:: www.uruknet.info :: informazione dal medio oriente :: information from middle east

"The Key Question Is No Longer Whether U.S. Forces Will Remain In Iraq But What Size, Mission And Length A Post-Buildup, Post-Bush Force Would Take On"

In their debate Wednesday night in Hanover, N.H., none of the three top Democratic presidential candidates would promise to have the U.S. military out of Iraq by January 2013 -- more than five years from now.

"I think it would be irresponsible" to state that, said Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.).

"I cannot make that commitment," added former senator John Edwards of North Carolina.

And Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) put it simply when she outlined the dilemma that Democratic presidential aspirants face on Iraq.

"It is very difficult to know what we're going to be inheriting," the party's front-runner said.

After President Bush's announcement this month of a limited troop drawdown and a continuation of the "surge" strategy through next summer, the key question for centrist Democrats in the presidential race is no longer whether U.S. forces will remain in Iraq but what size, mission and length a post-buildup, post-Bush force would take on.

Even if the Democratic hopefuls decline to offer specifics, some of the people mentioned as possible defense secretaries under a Democratic White House offer a vision of a U.S. presence in Iraq that does not differ markedly from that of the Bush administration.

Ultimately, however, it appears now that no matter who inhabits the White House, the United States may be resolved -- or resigned -- to an enduring presence in Iraq.

Isn’t if fascinating how Ricks assumes that "the United States" is made up only of the Imperial politicians in Washington DC.

How else could he write about the "the United States" being "resolved" or "resigned" to stay in Iraq?

He has to be terminally blind and/or stupid if he thinks the American people, or the members of the armed forces, are either "resolved" or "resigned" staying in Iraq.

He thinks that what the American people and members of the armed forces want has no importance whatever, and doesn’t matter.

The overwhelming majority of Americans have decided this war must end. So have the overwhelming majority of the members of the Armed forces.

If the Imperial traitors in DC won’t do it, then, as in Vietnam, the armed forces will rebel wholesale, end the war themselves, and, if necessary, arms in hand, have a word with the politicians in DC.

Americans will certainly "support our troops" then. Bring that on. These Demorat traitors leave us no other option. They’re willing to kill U.S. troops and Iraqis to maintain their power and privilege.

They need to be forcefully instructed in what democracy means: the majority rules. One way or another. The sooner the better. T]

September 29, 2007 Multi National Corps Iraq Public Affairs Office, Camp Victory RELEASE No. 20070929-09

TIKRIT, Iraq – A Task Force Lightning Soldier was killed by enemy gunfire in Diyala province, Saturday.

A Chiefland High School graduate serving in the U.S. Army was killed Friday in Iraq.

Continue to 2nd paragraph Brandon Tyler Thorsen, 22, of Trenton was killed by a combat-related gunshot wound, his father said Sunday. Thorsen graduated from Chiefland High in 2005 and had been serving in Baghdad since November 2006.

He said Brandon had been engaged for more than three years to Chana Gilbert, a Newberry resident and Santa Fe Community College student. Brandon intended to plan the wedding during his leave in December and get married in April, according to his father.

Brandon celebrated his 22nd birthday in Baghdad on Aug. 7. His father said Brandon was part of the infantry, working to keep the streets of the Iraqi capital safe.

He said his son played defensive lineman, left tackle and special teams on the Chiefland football squad. Brandon enjoyed hunting deer and hogs, flats fishing and golfing with his father.

He said his son wanted to work for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission as a game warden after finishing his four-year tour in the Army. Brandon had served two years of the commitment.

Donald Thorsen said he's awaiting word from the U.S. Department of Defense on when Brandon's body will be flown home. The family plans to hold a viewing at Watson Funeral Home and a funeral at Pine Grove Baptist Church.

He said the community around the family's home in Trenton has been very helpful since Brandon's death.

Four Marine Corps officials arrived at a house in Pennsauken early yesterday to deliver the awful news: Cpl. Terry Allen, 21, had been killed in Iraq.

Allen, a former football player and track sprinter at Bishop Eustace Preparatory School, was due home Tuesday after his second combat stint in Iraq.

He was at Al Asad Air Base in Anbar province, apparently ready to leave, when a bullet killed him at 1:55 a.m. local time Friday, his family said.

It appeared, he said, that a sniper had shot his son. "That's what it sounds like to us," he said.

Allen, who signed up for the Marines while in school, got married in January. He had met his wife, Catherine, from Upstate New York, as a pen pal while on duty in Iraq.

Allen, who reenlisted while in Iraq, expected to be promoted this winter, his father said.

He graduated from Bishop Eustace in 2004. His sister, Shannon, graduated from the 750-student school two years later. Word of Allen's death spread quickly yesterday among alumni in South Jersey, said Tori Wishnick, the athletic director.

"He was a nice kid. It's just going to affect everybody," Wishnick said. "It's just so shocking."

On the football team, Allen was a running back, receiver and defensive back. He stood 5-foot-9 and weighed 165 pounds, but he was a heavy hitter, said Ryan Carrozza, who played with Allen on the team and is now an assistant coach.

Allen prided himself on his fitness. That was one reason he wanted to be a Marine, his father said.

Said Carrozza: "His biceps were popping. He had washboard abs. And he could run for miles."

John Allen said the Marines had told him and his wife, Connie, that their son's remains would be returned to Dover Air Force Base early in the week. Funeral arrangements were pending.

Platoon leader with Company G, 3rd Squadron, 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment, radios in for medical assistance after one of his soldiers was injured during an insurgent attack in Baghdad's East Rashid district, Sept. 20, 2007. (AP Photo/US Army, Spc. Jeffrey Ledesma, HO)

BALKH, Afghanistan: As Afghanistan struggles to cut its raging opium production, aid workers try to find alternative crops, but for some former poppy farmers the choice was easy -- they planted marijuana instead.

Balkh province in the north was trumpeted as a success story -- from 7,000 hectares of poppies cultivated in 2006, it was declared opium-free in 2007 after strong local government action.

But around the ancient citadel of Balkh, in fields where pink poppy flowers stood last year, jagged green marijuana stalks poke above other crops and in places whole cannabis fields produce a pungent aroma strong enough to be picked by passing motorists.

The farmers are still cautious. "They are not my fields," said Shamseddin, surrounded by head-high cannabis plants in full flower. "I don't know who they belong to," he said, dropping a sickle to the ground and nudging it away with his foot.

Others said they only planted marijuana to shield their cotton fields from livestock or that it was just a trial crop.

"The landlords used to plant poppy, but then the government came along and destroyed the crops," said farm worker Mohammad Yassin. "This year we planted marijuana, the dealers will come and buy the crop from us, so we'll see what we make from it. We probably won't plant any next year." [Right. Nobody will. Of course.]

The governor of Balkh, a former warlord, was credited for much of the success in eliminating opium in his province, but has complained he has yet to receive the promised incentives for doing so, let alone any funds for cutting back cannabis crops.

"Every year the international community announces that it is spending millions of dollars on counter-narcotics but we haven't seen a dime of that money," the Institute of War and Peace Reporting quoted governor Mohammad Atta as saying.

A destroyed army bus in Kabul, Afghanistan, Sept. 29, 2007. A bomber wearing an Afghan army uniform set off a huge explosion early Saturday. The Taliban claimed responsibility. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

Sep 29 By JASON STRAZIUSO, Associated Press Writer [Excerpts] & 27 September 2007 By VOA News

A Taliban bomber wearing an Afghan army uniform set off a huge explosion Saturday while trying to board a military bus in the capital, killing 30 people, most of them soldiers, officials said.

Saturday's explosion ripped off the roof of the bus and tore out its sides, leaving a charred hull of burnt metal.

Dozens of civilians and police officers searched for bodies. Police and soldiers climbed trees to retrieve some body parts. Nearby businesses also were damaged.

"For 10 or 15 seconds, it was like an atom bomb - fire, smoke and dust everywhere," said Mohammad Azim, a police officer who witnessed the explosion.

Karzai said 30 people were killed - 28 soldiers and two civilians. The Health Ministry said another 30 were wounded.

A purported Taliban spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahid, claimed the militant group was responsible for the blast in a text message to The Associated Press. Mujahid said the bomber was a Kabul resident named Azizullah.

The bus had stopped in front of a movie theater to pick up soldiers when a bomber wearing a military uniform tried to board around 6:45 a.m. local time, army spokesman Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi said.

"Typically there are people checking the IDs of soldiers who want to board the bus," Azimi said. "While they were checking the IDs the bomber tried to get on the bus and blew himself up there."

Afghan authorities say militants have killed six policemen in an attack on a security post in southern Afghanistan.

A police chief in Zabul province says the militants stormed the police checkpoint near the southern town of Qalat Wednesday.

Marine Lance Cpl. Jon T. Hicks died in Iraq. The fallen soldier's casket during his burial, Sept. 20, 2007 in Atco, N.J. (AP Photo/David Gard)

[Burma]: On a broad avenue near the temple, hundreds of people sat facing a row of soldiers, calling out to the, "The people’s armed forces, our armed forces!" and "The armed forces should not kill their own people."

"The Army Battalions Currently Stationed In The Town Are A Replacement Of Previous Battalions That Faced The Huge Public Protests But Did Not Shoot The Protesters"

When corrupt, murderous filth like those who control the government in Burma [and Washington DC] see a huge movement from below that threatens their power, of course they try to use the armed forces against their own people to save themselves.

And, as you read above, the movement against the military dictators has at least some people in it smart enough to appeal directly to the soldiers to join them and overthrow the generals. Excellent.

How this uprising will end can’t yet be predicted, but if enough of the troops act with honor, decide to defend the citizens rather than kill them, and turn their weapons against their generals and their government, there is hope for real liberation. Just like here in the good old USA. T]

Soldiers last night went to ward No. (8) in Hlaing Township to raid a Buddhist monastery but the soldiers had to return back because the locals raised their voices against the soldiers.

About 2,000 protestors are now marching on the Merchant Street in the heart of Rangoon and are shouting slogans of "Peoples' desires must be fulfiled". Soldiers and police are reportedly rounding up the protestors and arresting them.

The situation is a run and chase situation between the soldiers and the protestors. The protestors would run when the soldiers chase them after but again gather in other places nearby.

"So far there is no shooting yet. Soldiers are rounding up the protestors and arresting them whoever they get in that place.

The protestors run and again gathered near Theingyi market and again protested there. They are again shouting slogans, and again the soldiers are rounding them up. There are about 1000 protestors but there are many more onlookers around," an eyewitness told Mizzima.

With more people joining in, protesters in Rangoon have swelled to more than 10,000. As security forces continue to beat and crackdown, protestors flee shouting slogans and again gather in different places. Troops stood about 50 metres from the protesters. As the clapping of the protesters reverberates the army is getting ready to open fire.

Soldiers open fire on protestors near Sanpya cinema hall. The number of injuries and casualties remained unconfirmed.

"The army was also fooled by protesters. The protesters would start at a place and when the security forces and soldiers came there, they would disperse and run and begin at another place," added the eyewitness.

Mr. Gambari, UN Secretary-General's special adviser on Burma, has reportedly arrived in Nay Pyi taw to talk with the junta leaders.

"Mr. Gambari has arrived in Rangoon. But we did not see him being escorted. We don't know where he has been taken. But in front of Traders Hotel people are being cleared.

This morning the authorities also shifted the Sule bus stop to in front of Thamada Cinema. For those bus drivers who did not realize the route change, as soon as they stopped the bus, passengers coming out of the bus were beaten up by soldiers eyewitnesses told me. The soldiers began to clear since 11 or 12 today. At Sule bus stop there are about five to six army trucks. They are in a row. Now that the rain is starting to pour, and since the passengers were beaten up, there are very few people in sight," an observer told Mizzima.

"Markets like Theingyi markets have been declared closed for four days. On Sule street soldiers are constantly on guard so as not to allow anybody to come near. There are about 16 army trucks with about six or seven fire engines, and about two Dyna light truck used by Swan Arrshin and USDA members. It is like a military headquarter now, I even want to name it "Trader Military headquarters"," the observer added.

Security forces continue to guard all the monasteries in Mandalay and impose restrictions on movement of monks, effectively barring monks from protesting.

"The forces have cordoned off several monasteries including Ma Soe Yein and Mya Taung with barbed wires so that the monks cannot come out of the monasteries to protest. And fully armed soldiers guard the monasteries. Because of the blockade monks are heard shouting from inside," an eyewitness told Mizzima.

The eyewitness added that novices and young monks have been ordered to go back to their native places by police officials.

Another eyewitness said the Mandalay prisons director with two vehicles from the transport corporation department took several prisoners to a field in the foot of the Mandalay hill and asked a barber to shave off their heads.

The eyewitness added that the authorities are forcing the prisoners to act as monks to create confusion and misunderstanding among the monks as well as the public so that they lose faith in the Buddhist clergy.

About 5,000 people in Mandalay protested despite restrictions and heavy security this afternoon at about 4 p.m. (local time). As the monks have been locked up in their monasteries with heavy security, civilians took to the streets.

Crowds gathered at 84th, 80th, 33rd and 35th Streets and began the protest in the afternoon. As it coincided with the end of classes in schools, many students joined the protest march.

"Three army trucks came from behind and started dispersing the crowd. Then the crowd started running," an eyewitness told Mizzima.

During the protest a young boy who ran in front of the army truck was apparently caught by the soldiers.

Yesterday, security at the monasteries were reinforced and the young monks and novices from other towns and villages were given transportation fares and sent off to their native places.

Most of the houses of Mandalay NLD officials have been surrounded up by intelligence officials.

At least 11 trucks of army and police are seen patrolling in Mogoke town in Mandalay Division, where big demonstrators took place in recent days.

The army battalions currently stationed in the town are a replacement of previous battalions that faced the huge public protests but did not shoot the protesters.

Yesterday, more than 8,000 monks and people marched through the streets of Mogoke in protest against the government, according to witnesses reports.

Starting from Phaungdaw Oo at about 2:00 p.m (local time), the protesters marched through the town and shouted slogans such as "End to torture against humans", "May love prevail in the world", "May the will of the people be fulfilled".

The protestors marched through Phaungdaw Oo on the cinema road, Aung Chan Thar, Shwegonthar, and Peik Syway wards.

Though security forces confronted the protesters at Aung Chan Thar ward, the protestors avoided the confrontation and dispersed off themselves peacefully.

[Here it is again. Same old story. Used up, thrown away, and the politicians couldn’t care less. To repeat for the 3,513th time, there is no enemy in Iraq. Iraqis and U.S. troops have a common enemy. That common enemy owns and operates the Imperial government in Washington DC for their own profit. That common enemy started this war of conquest on a platform of lies, because they couldn’t tell the truth: this war was about making money for them, and nothing else. Payback is overdue. T]

WASHINGTON - Months after pledging to improve veterans care, the Bush administration has yet to find clear answers to some of the worst problems afflicting wounded warriors, such as delays in disability payments and providing personalized care, investigators say.

A report by the Government Accountability Office, released Wednesday, offers the first preliminary assessment of improvement efforts initiated by the Pentagon and Veterans Affairs Department after revelations in February of shoddy outpatient treatment at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

The report found that even though the Army has touted creation of more personalized medical care units so that wounded veterans don't slip through the cracks, nearly half -- or 46 percent -- of returning service members who were eligible did not get the service due to staffing shortages.

And despite months of review by no less than eight congressional committees, a presidential task force, a presidential commission and the Pentagon and VA itself, the government has no apparent solution for reducing severe delays of 177 days, on average, in providing disability payments.

As of mid-September, 17 of the 32 warrior transition units had less than 50 percent of the critical staff in place. And in many cases, the Army had filled slots by borrowing staff from other positions, thus providing only a temporary solution as thousands of veterans return from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Regarding disability benefits, the GAO said the government was currently in limbo amid competing proposals to fix the disability ratings system.

"Delayed decisions, confusing policies and the perception that DoD and VA disability ratings result in inequitable outcomes have eroded the credibility of the system," the GAO investigators said.

"Government Manipulation Of Science And Violation Of Law To Devalue The Health Problems Of Ill Veterans Is Something I Would Not Have Believed Possible In This Country Until I Took This Job"

WASHINGTON — Sixteen years after the Persian Gulf War ended, more than 1 in 4 of those who fought remain seriously ill with medical problems ranging from severe fatigue and joint pain to Lou Gehrig's disease, multiple sclerosis and brain cancer, the chairman of a congressional advisory committee testified Tuesday.

But even as more is learned about what's now called Gulf War Veterans Illness, the Defense Department and the Department of Veterans Affairs remain in virtual denial about its causes and have been slow to offer treatment, said James Binns, the head of the research advisory committee on the disease.

"This is a tragic record of failure, and the time lost can never be regained," Binns told the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee.

"This government manipulation of science and violation of law to devalue the health problems of ill veterans is something I would not have believed possible in this country until I took this job."

Though the focus was on the earlier Gulf War, concerns hovered over the hearing that those now fighting in Iraq might face similar medical problems.

Fifteen percent to 20 percent of those who've fought in Iraq recently are returning with "ill-defined" medical symptoms, Kilpatrick said. He didn't elaborate.

Among those testifying was Julie Mock, a 40-year-old mother of two from Seattle who served along the Iraq-Kuwait border with a medical unit. In early 1991, the alarms of chemical detectors went off repeatedly, she said.

"We ingested expired pyrostigmine bromide tables; we wore gas masks with expired filters, inhaled dust and sand in the air that was thick with the black of burning oil," she said.

"I experienced respiratory difficulties, my skin grew hot with red rashes and I began to suffer from debilitating headaches."

Four years ago, Mock was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, a chronic disease that affects the central nervous system. Her voice choking with emotion, Mock told the committee that her oldest son has Tourette's syndrome and a handful of other neurological problems. Her youngest son has some of the same disorders.

Of the 700,000 or so U.S. troops who served in the Persian Gulf War, 175,000 to 200,000 are sick, Binns said.

Pentagon and VA officials long have linked Gulf War Veterans Illness to battlefield stress and other related psychological disorders.

He said the Pentagon had cut important research programs associated with the illness.

Navy Proclaims Potential Recruits Are "Narcissistic Praise Junkies" & An "Alien Life Force"

Today’s civilian pool of potential sailors is made up of "narcissistic praise junkies" and constitutes an "alien life force" to older Navy recruiters, according to a presentation on selling the Navy to the so-called "millennial" generation — people born in the mid- and late 1980s now in their late teens and early 20s.

The presentation was part of the Annual Navy Workforce Research and Analysis Conference at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif., which addressed a wide array of recruitment and retention matters.

The PowerPoint slides from the presentation, available online, appeared on popular blogs Friday and sparked broad discussion on the Internet; Wired magazine’s Danger Room blog called the presentation "unintentionally hilarious."

In the slides a Navy presenter described the patois of the young, a mishmash of acronyms and nonwords used in text messages and social networking sites; in one sample exchange a hypothetical young person asks "wat up dude" and another responds "nmu (Translation: Not much. You?)."

Potential Navy recruits are "coddled" and "unrealistically impatient," the presentation says, and would "expect an open and transparent environment" if they enlisted. It also advises commanders to expect young people linked together by the Web and cell phones to "share their Navy experiences" and that "some of them may not be worth bragging about."

In another set of slides, the Navy reports the effect that the Iraq war has had on recruitment: Survey results from 2003 juxtaposed with 2007 indicate a spike in young people who call themselves "less patriotic" and "less likely to join the military." The vast majority of youths in the Navy’s target recruiting range — almost 90 percent — say they want to go to college, not join the military.

Around 2 p.m. a truck bomb destroyed a bridge in Al Shifaa area in Mosul. The bombing flattened the bridge.

On Saturday, Iraqi soldiers acting on a tip tried to intercept a driver as his pickup truck headed toward Mosul, 225 miles northwest of Baghdad. As the Iraqi Humvee neared the truck, the driver detonated his explosive payload, according to the officer who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal. Three soldiers and three civilians were killed, the official said.

Militants attacked Sunni Arab tribes working with U.S. forces on Friday in Jurf al-Sakhar, 85 km (53 miles) south of Baghdad, wounding six, police said.

Hawija police chief's assistant died from wounds after roadside bomb targeted his patrol in Hawija, 70 km (43 miles) southwest of Kirkuk city, police said.

Car bomb targeting police patrol killed at least four policemen in Hamdaniya, 30 km (20 miles) east of the northern city of Mosul, police said.

Sgt. Mark Labonte upon his returning home with the Vermont Army National Guard 131st Engineer Company in South Burlington, Vt., Sept. 29, 2007, after almost a year spent in Iraq. (AP Photo/Alden Pellett)

A U.S. military commander in Iraq says coalition forces have crippled the core leadership group of al-Qaida in Iraq in a series of raids over the past few months. Chief of staff of the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq, Brigadier General Joseph Anderson, said a U.S. airstrike earlier this week killed senior foreign terrorist Abu Usama al-Tunisi, who he called one of the most important leaders within al-Qaida in Iraq. [Sep 28, 2007 Associated Press]

An online post published in May 2006 by al Qaeda supporters hailed the "martyrdom" of al-Tunisi. A translation of the martyrdom message was posted online by terrorism analyst Evan Kohlmann in July 2006. "The martyrdom of Abu Usama al-Tunisi, the commander of Aeisha Brigade . . .I announce the news to the Islamic nation . . ."

"We Expected To Die For Liberty. It Was As If We Were Lifted From The Earth"

ELIZABETH LALASZ reviews a unique book about women’s role in the Paris Commune:

Edith Thomas, The Women Incendiaries: The Inspiring Story of the Women of Paris Commune Who Took Up Arms in the Fight for Liberty and Equality. Haymarket Books, 2007, 274 pages, $16.

HAYMARKET BOOKS’ new edition of Edith Thomas’ The Women Incendiaries: The Inspiring Story of the Women of Paris Commune Who Took Up Arms in the Fight for Liberty and Equality is necessary reading for anyone committed in fighting sexism today.

The role women played during the Paris Commune 1871 is one of the most heroic chapters in the history of working-class struggle.

Thomas’ book recounts the incredible stories, supplemented with many first-hand references, of the courageous perseverance and ingenuity of women of Paris both fighting in defense of the Commune and actively developing a new society as equal participants within it.

For 72 days in 1871, the working class took control of Paris and began to run it for themselves. In that time, the world got a glimpse of what socialism would really look like--that the emancipation of the working class must be the act of the working class itself.

It’s incredible considering what women overcame. They worked tedious low-wage jobs and frequently turning to prostitution to supplement their incomes in order to survive.

Another hurdle was the sexist ideas dominant among the supporters of the Commune. The International Workingmen’s Association founded in 1864 and its General Council, led by Marx, voted to admit women to membership. But the majority of the French delegation, adherents of utopian socialist Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, voted against.

The Women Incendiaries shows how sexist ideas were confronted. Some women sought education and found employment outside the home. Others even joined the International despite its backward ideas, like Louise Michel, who became the best-known female revolutionary fighter of the Commune.

Women also threw themselves into defending the Commune, with the best example being the day the Commune began--March 18, 1871, when they stopped the French Army from seizing the cannons of the National Guard (the Commune’s militia).

It was the housewives who noticed the French army on top of Montmartre hill who spread the alarm. Thomas quotes Louise Michel: "I went down, my rifle under my coat, crying 'Treason.’ A column was formed....The call to arms was sounded. I came back, indeed, but with others, to the attack on the fortified heights of Montmartre; we went up with the speed of charge, knowing at the top there was an army in battle formation.

Parisian women mingled among the troops and begged them not to shoot them or their children. The initially bewildered soldiers were soon won to the women’s side.

Thomas writes, "Ten days later, when the Commune, elected on March 26, moved into the Hôtel de Ville, a crowd that included many women joyously welcomed the new power--the power of the people, and of hope."

In every Parisian neighborhood, there were clubs and committees where workers discussed and debated politics. Women were heavily involved in these groups.

The Women’s Union for the Defense of Paris and for Aid to the Wounded was one of many clubs, which organized women, but none were so advanced in class politics. Organized by Elizabeth Dmitrieff, a young Russian immigrant who knew Marx, it was the French women’s section of the First International.

They recruited women to serve at ambulance stations and field kitchens, and to administer funds from voluntary collections--all to be ready at a moment’s notice on the orders of Commune.

When unemployment skyrocketed, the Women’s Union argued for women to produce arms and military outfitting.

Thomas writes, "fifteen hundred women were sewing sandbags for the barricades...Every evening, the wages paid out, and the workers received full payment for their work, 8 centimes per bag." Dmitrieff saw this co-operative production as beginning the socialist reorganization of the economy.

They implemented progressive educational reform. Day nurseries were also established near factories to help out working women.

Unfortunately, revolutionary changes taking place in Paris remained largely isolated from the rest of France. The French military marched on Paris, first shelling and then invading it on May 21, 1871.

Until the last moments, women showed exceptional courage. During the period known as "the bloody week," men, women and children were killed by the French Army lining them up and shooting.

After the defeat of the Commune, 1,051 women were brought before the Councils of War.

Women’s commitment to the Commune rang out clearly even in the darkest hour. Thomas quotes Louise Michel during her court appearance, "I have been told that I am an accomplice of the Commune. Certainly, yes, for the Commune wanted, above all else, the Social Revolution, and the Social Revolution is the dearest of my desires."

For the first time in history, a workers’ state which wouldn’t have happened without the women of the Paris Commune. The Women Incendiaries boldly retells this spectacular story and is a must have.

U.S. Occupation Commands’ Stupid Tactics Recruit Even More Fighters To Kill U.S. Troops

Iraqi children stand by the destroyed door of their house after a night armed home invasion by foreign occupation troops from the US army in eastern in Baghdad, 20 September 2007. (AFP/File/Wissam Al-Okaili)

An Iraqi citizen stands in her home as foreigners from U.S. A Company 2-23 Infantry Battalion force their way into and search her house without her consent in Muqdadiyah, Iraq, 90 kilometers (60 miles) north of Baghdad, Sept. 13, 2007. (AP Photo/Karel Prinsloo)

[There’s nothing quite like invading somebody else’s country and busting into their houses by force to arouse an intense desire to kill you in the patriotic, self-respecting civilians who live there.

"You'll go into the fridge, if he has a fridge, and you'll throw everything on the floor, and you'll take his drawers and you'll dump them.... You'll open up his closet and you'll throw all the clothes on the floor and basically leave his house looking like a hurricane just hit it.

"And if you find something, then you'll detain him. If not, you'll say, 'Sorry to disturb you. Have a nice evening.'

"So you've just humiliated this man in front of his entire family and terrorized his entire family and you've destroyed his home. And then you go right next door and you do the same thing in a hundred homes."

Sgt. John Bruhns

Federal Reserve Cuts Interest Rates As The Bankrupt Empire Goes Into Crisis:

Joel Geier, associate editor of the International Socialist Review, answers Socialist Worker’s questions about the Federal Reserve Bank’s decision to cut interest rates in mid-September.

INTEREST RATES are one of the tools that economic policymakers have to try to influence the economy. When confronted with the threat of recession, the Fed can cut interests rates on loans it makes to major banks in the hope of pushing down interest rates throughout the economy, making it cheaper for people and businesses to borrow money, cheaper to do business and therefore counteracting the slowdown.

So the Fed’s interest rate cuts are one form of stimulus available as the economy slows down. But by themselves, interest rates can’t overcome the forces driving the economy toward recession.

This rate cut may provide some temporary relief--specifically, for the banks and other financial institutions, more than for ordinary people. And the Fed’s surprisingly large cut was a message to the markets that it would do whatever it could to try to prevent a recession.

It was trying to restore market confidence to overcome the drying up of credit in the commercial paper, mortgage, leveraged buyout and inter-bank markets.

Short-term credit was made cheaper, but interest rates aren’t that high to begin with, nor were they the cause of the financial panic. Fifty basis points won’t do much to turn the situation around and stimulate new economic expansion.

To see why, take a closer look at what will change and what won’t because of this rate cut.

It’s not going to get any easier to qualify for a mortgage. The banks and mortgage companies are too worried about the number of foreclosures and bad loans already out there.

People will only be able to get a mortgage if they can put 20 percent down, prove their annual income to be about one-third the purchase price of the home, not have other major debts, etc.--what are called "conforming" mortgages, because they conform to standards under which they can be sold to the government-sponsored mortgage lender Fannie Mae.

No matter how many times the Fed cuts interest rates, there isn’t going to be any return to the preceding lending standards that drove the housing boom--and therefore, no return of the housing boom.

As for existing mortgage loans, interest rates for some adjustable rate mortgages--depending on how they’re set--may not rise as much as they would have. But they will rise, particularly from the low teaser introductory rates. This will cut into consumer spending and throwing more homes into foreclosure.

Interest rates for conventional fixed mortgages won’t be affected--if anything, rates on new loans will go up as a result of the Fed’s rate cut, which produced fears of inflation that sent long-term interest rates higher, including the 10-year Treasury notes on which fixed mortgage rates are based.

And if the value of the dollar continues to decline, there’s the fear that foreign borrowing--on which the U.S. economy depends, at a rate of $50 billion to $60 billion a month to pay for its balance of payments deficit--may dry up unless long-term rates become higher and more attractive to foreign lenders.

Banks will pay their depositors less in interest on savings accounts or certificates of deposits, whereas the long-term loans they make will be at higher rates. The spread between the two is where a lot of their profits come from, so this will help the banks overcome some of the bad loans on their books.

The Fed rate cut will also help the banks get rid of some of the $350 billion in leveraged buyout loans that they haven’t been able to sell to investors, tying up bank funds and contributing to the credit crunch. The Fed cutting interest rates may make these higher-yielding but riskier loans, called junk bonds, more attractive to investors.

All this shows something very important. The Federal Reserve is the bank for banks.

There’s a lot of talk about the Fed’s job being to hold down inflation and manage sustained economic growth.

But the main job of the Fed is to protect the banks and their needs--and that’s just what it’s done.

It isn’t reported like that, of course-- just like it isn’t reported that the U. S. went to war for oil in Iraq.

This is part of the ideological mystification of the functioning of American capitalism.

So the Feds’ goals with its bigger-than-normal rate cut were, first, restore some measure of confidence in the financial markets; second, allow the banks and corporations to lighten their debt load, as protection against a coming storm; and third, try to prevent more bank panics from taking place.

But even if it achieves these goals, it won’t have restored profitability or caused an expansion of jobs.

IF THE only thing needed to prevent recession were interest rate cuts by the Fed, then, of course, there would never be a recession--the Fed would step in and fix the problem.

And the funny thing is that all these free-market ideologues--who believe the invisible hand of the free market should determine all things--fully expect that the central government can step in and make everything right, when there’s trouble, by overcoming the market’s periodic tendency to busts, as if this were a centrally planned economy.

What causes recessions under capitalism, at the most basic level, is the drive toward overproduction built into the system, which lowers the capitalists’ rate of profit and causes them to hold back from investment and put the brakes on--eventually, throughout the economy.

The overproduction of houses, the housing bubble and now the bust are completely characteristic of a crisis of overproduction as Karl Marx described it in the 19th century.

Sometimes, interest rates can be a signal of the problems, or a catalyst, but they don’t cause recessions, nor can cutting interest rates prevent them.

In Japan, real interest rates are less than 1 percent, and have been for many years. There has been a 15-year stagnation following the collapse of the stock market and housing bubble together in the early 1990s. Japan cut interest rates again and again, but it didn’t spark new growth. And meanwhile, housing prices are 32 percent lower than they were 10 years ago, and the banks are still sitting on bad loans.

Officially, a recession is defined as two consecutive quarters of negative growth in the gross domestic product. We haven’t come to that--negative growth--yet. But what has taken place is a slowdown in growth centered in the U.S., but now spreading to Japan and Europe, although not yet stopping the boom still underway in China, India and other emerging countries.

The Fed’s rate cut is one response, and it’s certainly only the first of many. In the last recession, there weren’t just interest rate cuts but enormous stimulus measures, including an immense tax cut for the rich and shifting the government surplus of $236 billion a year to a deficit of more than $300 billion a year.

The decline of U. S. finances means they don’t have the ability to repeat the same highly stimulating measures and will have to find different ways stimulate capitalism.

What we can say is that there’s a recession on the horizon, and it looks like it will be nastier than the two previous ones.

It will occur in an economic environment of a huge bad debt bubble whose full dimensions are only now starting to be revealed.

Plus, the balance of payments deficit and government budget deficit caused by the huge cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have put the value of the dollar at risk, constraining the Fed’s ability to make deeper interest rate cuts.

This recession will also take place in a different political climate--amid a crisis of the dominant neoliberal model that has existed for the past two decades; an imperialist war in Iraq that’s losing; an administration that’s lost all credibility; and class inequality that has developed to grotesque proportions.

But what seems clear is that this recession will involve an attempt to make workers pay for the crisis with an even bigger cut in their living standards than occurred in the previous two recessions.

GI Special distributes and posts to our website copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in an effort to advance understanding of the invasion and occupation of Iraq. We believe this constitutes a "fair use" of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law since it is being distributed without charge or profit for educational purposes to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for educational purposes, in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107. GI Special has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of these articles nor is GI Special endorsed or sponsored by the originators. This attributed work is provided a non-profit basis to facilitate understanding, research, education, and the advancement of human rights and social justice. Go to: www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml for more information. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

If printed out, this newsletter is your personal property and cannot legally be confiscated from you. "Possession of unauthorized material may not be prohibited." DoD Directive 1325.6 Section 3.5.1.2.

GI Special 5I26: Democrats Promise Endless War [ September 29, 2007 ]

Thomas F. Barton