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MIM Notes 305 · August 1, 2004 · Page 1

MIM Notes

August 1 2004, Nº 305

The Official Newsletter of the Maoist Internationalist Movement (MIM)

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INSIDE: `Bad Apples' in Iraq * Under Lock & Key * Una Página en Español...

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`FORMER' U$ GREEN

BERET TORTURES

AFGHANS, FEEDS

WESTERN MEDIA LIES

fghan police found three men

hanging from the ceiling by their

feet when they raided a house

in Kabul that had been turned into a prison

by "former" U$ Green Beret Jonathan

Keith "Jack" Idema and at least two other

Amerikans. All eight prisoners in the

house showed signs having been

beaten.(1)

Mr. Idema claimed to be a member of

a secret Special Operations group called

"Task Force Saber."(2) The Amerikan

military quickly tried to distance itself from

Idema and his goons, but because

espionage is by definition secret warfare,

there is plenty of room for reasonable

doubt in this case and others like it. Indeed,

Idema looked so much like the real thing

that NATO troops helped him on several

raids. NATO bomb squads found

evidence of explosives at several sites

after Idema had raided them and tipped

off authorities--raising the suspicion that

Idema himself planted the explosives.

"[Our] personnel believed that he was

what he purported to be, which was a

special operations agency," said a

spokespersyn for the occupation forces.

"Therefore they believed they were

providing legitimate support to a legitimate

security agency."(3)

Nor were NATO troops the only ones

who accepted Idema's credentials. The

Amerikan media embraced Mr. Idema as

an "Al Qaeda expert." MSNBC

interviewed him; so did CBS and National

Public Radio. He told the New York Daily

News he wanted to "punch out" Geraldo

Rivera for allegedly compromising the

security of anti-Taliban fighters.(4) The

New York Post reported he had

discovered "handwritten plans" to

assassinate then-President Bill Clinton.

(5) He was the centerpiece of the best-

selling book "The Hunt for Bin Laden:

Task Force Dagger."(6) And he supplied

FOX News with a video purportedly

showing Al Qaeda fighters training to

attack Amerikans.(7)

RULERS

TALK

ABOUT

THE DRAFT

I. New puppets in place, same old

national oppression of Iraqis

On June 28, the United $tates stopped

trying to be the direct government of Iraq.

Bush's colonial official L. Paul Bremer

III handed power over to Iraqi puppets

who have no sanction from the Iraqi

people of any sort.

We at MIM are aware that many of

our readers had given Uncle $am a break

till June 30th, because for many months,

the Bush administration was talking about

the June 30th "hand-off." Many including

naive supporters of the Republicans

believed that Bush would leave Iraq on

June 30th in order not to have the issue

hanging over the presidential election in

November.

It is important to be able to distinguish

rhetoric about "handovers" from the

military and political realities of invasion.

This invasion was never about just

capturing Saddam Hussein or even

weapons of mass destruction, which is

why the troops are still there. Without the

troops the U$ political control would

collapse.

Draft-age people should now see that

the U$ military continues to occupy Iraq

despite the hand-off to Iraq puppets who

are dependent on U$ troops for "security."

In fact, Bush continues to talk about

The pattern of Amerika's involvement

in Iraq today follows a decades-old

Amerikan prescription. When no

Amerikan lives face direct threat, the

U$ public swallows whole anything that

the State Department and mega-

corporate media throw its way. The first

to bother with anything different than

the media perception built by a handful

of spinners and deceivers at the top of

gigantic government and media

bureaucracies are military intelligence

and business officials.

Prisoner abuse scandal

spreads to Afghanistan

China, Vietnam and now Iraq

Only military threats make

Amerikans serious about politics

Dead Amerikans cause a pause for reflection.

When responsible military officials

become upset enough, they release

information to the public to give it a more

accurate picture. This is part of factional

fighting within the ruling class, but it is

also part of manipulating the public into

new directions.

The ordinary picture of Chinese in

Amerika before the 1930s was a people

running laundries in the United $tates

worthy of racist scorn. That all had to

change at least somewhat as real

Continued on page 4...

Continued on page 6...

Continued on page 5...

REVIEWED IN THIS ISSUE

Fahrenheit 9/11, SuperSize Me,

and Marlon Brando's career.

MIM Notes 305 · August 1, 2004 · Page 2

What is MIM?

The Maoist Internationalist Movement (MIM) is the collection of existing or emerging

Maoist internationalist parties in the English-speaking imperialist countries and their English-

speaking internal semi-colonies, as well as the existing or emerging Maoist Internationalist
parties in Belgium, France and Quebec and the existing or emerging Spanish-speaking
Maoist Internationalist parties of Aztlan, Puerto Rico and other territories of the U.$. Empire.

MIM Notes is the newspaper of MIM. Notas Rojas is the newspaper of the Spanish-speaking
parties or emerging parties of MIM. MIM upholds the revolutionary communist ideology
of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism and is an internationalist organization that works from the

vantage point of the Third World proletariat. MIM struggles to end the oppression of all
groups over other groups: classes, genders, nations. MIM knows this is only possibly by
building public opinion to seize power through armed struggle. Revolution is a reality for

North America as the military becomes over-extended in the government's attempts to
maintain world hegemony. MIM differs from other communist parties on three main
questions: (1) MIM holds that after the proletariat seizes power in socialist revolution, the

potential exists for capitalist restoration under the leadership of a new bourgeoisie within
the communist party itself. In the case of the USSR, the bourgeoisie seized power after the
death of Stalin in 1953; in China, it was after Mao's death and the overthrow of the "Gang

of Four" in 1976. (2) MIM upholds the Chinese Cultural Revolution as the farthest advance
of communism in humyn history. (3) As Marx, Engels and Lenin formulated and MIM has
reiterated through materialist analysis, imperialism extracts super-profits from the Third

World and in part uses this wealth to buy off whole populations of oppressor nation so-
called workers. These so-called workers bought off by imperialism form a new petty-
bourgeoisie called the labor aristocracy. These classes are not the principal vehicles to

advance Maoism within those countries because their standards of living depend on
imperialism. At this time, imperialist super-profits create this situation in the Canada, Quebec,
the United $tates, England, France, Belgium, Germany, Japan, Italy, Switzerland,

Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Israel, Sweden and Denmark. MIM accepts people as
members who agree on these basic principles and accept democratic centralism, the system
of majority rule, on other questions of party line.

"The theory of Marx, Engels, Lenin and Stalin is universally applicable. We should

regard it not as dogma, but as a guide to action. Studying it is not merely a matter of
learning terms and phrases, but of learning Marxism-Leninism as the science of revolution."

- Mao Zedong, Selected Works, Vol. II, p. 208.

Editor, MC206; Production, MC12

Letters

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The Official Newsletter of The Maoist Internationalist Movement

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Whatever you contribute "it must be

substantial." So spoke Secretary of State

Colin Powell to friendly nations too weak

to defend themselves against the world's

strongest military turned aggressor. The

only things missing were the pinstriped

suits, the broad brimmed felt hat or fedora,

and the bulge of a shoulder holster or

sidearm tucked under an armpit. Other

than that, Mr. Powell could be taken for

any mafia henchman walking in to a

neighborhood candy store to sell the

owner insurance...you do want to protect

your place don't you (smile)...and

naturally there weren't any of the rival

families at this conference. Nations from

the axis of evil and most others with

nuclear capability require a different

approach. But the weaker nations are ripe

for the picking. Countries like Nicaragua

and Haiti need our protection.

Now after a dozen years of embargo

and bombing, plus a final walk-on invasion

and occupation that didn't even require

the planned "shock and awe" now the

U.S. is ready to rebuild Iraqi infrastructure

and buildings we so systematically

destroyed.

Never mind that Iraq had little or

nothing to do with terrorism or that they

didn't have any weapons of mass

destruction ready to be deployed against

the U.S. and their neighbors. We all know

that. But it's the thought that counts: and

they certainly had a great many evil

thought directed towards us.

Restricted to an oil for food program,

losing a half million children to starvation

and denied the parts to repair their

equipment, while their leader built palaces,

now how can you blame the Iraqi people

harboring resentment?

So Mr. Store owner, you seen what

happened to the store down the street.

You don't want that to happen to you do

you? Cough up a substantial part of your

treasury and we'll take care of you ...

By the way, terrorism is a tactic not a

thing. It's a scheme, an activity, a method,

a strategy. A surprise that can be used by

anyone limited only by mans imagination

and resources. People like Osama Bin

Laden might use it but it isn't an entity

you can see, feel or touch. It's ethereal.

Declaring war against terrorism is like

declaring war against thinking.

--A California prisoner, July 2004

Mafia tactics and the

Coalition of the Willing

Militarism is war-mongering or the

advocacy of war or actual carrying out

of war or its preparations.

While true pacifists condemn all

violence as equally repugnant, we

Maoists do not consider self-defense

or the violence of oppressed nations

against imperialism to be militarism.

Militarism is mostly caused by

imperialism at this time. Imperialism

is the highest stage of capitalism--

seen in countries like the United

$tates, England and France.

Under capitalism, capitalists often

profit from war or its preparations.

Yet, it is the proletariat that does the

dying in the wars. The proletariat

wants a system in which people do not

have self-interest on the side of war-

profiteering or war for imperialism.

Militarism is one of the most

important reasons to overthrow

capitalism. It even infects oppressed

nations and causes them to fight each

other.

It is important not to let capitalists

risk our lives in their ideas about war

and peace or the environment. They

have already had two world wars

admitted by themselves in the last 100

years and they are conducting a third

right now against the Third World.

Even a one percent annual chance of

nuclear war destruction caused by

capitalist aggressiveness or "greed" as

the people call it should not be tolerated

by the proletariat. After playing

Russian Roulette (in which the bullet

chamber is different each time and not

related at all to the one that came up in

previous spins) with 100 chambers and

one bullet, the chance of survival is

only 60.5% after 50 turns. In other

words, a seemingly small one percent

annual chance of world war means

eventual doom. After 100 years or turns

of Russian Roulette, the chances of

survival are only 36.6%. After 200

years, survival has only a 13.4%

chance.

What is militarism?

MIM Notes 305 · August 1, 2004 · Page 3

Fahrenheit fires on

a few good targets,

avoids others

Director Moore's "progressive

patriotism" leads him astray

Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004)

by Michael Moore

MIM is happy to see Fahrenheit 9/11

doing so well in theaters, despite getting

less screen time than the schlock released

on its opening weekend.(1) We want

people to see this movie, and to confront

the cynicism and hopelessness of

Amerika's "War on Terror."

That so many people are rushing to

Fahrenheit 9/11 means that after more

than two-and-a-half years of war

Amerikans are finally willing to take

politics more seriously. Unfortunately,

much as in the immediate aftermath of 9/

11, this new-found attention to politics over

escapism has more to do with the

mounting Amerikan death toll in Iraq than

it does with the internationalist awakening

this country needs if it is ever to enter a

civilized community of nations. Also

unfortunately, Moore panders heavily to

this brand of Amerika-first liberalism,

turning what could have been a really

good expose of the War on Terror into a

public service announcement for getting

out the vote.

But let's start with the good parts.

Moore takes a big bite out of the fear

Amerikans have been sold. He interviews

a Congressman who argues the main

function of the Department of Homeland

Security's terror alert system is to stun

the U.$. populace into compliance

because "people will do anything when

they're afraid." Of course, the

Congressman's apt comments come a

little too late: as Moore points out, no one

in Congress fully read the draconian

Patriot Act before passing it. So much

for relying on beauty- contest winners--

er, "our elected representatives"--to take

risky, principled stands.

"Fahrenheit" aptly ridicules the devices

security companies are selling now to give

people the illusion of security--a safe

room for every home and a parachute,

for those times you need to jump from

your flaming office building. The upshot

of all this fear mongering has been

predictable: robust support for the wars

in Afghanistan and Iraq and people who

advise their neighbors "don't trust anyone

you don't know." We see the extremely

unthreatening Fresno Peace Action group

being victimized by the kind of policing

the new, broader definitions of "terrorism"

have sanctioned. Police infiltrated this

group of largely middle-aged whites

whose main activity is to hold rush-hour

street corner vigils against the war. The

members learned of the infiltration when

the kop who had invaded their group was

hurt in a traffic accident and had his photo

in the local paper.

The War on Terror is a war on dissent.

The only reasonable response to this

knowledge is to stand up and defend that

Continued on page 9...

The United Front to Shut Down the

Security Housing Units held the first in a

series of educational forums on Amerikan

prison torture in San Francisco on July

15. The event opened with a letter from

a California prisoner, written in May of

this year, shortly after the news of the

Iraqi prisoner abuse came out.

"Amerika's modern-day dungeons,

such as Security Housing Units (SHUs),

Intensive Management Units (IMUs) and

Maximum Custody Control Units ... were

designed with sensory deprivation in

mind," he wrote. "[Control units are

synonymous with] isolation, control of

movement, interrogation, mental and

physical tortures, excessive force and

criminal abuse.

"These penitentiary test labs have been

a breeding ground for prison guards to

practice their sadistic murderous behavior

unchecked with impunity. So it should be

of no surprise that the military uses these

techniques and tactics on prisoners in Iraq

and Guantanamo Bay." A previous

edition of MIM Notes (#302) reported

in detail how guards charged with torture

at Abu Ghraib had served in Amerikan

prisons, where they developed a

reputation for brutality.

Control units are prisons within prisons,

where inmates are locked in their small

cells, alone, for 23 hours or more each

day. International humyn rights groups

have condemned them as a form of

torture. Control units are consciously used

to break prisoners' will and ability to resist.

A past warden of Marion IL, one of the

first Control Unit prisons, stated: "The

purpose of the Marion control unit is to

control revolutionary attitudes in the prison

system and in society at large."

A speaker from the Barrio Defense

Committee (BDC) described her son's

battle with the California prison system.

Jose Luis was placed in the SHU at

Corcoran prison after leading a hunger

strike for basic humyn rights at New

Folsom prison. While in the SHU he has

lost sight in one eye and is experiencing

other physical and mental problems.

Another speaker described her recent

visit to Pelican Bay State Prison where

Hugo Pinell is locked in the SHU. Hugo

is one of the many Prisoners of War kept

behind bars as punishment for their

political activism. She described his

isolation from the outside world and spoke

movingly about Hugo's strong spirit despite

this torture.

The final speaker touched on her

experience in the women's prison in

California, where she was punished for

political activism. She noted that the 40

women locked in the SHU in the women's

prison need to be contacted so that

activists on the outside can work with them

to organize the growing women's prison

population.

The United Front to Shut Down the

SHU includes a wide range of political

organizations and individuals such as the

Barrio Defense Committee (BDC), the

African People's Socialist Party (APSP),

African People's Solidarity Committee

(APSC), the Maoist Internationalist

Movement (MIM), Justice for

Palestinians, California Prison Focus, the

Revolutionary Anti-Imperialist League

(RAIL), Proyecto Common Touch and

RASCALS. We are working to expand

participation from like-minded

organizations across the state. We are

united in fighting to shut down control units

in California prisons.

Current activities include of the United

Front include holding events like this one

across the state, protests the first

Saturday of every month in cities across

California, and a petition drive to shut

down the SHU (we have collected

thousands of signatures already!).

Our next state-wide organizing meeting

is scheduled for September 12th in

Oxnard California. The United Front is

also planning a protest in front of the CDC

office in Sacramento for August 20th.

This forum will be held again in the

following locations:

Santa Cruz

August 5, 7pm

Loudlen Nelson Center, 301 Center St

Los Angeles

August 12, 6pm

Casa de Pueblo Co-Op, Sunset Blvd

Activists expose torture

in Amerikan prisons

Super Size Me (2004)

Morgan Spurlock, Director

"Super Size Me", the entertaining

documentary by Morgan Spurlock, is a

great addition to the education of the

Amerikan public about the biological and

social roots of obesity. The gimmick:

Spurlock only eats at McDonalds for

thirty days and goes from fit and trim to

dangerously unhealthy and... not-so-trim.

Before beginning his thirty-day binge

Spurlock gets checked out by three

doctors and consults with a nutritionist.

They all proclaim him a model of health

and plan to follow him throughout the

month. Spurlock then cuts down on his

normal amount of exercise, including daily

walks to and from work and around New

York City, in order to mimic an average

Amerikan's daily physical activity. He has

three rules for his McMonth: 1) he must

try everything on the menu at least once;

2) he cannot eat or drink anything that is

not sold at McDonald's; and 3) he will

only Super Size his meals when asked

by the clerks.

By the end of his experiment, he has

gained 24 pounds; his cholesterol has shot

up to dangerous levels, and he feels

terrible all the time. At one point he wakes

in the middle of the night with such severe

chest pains and shortness of breath that

he thinks he is having a heart attack.

Spurlock concedes that he could have

made essentially the same movie about

Burger King or Wendy's (small comfort

for the McDonald's propaganda machine).

Still, McDonald's has, by far, the largest

world market share of fast food poison,

and represents 43% of the U.$. fast food

market.(1)

McDonald's responded to Super Size

Me in much the same way it has

responded to lawsuits charging that its

food caused obesity: it claims it is offering

"more choice and variety" so that

consumers can make their own decisions.

(Although in one sequence Spurlock

searches in vain for the very nutritional

information McDonald's boasts it offers.)

McDonald's says that Spurlock acted

"irresponsibly by consuming more that

5,000 calories a day more than twice the

recommended level for adult males and

by purposely limiting his physical activity.

That's why this movie makes no

contribution to the important dialogue

taking place today on nutrition and

balanced lifestyles." (2)

A supposedly neutral writer--who

actually is a lobbyist for McDonald's

(among other corporations)--harped on

this last point, noting that Spurlock if

Spurlock ate 5,000 calories he "could

have gained that extra weight [24 pounds]

anywhere-at a health-food restaurant in

Cleveland or at Taillevent in Paris."(4)

This hack goes on to say, "What

Americans need is balance: Sensible

eating plus exercise. Staying fit is a matter

of personal choice and responsibility

which is just what this con man [Spurlock]

and his co-conspirators want to take away

from you."

This appeals to the individualist streak

in Amerikans, but the cold reality--which

Amerikan brainwashing not good for Amerikans

Continued on page 8...

MIM Notes 305 · August 1, 2004 · Page 4

The responses to the hostage and

torture situations in Iraq and Afghanistan

are revealing the chasm separating the

bourgeois and petty-bourgeois parties on

the one hand and the proletarian parties

on the other. The torture in Abu Ghraib

and other prisons in Iraq and Afghanistan

produced condemnation from Bush to the

phony communists. It's useful to look at

who is drawing correct conclusions from

these events without pulling punches and

who is merely saying what is comfortable

for the Amerikan petty-bourgeoisie to

hear.

It all started off with Bush criticizing

the torture situation. He said we "must

understand that what took place in that

prison does not represent the America

that I know."(1) Senator Conrad said

much the same thing before Bush, and of

course Reagan's "optimism" about

Amerika preceded both.

In contrast, Lenin said the following:

"First, what is the cardinal idea underlying

our theses? It is the distinction between

oppressed and oppressor nations. Unlike

the Second International and bourgeois

democracy, we emphasize this

distinction."(2) It's not just a few bad

apples: it's a whole nation according to

us followers of Lenin.

In response to the Abu Ghraib prison

scandal, Al Gore, Clinton's Vice-

President for eight years literally yelled

for Rumsfeld, Rice and Tenet to resign.

Along with the combative tone came the

statement that this torture was not a

matter of a "few bad apples."(3)

Al Gore's opinion is acceptable opinion

within Amerika and the petty-bourgeoisie

is ready to hear it. True, there is a die-

hard element, even greater than 10% that

openly defends torturing Iraqis.

Nonetheless, the majority is with Bush &

Gore in a self-image adjustment.

The sad truth is that Al Gore's line is

identical to that of a number of phony

"communist" parties, such as the

"Revolutionary Communist Party-USA"

(RCP=U$A) and "Communist Party

USA" (CP=U$A). Both Gore and these

phony "communists" deny that they uphold

the "few bad apples line," but in fact they

do. It takes the sort of crisis facing the

imperialists now to best show the public

exactly how the phony "communists'"

line dovetails with the imperialists'.

Careful reading of the RCP=U$A line

will show that they see the bourgeois

dictatorship as some kind of pattern of

actions by only the police and military.

We're not surprised, because the

RCP=U$A line is that only 10% of

Amerika is enemies.

We hesitate to call the RCP=U$A

opportunist for saying nothing Gore would

not say. The RCP=U$A consciously

represents the petty-bourgeoisie, which

means vacillating toward proletarian

positions occasionally for maximum

popularity while upholding the imperialist

alignment with the middle-classes on the

whole. The petty-bourgeoisie has no

future of its own, and has no choice but

to vacillate between the imperialists and

proletariat.

It is the official line of the RCP=U$A

that only 10% of the U$A is enemy.(4)

Get that: it means only 10 out of 100 apples

in the barrel are bad ones. Yet, the vocal

defenders of the RCP=U$A have the

nerve to claim they don't have the "few

bad apples" line. In contrast, Lenin said

that one quarter of the whole world is

oppressor and he admitted belonging to

an oppressor nation; even though Russian

imperialism was no where near the level

of global exploiter as the U$ imperialists

today.

There is no detectable difference

between the 10 bad apples out of 100

view and the view of Bush and Gore. The

RCP=U$A is in fact helping to cover up

the enemy just like Bush & Gore.

The U$ contractors in Iraq are another

example that causes the political

vacillation of the petty-bourgeoisie. On

the one hand, the CP=U$A says that it

supports the occupation regime in Iraq in

which its sister party has one of 25

seats.(5) On the other hand, for some

occasional proletarian rhetoric, even the

CP=U$A has vaguely admitted that U$

contractors in Iraq are oppressors.(6)

They try to make it sound like these

contractors are exceptional, and maybe

not even Amerikans. This represents

another tactical approach for the servitors

of imperialism: adopt a proletarian posture

but claim it is only very selectively

necessary, and not part of an overall class

analysis.

What these imperialist lackeys don't do

is name Thomas Hamill by name. He was

a truck driver in Iraq taken hostage. This

would clear up that the CP=U$A was not

just talking about Cheney's Halliburton

executives in Iraq, but also people like

Hamill. Likewise, the RCP=U$A hides

behind the common petty-bourgeois

opinion that the soldiers/CIA should not

be in Iraq.

If any of the Trotskyists, the CP=U$A,

the RCP=U$A or the rest of the chauvinist

"left" had half a wit, they would know

they should be answering the Thomas

Hamill question and do it in principle. If

they think that Thomas Hamill was an

exploiter in Iraq, then they need to answer

what the difference is between him and

the rest of the oppressor nation

"workers." Thomas Hamill worked for a

private company. Who doesn't? Thomas

Hamill's company had contracts with the

government. Which multinational

corporation hiring workers does not?

Thomas Hamill is tied up with exploiting

the Third World people and his salary

showed it. What oppressor nation

"workers" in the u$a do not have such

links? To these scum evading the question,

we say, "Denial is not a river in Egypt."

Notes:
1. http://www.news24.com/News24/World/Iraq/
0,,2-10-1460_1522413,00.html
2. http://www.prisoncensorship.info/archive/etext/classics/
distinct.txt
3. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/05/26/
politics/main619770.shtml
4. Revolutionary Worker #890, http://
www.prisoncensorship.info/archive/etext/wim/wyl/
avakian9010.txt
5. http://www.prisoncensorship.info/archive/etext/agitation/
iraq/revisionistoccupation.html
6. People's Weekly World, May 22-28, 2004, p.
12.

`Few bad apples' line takes over in Iraq crisis

Collective denial about national oppression

Descriptions of the video--played over

and over on FOX and earnestly discussed

by Dan Rather in early 2002--make it

sound suspiciously like campy anti-

Communist dreck like 1984's "Red

Dawn." "The footage shows a terrorist

cell infiltrating a golf course. ... Weapons

are hidden in golf bags. And then comes

the attack."(8) The video also purports

to show "heavily armed al Qaeda thugs

... storming a school, shooting children and

taking hostages." "We found little desks

with bullet holes in them," Idema told the

New York Post; however, an FBI

spokesman quotes in the same article says

there is "no credible evidence of a specific

threat to American schools."(9)

The senior Amerikan commander in

Afghanistan at the time "watched the ...

tape carefully twice, but said he could not

comment."(10)

There's more. According to the New

York Times, somebody named

Mohammed Ashimey was feeding

Western media reports about a

"supersecret group" of "renegade Green

Berets."

Prisoner abuse scandal spreads

"In breathless prose, the article said the

former commandos, frustrated by

American government inaction, had ...

arrested 13 people suspected of terrorism

since arriving in Afghanistan three months

ago. The article, which sounded like it

could have been written by an American,

included an accurate description of the

illegal arrests that led to Mr. Idema's

detention and a fawning description of his

work.

"`Driving beat up old SUVs, wearing

low-slung holsters like Clint Eastwood,

long hair, beards and Afghan scarfs, the

Green Berets operated the way they did

on the 2001-2002 war, with no rules, no

oversight, and no plan...'

"Local Afghan journalists said they had

never heard of Mr. Ashimey..."(2)

There is no way to spin this story to

exonerate either the Amerikan

government or the Amerikan media. Any

way you look at it, both are complicit in

Idema's torture ring.

If Mr. Idema is just some crusader

yahoo, then the Amerikan media let

themselves be suckered by a con-man

who was selling the pulp fiction they

wanted to buy: a shoot-em-up cowboy

story with Osama Bin Laden playing the

really really bad dude in the black hat.

If Mr. Idema is just some heavily-

armed mercenary nutcase, the Amerikan

military let him tramp through Afghanistan

starting in 2001, when he reportedly

served as military advisor to the anti-

Taliban Northern Alliance. Idema and

wackos like him thrive in Afghanistan: the

Amerikans have created a Wild West

atmosphere there, in part by offering $340

million in bounties for information leading

to the capture or killing of top "terrorists."

"Whatever Idema's credentials are,"

writes the British Independent, "the fact

remains that he and others like him are

common sights in Afghanistan. They have

an eye for bounty... There are also claims

that some are involved in heroin

trafficking--in the country that produces

three-quarters of the world's

supply..."(11) Heroin production has

soared 20-fold since the U$ invasion.(12)

Nor are these "unofficial" thugs the

only ones abusing Afghans. "David

Passaro, a former Green Beret who

arrived on a CIA security contract, is

currently under arrest, accused of beating

a 28-year old Afghan detainee to

death."(10) So much for "liberating" the

people of Afghanistan.

Of course, Jack may have been

working for the Amerikan military, the

CIA or some other Amerikan spy agency

at some point in the last three years. In

that case, the Amerikan media are not

off the hook: they still let themselves be

played, just this time by a clandestine

government agent.

The military may have been using

Idema both to do its dirtiest work and feed

propaganda to the media. Now, perhaps

because he had gone independent or

perhaps because he got caught in the

middle of a nasty job, the Amerikan

government wants to distance itself from

him officially--and maybe unofficially, by

leaking unflattering reports through the

likes of the Times and the Independent.

The imperialists are addicted to war,

and a necessary consequence of that

addiction are nasty spy games like the

ones Idema played at in Afghanistan. The

official denunciation of Idema is

exceptional; usually governments will not

admit or deny an individual is a spy.(13)

This raises the suspicion that any journalist

Continued from page 1...

Continued on next page...

MIM Notes 305 · August 1, 2004 · Page 5

or tourist is spying and poisons the

relationships between peoples.

In both Iraq and Afghanistan, the

imperialists are showing they have no

solution to the problem of violence. Their

"policing" approach has not reduced

violence in either country. Indeed, given

the Amerikans' notorious frontier dog-eat-

dog mindset, they've arguably made

things worse. A real solution to the

problem of violence requires international

economic cooperation to meet basic

humyn needs, not profit.

Notes:
1. The Guardian (UK), 9 July 2004.
2. The New York Times, 11 July 2004.
3. Agence France Presse, 15 July 2004.
4. Quoted in The Columbus Dispatch, 6 April
2003.
5. New York Post, 13 March 2003.
6. Many reviews on Amazon.com--from people
claiming to be Special Operations soldiers--call
this book "largely fiction." This likely reflects
some persynal rivalries among the "soldier of
fortune" crowd; although, from the few excerpts
MIM has read, we agree with their assessment.
7. As it turns out, one of the men arrested with
Idema was Edward Caraballo, a videographer
who directed "The J Keith Idema Story," about

political contests broke out across Asia.

In the 1930s, when landlord dictator

Chiang Kai-shek partially ruled China, the

U$ media lavished incredible praise on

him--much the opposite of what the same

media did to Saddam Hussein in 2002 and

2003. Time Magazine in 1937 named

Chiang Kai-shek and his wife "Madame"

Chiang Kai-shek the "ablest of

leadership" worthy of "Man and Women

of the Year."(1) Actually, wild oscillations

in Amerikan opinion of China started even

before that. It's just that by 1937, thanks

to a war brewing and a communist threat

led by Mao Zedong, Amerikan policy-

makers started to judge that Chiang Kai-

shek was their man in China.

The praise was so fulsome, authors said

that the Chiang Kai-shek couple had been

made into "plaster saints" at the time. All

that changed as soon as Amerikan lives

were at stake in China during World War

II. One Graham Peck of the U$ "Office

of War Information" said, "`I think every

American who came to Kuomintang

territory on war duty has bitter memories

of the do-nothing attitudes, and the

profiteering which ranged from the prices

the U.S. had to pay for air fields to the

prices GI's were charged in

restaurants.'"(2)

Amerikan military men who thought

they were flying Madame Chiang Kai-

shek on an important mission found

instead that they were transporting her

luxury baggage, at risk to themselves.

Previously, if the press had reported that

she was doing politico-military work, they

would have believed it, but with their own

lives on the line in the flying, the pilots'

attitude was different.

After World War II, something else

reminiscent of Vietnam and Iraq

happened. Chiang Kai-shek's party and

generals told the Amerikans that "`The

Communists are babies; they don't know

how to fight.'" "`The war will be over in

three months,' Chiang's top-ranking

general declared." That all went into the

Amerikan media.

Nonetheless, based on World War II

experience, Amerikan generals, pilots and

soldiers knew better. Even though most

U$ military forces went to Europe during

World War II, there were some who dealt

with the Chinese and Vietnamese

attacking the Japanese. When Mao

liberated all of China in 1949 instead of

collapsing in three months, much of the

U$ military knew exactly why--that

Chiang Kai-shek was a hopelessly

backward and corrupt man heading a

useless and corrupt party.

While Chiang Kai-shek's money came

from the United $tates, he still found ways

to lobby Amerika after being booted onto

Taiwan by the Chinese Revolution.

Among other things that Chiang Kai-

shek's government did was give money

to Richard Nixon's campaign for Senate

in California and egg on Senator Joe

McCarthy.(4)

The same thing happened with Vietnam.

The U$ military officials who dealt with

the regime in southern Vietnam knew it

to be corrupt and inefficient in every

way--not promising material for the

development of "freedom." Nonetheless,

the dominant media-created perception

was that sending a few more thousand

troops would wipe out the communist

threat and Vietnam would be on the road

to "democracy."

This belief continued for several years

until Lyndon B. Johnson had 500,000

troops in Vietnam in 1965. Even then, it

took until 1969 for a majority of U$ public

opinion to swing against the war--but not

before tens of thousands of U$ deaths.

The process of thought in the Amerikan

mind started with debunking what it

considered "lies." For example, in the

spring of 1964, the outgoing general in

Vietnam named Paul Harkins told the

incoming military leader William

Westmoreland and a civilian official that

the United $tates would win in six

months.(5) As early as a January 1963

battle at Ap Bac that the media observed,

the U$ media knew that the U$

government lied about winning a battle

that the U$ puppets lost. President John

F. Kennedy tried to get a reporter

reassigned for knowing the truth.(6)

So it is today in Iraq. When the war

started, a majority supported it. In fact,

in March, 2003, only 20% of U$ whites

opposed the war.(7) Then Bush declared

that "major combat operations in Iraq

have ended" on May 1, 2003. Since that

time, more U$ soldiers died than during

the official fighting. The soldiers

themselves learned on the scene that

contrary to the neo-conservatives, the

Iraqi people did not "throw roses and

rice" to the "liberators." Some military

police have learned up close that

Amerikans are no more humane in

imprisoning Iraqis than Saddam Hussein

was. Above all, the petty-bourgeoisie has

decided that the war was not "worth it."

The costs are too high according to 52%-

62% of the public today. (A May 21-23

Gallup poll showed 52%.)(8) The public

remains evenly divided on whether the

war should have started in the first place,

but the "costs" question is bringing out

the vacillating petty-bourgeoisie which has

been convinced that filling up the SUV in

Iraq won't be as cheap as they thought.

An example in the oscillation of petty-

bourgeois opinion is California. In April

2003, 58% said the war was "worth it."

Now 63% say it is not "worth it." (9)

By the way, we are happy to report

that the Spanish-speaking population is

vacillating against the war even more

extremely than the rest of the population

inside U$ borders, with 75% now saying

the Iraq war was not worth it. MIM

believes this vindicates our strategy

opposing the Martin Luther King road

with revolutionary nationalism. (10)

In Alabama, 52% of the population still

thinks that the invasion of Iraq "was the

right thing to do." The poll from the third

week of May also shows that 66% of

Alabamians do not think Rumsfeld should

resign. Nonetheless, even the population

of Alabama has shown a dramatic drop-

off in the percentage of people who think

the war is going "well," falling by 30

percentage points since January. 78%

said that the prison torture will make things

harder in Iraq. When we think about how

Alabama learned about Iraq, it's once

again a vindication of the same old

pattern. U$ soldiers, many from Alabama,

went to Iraq and took some photographs.

Those photographs found their way back

to the United $tates.(11)

It's not that Amerikans of the last 100

years have opposed imperialism in

principle. Amerikans are much more

impressed by whether stated objectives

can be achieved easily or not. They would

rather learn from direct experience,

including being shot at--whether a war

is "worth it" to their class interests.

Nations that stand up and cause

Amerikan imperialism severe material

and moral damage find that petty-

bourgeois opinion in Amerika swings their

way as petty-bourgeois doubts about

particular imperialists and particular

imperialist strategies grow.

Notes:

1. Felix Greene, A Curtain of Ignorance

China: How America Is Deceived

(London: Jonathan Cape, 1965), p. 14.

2. Ibid., p. 19.

3. Ibid., p. 37.

4. Ibid., p. 52.

5. Douglas Kinnard, The War

Managers: American Generals Reflect on

Vietnam NY, NY: A De Capo Paperback,

1991, p. 18.

6. Ibid., p. 126.

7. http://www.prisoncensorship.info/archive/etext/

agitation/iraq/antiwarpolls.html

8. http://www.wbex.com/script/

h e a d l i n e _ n e w s m a n a g e r . p h

p?id=297687&pagecontent=nationalnews&feed_id=59

9. http://www.news10.net/

storyfull.asp?id=7218

10. http://www.americanprogress.org/

site/pp.asp?c=biJR J8OVF&b=83165.

Another interesting figure: "An April

Gallup Poll found that among Americans

who go to church at least once a week,

56 percent agreed that the `situation in

Iraq was worth going to war over.' Fewer

than 45 percent of those who seldom

attend church thought so. ... A Gallup Poll

also shows the evangelicals' growing

numbers, placing them at no less than 43

percent of the U.S. population."http://

www.mlive.com/newsflash/business/

index.ssf?/newsflash/get_story.ssf?/cgi-

free/getstory_ssf.cgi?f0033_BC_WSJ--

Power-and-Peril&&news&newsflash-

financial

11. http://www.al.com/news/

mobileregister/index.ssf?/base/news/

1085303759134260.xml

China, Vietnam and now Iraq

Only military threats make Amerikans serious about politics

Continued from page 1...

Jack's supposed exploits in Lithuania (google
Idema and Caraballo and check out the cached
pages). Idema and Caraballo also worked with
Gary Scurka at Point Blank Network News.
Scurka produced "The J Keith Idema Story" and
covered the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq
for National Geographic Explorer-- to "present
a U.S. Marine view of the war" (http://
news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/04/
0410_030410_iraqjournalist.h tml; http://
news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/05/
0516_030516_iraqreporter.html ). National
Geographic, by the way, is adept at getting
Amerikans into geopolitical hotspots such as
Afghanistan or the region of Colombia controlled
by the FARC under the guise of humyn interest
reporting. So Idema possessed the technical
knowledge and local contacts needed to make a
fake "training video," if he wanted.
8. CBS News, 16 January 2002.
9. New York Post 9 Mar 2003.
10. www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/01/16/60II/
main324592.shtml.
11. The Independent (London), 9 July 2004.
12. www.newyorker.com/fact/content/
?040412fa_fact
13. See article on Equatorial New Guinea, MIM
Notes 299, 1 April 2004.

Abuse

From previous page...

MIM Notes 305 · August 1, 2004 · Page 6

sending more, not fewer troops.

II. Draft of ex-soldiers already

under way

Not only that, but of great significance

is the fact that Bush called up former

troops based on a clause in their contracts

that makes it possible to call them back

to duty once they have left the military

services. As MIM told our readers he

would back in May, Bush called up the

Individual Ready Reserve.

MIM Notes considered that maybe

Bush only called up a few people in states

he has no chance of losing in November,

but that is not the case, because Bush

called up former troops in 48 states of

the United $tates. For example, "Twenty-

five former National Guardsmen and 171

former Army soldiers in Louisiana are

being recalled to active duty. They are

among about 5,600 retired and discharged

soldiers being involuntarily returned to

active duty for possible service in Iraq or

Afghanistan in the first substantial call-

up of the Individual Ready Reserve since

the 1991 Persian Gulf War."(1)

The fact that Democratic presidential

candidate John Kerry blasted Bush for

the "back-door draft"(3) that prevents

"volunteers" from retiring shows that

there is a very important goal involved

here for Bush. He surely knows that 70%

of the public opposes a draft right now(2)

and his call-up and stop-loss orders do

not help Bush's chances among military

personnel--except for those most itching

to fight. Even if the IRR members do not

object, Bush had to have known how

much media his "stop-loss" and IRR call-

up measures would have generated.

Bush is politician enough to know in

advance that his call-up of the Individual

Ready Reserve would potentially cost him

in elections in November; yet Bush still

went ahead. So, we stop to consider three

separate but possibly overlapping things

that Bush may think he is gaining for that

price: 1) creating a public opinion

atmosphere of sacrifice for the "War on

Terror" that also helps his election

chances; 2) scraping the bottom of the

barrel to prop up his puppets in Iraq; 3)

faking a crisis to give the military a much

higher profile and justifications for

expanded budgets--although this could

also backfire by funding personnel at the

expense of weapons systems according

to some bourgeois analysts of imperialist

financing.

With regard to the budget, Bush is the

type of Reagan Republican who claims

to oppose the draft and not care about

deficit-spending to benefit the military.

However, in fact, whatever Bush's

persynal beliefs about the draft, his actions

make the draft more likely. Bush may

believe that Reagan proved that deficit-

spending "doesn't matter," but Congress

may decide he is wrong. At some point,

having a large military budget in front of

it to pay for "volunteers" may cause the

Congress to want to go whole hog and

get non-volunteers, perhaps for less

money per soldier, perhaps more. There

will be arguments about it both ways. Part

of the equation will be how to snooker

the public into giving more to the military

by way of taxes. Some would say that

with a national service requirement,

volunteering for combat would increase

based on a certain analysis of Vietnam

that boils down to the enthusiasm of youth

and how to bring it out.

III. Military recruiting and race/

nationality

The New York Times claims in a July

3rd story that a bill for a draft by Senator

Ernest F. Hollings and Black House

Member Charles Rangel has no support

from Republicans.(2) That's not exactly

right.

In April, Senator Chuck Hagel

(Republican Party Nebraska) not only

changed position to raise supporting the

draft but suggested a mandatory two year

military service on the "Today" show.

Hagel also raised the same reasoning as

Rangel--that it would spread the burden

of fighting by class more evenly.

More important is the reasoning the

rulers themselves use when it comes to

whether a draft is necessary: "`You have

drafts when you can't get the requisite

numbers,' said the chairman of the House

Armed Services Committee,

Representative Duncan Hunter,

Republican of California. `There is not

now indications that you can't get the

requisite numbers. But we watch those

numbers every month.'"(2)

The numbers show that recruiting is

falling about 10% short of goals. Those

numbers would be different if there were

an attack on U$ soil from Iraqis, and not

just some propaganda from Cheney about

links between 911 and Saddam Hussein.

The importance of "those numbers every

month" revolves around military pay and

also ideological ardor for the war among

the military itself. If the bourgeoisie

succeeds in "educating" the public to its

view of international affairs, the

enthusiasm for fighting will be greater.

Mostly by default, 17 and 18-year-old

Amerikans have no education about the

Third World, except from military service

abroad. A portion at any time will be

ignorant and adventurist enough to go

fight for whatever the government says.

The question is whether that portion is

enough for the imperialists' current plans

and future aggressions. The military

recruiting/retention statistic or portion of

youth willing to "serve" would not be the

same for all political contexts and

historical periods.

In recruiting at this time, speculation

abounds that recruits will be

disproportionately desperate sorts.

Sergeant Everett Best recruits this way:

"`I tell them straight up. Miami is the

biggest war zone we've got,' he said.

`Every time you turn on the TV we see

someone shot.'"(4) It's comments like

these that leave part of Amerika realizing

that the military takes advantage of the

ignorant among us, and this in itself

creates a political basis for the draft

among some of the more fair but

nonetheless bourgeois-minded who seek

to oppress and exploit Iraq but not a

particular group of Amerikans.

Sergeant Michael Bass, "uses simple

figures. Nine people from southern Florida

have died in Iraq, compared with 338

murders in the Florida region last year:

`They have a better chance in the army

than on the streets of Miami.'"(4)

We should all be clear that this is

fallacious reasoning--the same

underlying mathematical method error

underlying claims that say Hitler was

relatively harmless compared with Stalin

and Mao as the idiotic Black Book of

Communism says. In actual fact, despite

the U$A's murder rate, which is

disgraceful for such a rich country, urban

areas such as southern Florida are safer

than serving in Iraq.

We cannot compare 9 with 338 the way

Sergeant Michael Bass did. That's like

saying rookie pitcher Shaun Hill of the

Expos is a better pitcher than future hall-

of-famer Roger Clemens, because Hill

has only lost 2 games in his career, while

Clemens has lost 163. Of course,

Clemens' career has been much longer

(624 starts to Hill's 3), so in terms of losing

percentages, Clemens looks better than

Hill (26% to 67%). Based on those

numbers alone, a smart manager would

start Clemens over Hill.

Similarly, we have to do a calculation

for how many people die per 100,000 per

year both in Iraq and southern Florida.

The United $tates had 866 deaths in 466

days in Iraq. That would be 678 deaths in

365 days. That's approximately 484 per

100,000 troops in Iraq one year. Now we

take the sergeant's 338 figure. That is

338 deaths for all the population of

southern Florida, when Miami by itself is

over 370,000. That means that there are

much fewer than 91 murders per 100,000

in southern Florida once we account for

the rest of the population of southern

Florida and not just Miami. That 91

number should be compared with the 484

deaths in Iraq per 100,000 troops.

"Hostile fire" accounted for 657 out 880

(a more recent toll than the 866 above)

deaths. We don't really see any reason

to separate "friendly fire" deaths.

Moreover, "accidents" also need scrutiny,

to see if there is a higher "accident rate"

in Iraq, given the equipment that soldiers

use compared with their environments at

home.

In daily life we need to use math to

have what is called "a sense of

proportion." Everett Best tries to fool his

recruits into thinking they are 37 times

better off in Iraq than Miami by comparing

9 with 338. By only obtaining the

population of Miami and doing some

division we see that in fact people are

more than 5 times better off in Miami than

Iraq when it comes to exposure to death.

If we do a little more research, we find

that Miami had only 65 murders in 2002

and 66 in 2001.(5) Using the 2002 figure,

that is less than 18 per 100,000 people

per year dying of murder in Miami. So in

fact, one could be seen as more than 26

times better off in Miami on this score,

so Sergeant Michael Bass would seem

to have it exactly upside-down.

Nor is this a problem just with some

low-level recruiters. "Defense Secretary"

Donald Rumsfeld started the ball rolling

with the military recruiters by talking about

the murder rate in Washington DC. When

he was under fire for casualties in Iraq in

June 2003, Rumsfeld himself implied that

Iraq is safer than Washington DC. Fox

News and frontpagemag.com took this

to refer to all violence in Iraq, and

excluded violence by U$ soldiers or

people in civil war to come to a ridiculous

conclusion that order is fine in Baghdad

when in fact the total U$-caused deaths

in Iraq fully equal what Saddam Hussein

was doing per year by the imperialists'

own wild estimates of Saddam Hussein's

violence.(6) When we consider that the

Amerikkkans installed Saddam Hussein

to begin with, we can see that violence

traces back to the Amerikans in any case.

Alas, for the 18-year-old Black man of

DC, Iraq may be a marginally safer place

than DC if we assume that Blacks are

not a disproportionate share of the

casualties out of the soldiers in Iraq. [In

1991, the homicide rate per 100,000 for

Black men ages 17 to 24 in Washington

DC was a deplorable 652 per

100,000.(16) The overall DC murder rate

declined 42% from 1991 to 2002.(17)

Assuming the proportion of homicides

with Black victims and the proportion of

the city's Black populace remained the

same, we estimate the homicide rate for

young Black men in DC was around 380

per 100,000 in 2002.] DC usually leads in

murder each year, but the situation is only

slightly better for Blacks in Detroit,

Baltimore and New Orleans.

There are two separate questions here.

Blacks had 14.3% of the casualties in Iraq

at one point,(7) compared with 12.8% of

the U$ population. That is relevant when

we talk about why Blacks should have

their own nation and not sacrifice their

youth to imperialism. When it comes to

the DC question though, that particular

ratio is not quite relevant, because Blacks

are a disproportionate share of recruitable

young people and the military.

In fiscal year 2002, whites were

66.96% of recruits and Blacks were

15.71%.(8) Of the groups "white,"

RULERS TALK ABOUT THE DRAFT

Continued from page 1...

Continued on next page...

MIM Notes 305 · August 1, 2004 · Page 7

"Black," "Hispanic" and "other,"

"Hispanic" is the only under-represented

group in the recent military recruits based

on the 18-24 age group pool.

On the whole, DC is much safer (for

the average Amerikan thinking about

being a soldier) than Iraq since DC's

murder rate as a whole is only 45.8 per

100,000 compared with the 482 per

100,000 death rate for troops in Iraq. That

Iraq figure is even more than 10 times

worse than the victimization of Black men

inside U$ borders. Black men in the

United $tates as a whole suffered

homicide at a rate of 37.5 per 100,000 in

1999.(9)

The real relevant factors here are age

and gender. When we look specifically

at 18-year-old Black men considering DC

or Iraq, there is not much difference. Ditto

Baltimore, Detroit and New Orleans.

As their excuse for slavery or theft (in

the case of whites) or out of stupidity,

racists are always ready to say that

Blacks are genetically inclined to crime

against themselves and others. The truth

is that national oppression in places like

the U$A and southern Africa are

responsible for high crime rates.

If we look at a place like Côte d'Ivoire

(Ivory Coast), at 4.07 per 100,000 in 2000,

(10) the murder rate is lower than rates

in the U$A, including by Blacks, of Black

victims and all victims including whites.

The highest murder rates in Africa are

found in the last countries to de-colonize,

places where there is a high proportion

of whites nearby so that they still exploit

and rule the Blacks up-close. The sooner

Blacks in southern Africa take control of

their economic destinies, impose socialism

led by a party of Marx, Lenin & Mao

and the sooner they break with the settler

bourgeoisie, the sooner problems such as

high murder rates will decline to normal.

It is easy to see why the "Secretary of

Defense" harps on the DC murder rate.

He uses it to meet his recruiting goals

which would tend to fall short in the cities

otherwise. The conservative Heritage

Foundation has made similar

arguments.(18)

There are other people exaggerating

Black crime who are also having the

effect of driving recruits into the military.

We speak of the Black bourgeoisie talking

about the country with the highest

imprisonment rate and an imprisonment

rate of Blacks higher than under Stalin in

peace time. There are many ready to say

Blacks and Amerikans generally "deserve

it." Bill Cosby (11) is only the latest in the

news to exaggerate Black crime to the

benefit of military recruiters: "`The

incarcerated? These are not political

criminals. These are people going around

stealing Coca-Cola. People getting shot

in the back of the head over a piece of

pound cake and then we run out and we

are outraged, saying, `The cops shouldn't

have shot him.' What the hell was he

doing with the pound cake in his

hand?'"(12) Yes, Cosby is justifying police

murders of Blacks and creating a certain

image when the majority of the

incarcerated are there for non-violent

offenses. Although we agree with his

"work hard" and "stay in school"

message, with leaders like Cosby the

Black nation is going nowhere. In the

current context, what Cosby (with Jesse

Jackson cheering him on) is doing serves

as the Black face for Rumsfeld.

It comes down, again, to a sense of

proportion. Without a sense of factual

proportion, we cannot pinpoint the correct

cause of a problem. Black youth aged 17

to 24 were about 12.8% of the Black

nation in 2000. Youths 17-24 were 32.7%

of the homicide victims among Blacks--

2060. 2060 people out of approximately

4.55 million people died in homicides.(13)

That's about 45 homicides in the 17-24

age group per 100,000 people. Black

wimmin will be averaging about 15 per

100,000 in the 17-24 age group and the

Black men will be averaging

approximately 75 per 100,000. That's not

even close to 484 per 100,000-- even for

Black male youth.

Rumsfeld is telling Blacks that they

have a choice of being oppressed here or

in Iraq. Bill Cosby leads toward incorrect

solutions such as volunteering to go to Iraq

to be oppressed there. We should not

exaggerate urban crime or even Black

oppression to make it sound like going to

Iraq is paradise. Blacks and Iraqis share

the same oppressor, so going to Iraq will

not solve anything.

IV. How rulers think about

personnel shortages

The Washington Post dipped directly

into the subject of over-extended U$

military commitments touched on in the

documents that founded our organization

in 1983. "Gen. Richard A. Cody, the

Army's vice chief of staff, said forces

are `absolutely' stretched thin. ...

"Some lawmakers said yesterday that

they fear the military is dangerously close

to being broken. Rep. Ike Skelton (Mo.),

the committee's ranking Democrat, said

he believes that the military is wearing its

soldiers out. Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.)

said he believes the military is `using

people pretty hard right now' and needs

to consider expanding, an idea the

Pentagon has resisted because it would

raise the military's budget.

"`We are also concerned that

insufficient force structure and manpower

are leaving the services to make a

decision that I liken to eating the seed

corn,' committee Chairman Duncan

Hunter (R-Calif.) said."(14)

USA Today is also heating up the

issue.(15) In contrast, we at MIM warn

people not to think that U$ imperialism is

about to fall any minute. Uncle $am

always has more plans for global

repression and he will get himself into yet

more trouble--which is another reason

the draft will come about unless there is

a desperate anti-militarist movement.

U$ imperialism has more political

reserves and more cards to play.

Amerikan youth should cut Uncle $am

off at the pass by stopping the draft,

criticizing those who make serving in the

military sound better than life in the U$A

and opposing the imperialists' war on Iraq

and "war on terrorism."

Notes:

1. http://www.2theadvocate.com/

stories/070704/opi_edi2001.shtml

2. "Military Draft? Official Denials

Leave Skeptics" New York Times

3Jul2004, p. 1.

3. Kerry's "back-door draft" comment

made into numerous media.

Here is one story from South Carolina

with a good overall sense. http://

www.myrtlebeachonline.com/mld/

sunnews/news/opinion/9129117.htm

4. http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/

story/0,12271,1258593,00.html

5. http://ci.ftlaud.fl.us/police/

statucrcities2000.html

6. http://www.frontpagemag.com/

Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=11315 ;

http://www.foxnews.com/story/

0%2C2933%2C105954%2C00.html ;

http://www.prisoncensorship.info/archive/etext/

agitation/iraq/bushvshussein.html

7. http://www.imdiversity.com/Villages/

A f r i c a n / p o l i t i c s _ l a w /

hutchinson_black_deaths_iraq.asp

You can count the faces for yourself

here,

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-

s r v / w o r l d / i r a q / c a s u a l t i e s /

facesofthefallen.htm

but that won't tell you what race/

nationality the dead soldier considered

him/herself and it is not always easy to

tell.

Let us know if you do a count.

8. http://www.defenselink.mil/prhome/

poprep2002/appendixb/b_03.htm

9. Statistical Abstract of the United

States: 2002, Table No. 289.

10. "United Nations Survey" "7th

Survey" http://www.unodc.org/pdf/

crime/seventh_survey/7sv.pdf

11. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/

2004/07/02/national/main627156.shtml

12. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/

2004/07/02/national/main627156.shtml

13. Statistical Abstract of the United

States: 2002, Table Nos. 14, 15, 288 &

289.

14. http://www.washingtonpost.com/

wp-dyn/articles/A35283-2004Jul7.html

15. http://www.usatoday.com/news/

o p i n i o n / e d i t o r i a l s / 2 0 0 4 - 0 6 - 3 0 -

oplede_x.htm ;

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/

2004-07-05-reservists-duty_x.htm ;

16. Washington Post, 19 April 1998.

17. Washington Times, 16 June 2003;

http://www.washingtontimes.com/metro/

20030616-093406-7084r.htm.

18. The supra-geniuses at the Heritage

Foundation compare the probability that

a Black 15-year-old male living in DC

would be murdered before his 45th

birthday (which they estimate to be about

10%) to the percentage of U$ soldiers

killed in recent wars (about 2%) and

argue that "serving in the U.S. military

during wartime may be preferable to living

in some urban communities today." Sure,

they immediately admit they are lying--

"strictly speaking, these military death

rates are not comparable to the rate for

young black males in urban communities

because they were endured over much

shorter periods of time [one to two years

versus 30!]"--but then they go on to say

these figures "illustrate the magnitude of

the risk faced by African-American

males." Leave it to the conservatives to

throw away the facts when they become

inconvenient. By the way, the equivalent

probability that an Amerikan soldier

serving a very extended tour of duty in

Iraq would be killed before his or her 30th

year in-country is 14%--higher than the

Heritage's estimate of the risk to Black

men in DC. See: http://www.heritage.org/

Research/Crime/CDA00-05.cfm.

From previous page...

MIM Notes 305 · August 1, 2004 · Page 8

We Maoists have very positive

memories of Marlon Brando, who passed

away July 1st in Los Angeles at the age

of 80. Although we cannot say we

followed Brando to the extent some

tabloids follow movie stars, we still know

him as a man who took the side of the

oppressed in the face of hysterical white

opposition in the instance of some of his

political choices.

Already in 1954, Brando was known

as someone pushing the limits of

respectable sexuality. He called himself

"trisexual" and made a big deal of

carrying on some gay behaviors in

public,(1) though there is hardly a more

heterosexual image than Brando's. One

of Brando's greatest contributions may

have been to show men that masculinity

and white ethnicity do not have to equal

reactionary politics.

The Washington Post also noted this:

"Starting in the 1960s, Brando became

one of the first actor-activists to march

for civil and Native American rights. He

memorably refused to appear at the

Oscar ceremonies to accept his award

for `The Godfather,' protesting what he

felt was discrimination against Native

Americans on film and in government

policy."(2) Prior to his protest at the

Academy Awards on behalf of First

Nation peoples, Brando had used his

image in TV ads to help fight a fishing

rights battle in white occupied Washington

State. Then in the famous "Wounded

Knee" incidents, Brando again donated

money and sided with the First

Nations.(3)

Marlon Brando donated large sums of

money to the Black Panther Party when

it was a Maoist organization. Brando

worked hard to free Huey Newton from

prison. Others in the Black Panther Party

also had his support. In the same years,

Brando himself played in countless movie

roles of great fame, including Don

Corleone in the "Godfather," the highest

grossing film up to that date. It came at a

time when Brando had trouble finding

acting roles after a hugely successful

career in the 1940s and 1950s. The film

business considered him washed up by

the early 1970s when the "Godfather"

came along. The British Telegraph

newspaper called Brando: "the most

influential film star of his generation,

pioneering on screen the use of the acting

technique popularly known as the

Method."(1)

"The Method encouraged players to

Marlon Brando (1924-2004)

identify with their roles and imagine for

them a biography beyond the bounds of

the script. At its best this resulted in a

realism and conviction never before seen

on the screen. Marlon Brando was its

most gifted exponent, and he set the pace

for such later players as James Dean,

Paul Newman and Al Pacino."(1) Out of

all his films, Brando was most proud of

"Burn"(1) and we share his opinion. The

bourgeois media won't give it much

attention because it's an anti-colonial

revolutionary film with many parallels to

the war going on in Vietnam at the time

the film came out.

The bourgeois media is remembering

Brando professionally. We at MIM

remember him in his true spirit, as he

wanted to be through his movies like

"Burn" and his political activism.

Notes:

1. http://www.opinion.telegraph.co.uk/

news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/07/03/

db0301.xml&sSheet=/opinion/2004/07/

03/ixopright.html

2. http://www.washingtonpost.com/

wp-dyn/articles/A23157-2004Jul2.html3.

http://www.canada.com/national/

n a t i o n a l p o s t / n e w s / a r t s l i f e /

story.html?id=6573daf1-69d0-443b-a22f-

a1e89ad704a7

Amerikans have to understand if they are

to eradicate the obesity epidemic that

threatens them and (even more) their

children--is that "personal choice" is not

so persynal. As we said in MIM Notes

224 (December 15, 2000), "Two of the

most important risk factors for obesity are

sedentary lifestyle and high-fat, energy

dense diet. These may seem like

individual `choices,' but as always, societal

context determines choice. As one obesity

researcher puts it, `We can't just tell

people, `exercise more, eat less,' when

for example, fast- food places now sell

32-ounce Cokes as their normal size.'"(3)

With a glut of fast-food restaurants,

with Coke and Pepsi and Mountain Dew

being cheaper in some convenience stores

than water, with 7-11s bursting at the

seams with potato chips while a few

brown bananas hide next to the Slurpee

machine, eating right becomes a difficult

challenge, to be mastered only by the most

dedicated (and, of course, those with a

little more free time and cash). Similarly,

with Amerikan cities designed around the

car and the elevator, it is a challenge to

exercise appropriately.

Spurlock notes that there are 30,000

McDonald's restaurants in more than 100

countries on 6 continents.(1) He notes

how pervasive the advertising is and its

obvious slant toward children. (Spurlock

says that the average Amerikan child sees

10,000 television advertisements per

year.) (1) "Super Size Me" shows the

"choices" kids have in public schools'

lunch programs and in vending machines.

One student interviewed by Spurlock said

that she wouldn't be caught dead eating

an apple in school versus junk food

because eating junk food is cool. (In MIM

Notes 224 we reported that more than

5,000 Amerikan schools have agreements

with fast-food franchises to provide school

meals.) (3)

The latest government figures "show

no decline in the U.S. obesity rate, with

31 percent of adults and 17 percent of

youngsters seriously overweight." (5)

As if it wasn't already easy enough to

get a fat-filled Big Mac meal, McDonald's

has now come up with a new gimmick to

make it even easier. Franchises are

starting to introduce self-serve kiosks

similar to bank machines and airport

check-in stations. McDonald's hopes it

will "shorten lines and give consumers

more control over ordering." (6)

McDonald's and other capitalist

corporations are concerned with

maximizing their profits no matter what

the humyn and societal costs, under the

guise of "freedom of choice and persynal

responsibility". But MIM is concerned

with maximizing humyn health and

societal productivity for the benefit of the

majority of the world's people. Under the

dictatorship of the proletariat people will

not have "choices" like Big Macs and 64

ounce Cokes and caramel sundaes with

every meal. Physical education and

activity will be mandatory and

schoolchildren will receive fresh fruits and

vegetables instead of vending machine

snacks and French fries for lunch.

Notes:

1. See Spurlock's website, http://

www.supersizeme.com/ 2. McDonald's

press release, 29 April 2004 http://

www.media.mcdonalds.com/secured/

n e w s / p r e s s r e l e a s e s / 2 0 0 4 /

Press_Release0 42904

3. http://www.prisoncensorship.info/archive/etext/

mn/mn222/obesity.txt

4. "A Big Con Man", http://

w w w . t e c h c e n t r a l s t a t i o n . c o m /

032504F.html

5. "Feds Find No Decline in Obesity

Rates", http://news.yahoo.com/news?

tmpl+story&cid=541&u=/ap/20040616

6. "McDonald's serving up new kiosk

ordering plan", http://www.boston.com/

b u s i n e s s / a r t i c l e s / 2 0 0 4 / 0 6 / 1 7 /

mcdonalds_serving_up_new_kiosk_o. .

. 6/17/2004

Continued from page 3...

Amerikan brainwashing not good for Amerikans

Brando as Stanley
in Streetcar Names

Desire.

MIM Notes 305 · August 1, 2004 · Page 9

right while we still can.(2) Moore notes

that the bourgeois media have only helped

to spread fear and promote the war, acting

principally as a wire service for the White

House and the Pentagon since 9/11. Dan

Rather is shown, with a backdrop of

bombs dropping on Baghdad, giving an

emotional speech to the effect that "one"

cannot help but to hope that one's own

country will win the war. In another

display of open jingoism we see Katie

Couric telling the camera that she, for one,

thinks that "Navy SEALS rock."

This all serves as a good lesson for

people who taunt MIM and other radicals,

asking "have you ever been to Iraq?"

when we criticize the war. Hundreds of

reporters went and couldn't manage to

add anything but a little local color to the

Defense Department briefings handed out

in Washington. Going to Iraq didn't help

those journalists analyze the news they

were reporting; doing that requires critical

thinking and the ability to learn from

history.

Moore demonstrates, all too briefly, how

the U.$. army is terrorizing the Iraqi

people. A middle-aged Iraqi womyn

screams that god is going to take

vengeance on the Amerikans, that Allah

will destroy the houses of the Amerikans

the way Amerikans have just destroyed

her uncle's house. Clearly, the Iraqi people

hate Amerika because Amerika is tearing

their country apart, inflicting mass civilian

casualties, destroying homes, schools and

hospitals. While there is still no proof of

any connection between Saddam Hussein

and Osama bin Laden, the U.$. military

is doing a good job raising a new

generation of Iraqis who would be justified

to devote their lives to inflicting violence

on Amerika.

According to Fahrenheit 9/11 anyway,

U.$. troops take their jobs about as

seriously as they do the video games they

play to aid their training for active

combat. One tank unit plays a CD of "let

the motherfucker burn" while running

raids. By the troops' own description, the

music helps them get hyped up for

bulldozing whatever is in their path. A

commander talks about "winning hearts

and minds" before we see his troops go

out on a nighttime raid that includes

pointing machine guns at innocent and

terrified wimmin while interrogating them

about the men in their house. The soldiers

arrest a college-age man without telling

him or his family what he has been

charged with.

Some of the Amerikan troops are

disillusioned about their jobs and

emphasize that the war is not a video

game, that they had no idea of the kind of

destruction they would be seeing before

their tours began. One soldier's letter

home includes fury at George Bush for

sending him into Iraq. One Marine back

from active duty in Iraq is clear that he

will refuse to return to Iraq on penalty of

prison. These latter dissenters' stories are

compelling, and their presence and

willingness to talk is encouraging, but it

seems clear even to Moore's hopeful eye

that they are the minority.

In the end, this reviewer found

Fahrenheit 9/11 less compelling than

Moore's last, "Bowling for Columbine,"

even though the subject here is of much

deeper concern to MIM. "Bowling for

Columbine" had its problems--summed

up in Moore's insistence that Amerika is

a great country in need of fixing, rather

than a rotten society living at the expense

of the international proletariat. But

because its emphasis was on the

contradictions within the white Amerikan

nation, it was easier for Moore to build a

progressive analysis. He focused on the

tremendous violence perpetrated by the

U.$. military as the real violence in this

society, as opposed to the video game and

rock music violence conservatives went

all out to censor after the Columbine High

School shootings.

With "Fahrenheit 9/11" Moore is in over

his head dealing with the principal

contradiction --that between Amerika

and the Third World countries it dominates

economically and militarily -- and his

analysis never goes deeper than that of

the liberal wing of the Democratic Party.

As in "Bowling for Columbine," Moore

emphasizes that he loves Amerika and

believes it is a great country. His emphasis

is on fixing what is wrong with this

country, which to his mind is embodied

by the Bush clique. All Moore wants

people to do after seeing the film is get

out the vote.(3)

The film ends up feeling pretty flabby,

because of all the causes one could finger

for spawning the 9/11 attacks. Bush's

supposedly persynal stranglehold on U.$.

foreign policy is so not the point. Moore

would have us believe that the reasons

terrorists attacked Amerika are all

wrapped up in the Bush family's business

and persynal connections with the Saudi

royal and bin Laden families. He even

suggests that since Saudis control 7% of

the investment in some Amerikan stock

exchange, they run the U.$. government.

This is where Moore's Amerika-first bias

is most cringe-worthy, and--aside from

justifying racial profiling--it keeps him

from seeing things as they really are.

We don't deny the connections

between the Amerikan government and

the Saudi ruling clique, but Moore has the

relationship bass- ackwards. The United

$tates has the most leverage. After all,

the unpopular Saudi royal family owes its

position to Amerikan support--support

that comes with some pretty tight strings

attached. Furthermore, all those harping

about the Saudi regime being soft on bin

Laden would do well to recall that the

CIA gave bin Laden the training and start-

up funds he later used to pressure the

Saudis and others.

Moore favorably refers to a $1 trillion

lawsuit brought by relatives of 9/11 victims

against the Saudi royal family; the Bush

administration opposes this lawsuit. As

we reported earlier, aside from failing to

understand the deeper connections

between the CIA and bin Laden, "the

demand for $1 trillion is nothing but war-

propaganda, as any but the most naive

will realize, because there is no way to

extract that $1 trillion for such a

nonsensical cause except war to take

over Saudi assets."(5)

If MIM made a movie focusing on Bush

the way Moore did, it would be how he,

his father, and Rumsfeld aided Saddam

Hussein and Osama Bin Laden. Trying

to blame Saudis for 911 is sugar-coating

what happened for those Amerikans

unwilling to stomach that their own

political role in selecting their leaders such

as Bush is at the root. Amerikans must

learn to think about what some of their

government leaders gained from 911 and

what unnecessary capitalist risks they

would be willing to take that guarantee

another one.

Thus, despite Moore's emotional appeal

that young Amerikan men and wimmin

not be sent to kill and die for needless

causes, Moore's Amerika-first sentiments

betray him. He may be playing a different

tune than Bush, but he's beating the war

drums just the same. Moore also argues

that the Bushes' heavy involvement with

big oil (and Cheney's with Halliburton)

are the roots of the war in Iraq. Of course

there is truth here, as we see Bush

speaking at a white tie event: "Some call

you the elite. I call you my base" to

appreciative applause. But it is not all, or

even the most important part of the truth,

which extends to other administrations

and the government in general.

Fahrenheit 9/11 takes a big hit in saying

nothing about the hand the Clinton

Administration, say, played in curtailing

civil liberties with the Anti-Terrorism and

Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996.

Moore also completely ignores the

decades- old Amerikan partnership with

Israel to humiliate the Palestinian people

and disrupt the Middle East. And he

neglects to mention the ground Clinton

laid for this latest war in Iraq with the so-

called Iraq Liberation Act, which

authorized the "regime change" that has

Democratic voters so riled up. If "regime

change begins at home," how about those

same Democratic voters take

responsibility this next time around for

electing a president who won't sanction

illegal assassinations halfway around the

world?

This is to say nothing of the fact that a

bourgeois democratic government is by

definition the administrative arm of the

bourgeoisie--whether its officers are of

that class or not. Which brings us to the

fact that the Washington Post calculated

and Moore repeats, that Bush spent almost

half of his first 12 months in office on

vacation. In the end, people get the

leaders they deserve, and a population

that can bring itself to oppose an unjust

war only when the number of its own dead

approaches 1,000 deserves "Dubya."

That said, it's good to see popular

debate on the subject of this war Amerika

has been fighting under the false pretense

of finding weapons of mass destruction

in Iraq. Moore makes big play of the fact

that only one Congresspersyn has a child

serving in active duty in the military, while

Congress has sent the sons and daughters

of the lowest rungs of labor aristocracy

to fight for less than questionable cause.

The solution to these problems is not to

be found in replacing leaders within the

current zero-accountability system. The

solution is to replace this system with one

that holds its leaders accountable with

their lives if necessary, for wasting the

lives of others, as Mao sacrificed his own

son in the Korean War.

The movie's closing scene, of George

Bush blundering the old saying, "Fool me

once, shame on you; fool me twice,

shame on me," gets a big laugh, but Moore

misses its point. It's not that the country

shouldn't be fooled into re-electing Bush

(a point on which Moore is in agreement

with close to half the country already

anyway), it's that people need to quit being

fooled by the falsehood that Amerika-first-

ism can prevent terrorism.

As MIM wrote on 9/11/2001: "The fact

that there are so many possible threats in

the world is something that should tell the

leaders of the United $tates that problems

have reached well- beyond the point

where they can be managed by keeping

track of various peoples and groups. U.$.

leaders have failed miserably with their

arrogant superpower attitude that denies

the simple fact that in this modern world

almost anyone can kill anyone with high-

tech weapons....

"The U.$. people must also learn their

lesson.... While the last presidential election
hinged on Monica Lewinsky and George
Bush's supposed amiability as someone `to
drink a beer with,' the U.S. Government kept
up a grinding war against peoples all over the
world. The U.$. people have treated politics
as a joke, the whole time that multi-billion dollar
U.$.-sponsored wars are going on all around
the world and people starve to death in eight
digit figures annually. ... It is precisely the
people of the United $tates who as part of the
world's superpower must be most relentless
in the pursuit of global peace, and not get
sidetracked with comfortable and arrogant
attitudes."(4)

Notes:
1. New York Times 6/28/04
2. http://www.prisoncensorship.info/archive/etext/agitation/
civlib /
3.http://www.michaelmoore.com/takeaction/
vote/pled ge.php
4. http://www.prisoncensorship.info/archive/etext/mn/
sept112001/sept112001.html
5. MIM Notes 271, 1 Dec 2002.

Fahrenheit fires on a few

good targets, avoids others

MIM Notes 305 · August 1, 2004 · Page 10

MIM on

Prisons & Prisoners

MIM seeks to build public opinion

against Amerika's criminal injustice sys-
tem, and to eventually replace the bour-
geois injustice system with proletarian jus-
tice. The bourgeois injustice system im-
prisons and executes a disproportionately
large and growing number of oppressed
people while letting the biggest mass mur-
derers -- the imperialists and their lack-
eys -- roam free. Imperialism is not op-
posed to murder or theft, it only insists that
these crimes be committed in the interests
of the bourgeoisie.

"All U.S. citizens are criminals--

accomplices and accessories to the crimes
of U.$. oppression globally until the day
U.$. imperialism is overcome. All U.S.
citizens should start from the point of view
that they are reforming criminals."

MIM does not advocate that all

prisoners go free today; we have a
more effective program for fighting
crime as was demonstrated in China
prior to the restoration of capitalism
there in 1976. We say that all prisoners
are political prisoners because under
the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie, all
imprisonment is substantively
political. It is our responsibility to
exert revolutionary leadership and
conduct political agitation and
organization among prisoners --
whose material conditions make them
an overwhelmingly revolutionary
group. Some prisoners should and will
work on self-criticism under a future
dictatorship of the proletariat in those
cases in which prisoners really did do
something wrong by proletarian
standards.

Under Lock & Key

News from Prisons & Prisoners

Starting a study group

in Kentucky

I just got your first MIM Notes this week, I

had over 120 guys read them. I took my own

funds and ran copies for each of them in this
dorm. Now I am the head dorm leader of the
first ever low key revolutionary group here.

So I need for you to mail me study group
materials and information on forming the
group the right way.

As to the censorship here, we can get study

group materials sent to us without the
education department's approval. You have

comrades here who will go to war and work
for you every step of the way! We will not
harm any staff by putting hands on them.

No! We will do war in the District Court, and
with letters and phone calls. This is the war
we are talking about.

With love and respect 4-ever.
--a Kentucky prisoner 13 May, 2004
MIM responds: Want to get your own

study group going? Write to MIM for a
prisoner-authored guide to getting started.
And revolutionary literature to study from

our Books for Prisoners program. Non-
prisoners should take inspiration from this
prisoner in Kentucky and send MIM

donations of money, stamps and books to
pass on to prisoners in KY and elsewhere,
hungry for revolutionary literature to study.

MO prisoner weighs

in on Ad Seg

I am an inmate here at Jefferson City

Correctional Center. I have been in prison for

two years now and I have been truly done in.
I have a 10 year sentence and I am certified as
a Dangerous Offender by the $tate of

Missouri.

Prisoners are allowed ten minute phone

calls and showers every day, two to two-and-

a-half hours of recreation a day. Ad Seg has
three hours of recreation a week and three
showers a week with no phone calls. We have

written letters to the Attorney General,
Governor Bob Holden and the Director of the
MDOC for change but we get nowhere. We

file grievances but they take up to 30 days to
six months to get a response. The parole board
refuses to release people from prison here

and we have a dangerous problem on our
hands.

I am a soldier-warrior who will not break or

bend for these people. The reprisals are
harmful to us. If they see you kiss your wife/
girlfriend too much you can get a violation

and lose your visits for 12 months.

The state censors certain books, and

reading material in this prison system. The

housing units have no group dining or
recreation. If there are six people or more in a
group they take you out to the hole for a

violation. The control units are at Jefferson
City, Licking, Bonne Terre, Charleston,
Cameron and Potosi. The controlled

movement and 22-hour lockdown are pitiful.

--a Missouri prisoner, 28 May 2004

AZ Medical deaths

Two nurses at a juvenile jail are now charged

with murder because they skipped exams and
falsified medical records on a seventeen year

old who spent his last days in agony lying on
a concrete bed. He died of a burst appendix.
The women face charges of third degree

murder and aggravated manslaughter of a
child.

A sixty-two-year-old man who cannot move

without a wheelchair due to epilepsy, arthritis,

spinal and nerve damage and stroke-related

problems is ordered to walk to the cell door to
be cuffed with hands behind him. Upon his
refusal, due to his condition, he's zapped with

a laser gun, gassed and pepper sprayed in
his eyes. Is this necessary?

--an Arizona prisoner, 18 April, 2004

Sex slaves in AZ

In the news, two prisoners at Buckeye, AZ

took two guards hostage. What's not in the

news are pleas from prisoners about the horror
of prisoner rape and sexual slavery there.
Nothing is done to stop it. Society pretends

these acts of violence don't happen. Crimes
-- often perpetrated by heterosexuals against
anyone perceived to be homosexual,

transsexual, young or vulnerable -- are
ignored.

Authorities should consider the effects of

such constant threats of violence where there
is no chance for escape. The horrors increase
and continue to ensnare many lives. No

protective custody is given even when proof
is shown of the abuse. Due to AIDS and
hepatitis-C those who are raped in the prison

rape and sex trade are often given a death
sentence no matter what their court-ordered
sentence. These prisoners live with

depression, loss of self-esteem and perpetual
terror.

A footnote: The guard who was released at

ASPC-Lewis in Buckeye commended the
administration for not attacking the prisoners
holding her. She was released after officials

guaranteed the two men would be transferred
out of Arizona to another state.

--an Arizona prisoner, 18 April, 2004

Grateful for MIM in

I just wrote recently to be placed on your

mailing list. I sure would like to say Thank

you for your newspaper. Wow, what an eye-
opener! My only regret is I wish I would have
had someone like you to open my eyes and

see the world for what it really was when I
was a kid, to point me in the right direction
and bring things into the light.

I'm currently serving 20-life in the Ohio

prison system and I'll do my best to promote
your message and make your MIM Notes

available to everybody on my unit after I read
them.

Once again, Thank You.

--an Ohio prisoner, 24 April, 2004
MIM responds: Please do make the papers

available to as many others as you can, and

encourage them to write for their own MIM
Notes. If each prisoner passes on his/her
newspapers to ten more, you'll be doing so

much more to expand our readership than you
could all by yourself.

MIM Notes censored

in Washington

Enclosed is a mail rejection notice for your

March 15 issue, dated June 9, 2004. Prior to
my recent transfer at MCC-SOU they really

did censor mail and apparently did not feel

MIM Notes appropriate reading for me (I
have never received an issue). Now at WCC
in the Intensive management Unit (IMU), on

Intensive Management Status (IMS) level 2,
I may receive books and other mail but not
magazines or newspapers. Although this rule

is not always enforced, it has been in this
case.

-- a Washington prisoner, June 2004

California Black

prisoners on lockdown

Once again in this prison the Black

prisoners are on lock down status with no

program. The pigs claim to have received word
that one of their staff was in danger of being
attacked. Many of us here think that our

captors are using this excuse to retaliate on
the Black prisoners. Last time this happened
the Black prisoners were on lockdown for

months. And this time just like last time a few
Black prisoners were sent to ad-seg because
the pigs claim those prisoners are "shot

callers" and will incite violence. Whenever
these pigs want to retaliate on the Black
prisoners for any reason these pigs can use

the excuse of a kite being "found" and can
say that one of their staff might be in danger.
None of us prisoners have any way of

verifying if these threats are true or not so
will just have to ride out the lock downs.

-- a California prisoner at Susanville, May

2004

I'm writing to inform you about the

situation here at Corcoran prison with this so
called state of emergency lockdown. This
place has been slammed for over 90 days for

nothing. All prisons from Pelican Bay to
Calipatria level 4 are on lockdown. Correction
Officerss are scared of all Black inmates.

It's a lot of Blacks being stereotyped by

the staff here. Staff believe every Black inmate
is a gang banger. It all started with an inmate

coming out of the visiting area back and
February this year on B yard. A Black man
had a conflict with a Corrections Officer (CO).

Administration wants to lock down
everything that is Black on A, B, and C yards.
This particular incident is the first of the new

year between an inmate and CO here at
Corcoran.

I would like to know why didn't we hear

anything about Corcoran in the news media?
It's a state of emergency. Does Arnold
Schwarzenegger know that all Blacks are being

denied programs here, including visits, phone
calls, canteen, yard time, etc. All Blacks have
to be handcuffed coming out of the cell for a

shower.

-- a California prisoner, May 2004

Repression at Salinas

Valley State Prison

I am writing to let the rest of our fellow

comrades and the world know about what's

really going on here at Salinas Valley State

Prison (SVSP). There is a new collect call
billing system set up and put into effect early

this year by CDC and MCI. This agreement
between MCI and CDc strictly mandates that
anyone who wishes to receive collect calls

from inmates currently confined in any of CDC
prisons must have an approved MCI phone
carrier. For instance, if I choose to make a

collect call to someone, they must first be
currently signed to MCI or an approved
affiliate. Anyone who is not signed on with

MCI or an affiliate will have their collect calls
that come from inside CDC's prisons
completely blocked.

By implementing these new phone

regulations on us, CDC and MCI have
successfully removed one of the only

practical and affordable means for us to keep
close contact and communication with our
loved ones, friends, etc. Also, our families

and friends should not be forced to
inconvenience themselves into switching
entire phone carriers, which by the way are

not financially reachable to all of the inmates
loved ones. This is not only unfair and unjust,
but it is abuse of power and monopolization

on behalf of CDC and MCI.

MIM Notes 305 · August 1, 2004 · Page 11

Facts on U$ imprisonment

The facts about imprisonment in the United $tates are that the United $tates has been the world's leading prison-state per capita for the last

25 years, with a brief exception during Boris Yeltsin's declaration of a state of emergency.(1)

That means that while Reagan was talking about a Soviet "evil empire" he was the head of a state that imprisoned more people per capita.

In supposedly "hard-line" Bulgaria of the Soviet bloc of the 1980s, the imprisonment rate was less than half that of the United $tates.(2,3)

To find a comparison with U.$. imprisonment of Black people, there is no statistic in any country that compares including apartheid South

Africa of the era before Mandela was president. The last situation remotely comparable to the situation today was under Stalin during war
time. The majority of prisoners are non-violent offenders(4) and the U.S. Government now holds about a half million more prisoners than
China; even though China is four times our population.(5)

The rednecks tell MIM that we live in a "free country." They live in an Orwellian 1984 situation where freedom is imprisonment.

Notes: 1. Marc Mauer, "Americans Behind Bars: The International Use of Incarceration 1993," The Prison Sentencing Project, 918 F. St. NW, Suite

501, Washington, DC 20004 (202) 628-0871 Reference: SRI: R8965-2, 1994
2. Ibid., 1992 report.

3. United Nations Development Programme, "Human Development Report 1994,:" Oxford University Press, p. 186.

4. Figure of 51.2 percent for state prisoners there for non-violent offenses. Abstract of the United States 1993, p. 211.
5. Atlantic Monthly December, 1998.

Join the fight against

the injustice system

While we fight to end the criminal

injustice system MIM engages in

reformist battles to improve the lives

of prisoners. Below are some of the

campaigns we are currently waging,

and ways people behind the bars and

on the outside can get involved. More

info can be found on our prison web

site: http://www.etext.org/Politics/

MIM/agitation/prisons

Stop Censorship in Prison: Prisons

frequently censor books, newspapers

and magazines coming from MIM's

books for prisoners program. We need

help from lawyers, paralegals and

jailhouse lawyers to fight this

censorship.

Books for Prisoners: This program

focuses on political education of

prisoners. Send donations of books and

money for our Books for Prisoners

program.

End the Three Strikes laws: This

campaign is actively fighting the

repressive California laws, but similar

laws exist in other states. Write to us

to request a petition to collect

signatures. Send articles and

information on three strike laws.

Shut Down the Control Units: Across

the country there are a growing number

of prison control units. These are

permanently designated prisons or cells

in prisons that lock prisoners up in

solitary or small group confinement for

22 or more hours a day with no

congregate dining, exercise or other

services, and virtually no programs for

prisoners. Prisoners are placed in

control units for extended periods of

time. These units cause both mental and

physical problems for prisoners.

Write to us to request a petition to

collect signatures. Get your

organization to sign the statement

demanding control units be shut down.

Send us information about where there

are control units in your state. Include

the names of the prisons as well as the

number of control unit beds/cells in

each prison if that is known. Send us

anti-control unit artwork.

MIM's Re-Lease on Life Program:

This program provides support for our

comrades who have been recently

released from the prison system, to help

them meet their basic needs and also

continue with their revolutionary

organizing on the outside. We need

funds, housing, and job resources. We

also need prisoner's input on the

following survey questions:

1. What are the biggest challenges

you face being released from prison?

2. How can these problems be

addressed?

3. What are the important elements

of a successful release program?

I recently filed a 602 complaint form on the

situation. The appeals coordinator replied

citing the Title 15 California Code of
Regulations 3084.2 (c), place of filing. The
appeals coordinator is trying to discourage

me from continuing to take any further action
by basically stating that I have failed to file
my complaint at the first and formal level. This

is false! The appeal coordinator is the first
and formal level as far as this issue is
concerned. The appeals coordinator also

stated that I exceeded a 15 working days time
limit, which is also untrue since this action
did not have an adverse effect on me until I

attempted to make a collect call to my loved
ones only to discover that their phone
numbers had been blocked. This appeal was

made within 15 days of the phone call.

I also have a 602 form going against the

mail room here at SVSP. All of the inmate

population mail has been delivered to us
anywhere from 15 days to over 30 days from
the postdate. This is totally unacceptable.

Not only have I personally had mail delivered
to me over 30 days late, but in some instances
not at all. I am still waiting for mail over a

month and a half old. I presume it has either
been lost of intentionally disposed of without
my approval. I presume that it might be

retaliation for the grievance I have filed.

These actions do not discourage me but

only make my desire to see justice done that

much stronger.

-- a California prisoner, July 2004

Prisoners stuck with

gang affiliation

At this present time I'm battling these

tyrants on paper (inmate appeal 602) to correct
my status, that labels me a gang member. I've

been informing prison officials for the past 3
years that I've disconnected ties with that
lifestyle. However, these devils continue to

enforce that label over my head. I submitted a
grievance in to correct the gang status (87th
Crip) which is fictitious. I never been a member

of this gang. I am non-affiliated.

However, my grievance was denied based

on my probation report, and being housed

with a gang member. The probation report
was written 7 years ago, so that's insignificant
because a person can change for the

betterment but these devils hate that fact.

In September 2003 my cell was searched by

the investigation staff (IGI) finding nothing

indicating that I was gang affiliated. So
therefore, these devils have no solid grounds
to continue that gang status. After my appeal

was denied I forwarded it to Sacramento
appeals. The appeal came back to me tampered
with. My appeal attachments were missing,

and the appeal was denied. I resubmitted an
appeal and have not received a response.

I have not participated in any gang activities

since I've been incarcerated, I have no tattoos

linking me to the gang they're accusing me of

being with, I'm not housed in a cell with a
gang member, I am a Muslim, there's no
informant information linking me to a gang.

In fact I have Crips members saying I'm not
affiliated, and staff are aware that I'm not
affiliated.

-- a California prisoner, May 2004
MIM adds: Being labeled a gang member is

important in California prisons because this

dictates the where a prisoner is housed.

Thank you very much for your

introductory news letter. I find the
information very informative, straight
forward, with words of wisdom. However,

under my present oppression such
information could be misinterpreted to
define a contrary meaning.

Due to the Anti-Terrorist Act,

misinterpreted censorship would
jeopardize my United States Fourth

Amendment Rights, solely based on the
contents therein censored mail.

I am attacking the validity of my

conviction based on the laws intact. I
have lost my freedom, with invasion of
my privacy (under the ruse of a security

need), and therefore do not wish to
provide the California Department of
Corrections, nor associated oppressors

with any additional fuel to suggest my
involvement with any particular religion,
nor sect. I therefore respectfully request

that my name be removed from your
mailing list.

-- a prisoner in California, july 2004

MIM responds: The letters below

demonstrate that this prisoner's fear of
censorship is well placed. And in fact

many of MIM's comrades behind bars
are placed in solitary confinement as
punishment for their activism behind the

bars. This is a clear example of the lack of
freedom of speech for groups like MIM,
which are censored for talking about the

horrors of imperialism. And it
demonstrates the real danger prisoners
face when they try to get prisons to abide

by their own laws and regulations.

Corcoran prison

censors MIM Notes

As you can see by the enclosed

Department of Corrections form depicting

infringement of 1st amendment rights, my

MIM Notes is being censored.

-- California prisoner at Corcoran SATF,

June 2004

Upon reconnaissance I discovered the

censorship flag now being on a recent

newsletter and the MIM Notes pages you
sent this way. I have appealed reply which
stated: "MIM provides correspondence

between prisoners and is not allowed." I
challenged on grounds that MIM poses
no security threat and that ban is vague

attempting to encompass all aspects of
MIM political ideology by using alleged
threat by prisoner correspondence. Turns

out Darrel G. Adam is still the Warden here.

-- a prisoner at Corcoran, May 2004
MIM adds: The official "notification of

disapproval" form forwarded to us by the
prisoner above justified the censorship
because MIM Notes is revolutionary. This

is in violation of existing regulations
governing censorship but the prison has
yet to respond to MIM's letter on this topic

sent in February of this year. We encourage
our readers to send protest letters to:
Warden Adams, PO Box 5248, Corcoran,

CA 93212. Send a copy of your letter to
MIM Notes.

MIM Theory on

Culture censored

The MT 13 theory journal (on Culture

and Revolution) that you sent did not make
customs line. The pigs here figured some

of the contents had racially motivated
figures. Can you believe that! If the pig
was so pressed to filtering out racism from

its institutions they need to filter
themselves. I had the material sent home.

-- a California prisoner at Coalinga, July

2004

Labeled gang members are placed in higher
security institutions, with fewer services, and

less likelihood for parole. The methods for
labeling prisoners gang members are arbitrary
at best, using information about who a

prisoner speaks to, the prisoner's nationality,
and "confidential evidence" of informants
looking for a way to get a few more privileges

for themselves. Prison officially routinely
deny appeals about gang status regardless
of the evidence.

Censorship in California prisons

Afraid to receive MIM Notes

MIM Notes 305 · August 1, 2004 · Page 12

Notas Rojas

agosto 1, 2004, Nº 305 Fragmento del Periodico Oficial del Movimiento Internacionalista Maoista

Gratis

¿Que es el MIM?

El Movimiento Internacionalista Maoísta (MIM) es un partido revolucionario

comunista que ejerce el Marxismo-Leninismo-Maoísmo. El MIM es una organización
internacionalista que trabaja desde el punto de vista del proletariado del Tercer Mundo;
es por esto que sus miembros no son amerikanos sino ciudadanos del mundo.

El MIM lucha para acabar con la opresión de todos los grupos sobre cualquier otro,

naciones por naciones, clases por clases, y géneros por géneros. La revolución es una
realidad para los Estados Unidos mientras su ejército continúa extendiendose en su
esfuerzo por asegurar la hegemonía mundial.

El MIM difiere de otros partidos en tres puntos basicos: (1) El MIM sostiene que

después que el proletariado conquiste el poder estatal, existira aún el potencial para una
restauración de tipo capitalista, bajo la dirección de una burguesía nueva dentro del
mismo partido comunista. En el caso de la Unión Soviética, la burguesía se apoderó del
gobierno después de la muerte de Stalin, en 1953; y en China después de la muerte de
Mao y del derrocamiento de la llamada "banda de los cuatro' en 1976. (2) El MIM
sostiene que la Revolución Cultural en China es la fase ms avanzada a la que llegó el
comunismo en la historia. (3) El MIM afirma que la clase trabajadora blanca de los
EE.UU. es primordialmente, una élite trabajadora no revolucionaria en el presente. Es
por esto que no es el principal vehículo para avanzar el Maoísmo en este país.

El MIM acepta como miembro a cualquier individuo que esté de acuerdo con estos

tres puntos basicos, y que acepte al centralismo democrtico, el método de gobierno por
la mayoría en lo que se refiere a cuestiones de línea del partido. El MIM es un partido
clandestino que no publica los nombres de sus miembros para evitar la represión estatal
dirigida históricamente contra los movimientos revolucionarios comunistas, y anti-
imperialistas. Si Ud. desea una suscripción para cualquiera de nuestros periódicos o
libros teóricos, en español o en inglés, por favor mandar dinero en efectivo o un cheque
al nombre de MIM a esta dirección:

MIM · P.O. Box 29670 · Los Angeles CA 90029-0670

Traducido por Células de Estudio

para la Liberación de Aztlán y América

Latina

El presidente George Bush obtuvo una

victoria diplomática al reconciliar su

postura sobre el tema de Irak con la de

sus competidores rusos y franceses. El

8 de julio, el Consejo de Seguridad de la

ONU por voto unánime aprobó la

resolución 15-0 que legitima la ocupación

de Irak por las fuerzas estadounidenses

en colaboración con su títere, un primer

ministro iraquí instalado por la CIA. El

hecho más lamentable fueron los votos

de lacayos tercermundistas, incluyendo

el voto de Algeria, a favor de la

resolución.

La sumisión de la actual ONU al

imperialismo estadounidense es una de

las razones por las que el MIM lucha por

Naciones Unidas proletarias, una

organización de naciones capaz de

reemplazar el imperialismo

estadounidense. Una organización

proletaria de Naciones Unidas habría

mandado tropas y activistas para impedir

un ataque imperialista contra Irak. Para

obtener este tipo de poder es necesario

que una organización proletaria de

Naciones Unidas primero conquiste a los

EE. UU. Para poder quitarle al país la

"libertad" de atacar a otros países es

necesario establecer una dictadura

proletaria de las naciones oprimidas. Los

diplomáticos burgueses seguirán

haciendo tratos que reflejan la actual falta

de balance del poder, en vez de luchar

por la justicia y difíciles cambios

organizativos necesarios para la paz. Los

diplomáticos burgueses deberían ser

reemplazados por funcionarios estatales

de los países oprimidos.

La resolución del Consejo de Seguridad

de la ONU significa que los imperialistas

jugaron todas sus cartas con el fin de

calmar a los iraquíes que se oponen al

imperialismo estadounidense. Si la

administración de Bush sigue teniendo

éxito en Irak y en otras partes del mundo

en términos de esta cuestión, el gobierno

decidirá que un servicio militar obligatorio

no hace falta.

Además, la resolución de la ONU deja

el paso abierto para que Bush soborne a

otros países con el fin de que éstos

manden tropas a Irak cuando sea

necesario. Esta opción es muy poco

plausible por el momento debido a la feroz

resistencia del pueblo iraquí. Muchos

países no quieren mandar tropas a una

situación de obvio peligro.

Uno podría preguntarse porqué Bush

propone la resolución si la ONU no

proporciona tropas. A diferencia de

muchas maniobras diplomáticas dirigidas

hacia la opinión pública estadounidense,

la maniobra en cuestión se dirige tanto

hacia la opinión pública de los EE. UU.,

como hacia la de Irak. Si el pueblo iraquí

sigue luchando, los demócratas no podrán

decir que el mandato de la ONU no se

busca a causa de la estrategia de Bush.

Es por eso que el voto del Consejo de

Seguridad de la ONU es un paso

victorioso para Bush, aunque también es

la última carta que le queda por jugar.

El régimen títere establecido en Irak

por los EE. UU. y reconocido por la ONU

tiene la autoridad- una autoridad

sancionada por la ONU- de retirar por

completo las tropas del territorio iraquí.

Dicha resolución también especifica la

fecha del retiro de tropas internacionales

ocupando Irak- enero de 2006. Es muy

probable que la resolución retrase el

movimiento anti-guerra dentro de los EE.

UU. a medida de que más elementos

pequeño burgueses decidan que Bush ha

empezado a hacer caso de la diplomacia.

Por el contrario, los partidos proletarios

seguirán oponiéndose al régimen títere

respaldado por la ONU

independientemente de la vacilación de

la pequeña burguesía.

La resolución de la ONU servirá

además como eficaz propaganda frente

al movimiento en contra del servicio

militar obligatorio, ya que instiga al público

a pensar que la necesidad de tropas

desaparecerá para el febrero de 2006.

Hasta este momento ninguna de las

predicciones del MIM sobre el servicio

militar obligatorio ha fallado. Dijimos que

los partidarios de Bush estarían

sorprendidos por el fallido retiro de las

tropas antes del 1º de julio. Para

apaciguar a los que tienen miedo a que

Kerry le gane a Bush, Bush buscó la

resolución de la ONU en vez de retirar

las tropas.

En realidad, es al pueblo iraquí al que

le toca poner el punto sobre la i. La

pregunta es la siguiente: ¿logrará

apaciguar la resolución de la ONU al

pueblo de Irak? Si los iraquíes deciden

seguir luchando duro contra los agresores,

la pequeña burguesía estadounidense

verá los beneficios del retiro de las tropas

estadounidenses. Si el pueblo iraquí no

lucha duro y hasta se desarma, el público

puede anticipar una manipulación de las

elecciones iraquíes por parte del Tío Sam,

y la posibilidad de que las tropas sigan en

Irak hasta después del año 2007, igual

que en el caso de Alemania y Corea del

Sur.

Como hemos mencionado antes con

respecto a otras noticias sobre el servicio

militar, el Tío Sam ofreció retirar todas

las tropas de Corea. El hecho es que

ahora se va a retirar un tercio de las 12,000

tropas- mil tropas más de las 3,000 que

se discutieron recientemente. (2) Hay que

señalar que es posible que este gesto abra

el paso hacia un bombardeo de Corea del

Norte por parte de los EE. UU., cuyos

cálculos indican que menos tropas

estadounidenses sufrirán la retaliación del

Corea del Norte.

También hay que señalar que Bush

mandó tomar medidas "anti-pérdida" con

respecto a las tropas presentes en Irak,

llamadas por el candidato presidencial

demócrata John Kerry "un servicio militar

por la puerta trasera". (3) Esto más o

menos equivale a una aceptación del

hecho de que para la gente con

experiencia militar, cualquier rechazo de

una decisión de terminar el servicio militar

o de trasladarse a otra división equivale a

un servicio militar en vigencia. El

Pentágono se quejó de que sin estas

medidas faltaría un 25% de divisiones

creando una falta de personal militar.

Kerry propuso un doble incremento de

"fuerzas especiales" (3)- fuerzas

utilizadas contra movimientos de

liberación nacional desde la época de J.

F. Kennedy. Las fuerzas especiales se

entrenan para guerras psicológicas,

poseen conocimientos lingüísticos y tienen

un perfil menos amplio que el de las

unidades militares regulares.

Tanto la retórica de Kerry, como las

últimas acciones de Bush implican el

hecho de que el gobierno está tomando

en serio la idea de atacar "el terrorismo",

no naciones. De alguna manera han

logrado pegar la etiqueta de "nación

terrorista" a Irak, diseminando esta

percepción entre los círculos gobernantes

y entre sus partidarios brutos.

A pesar de todo, semejante flexibilidad

permite redirigir recursos de lugares

como Corea y Okinawa hacia Irak.

Como hemos mencionado antes, ningún

candidato abarcará el tema del servicio

militar antes de las elecciones de 2004.

A los dos les interesa crear la ilusión de

que están haciendo todo lo posible para

que un servicio militar obligatorio sea

innecesario. Advertimos a nuestros

lectores que el sistema económico que

causó la guerra contra Irak sigue en pie.

Los fines lucrativos detrás de ventas de

armas de destrucción masiva siguen

existiendo. El capitalismo no es capaz

de proporcionar una genuina estabilidad

a largo plazo, por muchas resoluciones

del Consejo Nacional que se pasen.

Fuentes consultadas:

1. http://www.guardian.co.uk/u s e l e

c t i o n s 2 0 0 4 / s t o r y /

0,13918,1174017,00.html

2. http://www.johnkerry.com/

pressroom/releases/pr_2004_0527.html

Un receso para Bush: el Consejo de Seguridad

de la ONU legitima la guerra contra Irak