Rocket's red glare-bombs bursting in air

Scan page 2

On July 3, 1988, as the United States was getting ready to celebrate our Declaration of Independence from the colonial rule of Great Britain, the U.S. cruiser Vincennes shot down an Iranian civilian airplane.

Two hundred-ninety men, women, and children were killed.

The vast majority of people throughout the world were horrified by this ser iseless slaughter of innocent people On March 4, 1988, Mark Curtis, a member of the Socialist Workers Party in Des Moines, Iowa, was arrested and beaten by the local police. The arrest occurred only a few hours after Curtis had left a meeting to protest the arrest of several immigrant coworkers at the Swift/Monfort packinghouse where they work.

The police claim they interrupted Curtis trying to rape a 15-year-old Black woman. He is charged with first-degree burglary, which carries a 25-year mandatory sentence, and third-degree sexual abuse, which carries a five-year mandatory sentence.

If convicted, Curtis would probably be put behind bars for at least 25 years. And because one of the crimes involves physical violence, a conviction would put Curtis in jail without bail during the appeals process.

While the charges against this political activist are for alleged criminal activity, thousands of individuals and organizations have recognized that the case is a political frame-up.

Curtis is a former national chairperson of the Young Socialist Alliance—the youth organization in political agreement with the Socialist Workers Party. Later on, he moved to Des Moines. He got a job at Swift and joined Local 431 of the United Food and Commercial Workers union.

Packinghouse workers arrested In an interview with Socialist Action, Curtis said that he had been a participant in a fight to defend several of his coworkers [] 12 months for $8.

[] 6 months for $4.

Enclosed is a contributi am Addr City Sta Zip Tel. thousands of miles from the shores of the United States.

Ever since the overthrow of Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlevi (the hand-picked puppet of the United States) in 1979, the United States has been on a rampage against that country and its people.

For 40 years, the United States and its giant oil cartels have fought for the right to control the oil of the Middle East. It now has 29 naval vessels with 10,000 to 15,000 naval personnel in the Persian Gulf.

Persian Gulf nations-Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iran, Iraq, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates—possess nearly two-thirds of the known oil resources in the non-communist world. Over 7 percent of the oil used in the United States is imported from the Gulf area. Japan imports 50 percent of its oil from the Arab countries, while Western Europe imports 30 percent of its oil from the Gulf.

The U.S. oil companies want to extort higher profits from this "liquid gold."

James H Webb Jr., Secretary of the Navy from April 1987 to February 1988, (who supervised the deployment of ships in the Gulf) has expressed some concern about where this action will lead. "The operational environment takes on a momentum of its own," he said.

"In the space of a year," he continued, "our mission has changed from defense of sea lanes to a rather aggressive neutrality, to the protection of allied ships to, apparently, the protection of all neutral shipping."

And even though Webb didn't say it in so many words, the United States is prepared to blow up commercial airplanes in order to control all traffic in the Gulf area.

"It was an accident," the headlines screamed. For a whole week, officials tried to blame this "accident" on the Iranians.

The capitalist media lied when it "reported" that the plane was outside of the commercial flight path. It lied when the commercial plane was accused of concealing an Iranian F-14 fighter. It lied when it said that the commercial plane was sending out "military" radio signals.

What became very clear, however, was that the Aegis air defense system—installed in U.S. naval ships at the cost of $9 billion dollars-is not worth diddley-squat.

I don't call the shooting down of the Iranian aircraft an accident. If a mounted policeman rode his horse through my living room, and his horse dropped a load of manure on my rug, I would not call that an accident. I would want to know why this cop was riding his horse through my living room.

And that's the question we need to ask. What is the United States doing in the Persian Gulf? What right does this government have to be killing men, women, and children thousands of miles from the United States? Why must it murder innocent people in the interest of profits for the gigantic oil cartels? Who gave it that right?

In the meantime-in this country-6 million people are sleeping in the streets because they cannot afford a home, 45 percent of adults in the U.S. are illiterate or semi-literate, millions of children are living in increased poverty, and healthcare is non-existent for millions of people. Our roads, bridges, and mass transportation are crumbling. Pollution is killing our rivers, streams, and forests.

It is criminally insane to spend trillions for imperialist wars but crumbs for human needs.

We demand that U. S. imperialism get out of the Middle East, the Persian Gulf, Central America, and everywhere else it doesn't belong! No more "accidents!"

cop-beating. Dozens of union officials from around the world have expressed their outrage over this incident.

Curtis's trial was scheduled to begin on Jely 6, but in a June 30 hearing, a motion was granted to his lawyer to move the trial back to Sept. 7. This victory gives Curtis's supporters more time to demand that the charges against him be dropped, that the police who beat him be prosecuted, and that the entire frame-up come to an end.

The Mark Curtis Defense Committee is requesting all supporters to help by sending messages to Polk County Prosecutor James Smith and to Police Chief William Moulder demanding that the charges against Curtis be dropped and the cops who beat him be prosecuted. Write to James Smith, Polk County Prosecutors Office, 500 Mulberry St., Des Moines, Iowa 50309.

Though the defense committee has already surpassed its goal of raising $45,000, more funds are needed to cover ongoing expenses. Contributions and copies of messages should be sent to the Mark Curtis Defense Committee, P.O. Box 1048, Des Moines, Iowa 50311. Telephone (515) 246-1695.

ACTION Closing date: July 30, 1988 Editor: ALAN BENJAMIN Asst.Editors: MICHAEL SCHREIBER JOE RYAN Staff: Paul Colvin, May May Gong, David Kirschner, Hayden Perry, Kwame M.A. Somburu, Sylvia Weinstein.

Business Manager: DON MAHONEY Socialist Action (ISSN 0747-4237) is published monthly for $8 per year by Socialist Action Publishing Association, 3435 Army St., No. 308, San Francisco, CA 94110. Second-class postage is paid at San Francisco, Calif.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Socialist Action, 3435 Army St., No. 308, San Francisco, CA 94110.

RATES: For one year (12 issues)—U.S. 2nd Class: $8, Ist Class: $12; Canada and Mexico 2nd Class: $12, Ist Class: $15; All other countries 2nd Class: $15, Ist Class:

$30. (Canada money orders or checks should be in U.S. dollars.)

Signed articles do not necessarily represent the views of Socialist Action. These are expressed in editorials.