Students for Democratic Society Against FBI raids

http://www.studentsforademocraticsociety.org/?q=2010/9/24/students-democratic-society-speaks-out-against-fbi-raids

Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) stand in solidarity with their brothers and sisters across the country in the face of FBI repression of progressive causes. SDSers, along with members of the Palestine Solidarity Group, the Twin-Cities Anti-War Committee, the Colombia Action Network, the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, and the National Committee to Free Ricardo Palmera had their homes searched and documents and electronic devices seized.

“The government hopes to use a grand jury to frame up activists. The goal of these raids is to harass and try to intimidate the movement against U.S. wars and occupations, and those who oppose U.S. support for repressive regimes,” said Colombia solidarity activist Tom Burke, one of those handed a subpoena by the FBI. “They are designed to suppress dissent and free speech, to divide the peace movement, and to pave the way for more U.S. military intervention in the Middle East and Latin America.”

Grace Kelley, an SDSer from the University of Minnesota, said “SDS at the U of M condemns the terror tactics used by the FBI to silence activists who organize against wars and for peace here in Minneapolis as well as across the nation. Tracy Molm from SDS at U of M was one of the activists whose house was raided. SDSers across the country need to stand up and condemn these raids and say that we will not be scared into silence, that we will continue to stand up and fight for what’s right”.

Several activists in Minnesota and Chicago have had papers, CDs, and cell phones stolen among other items; as well as being issued subpoenas to appear before a federal grand jury. The FBI are apparently looking for evidence linking activists to “material support of terrorism” specifically liberation struggles in Colombia and Palestine. In addition to SDSers being harassed in Minneapolis, two SDSers in Milwaukee were also contacted by the FBI about their anti-war activism.

The activists involved have done nothing wrong and are refusing to be pulled into conversations with the FBI about their political views or organizing against war and occupation. No arrests have been made – make no mistake, this is a fishing expedition by the FBI.

We urge all progressive activists to show solidarity with those individuals targeted by the U.S. Government. Activists have the right not to speak with the FBI and are encouraged to politely refuse – just say “No”.

Show your support! Organize solidarity actions in your city demanding that the FBI halt all searches and seizures against progressive activists who have done nothing wrong. Contact your local media and let them know that we will not tolerate this kind of harassment from the government. And be aware – if the FBI knocks, you do not have to give out any information or answer any questions.

For more information, contact:

Grace Kelley, University of Minnesota SDS: 612.709.3424

Kas Schwerdtfeger, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee SDS: 262.893.2806

America’s ‘World Revolution’: Neo-Trotskyist Foundations of U.S. Foreign Policy

by Dr. K R Bolton

Source : Foreign Policy Journal :
http://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/2010/05/03/americas-world-revolution-neo-trotskyist-foundations-of-u-s-foreign-policy/all/1

Democracy and Class Struggle publishes this article not because we agree with all the contents of the article but because it throws light on on the counter revolutionary character of Trotskyism - for more on Trotskyism we recommend the work of Grover Furr at :http://www.chss.montclair.edu/english/furr/
See also http://clogic.eserver.org/2009/Furr.pdf

For an interesting article on Trotsky Cons visit Monkey Smashes Heaven
http://monkeysmashesheaven.wordpress.com/2010/08/14/who-and-what-are-trotsky-cons%e2%80%a8/


The ideological foundations of U.S. foreign policy have neo-Trotskyite foundations. Hatred of the USSR since the time of Stalin was the primary motivation for Trotskyists to the point where a significant faction considered the USSR and Stalinism rather than America and capitalism as the major obstacles to world socialism. This faction was co-opted into the Cold War and has provided the ideological impetus for U.S. foreign policy ever since.

Abstract

Leon Trotsky

America has been the center of ‘world revolution’ since the time of Woodrow Wilson’s Fourteen Points to shape the post-war world in a single image of liberal-democracy. The policy has been one of internationalism, and the Bush description of it as a ‘new world order’ in launching the war on Iraq is the latest name. While conservatives bothered much about the USSR and Red China, the heart of ‘world revolution’ lay in Washington. Because the policies of the USA and the USSR often coincided on the world stage, in particular promoting decolonization in order to fill the void with their own versions of neo-colonialism, such policies have often been mistaken for ‘Soviet communism.’ While the ‘Soviet threat’ lies in ashes, U.S. hegemony proceeds apace, destroying reticent nations with bombs where debt and foreign aid does not work. The ideological origins of American globalist foreign policy received impetus and ideological direction from sources arising from the Trotsky-Stalin split. The Moscow Trials continue to reverberate as a major historical event throughout the world. Whatever might be said about the judicial processes of the trials, the charge at the time that Trotskyists were agents of foreign capital became reality within a few years of the trial, as Trotskyist hatred of the USSR became all-consuming. This essay examines the manner by which Trotskyism metamorphosed into a primary ingredient of US foreign policy doctrine.

“Global Democratic Revolution”

In 2003 President George W Bush embraced the world revolutionary mission of the USA, stating to the National Endowment for Democracy that the war in Iraq is the latest front in the “global democratic revolution” led by the United States. “The revolution under former president Ronald Reagan freed the people of Soviet-dominated Europe,” he declared, “and is destined now to liberate the Middle East as well.”[1]

The origins of this US “global democratic revolution” are to be found in an unlikely and far-away source: the Trotsky-Stalin split and the Moscow Trials of 1936-1938. Such was the hatred of the Trotskyists and certain allied socialists towards the USSR from Stalin onward, that this “Opposition”, came to regard the USSR as the primary bulwark against world socialism and saw in the USA the only means of resisting Soviet world power, to the extent that these Leftists were eventually found supporting America in Korea and Vietnam, and ultimately present American foreign policy throughout the world, including the war against Iraq

Oppose Raids on Freedom Road Socialist Organisation (Fight Back) in USA - Solidarity from Democracy and Class Struggle

Source :
http://www.fightbacknews.org/2010/9/24/activists-denounce-fbi-raids-anti-war-and-solidarity-activists-homes

We denounce the Federal Bureau of Investigation harassment of anti-war and solidarity activists in several states across the country. The FBI began turning over six houses in Chicago and Minneapolis this morning, Friday, September 24, 2010, at 8:00 am central time. The FBI handed subpoenas to testify before a federal grand jury to about a dozen activists in Illinois, Minnesota, and Michigan. They also attempted to intimidate activists in California and North Carolina.

"The government hopes to use a grand jury to frame up activists. The goal of these raids is to harass and try to intimidate the movement against U.S. wars and occupations, and those who oppose U.S. support for repressive regimes," said Colombia solidarity activist Tom Burke, one of those handed a subpoena by the FBI. "They are designed to suppress dissent and free speech, to divide the peace movement, and to pave the way for more U.S. military intervention in the Middle East and Latin America."

This suppression of democratic rights is aimed towards those who dedicate much of their time and energy to supporting the struggles of the Palestinian and Colombian peoples against U.S. funded occupation and war. The activists are involved with well-known anti-war groups including many of the leaders of the huge protest against the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, MN in September 2008. The FBI agents emphasized that the grand jury was going to investigate the activists for possible terrorism charges. This is a U.S. government attempt to silence those who support resistance to oppression in the Middle East and Latin America.

The activists involved have done nothing wrong and are refusing to be pulled into conversations with the FBI about their political views or organizing against war and occupation. The activists are involved with many groups, including: the Palestine Solidarity Group, Students for a Democratic Society, the Twin-Cities Anti-War Committee, the Colombia Action Network, the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, and the National Committee to Free Ricardo Palmera (a Colombian Political Prisoner).

Steff Yorek, a long-time antiwar activist and one of the activists whose homes was searched, called the raids “An outrageous fishing expedition.”

We urge all progressive activists to show solidarity with those individuals targeted by the U.S. Government. Activists have the right not to speak with the FBI and are encouraged to politely refuse, just say “No”.

Please contact info@colombiasolidarity.org This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or info@fightbacknews.org This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it if you would like to provide support to the targeted activists

Eirigi : for a Socialist Ireland - No Royal Visits

Visit Eirigi:
http://www.eirigi.org/

Poudyal of Nepali Congress fails to be elected Prime Minister despite Prachanda's withdrawl

There appears to be no end to the political uncertainty in Nepal as R C Poudyal of Nepali Congress failed to get majority support in Parliament in the Prime Ministerial election for the eighth time in a row on Sunday even after Maoist chairman Prachanda withdrew from the race.

Ahead of the voting in the 601-member Constituent Assembly, the House officially approved the withdrawal of Prachanda’s candidacy, leaving Nepali Congress (NC) candidate Poudyal alone in the fray.

65-year-old Poudyal received 116 votes in his favour, 184 votes short of a simple majority. Seventy-one lawmakers stayed neutral, while the remaining members did not participate in the voting process, the nepalnews online said.

Unified CPN (Maoist) and CPN-UML lawmakers did not participate in the voting process. Till the seventh round of elections, CPN-UML had participated in the voting process and stayed neutral, the report said.

The next round of voting will be on September 30.

Following his failure to get majority support in Parliament seven times in a row, the Maoist chief on September 17 withdrew from the prime ministerial election after a deal with the CPN-UML in bid to facilitate the formation of a national consensus government.

Nearly three months after the 22-party coalition led by Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal collapsed, eight rounds of poll have failed to elect a new leader.

Source Hindu

Photo news - 19th September London Seminar on India and US Strategic Relationship

Photo News

Photo news from the meeting detailed below.

Seminar on Indian and US Strategic Relationship in South Asia.

Date: 19 September 2010

Time: 11am –  2 pm – Seminar

2pm -  5:00pm – Public Meeting

5pm – Slide shows on struggle in India and Nepal

Refreshments will be available

Place: Punjabi Cultural Centre,

293-297 Ley Street,  Ilford IG1 4BN

Celebrate the Life of George Jackson 23rd September - Brixton - London

For more on our comrade George Jackson:

http://democracyandclasstruggle.blogspot.com/2010/09/remembering-george-jackson-brixton.html

1971 George Jackson Interview

An Interview with George Jackson
(with Karen Wald)
1971

Karen Wald, an activist and anti-imperialist journalist who has lived in Cuba since 1973, conducted this interview as a reporter for the Liberation News Service.

George Jackson

George Jackson was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1941. Throughout his youth in Chicago's projects and then urban Los Angeles, Jackson had frequent conflicts with the police. He was first imprisoned at age sixteen in a California Youth Authority Institution, for an attempted burglary and possession of a stolen motorcycle (which he claimed to have purchased). In 1958, a few months after his parole, Jackson and several friends were arrested for robberies to which he pled guilty. After his release on September 18, 1960, Jackson allegedly drove the getaway car after his friend robbed a gas station of seventy-one dollars. He agreed to confess in return for a light sentence; the judge gave him one-to-life, which became life imprisonment. Initially sent to Soledad Prison, he was transferred at least four times during his incarceration.

Introduced to radical philosophy by W. L. Nolen, a major figure in the prison radical movement, Jackson, during his frequent solitary confinement, read Karl Marx, V. I. Lenin, Leon Trotsky, Friedrich Engels, Mao Tse-tung (Zedong) and other political theorists. In 1968, Jackson and other prisoners founded the Black Guerilla Family, a revolutionary organization (that authorities described as a "gang") that proclaimed black prisoners' rights to self-defense. Jackson would also serve as a Field Marshall for the Black Panther Party. In January of 1969, Jackson and Nolen were transferred to Soledad prison, a notoriously racist prison. On January 13, 1970, guards reopened Soledad's O Wing exercise yard, closed because of racial tension, and released a racially mixed group of prisoners, fully aware of potential violence.

 ii
The fight that began immediately ended by guard Opie Miller, a sharpshooter who fired four shots, killing Nolen and three other black inmates. Following the publicizing of a Monterey County grand jury judge's ruling that the deaths were justifiable homicide, guard John V. Mills was thrown to his death from the third tier of Y wing-George Jackson's cellblock. One month later, with no physical evidence, Jackson, Fleeta Drumgo, and John Cluchette were indicted for killing Mills. Attorney Fay Stender subsequently formed the Soledad Brothers Defense Committee, which eventually was headed by Angela Y. Davis.

 iii
Stender also arranged for the publication of the influential Soledad Brother: The Prison Letters of George Jackson. On August 7,1970 Jackson's seventeen-year-old brother, Jonathan, entered the Marin County Courthouse-with weapons registered in the name of Angela Davis-in an attempt to secure the release of his brother and the other Soledad Brothers. Law enforcement officers fired upon the parked van holding Jackson, the prisoners, and their hostages, killing Judge Harrold Haley, prisoners William Christmas, James McClain, and Jonathan Jackson, and wounding prisoner Ruchell Maggee and several hostages. During an escape attempt on August 21, 1971, guards shot George Jackson in the back. The exact events still remain unclear. Stephen Bingham, Jackson's attorney who allegedly brought Jackson a gun on the day he was killed, eventually emerged from underground to stand trial and was acquitted in 1986.

References:
Durden-Smith, Jo. Who Killed George Jackson? New York: Knopf, 1976.
Jackson, George. "A Talk with George Jackson." Interview with Jessica Mitford. New York Times (13 June 1971): 30.

---. "Toward the United Front." In If They Come in the Morning: Voices of Resistance, edited by Angela Y. Davis and Bettina Aptheker. San Francisco: National United Committee to Free Angela Davis, 1971.

---. "Letters to Jonathan Jackson." In If They Come in the Morning: Voices of Resistance, edited by Angela Y. Davis and Bettina Aptheker. San Francisco: National United Committee to Free Angela Davis, 1971.

---. Blood in My Eye. Baltimore: Black Classic Press, 1990.

---. Soledad Brother: The Prison Letters of George Jackson. Chicago: Lawrence Hill Books, 1994.

Mann, Eric. Comrade George; An Investigation into the Life, Political Thought, and Assassination of George Jackson. New York: Harper & Row, 1974.


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Karen Wald: George, could you comment on your conception of revolution?

George Jackson: The principal contradiction between the oppressor and oppressed can be reduced to the fact that the only way the oppressor can maintain his position is by fostering, nurturing, building, contempt for the oppressed. That thing gets out of hand after a while. It leads to excesses that we see and the excesses are growing within the totalitarian state here.

The excesses breed resistance; resistance is growing. The thing grows in a spiral. It can only end one way. The excesses lead to resistance, resistance leads to brutality, the brutality leads to more resistance, and finally the whole question will be resolved with either the uneconomic destruction of the oppressed, or the end of oppression.

These are the workings of revolution. It grows in spirals, confrontations, and I mean on all levels. The institutions of society have buttressed the establishment, so I mean all levels have to be assaulted.

Wald: How does the prison liberation movement fit into this? Is its importance over-exaggerated or contrived?

Remembering George Jackson - Black August Film plus Steele Pulse They Cut George Jackson Down