The U.S. on behalf of the super rich, oil companies, banks, war profiteers and the whole capitalist class is once more threatening the lives of millions of people in the Middle East and at home. U.S workers, youth, and oppressed people have no stake in another rich man’s war.
Funeral and protest in Iran, Jan. 6.
We are not threatened by our sisters and brothers in Iran or Iraq or elsewhere, who have every right to defend themselves. Our national security is threatened by the White House, Congress and the assault on every social benefit we have won for ourselves. Trump and his white supremacist regime are the real threat to workers.
Jan. 4: An emergency march and rally was called by the New Orleans Workers Group to protest U.S. imperialist war and to demand U.S. out of the Middle East.
Money for Schools, Hospitals, Jobs! No Blood for Oil!
With the support of Republicans and Democrats in Congress, the Trump administration is moving to start another war—this time against Iran. We need to educate our fellow workers and stop this from happening!
The recently published “Afghanistan Papers” reveal how both Republican and Democratic administrations and generals lied to the American people for 18 years, costing the lives of thousands of U.S. soldiers and more than 100,000 Afghan men, women, and children. During this time, the Pentagon looted the national budget to the tune of $1,000,000,000,000. This money could have been used to meet human needs. No worker should be tricked into going along with these imperialist wars that serve no purpose other than to make capitalists rich and destroy the lives of workers.
More lies from U.S. warmongers
Each new war requires new lies to justify it, but they all serve the same purpose: to enrich war profiteers, oil companies, banks and dictators. Who loses? The people of all the countries involved.
In 2003 George W. Bush invaded Iraq after sanctions had killed half a million children. U.S. war hawks and their mouthpieces in the capitalist owned media cited the World Trade Center attack and weapons of mass destruction as pretexts. On Sept. 11, 2006 George Bush finally admitted, “Saddam Hussein and Iraq had nothing to do with the World Trade Center attack.” The weapons of mass destruction were also debunked. Yet none of this stopped the bombings. U.S. capitalists’ desire for Iraq’s oil fields and markets outlived the lies that they sold the public.
Iraqi workers of all religions are in the Popular Mobilization Forces that were bombed by the U.S. on December 29, killing 32 people. All across the country, Iraqis are rebelling against horrible conditions, which result from U.S. invasion and occupation and a corrupt U.S. installed government. Yet the U.S. is blaming Iran for the rebellion of the Iraqi masses. This is just another lie to justify the deployment of 4,000 more U.S. soldiers to the region. What is being hidden by the corporate media, with its links to the U.S. military, is the truth.
Dec. 31: Thousands of Iraqis storm the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad to demand an end to U.S. occupation and terror. The U.S. govt. ordered a strike on the anti-ISIS Popular Mobilization Forces on Dec. 29, killing 32 people and injuring many more.
U.S. bombed Iraq for oil again
As part of the popular uprisings sweeping the country, protesters recently seized a major oil field in Iraq to demand that the oil wealth be used for jobs and social needs. This was on December 28. After the U.S. bombing on December 29, thousands of Iraqis swarmed the U.S. embassy demanding the U.S. get out. The U.S. strategy in Iraq has been to divide the people by religious and national differences but recent protests have been bringing all the groups together. U.S. rulers fear this unity. This has nothing to do with Iran.
But for the U.S. capitalist class and its puppets in the government, the storming of the embassy provided another pretext to threaten war against Iran and send more troops and bombers to the region. So strong is the popular movement that even the U.S.-backed client Iraqi government had to condemn the bombings and troop deployments. They have stated that they will not allow their country to be used as a base against Iran.
The U.S. capitalist class wants to win back the oil revenue it lost when the Iranian people overthrew the government of their friend and brutal dictator, the Shah. The Iranians will defend their country to make sure that they never suffer another murderous U.S.-puppet government.
The Iranians have done everything to avoid war. It was the Trump administration that pulled out of the nuclear agreement which Iran nevertheless continued to abide by, as verified by the United Nations. Despite Iran’s exceptional restraint, Trump recently ordered the illegal assassination of Qassem Soleimani, Iran’s top military commander as well as Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy head of the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF). Soleimani and the PMF had been leading the fight against ISIS in Iraq since 2014. This just shows how fraudulent the claim is that the U.S. military is occupying the Middle East to “defeat ISIS.”
It’s time to take it to the streets to show that we won’t fall for the lies and deceit of the oil companies and the war profiteers, nor will we condone these imperialist wars against humanity.
No war on Iran! End The Sanctions! U.S. out of the Middle East! No More Blood for Oil!
Trump thinks he has the final say on a lot of things. Executive orders, tweets, etc. His recent pardoning of three convicted war criminals is just another instance of abuse of power. Not surprising for a fascist.
Trump claims to be the best friend the military could have. What could he possibly know about serving? I served for 8 years, both under Bush and Obama. I entered combat zones under both regimes, which drove us into “forever wars” that destroyed the Middle East and gave trillions of our tax dollars to war profiteering corporations.
While I was in, I was required to abide by the UCMJ, or Uniform Code of Military Justice, which regulates the conduct of service members at home and while deployed. Violations of several of these articles can lead to Court Martial, which is where committing war crimes will land you. You’ll either be sentenced to death or get time in the brig. During times of war, which we are always in, you can be summarily executed for simply refusing to obey an order. This has happened as recently as 2013.
The military is largely a fraternity, for lack of a better word, run by corrupt generals. There are the UCMJ’s rules and then there are the “real” rules. Crimes are routinely covered up, obfuscated, or flat out lied about. That’s how it works, and it will not change until workers (including rank and file soldiers) rise up to dismantle this thing.
For someone to get convicted of these types of crimes, they would have to have been particularly heinous.
Trump claims he wants to “take care” of veterans. If he were serious about supporting active duty troops, he would bring Washington’s wars and occupations to an end. He would champion more funding for the VA. But he has as much concern for the troops as do the oil company executives who ought to be tried for war crimes themselves, along with the politicians and generals who orchestrate these wars.
Think about what fascists want and see if this fits in with their agenda. Trump is signaling that he has the final say in terms of justice. The criminals he pardoned are now emboldened, as are other service members who have done or aspire to commit similar acts. At the same time, the military refuses to address the problem of white supremacy among the ranks and will no longer screen for white nationalist views as a condition of enlistment.
Murdering civilians, posing with corpses, white nationalism, what else is Trump ok with?
Demonstrators at a march and rally in New Orleans on Jan. 4.
By Sally Jane Black
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., spoke out against the evils of capitalism, racism, and militarism in one of his last speeches. He was speaking about the Vietnam War, the invasion of a country that sought independence from colonial/capitalist occupation. The targets of the capitalist class are new but the struggle is old: today’s Iraq and Bolivia are yesterday’s Vietnam and Chile.
The evils of militarism, racism, and capitalism are connected, and opposing all three is crucial to defeating the capitalists who oppress and exploit us.
In the more than 50 years since Dr. King’s speech, the United States spent over $20 trillion on war.
In December 2019 Democrats and Republicans passed another war budget that will cost workers $738 billion. When other aspects of the budget dedicated to warfare are included it is over $1.1 trillion dollars. A trillion dollars is a thousand billion.
Politicians claim that there’s not enough money to fight climate change or provide universal healthcare and free college education. But Republicans and Democrats together authorized funding for the terrifying Trump Space Force in the new war budget. The workers of the world produce all the wealth we need to thrive, but the capitalists steal that wealth and waste it on their endless wars.
Permanent wars enrich the war profiteers, threaten our security
This money does not “stimulate the economy.” The trillions of taxpayer dollars handed over to war profiteers are not invested in expanding our productive capacity. The sole ‘value’ of missiles and bombs is expended in the act of destruction. In order to sell more weapons, the capitalists have to keep starting wars which only destroy the lives of more workers. This economy of horror is not sustainable. When this leads to an economic crisis the workers will once again be made to pay the price.
End imperialist wars, fight the capitalist class
The role of the U.S. military is to terrorize the working class and oppressed nations of the world. The U.S. capitalist class uses force to dominate and occupy countries for the sole benefit of Wall Street. The Afghanistan Papers prove that the U.S. military, politicians, and capitalists knew there was no leaving once the war began. They intended to occupy and exploit Afghanistan, not to liberate it. This one war alone has cost nearly $1 trillion.
Our only chance at liberation is to stand up to U.S. imperialism and militarism everywhere. We must demand our money go to schools and healthcare—not to drones and bombs. It’s not just a matter of improving our lives here in the U.S. It’s not just a matter of rearranging where our taxes go. Ending these wars would be a victory for the world’s working class, oppressed nations, and the environment (as the military is the world’s top polluter). Our liberation depends on it.
Members of Veterans for Peace in New York CIty demonstrate against war and sanctions on Iran. “War is a racket: A few profit, the many pay!” – Major General Smedley Butler, USMC
Dec. 6: Jesse Perkins, a resident of Gordon Plaza, addresses students participating in a Climate Strike organized by Sunrise New Orleans. Students demanded that the city fully fund the relocation of all residents of Gordon Plaza, a housing development built on toxic soil.
By Nath Clarke
On December 6, 2019, 200 people gathered at City Hall for a Climate Strike organized by Sunrise New Orleans. They demanded that Mayor Latoya Cantrell and the City Council:
Champion the Green New Deal
Fully fund the relocation of Gordon Plaza residents
Stop the construction of the fracked gas plant in New Orleans East
Commit to 100% renewable energy
Students of all ages spoke on the urgency of organizing in the face of the current climate crisis. Reverend Gregory Manning, a pastor at the Broadmoor Community Church, talked about environmental racism—and how people of color often are on the front lines of the fight against coastal erosion. Jesse Perkins (pictured at right), a resident of Gordon Plaza who’s been leading their fight for fully funded relocation spoke as well. Gordon Plaza is a Black, working-class neighborhood in the Upper Ninth Ward built on a Superfund site. For over 30 years, the residents have been organizing for the right to live on soil that won’t kill them.
Families and human rights defenders gather at the Mississippi Capitol to protest conditions inside Mississippi jails and prisons. Five prisoners have died in MDOC custody between Dec. 29 and Jan. 3.
On January 7, protesters gathered at the Mississippi State Capitol building to speak out against the deplorable conditions that prisoners have endured in Mississippi jails and prisons.
Since Dec. 29, 2019, at least five prisoners have died because of the violent conditions in Mississippi prisons. Recently, the Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC) has moved inmates to a notoriously decrepit maximum security unit at Parchman, the state penitentiary. This unit had previously been forced to close due to inhumane conditions. Prisoners have documented a lack of plumbing and electricity, flooded quarters, rampant black mold, and more.
Mississippi governor Phil Bryant justified this inhumane treatment of prisoners as retaliation for “gang violence.”
Sharon Brown, who has family on the inside, responded: “It is not a gang war. It is a systemic war. The biggest gang sits right there in that tower,” Brown said, pointing to the Capitol building.
Protesters are demanding an immediate reform to these inhumane conditions, the end of corporal and group punishment, educational and vocational-technical programs, the decriminalization of marijuana, restoration of regular family visitation and more.
The Sacklers—the biggest drug dealers in the U.S.—are in court for knowingly profiting from pushing millions into opioid addiction, specifically with OxyContin, produced by their company Purdue Pharma.
But they have never been criminally charged. Instead, courts are working out a financial settlement that will go to state governments, not the victims.
Now it has been revealed that this rotten family withdrew $10 billion from the company to put in family-owned bank accounts in order to hide their real wealth and to ensure that they continue to live it up.
All their money should be seized and distributed to those driven into addiction by these psychopathic capitalists, and they should all be jailed for their crimes.
Prisons cost the federal government billions of dollars to keep approximately 2.3 million people behind bars each year. The City of New Orleans currently dedicates 63% of its $721 million dollar budget to jails, police, and other reactive measures. The “City of Yes” says no to returning stolen tax dollars to working families by continuously dedicating only 1% of the budget to job development and 3% to children and families. Families around the country spend thousands of dollars each year just to keep in contact with dear ones who have been placed in prisons. They send money to incarcerated loved ones and incur debt to pay for emails, phone calls, food, and personal hygiene items.
Research done by a collaborative, participatory research project with 20 community-based organizations across the country like the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, Forward Together, and Research Action Design shows some hard hitting facts about how America’s punitive jail system is deeply impacting families as much as the incarcerated.
One report states, “The high cost of maintaining contact with incarcerated family members led more than one in three families (34%) into debt to pay for phone calls and visits alone. Family members who were not able to talk or visit with their loved ones regularly were much more likely to report experiencing negative health impacts related to a family member’s incarceration.” If we want to support building whole communities, we must examine what punitive systems like this really achieve. Who do they benefit? The rich ruling class is waging war on working people and the poor. We must call for an end to the prison industrial complex and support building communities where families can be healed. We must fight for the right to self-determination for all people.
The vote on the jail expansion, which took place on December 5, was painted as a victory by some, as every city council member voted “Yes” on the sheriff’s proposal. The Temporary Detention Center (TDC) that was supposed to be closed in 2017 and has been illegally operating ever since with more prisoners than the proposed bed cap of 1,100, has been approved by the city to remain open. They intend to use the TDC to warehouse mentally ill people who have been incarcerated. This vote does nothing to challenge the unjust criminalization of the mentally ill or the lack of public, accessible mental health services. City Councilmembers Banks and Palmer worked out a last-minute concession to those opposing the proposal: instead of the proposed bed-cap of 1,438 (bed caps determine the maximum amount of people that fill them), there is now a person cap of 1,250.
While we understand that we cannot abolish prisons overnight (without revolution), we must also be clear that this is far from enough. As long our community members’ lives are sold into prison slave labor, all of us working people are under attack. In this society, the overwhelming majority of “crime” that leads to incarceration stems from poverty. When people’s backs are pushed against a wall with low wages and high taxes, rent, and food costs, a situation is created where people must act to survive. If the New Orleans city government (or the US government at large) actually wanted to put an end to crime, the proactive solution would be to fund quality jobs, healthcare, childcare, and education. The interests of the majority would be served by a living wage and social programs that build communities. But when we look at the city budget, it is clear they have allocated OUR money where THEIR interests lie. Over 60% of the city budget goes to cops, jails, and reactive measures.
By filling prison beds with thousands of predominantly black folk, there are millions to be made in profit. Over 50,000 people fill Louisiana’s jails and prisons, and there are over 8,000 undocumented people in detention centers.
Over $1 million of tax payer money is paid out to Louisiana’s prison economy every day.
Not only are we the ones being incarcerated en masse; we’re also the ones who are paying for it! While the minimum wage has not gone up in over 20 years, Louisiana remains one of the highest incarcerated places on the planet.
With nearly 60,000 of our community members in cages, the rich can further their profits by forcing incarcerated people to work for as little as 86 cents per day. As previously mentioned, the lack of funding for quality jobs ensures that unemployed and underemployed people will be chained and caged. This keeps all of our wages down. By incarcerating poor and working class people, the rich keep a boot on our necks by restricting our access to political engagement and community life. By filling jails with predominantly black and brown folk, the state can continue to vilify us, using racism to justify their violence.
How can we truly fight back against this war on our bodies? Only a united front of working people can put an end to the prisons and jails of the capitalist U.S. We say, “lift the wages, down with cages!”
61% of college students have to take out loans to pay for their education; for many of these students, their debt becomes a lifelong burden. In total, over 44 million people in the US owe more than $1.5 trillion to various loan providers. The majority of this debt has accrued over the last decade.
Since 1987, the number of students enrolled in public and private institutions has almost doubled. In this time, costs have more than doubled. Students often have no choice but to accept these loans, sometimes with fluctuating interest rates that go as high as 25%. Once out of school, students are discovering that wages aren’t high enough to live, much less service their debt.
Parasitic loan companies have a record for making the repayment process as difficult as possible, charging fees for payments and forcibly holding back payments to extend the debt. As loan company Navient (changed from Sallie Mae as lawsuits piled up) admitted in court in a rare moment of corporate honesty: “there is no expectation that the servicer will act in the interest of the consumer.” These words sum up the industry, cold and unwavering in their pursuit of maximum profits.
It should be no surprise that more than 3,000 students default on their loans every day. The ultra-rich shareholders at Navient do a service to their fellow capitalists when they saddle workers with the distraction of never-ending debt. They count on the constant harassment by debt-collectors and the threat of wage garnishments being enough to keep people in line. They count on us always running on the hamster wheel to avoid poverty, with little time to consider a future beyond debt bondage. They expect that we’ll suffer our debts in private while we’re denied jobs because of our credit scores. But there are 44 million of us! We must unite to demand a cancellation of all student debt! Education should be free; other workers have won this right across the world. It’s time we catch up! Cancel the debt!
