Mubarak's Fall Poses New Challenge for U.S

www.peoplesworld.org February 18, 2011

Mubarak’s fall poses new challenge for U.S.

By Susan Webb

he fall of President Hosni Mubarak, aid). Obama publicly expressed displeasure with greeted with jubilation in Egypt and Mubarak and said he had pressed the Egyptian throughout the Middle East, came after ruler to make major reforms “to meet the aspira- a wave of strikes this week demonstrat- tions of the Egyptian people.” After Mubarak re- edT the depth and breadth of the Egyptian uprising. shuffled his government and named intelligence The numbers were so large and the participants chief Omar Suleiman as vice president, State De- so wide-ranging - port workers, textile workers, partment spokesman P.J. Crowley tweeted that postal workers, transport workers, farmers, the Mubarak “can’t reshuffle the deck and then stand unemployed, journalists and more, from the Nile pat.” On Feb. 1, when Mubarak said he would not Delta to the Suez Canal, - that even the New York run for re-election in September, Obama took on Times featured the story on its front page. With developments in Egypt changing mo- this week: ment by moment, two things are clear: This is a revolution that will profoundly impact not only • Mubarak’s fall poses new challenge for U.S. Egypt but the wider region as well. And it has • Editorial: Celebrating Reagan? forced the U.S. to a foreign policy crossroads, • U.S. Chamber planned smears against unions compelled to choose a path as the freight trains of • ‘Stop breaking the law’ protest tells charter school history rush by at breakneck speed. • Dirigentes Latinos: ¡Manos fuera del Seguro Social! The Obama administration has shifted its response considerably since Secretary of State Hil- read more news and opinion daily at www.peoplesworld.org lary Clinton’s ill-advised response on the first day of the uprising, Jan. 25, when she said that “the Egyptian government is stable.” a sharper tone, telling the Egyptian ruler that “an During that first week, many complained orderly transition must be meaningful, it must be that the White House was giving mixed mes- peaceful and it must begin now.” sages, but by the end of that week, the it said the The White House has maintained that posi- United States would review the $1.5 billion yearly tion since, but it took no further public steps, de- aid it provides to Egypt (nearly all of it military spite many calls for it do so.

Page 1 There were growing calls for the U.S. to cut Immediate demands are for a transitional nation- off military aid to Egypt as a way to exert pressure al unity government that includes the movements for change. Now, with Egypt’s military playing that organized this revolution, and an interim a leading role in the post-Mubarak period, such constitution that guarantees human rights and a The U.S. will have calls may subside. But they will undoubtedly rise democratic process for September’s presidential again if real changes demanded by the Egyptian elections. The protesters in Cairo’s Tahrir Square to decide if it people don’t happen immediately. are highly unlikely to accept a military dictator- will continue The announcement of Mubarak’s departure ship of any kind. to trumpet said he was handing over power to the military. Commenting on the U.S. response, ElBaradei “stability” at the While rank and file soldiers come from the masses, said, “Events have gone so fast, you know, nobody expense of the the military elite has been characterized as an oli- predicted. It’s like the 1979 Iranian Revolution in Egyptian people. garchy. Suleiman’s role remains unclear. As head that things took everybody by surprise, including of Egyptian intelligence since 1993, Suleiman di- us even. And they had to adjust their policy every rected the regime’s apparatus of repression. half hour.” Mohamed ElBaradei, the diplomat who has The U.S. will have to decide if it will con- emerged as a significant opposition leader, said tinue to trumpet “stability” at the expense of the Thursday it is the new forces, not the outgoing re- Egyptian people. Much to the surprise of the U.S. gime, who should be in charge of what happens foreign policy establishment, the Egyptian people next. “There is no credibility in either Mubarak themselves have shown that this is no longer a vi- or Suleiman or anybody who is associated with able policy. that regime,” he said in an interview with Foreign Policy magazine. Egyptians are looking for substantive changes. Susan Webb is co-editor of the People’s World.

Celebrating Reagan?

By PW Editorial Board

e are now celebrating the anniver- social safety net for working people and the poor sary of Ronald Reagan, who, if the in the United States. The busting of the union rep- corporate press is anything to go resenting air traffic controllers brought a thrill by, came down from heaven ex- to the hearts of anti-worker reactionaries every- Wactly 100 years ago to save us all. They are making where. The paeans to Reagan we are hearing right What he did was to such a fuss about Ronnie that there is even a pro- now include giving him credit for ending the Cold help unleash a new posal to add his handsome features to the rogues’ War and defeating communism. What he did was tsunami of gallery on Mount Rushmore, in the Black Hills of to help unleash a new tsunami of ravenous, impe- ravenous, South Dakota. rialistic capitalism on the entire world. We have imperialistic I well remember his famous trickle down not recovered yet. capitalism on the theory of economics, whereby the wealth deriving And such nice friends he had, too! There was entire world. from massive tax concessions to the super rich was not a right-wing dictator or fascist that he did not supposed to trickle down to the rest of us below. consider to be “the moral equivalent of our found- I did feel something trickling down on my ing fathers”, a term which he first applied to the head pretty soon after Reagan came to power, but Contras, a group of U.S.-financed cutthroats who when I checked, it turned out not to be wealth: It were rampaging around in Nicaragua, murdering didn’t pass the smell test. The same is true of all health workers and teachers, in an effort to over- the rest of Reagan’s policies, foreign and domes- throw the Sandinista government. His “defeat” tic: They stank. The tax cuts for the corporations of the USSR foisted people like Al Qaeda on the and the rich were a strong factor in stimulating world. He stood up for “freedom”, but only the corporate globalization, while they undercut the freedom to exploit and oppress.

www.peoplesworld.org Page 2 U.S. Chamber planned dirty tricks, smears against unions

By John Wojcik

nvestigators have found that the U.S. Cham- ber of Commerce paid a law firm to initiate a campaign of political sabotage against unions and other progressive groups that haveI opposed its policies. ThinkProgress announced Feb. 10 that it had learned that Chamber lawyers hired private security companies to develop tactics for damaging progressive groups and labor unions, in particular Change to Win, SEIU, U.S. Chamber Watch, Stop The Chamber.com and ThinkProgress itself. One of the campaigns developed by the security companies was an entrapment scheme. The proposal called for first creating a false allegations in the investigative report are “base- document to give to a progressive group opposing less attacks” because “the Chamber has never seen the Chamber, and then to subsequently expose the the document in question,” but most observers see One of the document as a fake to undermine the credibility of this as a carefully worded denial that actually does campaigns the Chamber’s opponents. not deny the findings. developed by the In addition, the security groups proposed cre- The Chamber can claim not to have “hired” security companies ating a “fake insider persona” at the Chamber to private security companies for a sabotage cam- was an entrapment “generate communications” with Change to Win. paign because, until as recently as Feb. 3, at least, scheme. The firms hired by the Chamber lawyers the security firm was working without pay. had hoped to make $2.2 million altogether, but Even the saboteurs, it turns out, may have the ThinkProgress investigation may have short- been “victimized” by the Chamber, having done a circuited the Chamber’s ability to carry out the month of dirty work for free while the Chamber final plans. decided whether it wanted to officially hire them. Leaked emails show the Chamber’s law firm, The Chamber also covered itself by using the Hunton & Williams, met with the security compa- law firm as a go-between, never actually meeting nies to plan the sabotage in late 2010. A Jan. 13 with the saboteurs directly. email indicated that the security companies as- ThinkProgress raised the Chamber’s ire af- sumed the project was on, though another e-mail ter publishing numerous articles last year about showed that the Chamber would not pay until af- its efforts to coordinate a lobbying campaign on ter the work was completed. behalf of JPMorgan and its efforts to kill financial ThinkProgress says, in view of the release of reform, as well as articles exposing the Chamber’s its investigation, it is not clear whether the Feb. 14 solicitation of foreign corporate donations and its meeting was actually held. links with the notorious Koch brothers. The Chamber has said on its website, that the

www.peoplesworld.org Page 3 local news Amplia coalición de grupos exige Local contact [email protected] aire limpio para todos

‘Stop breaking Por Sierra Club n una conferencia de contaminación a nuestra salud”, dijo the law,’ protest prensa telefónica con los Jacqueline Patterson, directora del medios de comunicación, programa de justicia medioambiental tells Chicago líderes de Médicos por la y climática de la NAACP, resaltando EResponsabilidad Social, la NAACP, el los aspectos discriminatorios y de charter school Sierra Club y un economista de Yale derechos civiles de la contaminación. resaltaron las amenazas de la con- Agregó que las comunidades de color y taminación contra la salud de todos y las de bajos ingresos están despropor- By John Bachtell urgieron a que se establezcan sólidas cionadamente expuestas a los efectos eachers at the Chicago Mathemat- salvaguardas por parte de la Agencia nocivos de la contaminación. El 71% ics and Science Academy, voted de Protección Medioambiental (EPA) de las comunidades afro-americanas 67 percent in favor of joining the para todas nuestras familias. vive en áreas de gran peligro medio- Chicago Alliance of Charter Teach- “Las corporaciones quieren con- ambiental, comparado con el 58% de ersT and Staff (Chicago ACTS) in June of tinuar contaminando sin límites a la población blanca. last year. CMSA management fired Rhonda costa de la salud de todos”, dijo Mi- Además, el 66% de los hispanos Hartwell, a leader of the organizing effort chael Brune, director ejecutivo del Si- vive peligrosamente cerca de un lugar who was eight months pregnant, fifteen min- erra Club. “Hay razones por las cuales tóxico. utes before teachers announced they were ‘protección’ es parte del nombre de Esta semana un nuevo informe forming a union. CMSA said her firing was esta agencia”. develó que las mismas salvaguardas for budgetary reasons but later announced a Los líderes participantes discuti- de la EPA que van a proteger el aire $1.5 million profit. eron sus serias preocupaciones por de nuestras comunidades tienen el The teachers saw joining the union as la salud del país y urgieron al esta- potencial de crear más de 1.5 millones a means to gain a voice in school decisions. blecimiento de las más estrictas sal- de nuevos empleos sólo en los próxi- They have been shut out and the resulting vaguardas de la EPA para proteger la mos cinco años. frustrations contributed to a high turnover salud pública. “Muchas de las propuestas de la rate. “El propósito fundamental de la EPA y su puesta en práctica tienen la They have been in a battle for recogni- EPA es proteger la salud de todos”, relación costo-beneficio más favorable tion ever since. Instead of investing resourc- dijo la Dra. Kristen Welker-Hood, de todas las agencias federales”, dijo es in staff salaries, CMSA hired a notorious, directora de medioambiente y salud el Dr. Matthew Kotchen, catedrático expensive union busting firm, Seyfarth Shaw de Médicos por la Responsabilidad de economía de Yale; y agregó que, (partner Jim Powers has since left the law Social. “La contaminación del aire en- “las compañías carboneras no tienen firm but took the CMSA account with him). ferma a las personas y puede causar- razón alguna para descontinuar sus Charter schools are covered under Illi- les la muerte. Puede matar tanto a los emisiones tóxicas sin un sólido marco nois Educational Labor Relations Board, but ancianos como a los niños. Debemos legal que les obligue”. CMSA refused to accept this and took their aunarnos para proteger a nuestras El Sierra Club ha defendido du- case to the National Labor Relations Board. comunidades y asegurarnos de que rante décadas progresar hacia una But the NLRB ruled CMSA is indeed pueden vivir libres de sufrimientos a economía de energía limpia y paul- a public school receiving public funds and causa de la contaminación”. atinamente dejar de lado los combus- management must follow state law. CMSA “No podemos permitirnos más tibles fósiles. has appealed the decision and in the mean- que las corporaciones antepongan la time walked away from the bargaining ta- ble. Chicago ACTS said every board mem- ber of CMSA would be pressed because they national contact were personally responsible for the down- ward spiral the school finds itself in. They Editorial: (773) 446-9920 Business: (212) 924-2523 started with Sulejman Dizdarevic; a delega- Email: [email protected] tion delivered a letter to his office demand- ing management comply with state law.