The wolves have now entered the backdoor in Libya has our Indian comrades warned in their statement on Libya.

The CIA has sent more than a dozen covert operatives to Libya as part of an escalating U.S. effort to vet the rebels working to oust Libyan strongman Muammar el-Qaddafi and lay the groundwork for funneling American aid to the insurgents, according to a person with direct knowledge of the CIA operations there.

The CIA’s deployment to Libya, which is virtually certain to expand in the coming days, comes amid word that President Obama has authorized U.S. intelligence agencies to provide direct assistance to the Libyan rebels. There are no U.S. military personnel on the ground in Libya yet, though the United Kingdom, America’s closest battlefield ally, has several dozen Special Air Service commandoes and M16 agents already operating there. News of the CIA deployments to Libya was first reported by The New York Times and then independently confirmed by National Journal.

Condemn the Barbarous Incursion and InterventionThe Single spark from Tunisia is spreading like a prairie fire through out the Arab world. A wave of spontaneous mass struggles is sweeping across the Arab countries like Egypt, Bahrain & Libya etc. No doubt, the tide is against the reactionary and totalitarian imperialist puppet rulers of these countries and their policies.

Not only the reactionary rulers of these countries but the imperialists including US also got upset and trembled at these developments. And they indulged in various intravenous and interventions to deceive and defeat the struggling masses and install their own new guards in order to maintain their hegemony and exploitations over these countries.

With the direct united armed action on Libya and the UN sanction for it, the intention of the imperialist powers has become more explicit. Since countries like the US, France, Britain and Italy have a history of being the terminator of freedom, democracy and development in third world countries, it is a great joke to say that the present armed attacks are to save democracy in Libya. It is nothing but a shear barbarous incursion and intervention into the sovereignty and freedom of Libyan people and in the internal affairs of Libya. Let the destiny of Libya be decided by its own people. We vehemently condemn the united armed action by imperialism that assumes itself as an ‘International Police’. By giving sanction for the imperialists’ armed attacks on Libya, the UN itself has taken the role of a marshal in this war.

We urge all democratic, patriotic forces and people of our land to raise their voice against this aggression at Libya. We warn that the struggling people of the Arab world, particularly Libya have to be extra vigilant against the danger of the wolf which is trying to enter on various pretexts through the back door, while driving out the tiger through front door. On this occasion we would also like to invite the attention to the statement of Tunisian Maoist Communist Party, “the agenda must not be confined to change the guards only but they should extend to changing the whole system itself”.

Salwa Judum - a civil militia movement Chhattisgarh launched in 2005 to counter leftist insurgency - has gone out of control, social activist Swami Agnivesh said on Sunday, a day after being attacked by Salwa Judum cadres and special police officers (SPOs) in Dantewada district. "Salwa Judum leaders
which two district officials were transferred.

"Raman Singh should take moral responsibility of all the developments in Dantewada," said the social activist, demanding a judicial inquiry by a sitting Supreme Court judge.

He sought an inquiry in to the developments in Dantewada, including villagers' allegation of police rampage in three villages besides the attack on him.

Agnivesh and media persons accompanying him were assaulted by a mob at Dornapal town in Dantewada district while they were on way to a forested area where policemen allegedly burnt down over 200 huts of tribals recently.

The protesters, including women, stopped Agnivesh's vehicle, pulled him out, manhandled him, threw eggs at him and abused him.

After the incident, the state government ordered the shifting of district collector R Prasanna and Dantewada's senior superintendent of police (SSP) SRP Kalluri.

Sources said that besides SPOs, the cadres of Salwa Judum were brought from various areas to Dornapal to stop Agnivesh reaching the tribal villages hit by the alleged police rampage.

They said that tribal residents of the three police rampage-hit forested villages in Tarmetla area, based some 500 km south from here, were spending nights under the sky after their houses were burnt in alleged police atrocities earlier this month.

Agnivesh was highly critical of Kalluri but symphathised with Prasanna.

"Shifting Kalluri to Sarguja as deputy inspector general (DIG) of police is not enough. He must be placed under suspension," Agnivesh told mediamen.

He said the state government should not have transferred district collector Prasanna because "he was doing a good work in Dantewada though there was a lack of coordination between the SSP and the collector."

Reiterating his demand for holding peace talks with the Maoists, Agnivesh appealed to the rebels to announce a ceasefire to facilitate the talks.

"Violence can't be a solution to this problem," he said.

Dantewada district authorities were making efforts to reach the troubled Tarmetla area to verify a report that bodies of six tribals were found near water bodies at Morpalli village.

They were also trying to check if they might have died due to starvation, a source said

The majority of the UK public back the huge demonstration that too place yesterday (March 26th) in opposition of the coalition government's spending cuts, a new poll has shown.

According to the survey, carried out by YouGov on behalf of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), 52 per cent support the aims of the TUC March for the Alternative campaign.

The results also revealed that one-in-five Conservative voters are behind the union-organised protests, with just 31 per cent disagreeing with the action being taken.

Commenting on the findings, the organisation's general secretary Brendan Barber said: "I'm sure that many of our critics will try to write us off today as a minority, vested interest. This poll nails that lie."

"The police line is advancing from the direction of Arlington Arcade towards Piccadilly. There must be thousands of people contained, and charging towards Piccadilly."

"About twenty protesters have clambered onto the balcony at department store Fortnum and Mason on Piccadilly. They climbed up railings on the outside, while others burst into the store and emerged from first floor windows. Alarmed staff took refuge on the second floor, looking down at the dramatic scenes a few feet below.

Signs were daubed on the walls including slogans "tax the rich" while banners singled out Vodafone, Boots and Top Shop - popular targets of the anti-tax evasion group UK Uncut."LATEST UPDATE 20.44pmOutside Fortnum & Mason, where the trouble flared, about 40 protesters were arrested.They have been lined up at the side of the building, handcuffed and being searched by officers. Six premises had windows smashed. They include the banks Santander, Lloyds TSB and Pret a Manger

Len McCluskey, general secretary of Unite, told the protesters they were bearing witness to services closing, old people going without care, libraries, swimming pools and parks going to "ruin" and young people heading for a life on the dole.

"But you represent a spirit of resistance in every workplace and community that says we are not going to have our way of life killed so that the rich and greedy can live as they please."

Mr McCluskey said that every time Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg stepped out of doors it cost police £2 million to protect him, adding: "We cannot afford that any more - if you were to go on a national tour we'd be bankrupt."

The unite leader attacked the Government's "assault" on the NHS, warning ministers that privatising the health service would spark the same protests as those against the poll tax when Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister.

He also urged Labour MPs to hold the Government to account rather than simply waiting for the next general election.

Brendan Barber, general secretary of the TUC, told the rally that today was just the beginning of the campaign.

"We will fight the Government's brutal cuts in our workplaces and our communities.

"Today we are speaking for the people of Britain, and David Cameron, if you want to meet the Big Society - we're here in Hyde Park. It's time you started listening."

Michael Leahy, general secretary of Community Union and TUC president, said: "Today is a great day of unity and solidarity. People have come from all over the UK with one simple message for Osborne, Clegg and Cameron: There is an alternative.

"Today has also brought back many painful memories for me - it reminds me of the eighties. The Tories have resurrected TINA - there is no alternative.

"But I fear it's not just TINA that is back from the 80s. It's the same old Tories - who still think unemployment is a price worth paying. That price was 18 years of misery and hardship wreaked on working people."

Thousands of Unison members were at the head of the march as it set off at 11.45am - 15 minutes earlier than it was due to start - led by Dave Prentis and carrying giant purple-coloured helium balloons, reports the Press Association.

Scores of people in wheelchairs were also at the front, blowing whistles and carrying banners, some of which called for a general strike.

The protesters will march past the House of Commons before heading for Hyde Park.

Len McCluskey, general secretary of Unite, said he believed there were half a million people taking part in the protest.

"This is an absolutely incredible turnout and display of anger which the Government will have to take notice of."

Friday, March 25, 2011

"You and your fellow citizens have no advocates for your well-being and no one genuinely committed to defending your interests. Each government that hides behind the facade of your fake democracy has in reality been the puppet of international big business and media propagandists. Agents of the establishment use fear, misdirection, intimidation and even violence to perpetuate their hold over the population and, worst of all, the tax revenue of your fellow citizens regularly goes towards bankrolling the government sanctioned class war against you".

A message from Anonymous to the citizens of Great Britain

Citizens of Great Britain

You and your fellow citizens have no advocates for your well-being and no one genuinely committed to defending your interests. Each government that hides behind the facade of your fake democracy has in reality been the puppet of international big business and media propagandists. Agents of the establishment use fear, misdirection, intimidation and even violence to perpetuate their hold over the population and, worst of all, the tax revenue of your fellow citizens regularly goes towards bankrolling the government sanctioned class war against you. On the other end of the spectrum, at the grassroots of your society, those who claim to be looking out for your interests are interested only in creating their own narcissistic personality cults or reaping the profits that come with presenting themselves as a "leader of the working class" while masking themselves in the dogma of political idealism.

The wealth of the United Kingdom has now turned into the personification of many of its problems. The top earners now buy their way into the governments favour and bankers who helped precipitate the previous crisis received £850 Billion of your own taxes while the poor are left to starve and suffer. While the financial sector is poised to distribute record profits and bonuses to its cronies and accomplices, the government has decided that the average hard working citizen must suffer record levels of austerity and hardship to pay for this disaster.

Internationally, the governments of the UK have also supported some of the world’s most bloodthirsty tyrants. From Margaret Thatcher's support of the Chilean fascist Augusto Pinochet, to Tony Blairs recent pledge of solidarity to Egypt's Hosni Mubarak during the uprising. The sales of tear gas, machine guns and arms components to these regimens over the last two years show that the foreign policy of the United Kingdom has been one of continuing empire which has been implemented at the expense of some of the world’s most vulnerable people and financed by the hard-earned money of desperate British citizens. The history of the United Kingdom is one of continuing empire, provocation and war.

This situation is no longer acceptable.

We in Anonymous sense your displeasure and we also note the ever increasing tide of propaganda and the iron fist of the state being used more and more often to put down dissent before it begins. The law is no longer the protector of the citizens, but the protector of the wealthy few from the many who have very little. It is almost impossible to fight the government when working inside the laws that the government makes because, more often than not, such laws are designed to prevent those with legitimate grievances from doing this. Justice is now merely a commodity which only the wealthy can afford.

Anonymous is aware of the anger that seethes under the facade of your country's diplomatic image. We hereby incite your people to rebellion against the establishment which has suppressed you generation upon generation. It is time to take a stand and realise that solutions will not be found in the corruption of mainstream politics. You must seize the opportunity to rally for freedom. Anonymous stands with you in this struggle and will fight alongside you in the battle for permanent change. Let your enemies stand forewarned.

My name is Geordie McIntyre
An' the Bairns don't even have a fire
So the wife says "Geordie, go to London Town!"
And if they don't give us half a chance
Don't even give us a second glance
Then Geordie, with my blessings, burn them down

Come on follow the Geordie boys
They'll fill your heart with joy
They're marching for their freedom now
Come on follow the Jarrow lads
They'll make your heart feel glad
They're saying now, yes now is the hour

My name is little Billy White
And I know what's wrong and I know what's right
An' the wife says "Geordie, go to London Town!"
An' if they don't give us a couple of bob
Won't even give you a decent job
Then Geordie, with my blessings, burn them down

Come on follow the Geordie boys
They'll fill your heart with joy
They're marching for their freedom now
Come on follow the Jarrow lads
You try and make your heart feel glad
They're saying now, yes now is the hour

But I can hear them, an' I can feel them
An' it's as just as if they were here today
I can see them, I can feel them
An' I'm thinking nothing's changed much today

???Not all came here to stay that way and die???
But they would come and hit you in the eye
Now's the time to realize that time goes on
Nothin' changes, changes, changes

But I can feel them, I can see them
An' it's as just as if they were here today
I can feel them and I need them
An' I'm thinking nothing's changed much today

???Not all live here to stay that way and die???
But they would come and hit you in the eye
Now's the time to realize that time goes on
And nothin' changes, changes, changes

My name is little Alan Price
I tried to be nice all of my life
But I'm afraid that up to date it doesn't work
Because when you lay some money down
The people try to put you down
Now where do I stand, either side or not

Come on follow this Geordie boy
He'll try and fill your heart with joy
We're marching for our freedom now
Come on follow this Jarrow lad
You try and make your heart feel glad
We're sayin' it now, yes now is the hour

Democracy and Class Struggle publishes this video for information on alternative ideas - we do not endorse all the ideas in this video but find them a useful basis for discussion - Join the March 26th Movement - The Alternative Platform to create a new anti cuts platform for May 1st 2011.

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Horace Campbell, Pambazuka

2011-03-24

Unless Libyans themselves own the struggle against Gaddafi, opponents to his regime may find that even if he has been removed from power, ‘Gaddafism’ will continue – but this time propped up by the West, Horace Campbell warns.

The Union shall have the right ‘to intervene in a Member State pursuant to a decision of the Assembly in respect of grave circumstances, namely: war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity’ – Article 4(h) of the Constitutive Act of the African Union.

The images of Tomahawk cruise missiles and bombs raining down on Libya from British, French, and US warplanes have ensured that many people now oppose the foreign military intervention in Libya. Yet, the same people were condemning the killing of civilians by the dying Gaddafi regime. On the surface, it may seem to be a contradiction to oppose both the West and Gaddafi, but this contradiction arises from the reality that there is no popular democratic force in Africa capable of mounting the kind of intervention that is necessary to translate Article 4(h) of the Constitutive Act (the charter) of the African Union into action. There is no international brigade similar to the period of the Spanish Civil War when anti-fascist forces mobilised internationally to fight General Franco. There is no Tanzanian Peoples Defence Force (TPDF) with its tradition of supporting liberation that had the capabilities to fight and remove Idi Amin who was butchering Ugandans. The emerging new powers such as Turkey, Brazil, Russia, India and China are quite quick to do business in Africa but are quiet in the face of mass killings. In short, the world was willing to stand by as Gaddafi called those who opposed him ‘cockroaches’, ‘rats’, and ‘germs’ and vowed: ‘I will fight on to the last drop of my blood.’ The sight of the array of forces at the gates of Benghazi meant that this was not an idle threat.

Decent human beings who wanted to halt Gaddafi’s massacre welcomed UN resolution for a no-fly zone, especially the language of paragraph 6 which decided ‘to establish a ban on all flights in the airspace of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya in order to help protect civilians.’ France, Britain, and the US quickly used this authorisation for a no-fly zone to give themselves a mandate that is wider than the UN resolution, particularly capitalising on the looseness of the formulation of ‘all necessary measures’. Although the Africa Union issued a statement saying that, ‘the situation in North Africa demands urgent action so that an African solution can be found,’ the AU dragged its feet and gave up its responsibility to prevent the massacre of civilians in Libya, thus giving justification to the Western intervention. After forming a committee comprising of Mauritania, South Africa, Mali and Congo and Uganda, the AU sidelined itself at precisely the moment when clarity was needed to both oppose the Western intervention and to intervene to stop the killing of humans that Gaddafi called ‘rats and germs.’

Opportunistically, France and Britain mobilised to take the lead to intervene and were given the green light by the passage of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973 to establish a no-fly zone over Libya. Ten countries voted for the resolution on 17 March, while five (Brazil, China, India, Germany and Russia) abstained. By Saturday 20 March, it was clear that the bombing campaign of the imperial forces went far beyond the letter and spirit of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973 whose mandate was to protect civilians. For this reason, even some of those states that voted for the UN resolution now oppose the bombings. All progressive persons must be opposed to any form of Western military intervention in Africa in this revolutionary moment.

In this contribution, we want to reiterate our opposition to the Western bombings. The Libyan people who are opposed to Gaddafi must take the leadership to fight Gaddafi. If they do not own the struggle and clarify how their policies will be different from Gaddafi’s, then we can end up with Gaddafism without Gaddafi being propped up by the West. We will agree with the statement by Peter Falk that, ‘Long ago, Gaddafi forfeited the legitimacy of his rule, creating the political conditions for an appropriate revolutionary challenge.’ This revolutionary challenge is still in its infancy and the imperial forces are acting quickly to ensure that the Libyan revolution is hijacked. The same people who armed and backed up Gaddafi should not be allowed to establish military foothold in Africa in the middle of a revolution.

From Equatorial Guinea to Ivory Coast and from Swaziland to Djibouti, there is an increasing need for a people-based African Union intervention force. One need not look further than the current AU chairman, Teodoro Obiang Nguema, to grasp the reality that the African revolution that started in Tunisia and Egypt and now gripping Libya is a revolution against the current leaders of the African Union.

THE AFRICAN UNION AND THE RESPONSIBILITY TO PROTECT

In the past 20 years the experiences of genocidal violence, genocidal politics, and actual incidents of genocide in Rwanda, Burundi, and elsewhere in Africa forced the coming into being of the African Union (AU). The Constitutive Act of the AU as quoted above gave the legal authority to the AU to intervene in situations such as now unfolding in Libya and Ivory Coast. It was Gaddafi who attempted to set himself up as one of the primary leaders of the AU. One of the ultimate tests of the commitment of the AU leaders hinged upon the translation of AU’s responsibility to protect into action by intervening to prevent crimes against humanity in any corner of the continent. It was the energetic work of the progressive movements within Africa that pushed the AU to adopt the principle of the Responsibility to Protect at the General assembly of the UN to the point where this concept was formally adopted by the Security Council of the United Nations in 2006. The very idea of responsibility to protect was aligned to Article 4(h) of the Constitutive Act of the African Union. There are three core pillars of the Responsibility to protect: First, an affirmation of the primary and continuing obligation of individual states to protect its population from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and crimes against humanity, as well as incitement thereof; second, a commitment by the international community to assist states in meeting these obligations; and third, acceptance by UN member states of their responsibility to respond in a timely and decisive manner through the UN Security Council.

It was this alignment of the goals of the Constitutive Act of the African Union with the core principles of the Responsibility to Protect that influenced some Africans to support intervention to stop the slaughter of civilians in Eastern Libya.

It is now much clearer that it is only revolutionary changes in Africa that will bring into being the kind of political/diplomatic and military force that can give meaning to the Constitutive Act of the African Union. For a short period after the end of apartheid, Nelson Mandela shamed the leaders of the OAU into dropping the clause of the ‘non interference in the internal affairs of member states.’ Yet, after the experiences of the Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Cote d’Ivoire, it became clearer that the present leadership stand as obstacle to fighting crimes against humanity. As the leadership of the ANC embraced neo-liberal capitalism and entered into business deals with leaders such as Robert Mugabe and Laurent Gbagbo, South Africa lost the moral authority to galvanize forces who wanted peace and reconstruction in Africa.

We can see from Ivory Coast and Libya that many African leaders look the other way because condemning such crimes amounts to self-indictment since most of them are involved in similar crimes in their bid to either perpetuate themselves in power or enrich themselves. That the current leaders of Africa could support the elevation of Teodoro Obiang Nguema to be the chairperson of this organisation pointed to the fact that most of these leaders such as Denis Sassou-Nguesso of Republic of Congo, Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, Omar al-Bashir of Sudan , Paul Biya of Cameroon, Blaise Compaore of Burkina Faso, Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia, Ali Bongo of Gabon, King Mswati III of Swaziland, Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, Ismail Omar Guelleh of Djibouti, and Yahya Jammeh of Gambia are not serious about translating the letters of the Constitutive Act into reality. These leaders oversee societies where there is repression of the people’s aspirations to end decades of oppression and dictatorship.

The majority of the current leaders of the African Union have used their greed and insatiable hunger for political power to cause a devastating impediment to the AU’s ability effectively assert itself, whether in Ivory Coast or in Libya. Apart from leaders such as Museveni who have come out lately with disharmonious rhetoric in response to the situation in Libya, there is yet another group. These are the leaders who have maintained a high degree of audible silence about the situation. Among these two categories of African leaders, there are those who are cautious either because they too operate repressive governments or because they have benefitted from Gaddafi’s largesse in his failed bid to become Africa’s ‘king of kings’ or both. Gaddafi’s quest for power and his bid to become king of kings in Africa must be condemned for what it is: a backward thinking that was meant to entrench a crude subjugation and suppression of the African peoples, while posing to be anti-imperialist. When Gaddafi rallied the Mugabes and the Omar al-Bashirs of the continent, telling them that revolutionaries never quit power, true Pan-Africanists stood in opposition to this crude machination.

GADDAFI IS NOT ANTI-IMPERIALIST

Many progressive persons sympathise with Gaddafi because he represented himself as anti-imperialist leader who supported freedom fighters. However, a close examination of the political economy and cultural practices of Gaddafi would show that far from being anti-imperialist, he was like a semi-feudal leader. Gaddafi used Libyan people’s money to try to harness the reservoir of traditional rulers and buy over leaders from across the continent in order to gain support for his aspiration to become the despotic king of kings of Africa. In the process, Gaddafi was also grooming his son in a monarchical tradition to reproduce a semi-feudal political relation inside of Libya. On the international front, while Gaddafi was verbally anti-imperialist, over US$150 billion of Libya’s sovereign wealth fund was distributed between New York, Paris, London, and Geneva to support the speculative activities of international financial oligarchs. At the same time, Gaddafi used billions of dollars to support arms manufacturers in the West.

In a previous article about Gaddafi, I drew reference to his history of mischief making in Africa, noting his support for elements such as Charles Taylor, Foday Sankoh, and Idi Amin. Immanuel Wallerstein in his contribution titled, ‘Libya and the World Left’ spelt out clearly the reasons why Gaddafi cannot be considered as anti-imperialist. Wallerstein was speaking directly to Hugo Chavez and other left forces who have articulated support for Gaddafi. Revolutionaries in Latin America who oppose US imperialism need to be better educated about the real social conditions in African societies.

Even at this moment when the bombs are being rained down on Libya, Gaddafi exposed his true feelings about Africa when he threatened Europeans that he would open the floodgate of African immigrants to Europe. In other words, Gaddafi is playing to the racism and chauvinism of Europeans toward Africans. He was reminding them that he had signed an agreement to be the gate-keeper and immigration officer for Europe in North Africa. This was not the first time Gaddafi was making disparaging and racist remarks to Europeans about Africans. In 2010, Gaddafi demanded US$6.3 billion from the EU to help them forestall what he called the emergence of a ‘black Europe’ by checking the immigration of black Africans to Europe. Gaddafi referred to the migration of black Africans to Europe as ‘this influx of starving and ignorant Africans,’ which would determine whether Europe would ‘remain an advanced and united continent or if it will be destroyed, as happened with the barbarian invasions.’ According to the UK Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/7973649/Gaddafi-Europe-will-turn-black-unless-EU-pays-Libya-4bn-a-year.html ), when Gaddafi made his proposal, one Italian member of parliament, Luigi de Magistris, accused him of maintaining a ‘concentration camp’ of thousands of African migrants in the desert. Progressives who see Gaddafi as anti-imperialist are the ones who ought to be calling for the investigation of this claim.

Gaddafi cannot claim to be anti-imperialist after he and his sons spent Libyan people’s money to finance the election of President Sarkozy. This revelation of the funding of Sarkozy was made by no other person than Gaddafi’s son, Saif al Islam

This same Gaddafi was busy parading himself as an anti-imperial Pan-Africanist, while refusing to educate his people about the essence of Pan African solidarity. Gaddafi’s regime has been involved in the repression of black migrant workers in Libya. In 2000, workers from Chad, Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon, Sudan, Burkina Faso, and Ghana were targets of killings in Libya after the Gaddafi regime officials accused these migrant workers of spreading diseases, crimes, and drug trafficking. Accounts of migrant workers from these countries have revealed that Gaddafi’s deportation practices were so inhumane that deportees were packed like animals on aircrafts without seats for several hours of flight to their countries.

Progressive persons who accept Gaddafi’s claim as a Pan-Africanist and anti-imperialist should recall that it was in response to Gaddafi’s racism that the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) expressed concern over Libya’s practices of racial discrimination against dark-skinned migrants and refugees. In 2004 this committee accused the Gaddafi regime of violating Article 6 of the 1969 International Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (ICERD). This accusation states that Gaddafi failed to implement proper mechanisms for safeguarding individuals from racist actions that undermine human rights. And six years after this accusation, Gaddafi went ahead to make his racist remarks about black African immigrants turning Europe ‘black.’

Gaddafi espoused racism and divisiveness, and thus could not pursue true African solidarity in his 42 years of holding onto power. In the spirit of solidarity, we empathize with those Libyans who are opposed to the Gaddafi regime. In this same spirit, we call on those freedom fighters to educate their followers that Libya is an African country. Those fighting as revolutionaries for freedom and democracy cannot be targeting Africans from the south of the Sahara.

Gaddafi’s kind of manipulation of anti-imperialist sentiments while repressing the people’s aspirations is not new. In the past, leaders such as Saddam Hussein of Iraq and Idi Amin of Uganda represented themselves as anti-imperialists. Today, Russian oligarchs who are in bed with the Western oil companies represent themselves as anti-imperialists, without proving it with a people-centered solidarity. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran and Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe are other good examples of repressive leaders who are verbally anti-imperialist. Robert Mugabe is so nervous about the people organising for change that his police arrested citizens who were watching a video on the revolution in Egypt and charged them with treason.

Just as the forces of peace and social justice forthrightly opposed Western invasion and occupation of Iraq, we were also opposed to the leadership of Saddam Hussein. So now, we are making it clear: We oppose Gaddafi and his semi-feudal leadership just as we oppose the Western bombings.

African civil society must be more organised at this moment of revolution and counter-revolution. One Kenyan writer captured the call for African civil society to be more active to oppose the present governments in Africa. Onyango Oloo, called on African civil society to stand up and demand action from governments. ‘We have marches in New York City but none in Africa. We need to be part of the global voice against military action. Innocent civilians are being killed we need to put pressure on our governments.’ This pressure on governments must include the support for the forces fighting for social justice in all parts of Africa. It is not too late for the progressives in Africa to learn from the positive lessons of the intervention of Tanzania to remove Idi Amin of Uganda, or the positive lessons of the Cuban assistance to defeat the apartheid army in Angola. In the same vein, it is not too late for those who organise the uprising in Libya to organise a clear political front to be able to build a strong internal political force to resist and remove Gaddafi without imperial complications. The UN resolution that authorised the use of force also explicitly authorised all necessary means to protect civilians and civilian-populated areas, except for a ‘foreign occupation force.’ The West is using the formulation of ‘all necessary means’ to give themselves the right to establish a new military foothold in Africa when revolution is sweeping Africa and the Middle East.

AFRICA IS MORE THAN MINERALS AND OIL

Brazil, China, India and Russia who were aware that Gaddafi was about to carry out massacres in Benghazi are critiquing the bombing by coalition forces. But it is time for members of the UN Security Council such as Brazil, Russia, India, and China to take a more forthright role against dictatorship in Africa. These four countries have expanded their commercial/mining relations in Africa in the past 10 years, but in the main have remained silent in relationship to stopping leaders such as Laurent Gbagbo and Gaddafi. In particular, Brazil represents itself as an emerging power, but seems to see its power as being in competition to sell arms to African leaders. In a country with over 80 million people of African descent and president of the UN Security Council in February, Brazil failed to take the lead in coordinating an international support for an African solution to the massacre in Libya. Similarly, China, India, and Russia have been condemning the bombings, but sat in the Security Council and allowed Britain, US, and France to manipulate the United Nations to start a new war. I agree with Peter Falk who has written elsewhere that, ‘The states that abstained acted irresponsibly.’ These states could have supported the no fly zone without giving the USA, Britain and France the leeway to insert language of ‘to take all necessary measures to enforce compliance with the ban on flights.’

We want to reiterate that Brazil, Russia, India, and China must realise that the interests and human dignity of the African people must be placed above the prospecting for minerals and oil. It is not enough to stand on the fence and decry Western military intervention; these countries must be able to show people in situations such as Benghazi that there is such a thing as international humanitarian intervention devoid of ulterior motives for oil, minerals, and arms sales. Ultimately, it is the citizens of the US, France, and Britain who must restrain their governments that are implementing austerity measures at home while funding the bombing of Libya.

STRENGTHENING THE AFRICAN UNION

The Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions have changed the political calculus in Africa. We need not repeat what has already been said about the hypocrisy of the West in intervening in Libya and not Bahrain and Yemen, where similar atrocities are being carried out. Could this Western intervention in Libya have been designed to plant Western military forces on the ground in Africa in order to derail the Egyptian and Tunisian revolutions? At this time, the US is seeking to use this intervention to give visibility and credibility to the US Africa Command, a proxy force for private US capitalist forces in Africa.

The Peace and Security Council of the AU has the legal authority to intervene in Libya as well as in Ivory Coast. It is up to the progressive forces in Africa to agitate to remove those leaders and governments that are standing in the way of a strengthened people-centered African Union. The Egyptian revolution has pointed to the possibility for the people to transform the African political process by their self-mobilisation and self-organisation. These forms of self-mobilisation would be called upon to strengthen the African Union for a people-centered intervention force, especially as Western intervention has complicated the struggles in Libya and has opened up new possibilities for counterrevolution which have dire consequences for the wind of revolution blowing across Africa and the Middle East. As noted by one commentator in the British newspaper, The Guardian:

‘The fragile consensus on intervention achieved last week, when the UN security council approved ‘all measures necessary’ to protect Libyan civilians against Muammar Gaddafi’s forces, has shattered in the wake of large-scale US, British and French ground and air attacks. The attacks were widely seen internationally as disproportionate, careless of civilian lives, and extending beyond the agreed plan to impose a defensive no-fly zone.’

The present bombings in North Africa have again alerted progressives to the laws of unforeseen consequences. Revolutionaries must coordinate internationally so that counter-revolution will not be the outcome of the present opportunism of the imperial powers.

No to the imperialist war of aggression against the Libyan people Alongside with the anti-imperialist democratic revolution and the resistance of the Arab peoples

The imperialist powers headed by France, Britain and the U.S. have triggered a war of aggression against Libya for getting rid of Gaddafi that, although he broke the anti-imperialist role he played for years after the success of the anti-colonial movement in 1969, remains however, a collaborator unreliable to make a strong clutch at country’s natural resources and to roll back the revolution taking place in Arab countries.

The speculators who starve the world, the accomplices of the Israeli Zionists, the killers of civilians in Afghanistan and Iraq are posing as champions of democracy and human rights, hiding behind the fig leaf of a resolution passed by a body in the service of Washington government and the Zionists.

They deliberately ignored the proposal made by the Venezuelan government and supported by the countries of ALBA (Bolivarian Alternative of the Peoples Alliance for Our America) to form a “Commission for International Humanitarian Peace and integrity of Libya , to send observers and to work to mediate between the parties, in order to avoid a military attack in the country and within the international community’s efforts to help Libyan people”, and gave the green light to the “group of the willing criminals” that had already turned the engines of the Tornado airplanes.

The campaign of misinformation and public intoxication in which the bourgeois mass media paved the way to a military attack (do you remember the “weapons of mass destruction” of Saddam Hussein?) hammered at the fact that “ they are the Benghazi rebels who ask the West to intervene to stop the massacre of civilians.”

Even if we grant for the sake of argument about these “requests for help,” it would not be the first time that the imperialist forces maneuver, infiltrate, corrupt and conspire to transform organizations and popular movements in an instrument to be used to their own purposes. Why are British SAS special forces agents and soldiers working in Libya for weeks? Is it by chance that the Chief of Staff of the rebel army is a Libyan former general recently returned in Libya after having been for twenty years “exile” in United States?

As it is not the first time that movements and organizations promoted and fed for counter-revolutionary purposes by the imperialist forces turn against their own patrons.

The 5th Conference of the Co-ordination Committee of Maoist Parties and Organisations of South Asia (CCOMPOSA) was successfully completed in early March.

The delegates took up analysis of the current political situation in order to identify its main features. They noted the fall out of the global crisis, the devastations it has caused among the masses, the wave of struggles in imperialist citadels triggered of by the crisis and the recent series of popular upsurges in Arab countries, apart from developments in South Asia such as the successful withstanding of Maoists in India of the state's counter-revolutionary offensive.

The Conference observed that

"though in an uneven way, the objective situation all over the world, including in the imperialist countries, is developing favourably for revolution. The main trend of revolution is strengthened. In comparison to the favourably developing objective situation and its demands, the subjective strength of the Marxist-Leninist-Maoist parties still lags. Nevertheless, greater attraction of people towards Marxism and socialism all across the world is a very positive sign."

As observed in the Political Resolution it adopted,

"This Conference is being held when the Indian new democratic revolution continues to confront the serious challenge of "Operation Green Hunt" launched by Indian state. While the initial victories in beating back this `war on the people', politically as well as militarily, give better conditions to the revolutionaries, the gravity of the challenges they face remains. The revolution in Nepal is at the crossroads. The powerful potential of great victory exists along with the serious danger of harsh defeat. Imperialism and Indian expansionism are openly intervening in Nepal to destroy the revolution and is directly instigating the ruling classes for this. People all over the world look up to the Maoists in Nepal to break out of all domestic and external conspiracies and advance determinedly towards the completion of new democratic revolution. Notwithstanding vigorous attempts on the part of revolutionaries, the people's wars in Bangladesh and Bhutan have yet to cut through enemy repression and develop it to a higher level. Maoist revolutionaries of Afghanistan are engaged in preparation of people's war amid US occupation. In Sri Lanka the task of reorganising the Maoist party is still on the agenda.

"All this shows the challenges faced by the Maoists of this region in the present juncture. Guided by Marxism-Leninism-Maoism, the unity among the constituents of CCOMPOSA and their joint activities will surely strengthen the revolutionary struggles and initiatives going on in the different countries of South Asia and be a catalyst in facing up to these challenges and seizing the opportunities. This has a significance going far beyond the boundaries of South Asia."

It concluded,

"Seize power where it is possible, develop ongoing people's wars to higher levels, prepare and initiate people's war where parties exist and build up parties where they don't – this should be the working orientation of Maoist revolutionaries. It is a declared fact that CCOMPOSA has been formed to unite the Maoist revolutionaries of South Asia and fight Indian expansionist hegemony and imperialism in the region. Apart from accomplishing its responsibility in this region, CCOMPOSA, as a part and parcel of the international communist movement, must discharge its internationalist duties to further the cause of world proletarian revolution. South Asia is ripe for new democratic revolution.

"Let all of us strive to develop ongoing people's wars, initiate new ones, accomplish new democratic revolution in our respective countries and establish South Asia as a strong base area of the world proletarian revolution. This and only this is the way the Maoist revolutionaries in South Asia can contribute to the advance to socialism and communism and thereby fulfil their proletarian internationalist duty."

The Conference called upon all Maoist forces in South Asia to join the CCOMPOSA and strengthen it and thus further advance in the common aim of making South Asia a blazing center of world revolution.

CCOMPOSA condemns the aerial attack of Libyan cities by the US, French and British defence forces in the garb of implementation of "no fly zone" by the United Nations Security Council Resolution no. 1973. The recent history is replete with vivid memories how the attempts to implement of "no fly zone" were escalated into a full war of occupation in Iraq resulting in colossal human tragedy. The war preparations in the name of "Operation Odyssey Dawn" by these blood sucking imperialists show that they are determined to do another Iraq in Libya.

CCOMPOSA is confident that Libyan as well Arab people understand the designs of these imperialists that it is not the Libyan people's interest behind the war frenzy, but the precious oil that is driving these plunderers in toppling Gaddafi's regime. The compradore Indian government, instead of standing against the Imperialist attempts of interference in the ongoing civil war in Libya, by firmly opposing the Resolution, played a role of cunning fox, by abstaining in the voting.

Dil Bahadur

Standing Committee,

Co-ordination Committee of Maoist Parties and Organisations of South Asia

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Twenty seven people, including six jail staff, were injured during a clash with Maoists lodged in Midnapore Central Jail here today.

Six jail staff, including head warden Deepak Kumar Baidya, were injured when Maoists lodged in the prison complex clashed with them following the death of an undertrial prisoner here last night, said officials.

The Maoists alleged that the undertrial prisoner, Kailash Das, had died due to the negligence of the prison officials.

Twenty one prisoners were also injured in the melee, said officials, adding that the injured have been rushed to the Midnapore Medical College Hospital.

For the last two months, Maoists lodged in the complex have been agitating against the alleged poor quality of food served in the jail other sub-standard facilities.

Many high profile Maoists including PCPA leader Chattradhar Mahato are lodged in the Midnapore Central jail

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

The leaders of several African countries, including Uganda, South Africa and Zimbabwe, have condemned the air strikes on Libya.

Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni has written a lengthy newspaper article accusing the West of double standards.

He was one of five African leaders tasked with finding a solution to the crisis, whose mission to Tripoli was called off when the air strikes began.

South Africa's Jacob Zuma was also on the African Union panel.

Although South Africa voted in favour of UN resolution 1973, which authorised military action to protect civilians, Mr Zuma has also criticised the air strikes, suggesting they were part of a "regime-change doctrine".

Western leaders have said the strikes will not target Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi but they do think he should step down.

Mr Zuma called for an immediate ceasefire and "rejected any foreign intervention, whatever its form".

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He warned the countries taking action in Libya "they should not harm or endanger the civilians that Resolution 1973 sought to protect".

Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe, a long-standing critic of the West, has also condemned the air strikes, saying the conflict is really about control of Libya's oil wealth.

Namibia's President Hifikepunye Pohamba agreed, calling the bombardment an "interference in internal affairs of Africa".

The African Union has also called for an end to the military intervention in Libya.

Nigeria's Foreign Minister Odein Ajumogobia said there were "contradictions" with the international community intervening in Libya but not Ivory Coast, where some 435 people have been killed and 450,000 forced from their homes over a disputed election.

Col Gaddafi enjoyed strained relations with many African leaders, who disagreed with his plans to create a United States of Africa, with a single government, currency and army.

But he was one of the biggest financial contributors to the African Union.

Col Gaddafi has been accused of hiring mercenaries from several African countries to help battle the rebels.

Many thousands of African migrants have left Libya after the anti-Gaddafi protests began in February.