• GABINETE DE TRUMP • RUSIA NO LO HIZO 12 Workers and oppressed peoples of the world unite! workers.org Vol. 58, No. 51 Dec. 29, 2016 $1 Campus rape culture & sports 5 U.S. Out of Syria No fake ‘humanitarian’ interventions! By Deirdre Griswold way have been people of color. White supremacy has always played The city of Aleppo in Syria has a big part in “justifying” colonial been liberated from reactionary and imperial expansion. fighters — those supported by the When the U.S. CIA, as early as U.S., Qatar, Saudi Arabia and oth- 1979, first supplied and trained ers — who had taken over the city what would become the Taliban to by deadly violence some four years fight a secular revolutionary gov- ago. ernment in Afghanistan, the excuse Most of the forces the Syri- was anti-communism. The excuses an Army was up against, like the for the costly and destructive wars al-Nusra Front, had been character- the U.S. has waged since then in ized as “terrorist” by the U.S. itself Iraq, Yemen, Libya and Syria have just a couple of years ago. Yet some- varied from needing to eliminate how, the powerful Western media “weapons of mass destruction” to have now managed to convince a lot their leaders being “brutal dicta- of people that the liberation of Alep- tors” whose overthrow would be a po from these forces of extreme re- “humanitarian” intervention. Those action was a terrible thing and that excuses have all been lies. the government of Syria should be The suffering now in Aleppo has hated for it. its roots in U.S. imperialist machi- This issue of Workers World has nation and destabilization. It’s time several articles rebutting that false to end the phony “humanitarian” conception. Our view is based, first interventions conceived by Wall and foremost, on the recognition Street and executed by the mili- that the United States is an imperi- tary-industrial complex. Peace for alist country that has used violence Syria means U.S. hands off! for more than a century to grab and Turn to pages 6-7 for some his- exploit huge areas of the world. torical reality and accuracy on the Most of those oppressed in this present situation in Syria. Workers’ unity for #J20 3 U.S. injustice system 5 A century of lies 6 Subscribe to Workers World 4 weeks trial $4 1 year subscription $30 Aleppo and phony news 6-7 Sign me up for the WWP Supporter Program: workers.org/articles/donate/supporters_/ Live like Fidel, tweet like René 8 Name ____________________________________________ European Union in crisis 9 Email ______________________________Phone __________ Street _________________City / State / Zip_________ President impeached in south Korea 10 Workers World 212.627.2994 147 W. 24th St., 2nd Fl, NY, NY 10011 workers.org China-U.S. conflicts 11 Page 2 Dec. 29, 2016 workers.org War hero dies Stopped My Lai massacre By John Catalinotto In the U.S. On Dec. 13, Larry Colburn died. He was the last survi- War hero dies: Stopped My Lai massacre . .2 vor of a U.S. helicopter crew who were among the best of the heroes of the Vietnam War — on the U.S. side. This is #J20: The working class must unite .......................3 their story. Michigan: Teachers’ unions push back right-wing attack ..3 It was March 16, 1968. A U.S. helicopter gunship was Iowa: Workers unionize at military-industrial PAE .........3 ready to do battle with Vietnamese guerrillas. It hovered Freedom fighters converge in Mississippi .................4 over My Lai that morning. Its task was to draw enemy fire ‘Days of Action’ all December for Standing Rock ..........4 and expose their positions. Rape culture, sports and profits ..........................5 What the three members of that helicopter crew ob- served — and it took a while for them to realize what was Dylann Roof and the U.S. injustice system ................5 going on — was one of the worst massacres of a U.S. war A century of lies about Russia.............................6 of aggression and occupation filled with atrocities and A young worker’s take on Syria ...........................6 massacres. The officer in charge of the company attack- Speaking tour exposes U.S. lies about Syria ..............7 ing a Vietnamese village, Lt. William Calley, had ordered Larry Colburn at 1970 trial of Lt. William PA rallies on International Day for Migrants ...............9 his troops to set fire to the homes and to kill everyone in Calley for the My Lai massacre in Vietnam. Letter: Aid Indigenous struggle in New Jersey ...........11 the village. In the course of the day, more than 500 Vietnamese man beings. But to act on that was enough to require real Around the world civilians were killed, almost all elders, women and chil- bravery. In the best tradition of soldier-resisters, they U.S. out of Syria ............................................1 dren, with few or no guerrillas. This carnage became turned their guns around on the real enemy. Fidel’s ‘battle of ideas’ comes to Twitter ..................8 known as the My Lai massacre. Calley was convicted of premeditated murder and sen- When the helicopter crew — Colburn, Chief Warrant tenced to life, but President Richard Nixon moved him To live like Fidel, to fight like Fidel ........................8 Officer Hugh Thompson and copter crew chief Glenn to house arrest, and he only served 3.5 years of his sen- Ultra-right parties take anti-EU stance ....................9 Andreotta — realized what was going on, they did their tence. He lives in Miami now. So. Korea: What’s behind the president’s impeachment..10 The bravery of the helicopter crew that stopped Cal- best to stop it. Thompson seized the initiative, landed the U.S. threats in South China Sea ..........................11 copter, jumped out and confronted Calley and the platoon ley’s mass murder was mirrored and multiplied by thou- he commanded. Thompson threatened that his gunner sands of U.S. soldiers, sailors, Air Force members and Editorial would fire on them if they continued to kill Vietnamese Marines who began to resist the war from 1968 until the Domestic ‘hacking’ distorted election.......................10 civilians. last U.S. troops were withdrawn in 1973. They avoided Colburn was handling the machine gun pointed at Cal- combat with the Vietnamese troops, refused orders to Noticias en Español ley and his troops. He never had to fire. Calley backed fight and, even in extreme cases, killed their own racist El capitalismo en crisis: El gabinete de Trump ............12 down. or too-aggressive officers and sergeants. Editorial: Rusia no lo hizo ................................12 This action rescued the surviving Vietnamese villag- Catalinotto is the author of “Turn the Guns Around: ers. Up to that point the helicopter crew were not war re- Mutinies, Soldier Revolts and Revolutions,” available in sisters or committed radicals. They were just decent hu- January. We’re taking a break! Workers World publishes 51 issues a year and takes one week off. Next week’s the week! We’ll see you again with our issue of Jan. 5. We’ll also be changing the way we date the paper. For now-outmoded reasons, the paper has Workers World 147 W. 24th St., 2nd Fl. been dated one week ahead for the last 58 years. Beginning next issue, it will be dated the day it comes from the printer. While we’re on our short vacation, we’ll also be watching the news. So if something big breaks, check out New York, N.Y. 10011 our website, workers.org. Phone: 212.627.2994 E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.workers.org Vol. 58, No. 51 • Dec. 29, 2016 Closing date: Dec. 20, 2016 Editor: Deirdre Griswold Managing Editors: John Catalinotto, LeiLani Dowell, Who we are & what we’re fighting for Kris Hamel, Monica Moorehead, Minnie Bruce Pratt; Web Editor Gary Wilson Hate capitalism? Workers World Party fights for a degrading people because of their nationality, sexual or Production & Design Editors: Coordinator Lal Roohk; socialist society — where the wealth is socially owned gender identity or disabilities — all are tools the ruling Andy Katz, Cheryl LaBash and production is planned to satisfy human need. This class uses to keep us apart. They ruthlessly super-ex- Copyediting and Proofreading: Sue Davis, ploit some in order to better exploit us all. WWP builds outmoded capitalist system is dragging down workers’ Bob McCubbin living standards while throwing millions out of their unity among all workers while supporting the right jobs. If you’re young, you know they’re stealing your of self-determination. Fighting oppression is a work- Contributing Editors: Abayomi Azikiwe, future. And capitalism is threatening the entire planet ing-class issue, which is confirmed by the many labor Greg Butterfield, G. Dunkel, K. Durkin, Fred Goldstein, Martha Grevatt, Teresa Gutierrez, with its unplanned, profit-driven stranglehold over the struggles led today by people of color, immigrants and Berta Joubert-Ceci, Terri Kay, Cheryl LaBash, women. means of production. Milt Neidenberg, John Parker, Bryan G. Pfeifer, Workers built it all — it belongs to society, not to a WWP has a long history of militant opposition to im- Betsey Piette, Gloria Rubac handful of billionaires! But we need a revolution to perialist wars. The billionaire rulers are bent on turning make that change. That’s why for 57 years WWP has back the clock to the bad old days before socialist revolu- Mundo Obero: Redactora Berta Joubert-Ceci; Ramiro Fúnez, Teresa Gutierrez, Donna Lazarus, been building a revolutionary party of the working tions and national liberation struggles liberated territory Carlos Vargas class inside the belly of the beast. from their grip. We’ve been in the streets to oppose every We fight every kind of oppression.