is Health Administration forced Hecla to killed in a 1972 explosion at the Sun- Stein, who has worked at the mine since about Hecla’s corporate greed.” clean up one of the shafts and the mine shine mine. SWP members spoke with 1998. “We all have a common ground “The older we get the more cost there was shut down for a year. workers on their doorsteps in Kellogg “It was company greed that killed the and Pinehurst, discussing what workers men,” Valeria said. face there and across the country. “After sitting in courtrooms after Some had lost family members or Rail workers in UK strike over Hecla refused to take responsibility for friends in the Sunshine mine disaster, my father’s death I can tell you right now including Donna, who said she lost her bosses’ moves to cut crew size they are all about money. They put profit grandfather. “Those miners deserve ev- by caroline bellamy too long on strike. ... They will have to first and their employees are not made ery penny and every safety precaution WIGAN, England — “Our strike is decide if they want to give a good ser- their priority,” Hayley Marek Sender- they can get,” she said. solid,” Rail, Maritime and Transportation vice or get the hell out of my industry.” son, the daughter of miner Larry Marek, Donations and messages of support union member Neil Sharples told the “There’s definitely an element of killed in an April 15, 2011, rock burst, can be sent to USW 5114, P.O. Box 427, Militant April 8. “Across Northern Rail union busting,” said striker Sharples. wrote on the union Facebook page. “It’s Mullan, ID 83846. there are 1,250 guards [conductors]. On Further protests are set April 26 out- time they recognize, support and keep March 13, the first day of strike action, side Parliament at noon, followed by ral- safe the workforce that is the heart of Joe Young in Vancouver, British Colum- only five crossed the picket line. None of ly at Central Hall Westminster at 2 p.m. their company. Stay strong and fight for bia, contributed to this article. the 60 guards here crossed today.” RMT members at Northern Rail, Southern Rail and Merseyrail are fight- 25, 50, and 75 years ago ing the introduction of driver-only-oper- ation on passenger trains. Northern Rail plans to cut guards on 50 percent of ser- vices, Merseyrail on all trains. Members of the drivers union ASLEF — the Associated Society of May 1, 1992 May 1, 1967 May 2, 1942 Locomotive Engineers and Firemen — James Warren and Estelle DeBates, Che Guevara’s article about the Attorney-General Biddle has taken also oppose driver-only-operation. the Socialist Workers candidates for war in Vietnam speaks bluntly. The steps to ban Coughlin’s Social Justice “You need the second person for U.S. president and vice-president, “United States of North America” is and some other fascist sheets from the safety,” said Wigan train driver David have just visited North Korea. the most mortal enemy faced by man- mails. The steps taken will no more Mulvey. “I had a woman try to kill her- “It is important to visit Korea,” kind. There is only one recourse and crush the native fascists than did the self in front of my train. We needed the said Warren, “because it is the target that is to struggle for socialist revolu- similar steps of Hitler’s predecessors second safety person to call the right of a campaign by U.S. imperialism, tion. in Germany, and the “democratic” people, tell signals where the train was to hang the nuclear weapons frame If two or three or more Vietnams government that preceded Mussolini. and deal with the passengers while I saw around the neck of the Korean people could be created this could make a No capitalist government can be to the woman.” and use it to justify war moves.” decisive difference in the conflict. His depended upon to destroy the fascists appeal for action deals with the intoler- Moves to impose river-only-operation The main thing the socialist can- because today’s “democratic” capital- able way in which “the two big powers are being driven by government cost didates will be taking to the Korean ists will be ready tomorrow to back in the socialist camp” have permitted cutting. A 2011 government-commis- the fascists in order to crush the labor people “is our solidarity with their the Vietnamese to stand alone. sioned report said costs on Britain’s rail fig ht for nat ional sovereig nt y,” Wa r ren What about the people of the movement. network had to be cut by 30 percent. said, “and our pledge to maintain our United States? We can assure revo- Workers can only depend on “We have got to break them,” said struggle against Washington’s plans lutionary fighters like Guevara that themselves. Those lessons must be- Department for Transport government to prevent the people of Korea from the American people are growing come part of the consciousness of the official Peter Wilkinson last year, refer- uniting their country.” The Korean more impatient with this war. The American working class. Above all, ring to the train drivers. “They have all peninsula was divided by the United first signs were the teach-ins that be- no illusions about the real character borrowed money to buy cars and got States and the Soviet Union after gan after Johnson escalated the war in of the “anti-fascist” activities of the credit cards. They can’t afford to spend World War II. February 1965. Department of Justice! The Militant May 1, 2017 5 US armada heads to Korea US THAAD anti-missile battery out of Korea! Continued from front page darity with the struggle to reunify Ko- Japanese destroyers. rea, which Washington partitioned in Washington has 28,000 troops sta- 1945, waged a murderous war against tioned in South Korea, where they from 1950 to 1953, and with which the have been engaged in a seven-week- US government has refused to sign a long series of military exercises, in- peace treaty to this day,” Steve Clark cluding special forces units practicing wrote on behalf of the SWP National the “decapitation” of the North Ko- Committee to Kim Jong Un, chairman rean leadership. of the Workers’ Party of Korea, on the Speaking at the heavily fortified De- occasion of the country’s April 15 holi- militarized Zone — the border created day. Inset, Militant/Seth Galinsky when the U.S.-led Korean War ended “As Socialist Workers Party mem- NEW YORK — “We need your help in a deadlock in 1953, and now divides bers campaign on workers’ doorsteps; to stop THAAD,” Sounghye Kim, inset North and South Korea — Vice Presi- as we join protests demanding “Am- right, with translator Juyeon Rhee, told dent Michael Pence declared April 17, nesty Now! Stop the Deportations!” a meeting of 75 people at New York “All options are on the table.” At the in defense of foreign born workers; as University April 13. ”That’s why I’ve same time, the administration of Don- we walk the picket lines with striking come to the United States, because ald Trump, with bipartisan support, has silver miners in Idaho and other work- that’s where it’s from.” Kim was refer- ring to Terminal High Altitude Area stepped up efforts to convince Beijing ers — we explain that assaults on the Defense, a high-powered radar and to keep out of Washington’s way. rights and living and job conditions of anti-missile battery that the U.S. mili- working people at home are inflicted Seeking to lower tensions in the area, tary is currently installing in South Korea. China has put some pressure on North by the same wealthy families respon- Kim, a Buddhist minister and co-chair of the Seongju Struggle Committee Korea, reducing imports of its coal. But sible for Washington’s war moves to Stop THAAD, was on a nine-city U.S. speaking tour. She showed videos of both Chinese exports and imports with against our sisters and brothers the demonstrations of residents of Seongju and others protesting construction of North Korea continue to grow, rising world over. the military installation. Above, 5,000 protested in Seongju March 18. 37 percent in the first quarter of 2017. “On this DPRK national holiday, the The Pentagon claims the anti-missile battery is needed to protect South Ko- Above all, Beijing seeks to prevent the Socialist Workers Party and Young So- rea from attack from the North. North Korea says — correctly — that history overthrow of the government in North cialists join with others around the world shows the real war threat comes from Washington. Beijing sees THAAD as a Korea, bringing U.S. troops to its bor- in demanding: End all economic and spy station that violates China’s sovereignty. der on the Yalu River. banking sanctions against the DPRK by Betsy Yoon, from Nodutdol, one of the sponsors of the meeting, pointed to North Korea shows no signs of back- Washington and by every government Washington’s role in forcibly dividing Korea after World War II and waging war ing off from defending its national sov- in Asia and the world!” Clark said. “US from 1950 to 1953. “The United States dropped more bombs on Korea than it ereignty, attempting to test-fire a me- troops, ships, planes, and THAAD mis- dropped in the Pacific Theatre during all of World War II,” she said. dium range missile that same day. siles and radar systems out of Korea’s Washington has refused to sign a peace treaty with North Korea. The war’s Beijing expressed its opposition to soil, skies, and waters! For a Korean effects are still felt today in the North and South. Most favor reunification. heightened military tensions in the re- Peninsula and Pacific Ocean free of — Seth Galinsky gion blaming Washington, Seoul and nuclear weapons. Korea is one!” Pyongyang. Reinforcing the threat of Washing- ton’s armada is the U.S. rulers’ use of deadly missiles elsewhere in the world. Socialist Workers Party: US hands off Korea! U.S. war boats fired 59 missiles at a Syr- Continued from front page deadly nuclear arsenal in the world. Six- pay for refusing to do Washington’s ian government air base April 6. And a Korea! U.S. troops, warplanes and ty percent of the U.S. Navy’s 69 subma- bidding. They are pressing the Chinese U.S. warplane dropped the Pentagon’s gunboats out of Korea’s waters! rines are now based in the Pacific, many government to tighten the screws on 21,000 pound “mother of all bombs” Washington’s deployment of the USS equipped with nuclear missiles. More North Korea even more. — its largest bomb short of nuclear Carl Vinson aircraft carrier-led “arma- than 28,000 U.S. troops are stationed in The Socialist Workers Party has a weapons — in Afghanistan April 13. da,” as President Donald Trump called South Korea, and some 50,000 more in proud history fighting against Wash- Pointing to Pyongyang, the Wall Street it, is a threat to both the Korean people Japan are ready to back them up. ington’s intervention in Korea. We cam- Journal editorialized, “Let’s hope the and the People’s Republic of China. The Pentagon, despite objections paigned against the U.S. rulers’ forced right people noticed this blast.” This fleet includes a combined crew from Pyongyang, Beijing and tens of division of Korea in 1945 when U.S. Announcing the sending of the ar- of some 7,500 troops, more than 60 war- thousands in South Korea, has begun troops landed and, together with the re- mada April 11, Trump said North Ko- planes, a cruiser armed with Tomahawk installing Terminal High Altitude Area gime Washington put in place, killed, rea was a problem that “will be taken missiles, and two destroyers equipped Defense, or THAAD, missile batteries beat, tortured or jailed those who stood care of.” He added, “We have subma- with the Aegis Ballistic Missile De- and espionage station in South Korea, a up to the U.S. occupation. rines. Very powerful. Far more power- fense System. At the same time, one of threat to workers and farmers through- We opposed the U.S.-led Korean War, ful than the aircraft carrier.” The Penta- the largest U.S.-South Korean joint war out Asia. where Washington sought to reimpose gon deploys an estimated 1,000 nuclear maneuvers ever held is underway. And The U.S. ruling capitalist class has capitalist rule on the entire peninsula. warheads on submarines patrolling the to send a message, Washington includ- a long record of brutal assaults on the And we continue to back the demand world’s waterways. ed the notorious imperialist hit squad people of Korea. As part of seizing the of the Korean people for reunification. At the same time that the U.S. rul- SEAL Team Six — which assassinated fruits of their victory in the second im- Korea is one! ers are threatening to attack the North, Osama bin Laden — in exercises that perialist world war, Washington forcibly Working people in the U.S. are bat- Washington is installing a Terminal include simulations of “decapitation” of intervened against popular mobiliza- tered by the deepening capitalist eco- High Altitude Area Defense system the North Korean leadership. tions of the Korean people seeking an nomic crisis today and by the attempts in South Korea, in the face of ongoing Washington claims it has the right end to colonial rule, divided the Korean of the bosses and their government to protests there (see photo box). This “de- to target North Korea because the gov- Peninsula and installed a brutal dictator- make us pay to boost their declining fense system” helps to fortify the U.S. ernment there carried out a handful of ship in the south. profit rates. More workers in the U.S. are military foothold on the peninsula and missile tests and has been developing More than 4 million people were dying on the job as the bosses enforce intensifies its pressure on the DPRK nuclear weapons. The White House killed, including at least 2 million civil- speedup and attack our unions. Mil- and China. says they have the right to take preemp- ians, as a result of the 1950-53 Korean lions are unable to find work. Medicaid, For years Democratic and Republi- tive military action against Pyongyang. War, carried out by Washington, its im- Medicare, Social Security and other so- can administrations alike have demon- Like the recent U.S. Tomahawk attack perialist allies and its client regime in cial rights workers have won in struggle ized North Korea, imposed sanctions on Syria, the White House’s provoca- South Korea — under the banner of the face the ax. And our political rights are and threatened military action against tive threats against the Korean people United Nations. under attack. the 25 million people there. and Korea’s sovereignty are bipartisan, Washington dropped more than The same wealthy families who are backed by Democratic and Republican 635,000 tons of bombs, 32,557 tons of responsible for Washington’s war moves Socialist Workers Party protests politicians alike. napalm and leveled the vast majority against working people around the The Socialist Workers Party spoke The devastating use of the 21,000 of homes, hospitals, schools and facto- world are assaulting our rights and liv- out against Washington’s threats. An pound “mother of all bombs” ­— a ries across northern Korea, and in large ing conditions here at home. And for the April 14 statement demanding U.S. weapon designed for terror and intimi- parts of the South as well. Ultimately, same reason. get out of the region by Osborne Hart, dation — dropped in Afghanistan April they were fought to a standstill, unable We say: End Washington’s economic Socialist Workers Party candidate for 15, adds teeth to U.S. threats of military to defeat North Korea. and financial sanctions against the Dem- mayor in New York, is being widely cir- action against North Korea. Today the U.S. government has im- ocratic People’s Republic of Korea! U.S. culated across the country and beyond. It is U.S. imperialism that has posed draconian sanctions on the North, troops, ships, planes and THAAD out of (See adjacent statement.) amassed a massive and deadly military seeking to sabotage its economic devel- Korea! For a Korean Peninsula free of “We pledge our unconditional soli- force in Asia. Washington has the most opment and make working people there nuclear weapons!

6 The Militant May 1, 2017 SWP in 1950: ‘Stop US Korea War! US troops out now!’

Below are excerpts from three letters will engulf millions more of our youth protesting the Korean War by James and drain our last resources. P. Cannon, then national secretary of You have permitted MacArthur, with the Socialist Workers Party, that were his mad ambition to be the conqueror of featured in the Militant in 1950-51. The all Asia, to deliberately provoke a situ- letters, written to President Harry Tru- ation that could mean war on a titanic man and Congress, are from Cannon’s scale. Now he has turned for a “solu- Notebook of an Agitator. The 1950-1953 tion” to the “United Nations and chan- U.S.-organized, imperialist war against celleries of the world.” the Korean people took the lives of over But that is precisely where this grave 4 million people including 2 million ci- crisis of humankind has been forged — vilians. Copyright © 1958 by Pathfinder in the UN and the chancelleries. Can we Press. Reprinted by permission. then entrust the further fate of the world to pin-striped diplomats? Your proposed solution, Mr. Presi- Letters on dent, is a threat to repeat the atrocities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by using the atom bomb in Korea. Korean war Take heed, Mr. President, before it is too late! Hear the voice of the people of by James P. Cannon America and the whole world. They are thundering: Stop the war NOW! Re- The Militant, July 31, 1950 Thatched huts burn after B-26 bombers drop napalm bombs near Hanchon in North call your madly ambitious MacArthur! To the President and Members of the Korea, May 1951. “The American intervention is a brutal imperialist invasion,” said SWP Withdraw the troops from Korea! Let leader James P. Cannon. “American boys are being sent 10,000 miles away to kill and be the peoples of Asia alone to settle their Congress: killed, not in order to liberate the Korean people, but to conquer and subjugate them.” Gentlemen: own fate! I disagree with your actions in Korea, U.S.-sponsored Syngman Rhee dicta- Whatever the wishes of the Krem- Who wants this war? and in my capacity as a private citizen I torship that made South Korea a prison lin, a class war has been unfolding Not the Koreans, whose cities, petition you to change your policy fun- camp of misery, torture and exploitation. in Korea. The North Korean regime, towns and villages have been reduced damentally, as follows: The high morale and fearlessness of desiring to mobilize popular support, by your bombs to charred rubble, and Withdraw the American troops and the North Koreans and the hostility of has decreed land reforms and taken who mourn hundreds of thousands of let the Korean people alone. the South Koreans toward their U.S. nationalization measures in the ter- the slain. I am setting forth the reasons for this “liberators” alike testify to the unity ritories it has won. The establishment Not the Chinese people, whose dead demand in detail in the following para- of the entire Korean people in this un- of people’s committees has been re- in the struggle against imperialism and graphs. But before opening the argu- flinching opposition to imperialistic ported. These reforms, these promises Chiang Kai-shek’s despotism number ment, I beg your permission, gentlemen, domination. of a better economic and social order tens of millions. Not the peoples of Eu- to tell you what I think of you. You are The explosion in Korea on June 25, as have attracted the peasants and work- rope, whose fears are reflected today in a pack of scoundrels. You are traitors to events have proved, expressed the pro- ers. This prospect of a new life is what the warnings to you by their govern- the human race. I hate your rudeness and found desire of the Koreans themselves has imbued a starving subject people ments. … your brutality. You make me ashamed of to unify their country, to rid themselves with the will to fight to the death. This my country, which I have always loved, of foreign domination and to win their is the “secret weapon” that has wrested The Militant, May 7, 1951 and ashamed of my race, which I used to complete national independence. It is two-thirds of South Korea from U.S. My purpose in addressing you for the think was as good as any. true that the Kremlin seeks to take ad- imperialism and its native agents and third time since the Korean war began The American intervention in Korea vantage of this struggle for its own reac- withstood the troops and bombing is to present three concrete proposals on is a brutal imperialist invasion, no dif- tionary ends and would sell it tomorrow fleets of mighty Wall Street. foreign policy as an alternative to the ferent from the French war on Indo- if it could get another deal with Wash- American imperialism was quite policies of the Truman administration China or the Dutch assault on Indonesia. ington. But the struggle itself has the willing to turn northern Korea over to on the one hand and MacArthur-Taft on American boys are being sent 10,000 overwhelming and wholehearted sup- Stalin in return for control over South the other. miles away to kill and be killed, not in port of the Korean people. It is part of Korea, which it ruled through the bloody Your differences are merely tactical. order to liberate the Korean people, but the mighty uprising of the hundreds of dictatorship of Syngman Rhee. Now My differences with both sides in your to conquer and subjugate them. It is out- millions of colonial people throughout Washington is seeking, against the resis- so-called “Great Debate” are funda- rageous. It is monstrous. Asia against western imperialism. This tance of the Korean people, to reimpose mental. You are preoccupied with the The whole of the Korean people — is the real truth, the real issue. The co- its imperialist puppet rule, to enforce the problem of how to conduct a war the save for the few bought-and-paid-for lonial slaves don’t want to be slaves any division of Korea and to maintain it as a American people do not want and never agents of the Rhee puppet regime — are longer. colony and military base for future war approved. I propose to end the war at fighting the imperialist invaders. That This is more than a fight for unifica- on the Soviet Union. once and let the American people them- is why the press dispatches from Ko- tion and national liberation. It is a civil There is not an iota of concern for the selves decide the life and death ques- rea complain more and more about war. On the one side are the Korean wishes and rights of the Korean people tions of foreign policy. “infiltration” tactics, increasing activi- workers, peasants and student youth. in this brutal invasion. The attempt I submit the following three propos- ties of “guerrillas,” the “fluid” fighting On the other are the Korean landlords, to prop up the Syngman Rhee regime als: (1) Withdraw all American troops front, the “sullenness” and “unreliabil- usurers, capitalists and their police and by armed force is part of Wall Street’s from Korea. (2) Recognize the Pe- ity” of the “natives.” political agents. The impoverished and planned program to dominate and ex- king government. (3) Let the people vote The Korean people have a mortal ha- exploited working masses have risen up ploit the whole world. Your undeclared by referendum on the issue of war and tred of the Wall Street “liberator.” They to drive out the native parasites as well war on Korea, Mr. President, is a war peace. despise unto death the bestial, corrupt, as their foreign protectors. of enslavement. That is how the Korean I have opposed your Korean war from people themselves view it — and no the start. Twice before in open letters I one knows the facts better than they do. urged you to heed the peoples’ will to “The American intervention They’ve suffered imperialist domina- stop the war and bring the American tion and degradation for half a century soldiers home. American troops have in Korea is a brutal and they can recognize its face even no business in Korea. They are be- imperialist invasion.” when masked with a UN flag. … ing slaughtered by the tens of thousands for no good purpose. Every day they — James P. Cannon, July 1950 The Militant, December 4, 1950 remain swells the casualties list and in- Once more, as at the start of your flicts more grief upon parents, wives and This book by James P. Cannon, leader Korean intervention, I take this means children. Every day they remain inten- of the Socialist Workers Party, contains to tell you what I believe is the heartfelt sifies the hatred of the Asian people for articles spanning four decades of sentiment of the overwhelming major- all things American. Again I urge you: working-class battles — defending frame- ity of humanity, including the American Withdraw the U.S. troops from Korea. up victims like Sacco and Vanzetti; the people, today: The way to peace in Asia is neither 1934 Minneapolis Teamsters Union Stop your criminal aggression against to wage a “limited war,” as you are now battles; the fight against the Korean War; $28 the Asian people. doing, nor to expand it by bombing Chi- labor’s fight against the McCarthyite Your reckless military adventure in nese cities and killing the civilian popu- witch-hunt; and much more. Korea has brought this country into a lation. The way to peace in Asia is to get clash with the 500 millions of China out of Asia and let the peoples of Asia www.pathfinderpress.com and threatens an “entirely new war” that run their own affairs.

The Militant May 1, 2017 7 US rulers press Mideast wars Washington’s ‘Mother of All Bombs’ — tool of terror Continued from front page sands of protesters. alike. Their assault led to civil war, with Trump conveniently ignores the opposition forces pushing the unpopu- 4,000 civilians killed and the many lar regime back, despite the fact they thousands injured in Iraq over the past were shackled with internal divisions months by U.S.-led airstrikes, part of and lacked heavy weapons. Washington’s joint campaign with the The tide in the war changed in Sep- Iraqi army to retake the city of Mosul tember 2015, when Moscow inter- from Islamic State. vened in force, bringing in a hunk of In 2014, Islamic State captured large their air power, and Tehran stepped up areas of Iraq and Syria in a power vac- use of its troops and Lebanon-based uum created by repeated bloody U.S. Hezbollah militias on the ground to aid military interventions in Iraq and other Assad’s faltering forces. countries in the Middle East over the Since then Assad and his allies have past 30 years. The reactionary outfit used murderous bombing campaigns was formed by an alliance of former combined with siege and starvation officers in the deposed Saddam Husse- tactics against opposition forces, in- in’s Iraqi army and a wing of al-Qaeda. cluding civilian populations. Assad Eglin Air Force Base via AP Washington’s armed interventions has regained lost territory — most im- U.S. Army Gen. John Nicholson, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, in Iraq date back to 1991, and there is portantly Syria’s largest city Aleppo, gloated that the dropping of the never before used Massive Ordinance Air Blast no end in sight. captured last December. Bomb (MOAB — nicknamed the “Mother of All Bombs”) on Afghanistan April Syrian toilers in the city of Raqqa, Damascus and Moscow are imple- 13 “was the right time to use it.” The 22,000-pound GPS-guided weapon that the self-proclaimed capital of Islamic menting a cynically named “recon- cost $16 million releases a massive pressure blast and fireball, generating en- State, face similar death from the skies ciliation” program in which rebel-held ergy equivalent to 11 tons of TNT and a mushroom cloud that can be seen for as the U.S.-led coalition, in alliance towns are bombed and besieged for 20 miles. with the Kurdish People’s Protection months, and then offered a “choice” Up to 90 people, who the U.S. rulers dismiss as nothing more than Islamic Units (YPG), prepares for a military of surrendering or watching the civil- State fighters, were killed by the blast. “You’d overpressure people hiding in drive to oust IS from the city. ian population starve. The “reconcilia- caves there. You’d never find them,” said Edward Priest, a former Air Force spe- Washington’s bombs, special forces tion agreements” include transporting cial operations combat controller. “It just blows your lungs out of your mouth. and drones are responsible for many opposition populations to rebel-con- It kind of turns you inside out. More than anything, anytime you drop one of more civilian deaths in Afghanistan trolled Idlib, where they face intensify- these you want to make an audacious statement, in this case to reinforce our and Yemen, where they are part of on- ing attacks by the regime. Khan Sheik- resolve to fight in Afghanistan.” going bloody wars. houn, hit by the Assad regime’s nerve In fact, Washington’s only purpose in using the MOAB was “shock and awe” In response to Washington’s assault gas, is in Idlib. — to terrify and intimidate working people. on the Syrian government air base, “The open battlefield in the future Former Afghan President Hamid Karzai issued a statement condemning the Moscow, a firm supporter of Damas- will be Idlib and the Syrian state will attack, saying the time has come for the U.S. to get out of Afghanistan. On April cus, has now sent more warships to its not forgo any patch of Syria in fight- 16 U.S. National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster met with Afghan officials in naval base in Tartus, Syria. They join ing terrorism,” said Ali Haidar, Syria’s Kabul to discuss the next steps in the more than 15-year-long war against the Taliban — the longest in U.S. history — and the continuing role of the more six Russian warships and four sup- Minister of National Reconciliation than 8,000 U.S. troops there. The Pentagon is pressing to send more troops. port vessels already stationed in the Affairs, using their code word for all — Jim Bradley eastern Mediterranean, where the U.S. opponents of the regime. warships that launched the Tomahawk missile attack are stationed. Washington, Ankara frictions decision, fearing the emergence of an and fired well over 100,000 people. One of Washington’s problems in autonomous Kurdish region in Syria The regime claims Erdogan won a nar- The Syria civil war advancing its imperialist interests in that will inspire national resistance to row and disputed 51 percent victory, In 2011 mass popular mobilizations Syria is sharp disagreement with the his rule in Turkey. Ankara invaded and adding new instability in the region. broke out in Syria, calling for political Turkish regime of President Recep occupies part of northwestern Syria, Ankara’s direction is important for rights and the downfall of the Assad Tayyip Erdogan, which puts its own seeking to prevent the YPG from ex- Washington. Turkey’s Incirlik Air regime. The government responded interests in maintaining the national tending the Kurdish enclave it admin- Base has been key for Washington’s with brutal repression, killing, arrest- oppression of its 15 million Kurdish isters the full length of the Syrian-Tur- military operations in Syria and Iraq. ing and “disappearing” tens of thou- residents first. The 30 million Kurds key border. Erdogan admits he lost the vote in are divided between Turkey, Syria, Having power to deal with the Kurd- Turkey’s largest cities — Istanbul, An- Iraq and Iran, the largest national mi- ish question was one factor behind kara and Izmir — as well as across the Opening Guns of World nority worldwide without their own Erdogan’s decision to hold a constitu- Kurdish region. The Republican Peo- War III: Washington’s state. tional referendum April 16 seeking to ple’s Party, and the Kurd-supported Assault on Iraq The YPG has proven the most reli- transform the Turkish government into People’s Democratic Party (HDP) are by Jack Barnes able and effective fighting force against a strong executive state, concentrat- challenging the referendum results. In- Islamic State in Syria, and Washington ing power in his hands. He has already ternational election monitors claimed In New has made the Kurdish group the cen- formed a more centralized regime, “the legal framework remained inad- International no. 7 tral ground force in the effort to take declaring a state of emergency after a equate for the holding of a genuinely “The Gulf war sounded Raqqa. Erdogan bitterly opposes the failed coup last July, and has arrested democratic referendum.” the opening guns of sharpening conflicts and class battles that will decide whether if you like this paper, look us up the horrors of World Where to find distributors of the Zip: 68506. Tel: (402) 217-4906. Email: War III are inflicted on CANADA Militant, New International, and a full [email protected] humanity.” QUEBEC: Montreal: 7107 St. Denis display of Pathfinder books. —Jack Barnes NEW YORK: New York: 306 W. 37th St., #204 H2S 2S5. Tel: (514) 272-5840. Email: $14. Also in Farsi, French, Spanish, Swedish UNITED STATES 13th Floor. Zip: 10018. Tel: (646) 964-4793. [email protected] BRITISH Email: [email protected] Albany: P.O. COLUMBIA: Vancouver: Email: CALIFORNIA: Oakland: 675 Box 8304. Zip: 12208. Email: albanyswp@ [email protected] Hegenberger Road, Suite 250. Zip: 94621. 50 Years of Covert gmail.com Tel: (510) 686-1351. Email: swpoak Operations in the U.S. @sbcglobal.net Los Angeles: 2826 S. FRANCE PENNSYLVANIA: Philadelphia: 2824 Paris: BP 10130, 75723 Paris Cedex 15. Vermont. Suite 1. Zip: 90007. Tel: (323) Cottman Ave., Suite 20. Zip: 19149. Tel: (215) Washington’s Political Police and the 643-4968. Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] American Working Class 708-1270. Email: [email protected] FLORIDA: Miami: 7911 Biscayne by Larry Seigle, Steve Clark, Blvd., Suite 2. Zip: 33138. Tel: (305) 390- WASHINGTON, D.C.: 7603 NEW ZEALAND Farrell Dobbs 8310. Email: [email protected] Georgia Ave. NW, Suite 300. Zip: Auckland: 188a Onehunga Mall, 20011. Tel: (202) 536-5080. Email: Onehunga. Postal address: P.O. Box 3025, The 15-year political GEORGIA: Atlanta: 777 Cleveland [email protected] campaign of the Auckland 1140. Tel: (09) 636-3231. Email: Ave. SW Suite 103. Zip: 30315. Tel: (678) [email protected] Socialist Workers Party to 528-7828. Email: [email protected] WASHINGTON: Seattle: 5418 Rainier expose decades of spying Ave. South. Zip: 98118-2439. Tel: (206) 323- and disruption by the FBI ILLINOIS: Chicago: 2018 S. Ashland 1755. Email: [email protected] UNITED KINGDOM and other opponents of Ave. Zip: 60608. Tel: (312) 455-0111. Email: ENGLAND: London: 2nd Floor, 83 government policies. [email protected] AUSTRALIA Kings­land High St., Dalston. Postal code: E8 2PB. Tel: (020) 3583-3553. Email: $12. Also in Spanish, Farsi MINNESOTA: Minneapolis: 416 E. Sydney: 1st Flr, 3/281-287 Beamish [email protected] Manchester: Room Hennepin Ave., Suite 214. Zip: 55414. Tel: (612) St., Campsie, NSW 2194. Mailing 729-1205. Email: [email protected] address: P.O. Box 164, Campsie, NSW 2194. 301, 3rd floor, Hilton House, 26–28 Hilton pathfinderpress.com Tel: (02) 9718 9698. Email: cl_australia@ St. Postal code: M1 2EH. Tel: (016) 1478- NEBRASKA: Lincoln: P.O. Box 6811. optusnet.com.au 2496. Email: [email protected]

8 The Militant May 1, 2017 US threatens Venezuela Socialist Workers Party: ‘US hands off Venezuela!’ Continued from front page where they have a base. NEW YORK — “We de- Six people have been killed at the The U.S.-dominated Organization mand the U.S. capitalist rulers demonstrations, hundreds injured and of American States issued a statement keep their hands off Venezu- many arrested in clashes with gov- by 11 member governments April 17 ela!” Socialist Workers Party ernment forces. On April 8 scores of calling on Venezuela’s government to leader Róger Calero said at protesters attacked a Supreme Court “guarantee the right to peaceful pro- an April 14 Militant Labor building in the wealthy eastern Ca- test” and to quickly set dates for elec- Forum here. “Working peo- racas municipality of Chacao. A few tions. The signatories were the gov- ple across the United States need to stand with our broth- days later a medical clinic and a food ernments of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, ers and sisters in Venezuela distribution center run by the govern- Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, against the pressure, threats ment were bombed in Miranda state. Honduras, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru and provocations from Wash- The pro-imperialist parties that and Uruguay. ington and its Organization of make up MUD have a long record Venezuelan government officials American States. in defense of the capitalist class in denounced the move as “rude med- “Far from being a paragon Venezuela. Since the election of late dling” in their country’s internal af- of democratic virtues,” Cale- President Hugo Chavez in 1998, they fairs. ro said, “The Washington-led have backed attempts to bring down President Maduro has in fact al- OAS has a long record of Militant/John Studer the governments of Chavez, and now ready called for the date to be set for backing coups and imperial- Maduro, including a failed coup in municipal and regional elections this ist-backed invasions to overthrow regimes that stand in its way since its 2002 that was defeated by a massive year. But the opposition and its impe- was founded in 1948. It backed the overthrow of the Arbenz government mobilization of working people. The rialist backers want to force the gov- in Guatemala in 1954, the failed Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba in 1961, the protests called for April 11-13 co- ernment to move up the presidential U.S. invasion of the Dominican Republic in 1965, the overthrow of the Al- incided with the anniversary of the election that’s set for next year. lende government in Chile in 1973 and the invasion of Grenada in 1983. coup. The aim of Washington and its cap- “The U.S. government says that ‘we Americans’ have an interest in Tens of thousands of pro-govern- italist allies is to replace the Maduro changing Venezuela. But there is no ‘we,’” Calero said. “The ruling capi- ment militia members held a rally government with one more compliant talist class is seeking to regain control over the resources of Venezuela, just in downtown Caracas April 17 to to their interests. They would prefer as they seek to increase the profits they can make off our backs here. Our mark the anniversary of the creation to let the deepening economic crisis interests lie with our fellow working people in Venezuela, with the work- of the Bolivarian Militia, a mainly in Venezuela — for which they bear ing class of the world.” working-class volunteer force formed primary responsibility — continue to — john studer by Chávez. The mobilization was work to bring down the government. a response to opposition appeals to They are increasing pressure the military high command to move against the Maduro government as intervention to deal with the “humani- from a statement by Bolivarian Al- against the Maduro government and the world capitalist economic crisis is tarian crisis” in Venezuela — are lining liance for the Peoples of Our Amer- restore “constitutional order.” De- having a devastating impact on work- up to bleed the country dry. ica (ALBA) members meeting there fense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lo- ing people there, eating away at the On April 12 the Venezuela govern- April 10. ALBA is one of a number pez spoke at the rally, confirming the government’s ability to continue fi- ment made payment of some $2.2 bil- of anti-imperialist initiatives set up to army’s “unconditional loyalty to the nancing social programs at home and lion toward its foreign debt. The central counter the OAS and other U.S.-dom- president.” to extend assistance to Cuba and other bank reported in March that Venezuela inated blocs. It includes Cuba, Ven- The April 19 countermobilization countries abroad. has $10.5 billion in foreign reserves with ezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador, Nicaragua, by supporters of the Maduro govern- There is widespread unemploy- some $3.5 billion in outstanding debt and the Caribbean islands of Antigua ment against the opposition’s “mother ment, sky-high inflation and scarcity of payments due later this year. The total and Barbuda, Dominica, Saint Lucia, of all protests” is the first mass re- food, medicines and other basic goods. debt is some $120 billion. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, sponse to the latest round of actions Meanwhile, the bondholders of the U.S. “Let us defend the sovereignty, Saint Kitts and Nevis, and Grenada. by the opposition. Up to now, the op- and other imperialist countries who own independence and peace of Venezu- PetroCaribe, an energy cooperation position has based its actions in mid- Venezuela’s foreign debt — the same ela,” Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno agreement initiated by the Venezuelan dle- and upper-class neighborhoods governments who are calling for foreign Rodríguez said in Havana, reading government in 2005, has been a life- line to Cuba and other countries in the Caribbean and Central America. Sup- letters plying oil at preferential prices, it has Cuba conference coverage original or amended motion, which central organizer of the National Cuba weakened the stranglehold of the impe- rialist dominated oil conglomerates and I would like to correct a factual er- read, “That we agree to establish and Conference, found the Militant’s cov- support national speaking tours by erage of that gathering “objective, in- earned the hatred of Washington. ror in the otherwise objective, infor- “Venezuela is not alone, we accompa- mative, and accurate article by Steve leading Cuban figures. And that we formative, and accurate.” collaborate with Cuba in organizing As to what he considers a “fac- ny the country in its struggle,” said the Clark (“Views on Ending US Hostile message from the Federation of Cuban Policy to Cuba Debated at NY Con- this.” tual error,” I was one of several par- Since there was never any proposal ticipants at the closing plenary who Women, one of a number from Cuban ference”) in the April 17, 2017, Mili- mass organizations, to the Venezuelan tant. to establish either a “national speak- spoke about concerns that the mo- ers bureau” or a “new national body,” tion on speaking tours implied some government in the face of the OAS Clark wrote, “Another debate cen- threats. There are over 40,000 Cuban tered on a proposal supported by Ike such a proposal could not have been sort of national structure to organize “withdrawn.” In response to remarks such tours and other activity. That ex- volunteers in Venezuela today, work- Nahem, Isaac Saney, and Steve Eck- ing in health clinics, literacy classes and ardt of the Chicago Cuba Coalition in the discussion on this proposal, a change, as reported in the article, led friendly amendment was adopted that to a clarification that I think put to rest sports programs. that a national speakers bureau be The Federation of Cuban Work- established to organize tours by Cu- read, “We will work in our efforts to the prospect of any new committee or coordinate nationally, and make full ongoing national conference calls. ers (CTC) has said that solidarity with bans and others in North America. Venezuela will be a key demand in this The motion to encourage speaking use of the National Network on Cuba On that basis, local Cuba coali- to do this, and that we will work to tions, the National Network on Cuba, year’s May Day mobilizations: Uncon- tours was agreed to, but the proposal ditional support in defense of Vene- to establish a new national body was share resources via live streaming, and other organizations can work to- Skype, and other platforms.” gether on speaking tours and other zuela’s sovereignty! No to imperialist withdrawn.” intervention! Neither in the original proposal, nor I viewed the entire March 26 clos- educational efforts to reach out to in its amended and unanimously ad- ing plenary session on YouTube to and involve growing layers of work- opted final wording, was a “national make sure my memory was correct, ing people and youth in the U.S. and Correction speakers bureau” proposed. Further- and these are the facts. Canada who are open to finding out Due to an editing error, the ar- more, at no point was there any pro- Ike Nahem the truth about Cuba’s socialist revo- ticle “Emmett Till Lynching Spurred Fight that Overthrew Jim Crow” in posal to establish any “new national New York, New York lution and joining activity to demand: End the U.S. economic war against the April 24 Militant says the issue of body.” On the contrary, as I said at the Jet magazine with the picture of Till first plenary session March 25, “The Steve Clark replies: Cuba! U.S. out of Guantánamo! End in his open casket was passed around aim of this conference is to boost this I’m glad that Ike Nahem, who was a Washington’s “regime change” opera- in author Ilona Gersh’s high school. It work ... in cities across the U.S. and tions! Now! should have said it was passed around Canada, to reach out and build united in her neighborhood. ‘Militant’ Prisoners’ Fund action.” The article “Puerto Rican Univer- The Prisoners’ Fund makes it possible to The letters column is an open fo- sity Students Rally Against Cuts” in One activist during discussion at send prisoners reduced rate subscrip- rum for all viewpoints on subjects of the April 17 issue mistakenly said the closing plenary did raise that a tions. To donate, send a check or money interest to working people. Where that the March 31 meeting of the U.S. “steering committee” coming out of order payable to the Militant and ear- necessary letters will be abridged. appointed fiscal board was its first the conference would be useful. But meeting in Puerto Rico. It was its marked “Prisoners’ Fund” to 306 W. 37th Indicate if you prefer that your ini- this was not supported by any oth- third meeting there. St., 13th Floor, New York, NY 10018. tials be used rather than your full ers and was certainly not part of the name.

The Militant May 1, 2017 9