New FBI files: Hoover's plot to destroy the Black Panther Party -PAGE 3 OCTOBER 31, 1980 60 CENTS VOLUME 44/NUMBER 40 A SOCIALIST NEWSWEEKLY /PUBLISHED IN THE INTERESTS OF THE WORKING PEOPLE Pulley for president ...._: .. ··::<\:' ·. -PAGES 6-13 Zimmermann for vice-president a vote -PAGE 4 In Our Opinion VOLUME 44/NUMBER 40 OCTOBER 31, 1980 CLOSING NEWS DATE-OCT. 22 Who stands for peace? American working people want peace. been far higher if the operation hadn't col­ That's why no program for peace will be Recognition of that fact is shaping the lapsed in its initial phase. forthcoming from Carter or Reagan. campaign rhetoric of the Republican and He ~ants to keep us in the dark about the But there is such a program. It includes: Democratic presidential contenders in the last fact that U.S. military advisers are fighting in • abolition of draft registration; days of the campaign. El Salvador today. They are trying to keep in • ending nuclear weapons production and "Peace is my pledge," intoned President power a brutal dictatorship that has murdered abolishing nuclear stockpiles; Carter October 19. Ronald Reagan countered 7,000 people in 1980 alone. • spending the money in the war budget to by promising, "Of all the objectives we seek, Washington's war in Vietnam also began provide jobs, housing, and medical care for all; first and foremost is the establishment of with the sending of advisers. • pulling all U.S. planes and ships out of world peace." Carter's pledge of peace promises to be the Persian Gulf region; They know that American working people worth about as much as the campaign pledges • shutting down all U.S. bases abroad and are deeply opposed to new Vietnams and even he made in 1976. bringing our soldiers home; more hostile to any steps they think could lead Until his pollsters began warning him to • ending the economic blockade of Iran, to a nuclear holocaust. This despite a year of cool it a little, Reagan's campaign focused on Cuba, and Vietnam. non-stop efforts by politicians and the· media belligerent rhetoric, more prowar than Car­ • Instead of threats and war fleets, massive to whip up warlike attitudes around Iran, ter's. aid should be sent to these countries and to Cuba, and Afghanistan. Reagan's open advocacy of unfettered ex­ Nicaragua to help their rebuilding efforts; The mood Reagan and Carter confront was pansion of nuclear weapons and his call for a • nationalizing big oil, instead of sending indicated in a poll published last July. Taken "get tough" policy around the world indicate another generation of youth to die for it. by the International Association of Machin­ even more clearly the intentions of the rulers Working people need their own \party to fight ists, the survey found only 12 percent of those of this country. for this program against all the Reagans and questioned wanted Washington to "get tough" The owners of Exxon and the other billio­ Carters-a labor party based on the unions. in foreign policy. naires who run both the Democratic and In 1980 this antiwar program is represented Carter is· trying to capitalize on antiwar Republican parties need the draft, more nu­ by Andrew Pulley and Matilde Zimmermann, sentiment by presenting himself as a peace clear weapons, and stepped-up war moves. the Socialist Workers Party presidential ticket, candidate. Reagan has taken the mood into They face growing rebellions by working peo­ and by local SWP candidates across the coun­ account by trying to assuage fears that his ple from South Africa to El Salvador. War and try. policies mean war. violence are the only answers they have. Vote Socialist Workers! But these candidates stand on programs that mean increasing militarization, new Viet­ nams, and, ultimately, the threat of a nuclear conflagration that could doom humanity. Given Carter's record, it doesn't take a crystal ball to figure out where this "peace candidate" is trying to take us. Carter has upped military spending each year since he took office. He gave a huge boost to the arms race by pushing the MX and Cruise missiles. He sent a fleet of warships and planes to the Arabian Sea, near the coast of Iran. He sent radar and surveillance planes, and U.S. military personnel to operate them, to the shaky Saudi Arabian monarchy. He organized the "Rapid Deployment Force," which is training for war in the Middle East. He authorized planning for "limited" nu­ clear wars. And he reinstituted draft registration as a step toward bringing back the draft. Carter. tells us that his policies have been carried out "without recourse to violence and war." That's a lie. He wants us to forget about the eight Ameri­ can soldiers who died during his failed inva­ Militant/Lou Howort sion of Iran last April. The toll would have New York antidraft demonstrations. Unlike Republicans and Democrats, Socialist Workers Party has given all-out support to fight against draft. Militant Highlights This Week The Militant Editors: CINDY JAQUITH ANDY ROSE 3 Black Panthers target of FBI Business Manager: NANCY ROSENSTOCK 4 How to stop Reaganism Editorial Staff: Nan Bailey, Fred Feldman, Suzanne Haig, Osborne Hart, Diane Jacobs, 6-13 Vote Socialist Workers! Harry Ring, Vivian Sahner, Priscilla Schenk, Stu 14 El Salvador solidarity Singer. 15 Confrontation in Jamaica Published weekly by the Militant (ISSN 0026-3885), 14 Charles Lane, 16 Boston cop free in killing New York, N.Y. 10014. Telephone: 17 Why are unions in trouble? Editorial Office, (212) 243-6392; Busi­ 18 Rail worker on nuclear hazards ness Office, (212) 929-3486. 19 Blacks form patrol in Atlanta Correspondence concerning sub­ 20 Debate on Canada's Constitution scriptions or changes of address 21 How bankers squeezed Poland should be addressed to The Militant Business Office, 14 Charles Lane, 22 Iraq trying to crush Iran New York, N.Y. 10014. 23 Behind news on Iran Second-class postage paid at New 24 Socialists demand INS/FBI files York, N.Y. Subscriptions: U.S. $24.00 a year, outside U.S. $30.00. By first­ 9 Campaigning for New Readers El Salvador solidarity committee class mail: U.S., Canada, and Mexico: 25 The Great Society Five hundred gather in East and West Coast Their Government $60.00. Write for airmail rates to all What's Going On conferences to launch solidarity movement with El other countries. Salvador. Santa Clara, California, Labor Council Signed articles by contributors do not neces­ 26 Our Revolutionary Heritage sarily represent the Militant's views. These are Letters denounces AFL-CIO officials' support to junta. expressed in editorials. 27 Learning About Socialism Pages 14-15. 2 Black Panthers targeted by FBI By Suzanne Haig Earl Caldwell described in an Oc­ The Federal Bureau of Investigation tober 20 Daily News column how he tried to use Black journalists, forged was harassed and then threatened letters, and anonymous phone calls with court action by the FBI when he during the late 1960s and early 1970s refused to comply. At the time he was a to disrupt and politically discredit the reporter for the New York Times, in­ Black movement. vestigating government complicity in How the FBI did this is revealed in raids against the Panther headquar­ FBI documents made public in con­ ters in San Francisco. junction with a $750,000 suit for dam­ ages filed by Dhoruba (Richard) In 1970 a number of Black journal­ Moore, a former leader of the Black ists were forced to hold a secret meet­ Panther Party in New York. Moore-in ing in Jefferson City, Missouri, to fight jail since 1973 for allegedly trying to "for our rights and freedom to function kill two cops-has sued the FBI and as reporters," Caldwell wrote in the other federal agencies, charging he Daily News. The journalists saw that was framed up. the FBI was trying to prevent fair The documents are part of the FBI's coverage of the Black movement and Cointelpro (counterintelligence pro­ wanted to organize a counterattack. gram), which, according to FBI docu­ ments released in 1974, was set up to The FBI also attempted to destroy "expose, disrupt . or otherwise neu­ the ties between Black organizations tralize the activities of black national­ and the community. Clergy in New York City received letters trying to ist hate-type organizations ... ," as keep them from aiding the Student well as anti-Vietnam War groups, so­ Defense rally, February 1970. FBI tried to divide supporters of Black Panther Party. cialists, women's organizations, and Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). others. documents were "substantial evidence, against the Panthers, ordering that a Hoover suggested that newspaper The documents, summarized in the now available to all, that the FBI right-wing column attacking them be articles criticizing the Panthers' October 19 New York Times, detail the conspired to ferment hatred and vio­ sent "to unions such as the teamsters "Breakfast for Children Program" be poisonous methods used to prevent lent dissension among blacks, among and others involved in the handling of mailed to clergy, political leaders, and growing support for the Black struggle. Jews and between blacks and Jews." B.P.P. newspapers." others. In 1970, J. Edgar Hoover, then head The FBI also tried to incite violence The documents also claim that the Justifying his actions, Hoover said of the FBI, ordered his New York among various groups. For example, FBI persuaded several Black journal­ the Panthers used this program "to agents to send out anonymous letters after Communist Party leader Angela ists to spy on and write articles dis­ poison the minds of small children charging the Panthers with anti­ Davis was arrested in October 1970 on crediting the Black Panthers and other who take this hate to their homes." semitism.