[Marxism] Left Hook Updated

["M. Junaid Alam" <mjunaidalam@xxxxxxxxxx>]

 Latest Release: Saturday, April 16, 2005

Does the Resistance Target Civilians? According to US Intel, Not Really

M. Junaid Alam

The ceaseless demonization of Iraqis committed to ending foreign control
of their country is a key ideological crutch for maintaining the
American occupation. Smearing the armed resistance as a band of
murderous thugs is well understood by American war planners to be a
crucial part of effective counter-insurgency work. (1) Obviously, brutal
and horrific attacks on Iraqi civilians have been carried out by some
forces claiming to be a part of the resistance. But there is strong
evidence from US government and independent intelligence data suggesting
that this phenomenon has been wildly exaggerated and torn out of
context, creating a false public perception that serves to prop up
domestic support for the occupation.

- (Read full) <http://www.lefthook.org/Politics/Alam041605.html>

The American Empire: Critical Reflections on Change

Aaron Greenberg

There are at least two words people in America are afraid to introduce
into the discourse. Fascism is the first; empire, the second. The former
seems worthy of only the cruelest authoritarian regimes - the kind whose
power is obviously illegitimate, who show no respect for human rights,
who "disappear" political enemies, the kind that exploit fear to no end
and whose grand scheme aims to concentrate the wealth and power to the
ruling class.

The latter is the stuff of colonial Britain, France and Germany, which
launch adventures in exotic locales, intermarry with natives, and
promote cultural and economic homogeneity. Empire recalls the spoils of
Rome - a status quo of hedonists and despots - unwise, unseasoned and
decadent. Needless to say, fascism and empire carry associations that
require good writers to qualify themselves before even suggesting that
the current American regime can be considered either. Qualification is
necessary, because it would be patently incorrect to compare the Bush
Administration to the fascism of Mussolini, Hitler or Franco or the
empire-building of England, France, Germany or Rome; it would be
incorrect in the same way it is incorrect to call dachshunds poodles.

- (Read full) <http://www.lefthook.org/Culture/Greenberg041605.html>

After the Coup: 'Humanitarian Abyss' in Nepal

David Baake

On February 1st, 2005, King Gyanendra of Nepal staged a coup by
dismissing a democratically elected parliament and seizing absolute
control over the country. Since then, all civil and political rights
have been suspended, independent media has been shut down, and hundreds
of activists, journalists, lawyers, students, human rights leaders and
others have been arrested or have disappeared. The former prime minister
and the leaders of Nepal's political parties are under house arrest. The
Royal Nepalese Army (RNA) has tortured civilians and assassinated others
with impunity. The situation in post-coup Nepal has been described as
'worst locations of human rights violations in the world' by
international human rights organizations [1]. The February coup is the
second staged by King Gyanendra since 2002.

- (Read full) <http://www.lefthook.org/Politics/Baake041605.html>

Anti-Recruitment Ground Report from UW-Madison, Wisconsin

Bill Linville

We'll be sending more e-mails soon, but just wanted to give a brief
report on the walk-out against the occupation and military recruiting in
Madison. We had a rally of over 200 people today followed by a march
past a recruiting center and a sit-in near the chancellor's office
demanding to meet with him and kick the military off campus. It was
pitched as a "troops out walk out" and was built over a long period of a
month and a half. It demanded troops out now and military off campus at UW.

- (Read full) <http://www.lefthook.org/Ground/Linville041605.html>

Contradictions of the Anti-War Movement: Supporting the Troops, While
Opposing Their Actions

Joshua Frank

On Saturday November 6, 2004, US forces pounded Fallujah and razed a
civilian hospital. "Witnesses said only a facade remained of a small
Emergency Hospital in the centre of the city," reported the BBC News on
the day of the military blitz. "A nearby medical supplies storeroom and
dozens of houses were also damaged as US forces continued preparing the
ground for [the upcoming] major assault."

The catastrophe happened only days after the US Presidential Election
and the antiwar movement was still morning the triumph of George W.
Bush's War Party. Needless to say, the movement wasn't moved to action
even though US troops had committed a blatant war crime. For the Geneva
Conventions are quite clear that the bombing of hospitals constitutes as
such a crime:

"Article 18: Civilian hospitals organized to give care to the wounded
and sick, the infirm and maternity cases, may in no circumstances be the
object of attack but shall at all times be respected and protected by
the Parties to the conflict.

- (Read full) <http://www.lefthook.org/Politics/Frank041605.html>


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