How Would You Like the Police to Investigate Yovr Miscarriage?

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'..we have assessed the struggle today as chiefly centered on the attack on abortion rights. We have dready helped lead this struggle b campaigning for a mobilization of forces around this issue ' another side of the state of mass worker consciousness. Boeing workers were in a far more favorable objective position than were the miners.

Fifty-eight thousand-strong and able to bring their force to bear against a single large workplace, they had Boeing stopped in its tracks; there was no serious attempt by the bosses to run scabs through picket lines and the company had a 1600-plane backlog of orders to fill. Machinists were in position 10 gain a decisive victory.

But IAM misleaders, in line with their policy of putting the profitability of the bosses ahead of the needs of their membership, and a cowardly fear of "provoking" the ire of their capitalist partners, seized the earliest opportunity to accept terms far below what should have been gained given the powerful position of Boeing workers.

The settlement included a 10 percent increase in wages over three years and a further increase in the pay-packet of an additional 19 percent in the form of a lump-sum "bonus.

As we shall see, the 19 percent figure is really worth significantly less, therefore the pay packet as a whole didn't even make up for what was given back earlier.

In the two previous contracts, the union officialdom had convinced the membership to make big concessions to Boeing: In 1983 a two-tier wage scale ranging from $8 to $18 per hour was introduced; and in 1986 Boeing was allowed to freeze hourly wages, giving lump-sum payments instead. And the 1986 contract reduced medical coverage by requiring workers to pay a $75 deductible per family member. These concessions were unjustified, given the relation of forces, even then.

• The most recent settlement was barely better than Boeing offered before the strike— a direct result of the IAM leadership's nowin strategy.

Lump-sum payments in lieu of regular wage increases and other concessions were rationalized by the need to help the company survive during a period of lowered profits.

The most obvious dirty trick connected with the lump-sum payment is that it tempts workers on a prolonged strike to accept a bad contract because an immediate substantial payment is dangled in front of them.

But even if this were not a factor, this method of payment has very serious negative consequences. Lump sum payments are not figured into the basic hourly rate. This means, among other things, that premium pay for overtime is lower because it is based on an hourly wage that does not include the lump-sum payments.

So, too, are subsequent "percentage" increases in hourly pay which also are calculated only on hourly wages-excluding "bonuses." And all benefits-vacations, health care, pensions, travel-time-are also calculated at lower rates for the same reason.

The overall concessions policy is rationalized by the labor bureaucracy as necessary to save jobs. Some bureaucrats really believe that workers must join in a "united front" with their bosses against all comers. But these concessions are unjustified even as a temporary expedient to save jobs. The fact is that companies will inevitably go under if their technological development doesn't keep pace with that of the industry as a whole.

Reduced labor costs alone cannot save an inefficient enterprise-much less make it a leading profitmaker. Givebacks save no jobs, they only allow inefficient enterprises to last a little longer. Moreover, concessions to "save" jobs in one place inexorably loses jobs, for workers as a whole, in another.

These concessions have helped make Boeing, years later, one of the most profitable among the world's producers of aircraft. In its own way this testifies to the initially strong competitive position of Boeing before the givebacks. The main effect of give-backs to such enterprises as Boeing is to help them reap super-profits at the expense of the workers.

And finally, "temporary" concessions are not really temporary. They are, to the contrary, long-lasting. And though they may be given up without a fight they require a major struggle to win back.

In the strike of mechanics and other airline employees against Eastern Airlines the inadequacy of IAM leadership is glaring. Certainly, the objective relationship of forces was not nearly as favorable as in the Boeing strike, but it had been far better than that of the miners in their struggle against Pittston.

Despite the inspiring solidarity of pilots and flight attendants who walked out in support of striking mechanics, and despite declarations by railroad workers who pledged to honor machinist pickets, the IAM leadership ruled out any extension of the strike, not to mention mass picketing to stop planes from flying. The picketing that has been organized has been essentially limited to an appeal to travellers to boycott Eastern.

(At an Eastern strike support rally in San Francisco, a UMWA speaker declared that had the IAM shut down airports on the first day, the strike would have been over in two weeks.)

At the very least, the response of pilots, flight attendants and railroad workers was evidence that even broader support would be forthcoming providing the IAM leadership demonstrated the kind of fighting spirit needed to carry the strike forward to victory. Such an inspiring example was displayed by miners who struck the Pittston Coal Group shortly after the Eastern strike began.

The two strikes could have and should have been linked up. Then, together with all machinists and railroad workers' support, Eastern strikers could have opened a new chapter in the struggle of the entire working class.

The IAM is a nation-wide industrial union with common problems shared with the rest of America's powerhouse of industrial unions. These unions were born in the fire of mass mobilizations on the picket lines which successfully closed down production. They did so despite strikebreaking scabs, cops, troops and court injunctions. The working class will be "born again" when they rediscover the source of their former power.

We said all this and much more in the special supplement to Socialist Action which we issued at the outset of the Eastern strike. We also warned that the IAM leadership's orientation toward a hoped-for rescue coming from the capitalist adversaries of Eastern Airlines' boss, Frank Lorenzo, was a delusion.

So, too, were illusions in Democratic Party "friends of labor" doing anything more than taking token action in support of striking workers-and then only to be in position to stab labor in the back. It is patently "absurd to pin any hopes on corporate raiders like Carl Icahn or liberals like Senator Edward Kennedy, or any other representative of the capitalist class.

On the contrary, to have expected such people to help workers in this strike; that is, to help the union deal a major blow to the capitalist class, is worse than a delusion. The false hopes placed in representatives and institutions of the capitalist enemy by the IAM leadership disarm the rank and file and put the union on the road to defeat. Unfortunately, only a miraculous turn of events can now prevent a major setback for the Eastern Airline workers.

And finally, we must note that at the time of the announcement of the end of the Pittston strike at a meeting of the AFL-CIO top leadership in Bal Harbour, Florida, it was reported that George J. Kourpias, president of the IAM was there to ask Labor Secretary Elizabeth H. Dole about a $120 million contract he said the General Services Administration had awarded Eastern to provide transportation services to the government. Dole denied knowledge of this latest anti-labor intervention by the government.

In the case of the Eastern strike, Secretary Dole and the Bush Administration, by granting the struck company a $120 million contract, have decisively intervened to maximize the defeat of Eastern's striking employees. In the Pittston strike, they also intervened on the side of the bosses. But in that case, for a somewhat different reason:

Pittston realized its attempt to bust the union of striking miners had failed. Dole's role in the mediation process was to appoint W. J. Usery Jr., a former union official who is usually brought on when a "friendly" mediator serves the purposes of the capitalist government. Usery's function here was to save face for the Pittston bosses who had to retreat from their union-busting stance.

Also, it served to bolster the illusion that government mediation is indeed neutral. It would be dead wrong for workers' leaders to give the slightest credibility to this myth. But that was exactly the purpose served by the AFL-CIO heads parading Secretary Dole with honors before their Bal Harbour meeting. in These related episodes confirm once again the absurdity of relying on so-called capitalSOCIALIST ACTIO power of the working class.

The preceding brief review of these three strikes confirms our basic outlook. The objective class power that was realized in the formation of the CIO retains all its potential force. The crisis of world capitalism opened the door to the "semi-revolution" of the 1930s. A new crisis will inevitably reproduce a new upsurge that will begin where the other left off.

The only other missing factor for American labor's next giant step is the subjective one; the construction of a proletarian leadership that has absorbed the lessons to be derived from class struggle history.

But for us, a very small nucleus of the revolutionary party, the subjective factor is an objective one. Big leaps forward for us depend on objective factors beyond our control. We, nevertheless, seek to modestly intervene wherever opportunities to do so open up. In the unions, for the time being, that continues to be mainly on the level of propaganda and through our press.

Women's Liberation

The Political Committee majority's draft women's resolution shows how we have assessed the struggle today as chiefly centered on the attack on abortion rights. Our small party has focused on placing ourselves on the front-line of this defensive struggle. We have already helped lead this struggle by campaigning for a mobilization of forces around this issue.

We have judged that by focusing on organizing effective defense of the clinics and on mass street demonstrations around the single issue of defending the right to choose we can help mobilize the largest number of fighters.

We have also attempted to avoid any tactical prescriptions by evaluating, at each point, how best to mobilize the largest possible independent mass mobilization in this central struggle today. We have generally stressed our long-time orientation to the National Organization for Women (NOW) since it is the only mass multi-issue national women's organization open to all women, irrespective of their political outlook.

Moreover, it is based on local membership chapters, which, in principle, meet on a regular basis and therefore are subject-more than any other organization-to the pressure of this mass national constituency.

In any case, despite our basic orientation, where local NOW Chapters failed to take necessary initiatives, we helped to form coalitions on as broad a basis as possible to serve as the medium for mass mobilizations, including the defense of clinics.

We should not forget, however, that NOW (like trade unions) is in itself a form of the united front, in this case in defense of women's rights. In principle NOW remains the major combat instrument for all those who defend women's rights.

Our orientation to NOW has been confirmed by initiatives it has taken to mobilize a mass defense of the clinics as a vital part of its focus on the defense of choice. This orientation led NOW to call two national mass mobilizations last year in response to the ruling class attack on the right to choose.

Women, and others, will not forget that these mass actions, independent of the capitalist class and objectively in opposition to it, has already paid off by forcing many capitalist politicians to retreat from their more blatantly anti-choice positions.

This tactical retreat by both Democrats and Republicans is intended to give a semblance of credibility to lesser-evil politics to help the petty-bourgeois leaders of the womens' movement divert it back into the bourgeois electoral trap. The NOW leadership's current retreat toward capitalist electoralism is not unexpected, but its mass base remains an objective force against this orientation.

Independent class political action We must also stay alert to opportunities, when and where they arise, to involve the mass organizations of workers, Blacks and other natural allies of women in ever-broader united front actions. Last year's NOW conference is very significant in this respect.

One of the features of the conference was a panel on political action. Our comrades effectively intervened in favor of independent political action in the streets and solidarized themselves with the instinctive demand by women fighters for a break from the twin (continued on next page)

SEPTEMBER 1990 13

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'The so-called war on drugs...is much more a vehicle for violating the civil rights of working people than it is to stamp out the drug epidemic.' (continued from previous page) parties of capitalism.

A women's party independent of the working class, however, cannot be independent of the capitalist class. A political party must have a program which answers the entire range of questions dividing society along class lines.

Thus, the only road to the liberation of women is through an alliance with the labor movement and on a rounded program based on the class interests of working people. There is no such thing as a single issue party or candidate for public office!

The political road forward for women is inescapably linked today with our transitional slogan calling for a labor party based on the unions. Normally we have approached this class relationship between the proletariat and its natural allies from the direction of our propaganda aimed at the working class.

It is also useful to raise the same independent class political perspective from the standpoint of the needs of the women's movement as well.

A mass labor party must be a feminist party championing the rights of women, and a Black liberation party, committed to full equality.

But in the meantime mass action in the streets remains the main form of independent political action open to women fighters given the current state of mass consciousness. This parallels our current propaganda focus on mass action on picket lines and in the streets for labor as a more immediate possible form of independent political action.

The Black struggle We have witnessed continuing outbreaks of racism in many parts of the country. These vary from almost weekly reports of police-murders of Blacks and other oppressed minorities, to a rise of overt racism on college campuses, to the ouster of a Black school superintendent in Selma, Alabama.

The "crime" of this educator was that he had attempted to end the prevailing tracking system which funnels mostly Blacks (and more generally, students from poor working class families) into classes exclusively composed of alleged "slow" students. Such "tracking," it is well known, becomes a selffulfilling prophesy.

The attack on affirmative action, which began shortly after it was first introduced, has continued to mount. The hopes and opportunities it gave for a little better opening to jobs for Blacks is being whittled away. But this conscious attack on better paying jobs for Blacks only compounds the effects of the natural working of the system.

More than 12 million jobs were lost in the 1980s due to plant closings and layoffs. These tend to be higher-paying, unionized industrial jobs. On the other hand, half of all new jobs created in the last eight years tend to be in the service sector, non-union and pay below the minimum wage. This shift in the economy disproportionately affects Black workers.

In Boston, the murder of a pregnant white woman by her white husband unleashed a witch-hunt indiscriminately directed at all Black males. The husband, knowing the prevailing hysterical fear of "Black" crime in the streets, sought to divert attention from himself by inventing a story of robbery and murder by a Black assailant. Boston's mayor and police department seized the pretext to trample the Bill of Rights underfoot as they stopped and harassed every Black man who lived in the area.

In general, the position of Blacks in our society continues to deteriorate despite advances made by a layer of the Black middle-class. The following are the most startling of statistics reflecting the malignancy of racism in America:

• Nearly one-quarter of Black men in their 20s are in jail, in prison or otherwise under the control of criminal courts through probation or parole.

• With prison sentencings on the increase, more Black men in their 20s are under court control than there are Black men of all ages in higher education. By contrast, the figures for whites in the same age group under court control are 6 percent; and more than four times as many white men are in college as are under court control.

Malcolm X lives!

There has not yet surfaced any qualitative change in the level of combativity and self-organization in the Black community. While this is not entirely dependent on the objective factors affecting the entire mass of 14 SOCIALIST ACTION working people in America, Blacks are nevertheless also subject to them in the last analysis.

The biggest opportunities for a major rise in the Black struggle are related to the same conditions that will open up a new stage of struggle for the working class as a whole.

In the meantime there has been a highly significant re-flowering of interest in Malcolm X whose contributions will have a prolonged impact on the struggle for Black liberation.

It is of such amazing proportions that Malcolm, who was slandered, reviled, scorned and, above all, feared by the whole of bourgeois society when he lived, is being treated more objectively, and even hailed— 15 years after his death—as a leader more farseeing than most and one whose ideas remain fresh to this day.

But, we can be sure, this belated recognition is only for the ultimate purpose of transforming, if they can, this uncompromising revolutionary into a "harmless icon."

We had been aware of this growing interSi Lynn est since shortly after the formation of Socialist Action. Whenever our newspaper carried a story and photo relating to Malcolm, sales increased. Pathfinder Press, the principal distributor of English language collections of speeches by Malcolm X, reports it has sold over 500,000 books by and about him and since July it has sold 33,000 copies of its most recent of seven titles, "Malcolm X: The Last Speeches."

We intend to increase efforts to relate to those inspired by his ideas. We will be organizing tours of the branches around this topic by Kwame and Malik and others. We all need to be extremely alert to find other ways to respond to this opportunity to link up with radicalizing Blacks and, it should be noted, many other people, mostly young, also inspired by Malcolm's ideas.

There can be no doubt that the tumultous events taking place in South Africa over the past few years have contributed significantly to the attractiveness of his ideas. We have every reason to expect that this will grow along with the retreat from apartheid forced on the white capitalist rulers by the Black majority of South Africa.

But there is another side to the new interest in Malcolm. It is his evolution in the last years of his life to a broader understanding of why Blacks are kept down. He had begun to see that it was more than racism. Or more accurately, that racism was primarily the tool for class exploitation and oppression.

The Socialist Workers Party (SWP) played a significant role in helping tell the truth about Malcolm's ideas when he was alive, and we give it due credit for continuing to publish books by and about him. Members of Socialist Action, of course, have also participated in this important task before and SEPTEMBER 1990 after our expulsion from the SWP.

It is difficult to see how this Malcolm X renaissance will concretely impact on the struggle of Blacks for social, economic and political justice here in the United States, and other parts of the world where the oppression of Blacks plays a significant role in these societies. But we can be certain that it will. This makes more urgent our need to stay alert to opportunities that will come for intervening in this key sector of the class struggle.

The "war on drugs"

One of the issues Malcolm had prominently identified himself with was the Nation of Islam's campaign to educate Blacks against the plague of drug addiction afflicting the most exploited and oppressed in capitalist society. He was one of the most effective in inspiring Blacks to resist this pestilence.

But such noble efforts are not sufficient to overcome the despair that grows from poverty and hopelessness, and which drives the victims of capitalism to seek a way out through drugs. And just like when British imperialists subjugated China with the help of opium-laced candy handed out to Chinese children, the drug-lords similarly hook ghetto youth and enlist many of those hooked as pushers.

The so-called war on drugs now being waged by the American ruling class, is much more a vehicle for violating the civil rights of working people than it is to stamp out the drug epidemic.

Unlawful searches and other invasions of privacy, and indiscriminate testing are proliferating. Capitalist repressive agencies use the widespread concern and opposition in the working class communities to the turf wars between drug dealers to maintain a reign of terror in these communities.

And the growing compulsory testing of workers is used to scape-goat them for accidents due to capitalist speedup and faulty or unsafe equipment, and employ incompetent testing laboratories which are used to set-up and weed out union militants.

The "war on drugs" has also been utilized to justify the invasion of Panama. American imperialism had, at the same time, sought to implicate Cuba in Panamanian drug dealing as well.

This undoubtedly contributed to the Cuban government's decision to hold a public trial of one of its generals, and others, charged with dealing in drugs in Africa and Panama. The convicted General Ochoa was executed. The death penalty served to underscore the determined opposition of Cuban revolutionaries to drug-dealing.

Not long afterward, a Cuban-chartered freighter loaded with bauxite and in international waters on its way to Mexico was shot up by U.S. naval vessels without the slightest justification.

In the meantime, the real drug kings in North, South and Central America remain untouchable, and continue to do business as usual.

Anti-intervention movement

The electoral defeat of the Sandinistas registers the defeat of the Nicaraguan Revolution which can now be traced back to Nicaraguan President Ortega's signing on to the Arias Peace Plan in August 1987.

This setback constitutes a blow to the struggle of the international proletariat against imperialism. And although the further unraveling of the conquests of the Nicaraguan Revolution will take some time, and rear-guard battles will be fought, the election of Violeta Chomorro represents a decisive shift of class forces in Nicaragua in favor of U.S. imperialism.

One of the areas which this report must address has for most practical purposes been superseded by the election in Nicaragua. We can safely predict that it will contribute heavily to the demobilization of the anti-intervention movement set in motion by Gorbachev.

The historic agreements reached by Bush and Gorbachev cannot be seen as just another step by Soviet Stalinism toward a mythical state of peaceful coexistence between socialism and capitalism. It is also crystal clear that Gorbachev's commitment to help imperialism stop and roll back the Central American Revolution has now paid off for imperialism with the historic defeat in Nicaragua.

Gorbachev's deal with imperialism first had the effect of driving the Sandinistas further and faster along the road of capitulation to the American capitalist class and putting opponents of U.S. intervention in Central America off guard. Even the invasion of Panama did little to dispel the euphoric sense that the threat of new counter-revolutionary interventions had declined.

Now the capability of imperialism to make such direct military intervention in places like El Salvador-and Nicaragua, in the event it should prove necessary—has greatly increased, while the likelihood of an effective response by Americans to more open imperialist aggression has declined.

This new situation-which also can be traced to the signing of the Arias Peace Plan in 1987—has made it easier for the solidarity groups to dominate the movement and impose their mistaken conceptions of how to build the largest and most effective opposition to imperialist intervention.

This new situation, reinforced by the electoral defeat of the FSLN, underscores our temporary loss of leverage, which had formerly allowed us to play such a remarkably influential role in setting an effective anti-interventionist course for the movement.

The success of our interventions in the mid-1980s flowed from our political focus on the slogan of "U.S. out of Central America!" This eminently reasonable demand was the most profoundly anti-imperialist, anti-capitalist one possible, and it led to the largest demonstrations in the recent history of this struggle.

We should, of course, continue to support all meaningful actions in opposition to imperialist intervention without taking responsibility for the tendency of current leadership to adopt "negotiation" demands which compromise principled support for the right of nations to self-determination.

We must also continue to disassociate ourselves from any attempt to link or counterpose civil disobedience with mass peaceful protest demonstrations.

Preparing for big opportunities In the coming period of rising class struggle there will be bigger opportunities for us to lead the way for our class. There will be, therefore, a more fertile ground for recruitment and fusion with forces which will evolve in our direction in response to the new situation.

New layers of class struggle fighters will arise independently of us out of the mass workers' movements. Our paths will tend to converge. Our responsibility, as we have taken pains to explain many times, is to find our way to these layers as they arise.

In Socialist Action's short time of existence we have shown we know how to stick to our principled guns even when it has led to splits. We must be just as determined when opportunities come along to regroup with forces moving in our direction. We will not be impatient.

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No U.S. Intervention in the Middle East!

Friday, September 14, 1990, at 7:30 p.m.

Ron Kovic, author, "Born on the Fourth of July," disabled Khalil Barhoum, Professor, Stanford University; Palestinian activist; membe Kiren Chaudhry, Professor of Political Science, specialist in Middle Eastern Dick Roberts, former staffwriter, "The Militant" author of several books and Linus Pauling, internationally known peace activist; winner of the Nobel Pea Jeff Mackler, President, Walnut Publishing Company; founding member, Jeff Patterson, a taped message from Jeff Patterson, the imprisoned U.S.

Sponsor: Chicano Studies Department, University of Calljornia at Berkeley and the Ad Hoc Committee Against a Vietnam War in the Middle East For further information call: (415) 268-9429 or (415) 821-0511 SOCIALIST ACTION SEPTEMBER 1990 15 (continued from page I) who have been historically oppressed by the wealthier Christian Maronites in the Lebanese civil war.

Moreover, when the same Saddam Hussein launched his bloody war against Iran, the U.S. government "tilted" in favor of Iraq, because in that war Iraq was doing Washington's dirty work in attempting to contain and roll back the Iranian Revolution.

But when the fake "country" of Kuwait, in reality nothing more than a big oil company, is incorporated into Iraq, Washington screams "aggression," and launches a war in which U.S. young men and women are expected to die to reinstall the Emir of Kuwait and his degenerate family.

Arab masses oppose U.S.

But the Arab masses, the "people in the street," see Washington's aggression for what it is—an attempt to keep the Arab peoples subjugated by the oil monopolies. Reports in the U.S. press of this growing opposition by the Arab masses to the U.S. war are sketchy, but have begun to come through.

Demonstrations by Palestinians are occurring every day in the West Bank and Gaza, and in other countries. Early reports indicated that the large number of Palestinians in Kuwait helped the Iraqi soldiers in their initial thrust, leading to a rapid victory.

Demonstrations in Syria against the United States have been reported, even though demonstrations are illegal there and the Syrian government has joined the front of traitors of Arab regimes who are backing the United States.

Jordan's King Hussein, traditionally pro-U.S., faces such big opposition from Jordanians against the U.S. invasion that he has been forced to be neutral and keep open trade with Iraq in defiance of the U.S. blockade. Demonstrations in Jordan are a daily occurrence, and it is reported that thousands of Jordanians, many of whom are Palestinians, are signing up to fight the U.S. forces as the war deepens.

Writing from Amman, Jordan, in the Aug. 23 New York Times, Joseph Treaster discussed King Hussein's plight:

"Emotionally, King Hussein would like to side with Iraq. He said tonight, for example, that President [Saddam] Hussein, whom he recently called 'an Arab patriot,' had been the victim of an international campaign of vilification.

"But throwing in with Iraq would make the King a pariah, too, and bring an end to substantial financial aid from Saudi Arabia and the gulf oil states as well as the United States.

"On the other hand, siding with the United States would make a front-line enemy of Iraq and, even in a nation with the tight internal security of Jordan, such moves would probably ignite waves of protests from a population that adores Saddam Hussein as the embodiment of Arab dignity and pride."

Treaster added that if Jordan were to back First National Middle East Teach-in Speakers:

awarded Bronze Star and Purple Heart Daniel Sheehan, Chief counsel Christie Institute Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee Studies, University of California at Berkeley articles on the Middle East Prize and the Nobel Prize for Chemistry Mobilization for Peace, Jobs and Justice Marine who refused to serve in the Middle East and many others... the U.S. blockade, there "is the possibility of such tumultuous protest that the King would be toppled, probably to be replaced by a radical from Jordan's majority Palestinian population, or a surrogate of Iraq, neither of which would bode well for the United States."

It is to this groundswell of Arab nationalism in the face of the U.S. invasion that Saddam Hussein is now appealing. Writing in the Aug. New York Times, John Kifner in Cairo wrote:

"It is this effort to assume the Arab nationalist mantle of Gamal Abdel Nasser that the Iraqi leader seems to be banking on in the face of the unexpected closing of Arab ranks [that is, the Arab regimes—B.S.J, led by Egypt, against him.

"In bombastic speeches, [Saddam Hussein) has not only inveighed against the deeply resented foreigners, but set the poor Arabs against the rich, portrayed the oil-wealthy emirs as decadent, selfish spendthrifts....

"His speeches have a visceral appeal to many poor Arabs working in the Gulf and to Palestinians in refugee camps, because much of what he says is not without truth. Few Arab regimes have real legitimacy."

U.S. imperialism's objectives University of California at Berkeley Zellerbach Auditorium tives in launching this war?

One immediate objective is to beat back the Iraqis, reinstall the Kuwaiti royal family, and thereby greatly enhance U.S. imperialism's hold on the whole region.

This would solidify Washington's domination over the regimes that have sided with it, and put the United States into the position of going for the overthrow of the Iraqi government, and installing an Iraqi puppet regime.

This would re-establish the United States as the major force in the Persian Gulf, a position the Iranian people booted Washington out of when they overthrew the puppet regime of the Shah in 1979. Then Washington would be in a position to overthrow what remains of the Iranian Revolution, securing the Gulf as an American lake.

(One positive outcome of the current conflict is that Saddam Hussein has felt compelled to make peace with Iran, on Iran's terms.)

Another objective is to strengthen U.S. imperialism relative to its imperialist competitors, especially Germany and Japan— even though Bush needs their political support behind his war.

Another objective of Washington is to bolster its regional ally and surrogate police force in the region, Israel. Israeli officials are keeping a low profile at present, to make it easier for the traitor Arab regimes who have backed the United States to do so. But they have stated that they expect the war to widen and that their armed forces will play a key role. They are also lobbying the United States to invade Iraq sooner, rather than later.

(Imperialist adviser Henry Kissinger is making the same point. He says that the wide support that Washington has gotten from the world's governments might not last all that long, and the United States should attack now while that support is intact.)

U.N.: Cover for U.S. war Faced with the deep resistance of the Arab masses, it has been politically important for the United States to get support from other governments and the United Nations as a cover for its aggression.

Backing from its imperialist allies was to be expected, but Bush needed more. He needed support from the Soviet government and from the colonial and semicolonial countries, especially the Arab regimes.

The bureaucratic toadies of imperialism in Moscow and Peking were quick to line up, although they have expressed some reservations. (The Kremlin doesn't want it to look like a nakedly American operation, and Peking has expressed unease at the American military buildup in the region, while going along with the blockade.)

But on Aug. 24, with Gorbachev's full support, the United Nations Security Council voted to authorize the use of "minimum [military] force" to halt all oil to and from Iraq. The Security Council vote passed 13 to 0, with Yemen and Cuba abstaining.

As we go to press, U.S. military commanders are suggesting that a U.N.-sponsored naval fleet (comprised mainly of U.S. war ships) could be used to torpedo the rudders of the Iraqi oil ships to demobilize them.

Now, the United Nations-primarily thanks to the treacherous role of the Soviet bureaucracy—is being used to provide the fig leaf for Washington to escalate its military aggression in the Persian Gulf.

The United Nations has once again-as in the cases of the Korean War and the Belgian aggression in the Congo in the 1960s—been shown to be a tool of the imperialist powers. It can never take action against Israeli aggression, or the U.S. invasions of Grenada and Panama, or the U.S.-sponsored war against Nicaragua, for example.

[For more on the role of United Nations, including a critical assessment of the position of the Cuban leadership, see editorial on page 18] Stakes high in showdown The stakes are high in this showdown, not only for the Arab peoples but all the world's people. If the unholy alliance of the U.S. and other imperialist powers-including Israel, the traitor Arab regimes who have hitched their destiny to a U.S. victory, and Moscow and Peking-wins, a tremendous blow will have been dealt to the Arab peoples and to all the working people and oppressed people of the world.

But that outcome is not certain by any means. Far from it. If the United States doesn't rapidly achieve its goals, either through the starvation of Iraq or through other military moves, but rather gets bogged down in a long Vietnam-type war, more and more people throughout the world will come to understand the real nature of this war.

Political support for the United States will dwindle, including here at home, as those young Americans who are Bush's pawns in this war come home in body bags, and the economic costs of the war hit home and intensify the coming recession. [See article by Malik Miah on page 1 on the economic impact of the U.S. war in the Persian Gulf.] The key fighters against the unholy alliance are the Arab masses, each day displaying greater resistance.

We here in the United States have our job to do to defeat this aggression by the warmakers in Washington.

Most immediately, we have to help clear up the confusion about these events that exists among many who have opposed U.S. aggressions before.

And we need to reach out to the great masses of American working people, who are exploited by the very same handful of super-rich families that are behind this war, and whose children are being sent as cannon fodder against the Arab peoples, and who have the power to stop this war right here at home, as the Vietnam war was stopped.

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=. economy in tailspin subscribe to Socialist Action — (continued from page 1: “Bring the Troops Home Now!”)

produced by the economy-the Gross National Product-declines for two straight quarters. Officially it hasn't happened for nearly eight years.

But consider the following facts:

• The GNP eked out a 1.2% gain in the second quarter of 1990. But if you exclude production that went straight into inventories, final sales fell by 1.5%.

• The Dow Jones industrial average, as of Aug. 23, lost almost 440 points, or nearly 15% of its value, since its peak in mid-July. On Aug. 21, in a 24-hour period, Japan's Nikkei index dropped 8% (nearly 38% this year), while West German and French markets tell 3.2 and 4% respectively.

• A barrel of crude oil has gone up over 50% since early July, from around $18 to $31 as of Aug. 23. It's the highest price since 1985.

• Gasoline prices have averaged a 13% rise and will continue to rise as the oil corporations gouge working people and other consumers. Air fares have gone up an average of 5.3% with the rise in jet fuel prices. Oil affects the cost of all commodities produced.

• Some 35 states reported employment declines in the second quarter. Official unemployment remains around 5.5%, meaning fewer workers are seeking work. Moreover, wage disparities continue to widen, especially between Blacks (and other oppressed minorities) and whites.

• The number of people receiving food stamps and welfare benefits has jumped sharply this year. At least 44 states have reported increases in enrollment, some ranging up to 50%.

• Housing starts continue to decline as four times as many homes are in foreclosure as in 1980. That's roughly the equivalent to a home being seized or abandoned every two minutes.

• Corporate profits continue to decline and debt rises. Second-quarter profits declined 7%, the fourth decline in a row. The Big Three automakers had an average profit decline of over 40%. Moreover, 27.3% of corporate cash flow went to service debt in the first quarter. This ties the all-time high for that ratio during the 1974 recession.

• The budget deficit is leading to new taxes. Most states are considering regressive sales tax increases that hit workers hardest. Only a handful of states, perhaps no more than 10, can boast of good financial health. All this before the oil shock.

• The S&L bailout, already taking billions from taxpayers, is expected to rise. The government deficit for 1990 is expected to top $195 billion. Bankruptcies among commercial banks are accelerating, as their profits decline because of loan defaults from highly leveraged companies, real estate developers, and Third World countries.

As the military budget skyrockets to pay for the U.S. intervention into the Arab East, the Bush government is expected to press for more cuts in social programs to "balance" the federal budget.

Moreover, the oil shock is hitting semi-colonial countries in the Third World many lower labor costs by any means necessary as well as shift productive capital away from their competitors. It means union-busting and going to war to dominate and control as much of the world's natural resources-such as the Arab oil in the Middle East.

Moreover, some two-thirds of the U.S. economy is based on consumer spending, which is declining as workers spend more reOIL PRICES Price for a barrel of crude oil for September delivery on the New York Mercanțile Exchange.

August sources on basic necessities and attempt modest savings as they await the recession.

Only the top one-fifth of American families enjoyed real income gains in the 1980s. In the last decade, working families stayed afloat by going deeper into debt and by putting a second wage earner into the economy. The two-income family will not be adequate for many families in the 1990s.

Union membership in decline Union membership is at its lowest level since the 1920s. In the last 10 years the employers have imposed two-tier contracts and major concession contracts. While. short-term profit gains were won, the rate of profit continues to decline.

At the same time more workers are stepping up resistance to union-busting-for example, at Eastern Airlines, Greyhound bus lines, telephone companies and hospitals on the East Coast, and Pittston coal mines. Most of these defensive strikes, however, have lost, although a few have won modest gains. Wage increases have generally stayed behind the inflation rate, which will conTHE DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE August tinue to rise as oil prices escalate.

U.S. competitors in Europe and Japan continue to make gains as well. German and Japanese capitalists hold some $350 billion worth of Treasury debt. The dollar is now at its lowest level against the mark since the German currency was created in 1948. The cheaper dollar scares away more foreign investment. While all industrialized economies are interconnected, Japan and Germany's economies expect to grow 4% in 1990, compared to less than 1% for the United States. Depending on the impact of the oil war, all 3000 2860 2820 2780 2740 2710 =$28.50 27.50 26.50 When 25.50 24.50 23.50 22.50 August Source: Knight-Ridder Tradecenter may show a decline.

The current military build-up in the Middle East will at best be a short-term shot in the arm for the war-production industries. Tanks and guns are not productive goods. Inflation will rise as billions are paid out for the war drive.

"There is no good time to have a recession," writes Robert Kutter in the Aug. 20 Business Week, "but this is a particularly bad time. The one coming will reflect deep weaknesses in the economy that will be hard to fix. The slow-growth recovery of the 1980s was made possible by a combination of deficit spending and cheap foreign borrowing, not by real improvements in U.S. competitiveness or productivity.

"As that recovery finally succumbs to overdue fiscal reform, slow productivity growth, declining corporate earnings, weak consumer spending, and high real interest rates, there is simply no good mix of policy options. Recession will only worsen the conditions of banks and increase the weight of past debt."

As the U.S. rulers press their aggression in the Arab East, the economy will continue to spiral down toward a deep recession. The employers are already using the war drive to attack the wages and living standards of working people.

What policy for labor?

It is not only the big oil corporations that are gouging workers. The list includes big food processors, truck companies, airlines, and many more. Local and state governments are preparing layoffs and cuts in social programs.

So far top labor officials have not condemned the imperialist intervention in the Middle East. This stance disarms workers as the bosses step up their profit drive. The trade unions should take a firm stand against the U.S. government's aggression. U.S. Out of the Middle East! Hands Off Iraq! Jobs Not War! should be labor's demands.

To stand up to the price gouging the unions should demand nationalization of the oil giants, under control of the workers and the public, and a rollback of all price increases.

Workers facing layoffs must be protected The AFL-CIO should call for a reduction of the workweek with no cut in pay (30 hours work for 40 hours pay) and unemployment benefits at a living wage.

The number of unions with cost-of-living clauses in their contracts are few. The unions should demand escalator clauses to protect workers from rising inflation. These escalators should apply to all fixed incomes such as welfare benefits and social security. Medicaid must be expanded for the new homeless and unemployed.

Workers called up as army reserves for the war drive must be guaranteed their jobs and health benefits. Many employers have already said they will not cover lost wages or medical benefits for reservists' families.

Break with the bosses' parties The labor movement must take the high moral ground and give solidarity to workers and farmers of the semicolonial countries hardest hit by the oil shock. The huge debt owed by these countries to the big banks are immoral and unpayable. The debts should be cancelled. Countries like Brazil and India should receive oil at a price they can pay to lessen the blow of the price gouging of the multinational oil corporations.

Finally, the unions should end their political support to the Democrats and Republicans who are called "friends of labor." These so-called friends have been unanimous in their support for the U.S. war drive and other steps against working people's interests.

To fight for a "jobs not war" program the trade unions should take steps to form an independent labor party to fight for the needs of union and nonunion labor, including working farmers.

It is now that the unions must stand up and speak out for all workers and the oppressed of the world. Only a class-struggle policy will protect working people against Washington's aggression and the impending economic crisis.

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POLICE AT WAR WITH KlACKComm Lynn Henderson/Socialist Action

...tiger by the tail Protestors in Amman, Jordan, demonstrate against the U.S. military buildup in Saudi Arabia.

What are the U.S. government's objec- Bring the Troops Home Now!