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December 7, 2001 | Issue 386

FRONT AND BACK PAGES

Don't trust these men with your rights
"Your name was brought to our attention because…you came to Michigan on a visa from a country where there are groups that support, advocate or finance international terrorism." This ominous message was mailed to more than 700 Middle Eastern men in the Detroit area recently, and thousands more will receive similar letters in the coming weeks.

Palestinians face savage new attacks
Stop Israel's drive to war
"This is only the beginning." That's how Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon described the helicopter gunship assault launched December 3 against Yasser Arafat's military headquarters in Gaza City in retaliation for three suicide bombings last weekend.

SW SPECIAL FEATURES

John Pilger on Washington's war crimes
"This gang in Washington is out of control"
"Apart from the terrible loss of life, [September 11] has been a provocation to probably the most rapacious bunch of terrorists in my lifetime to go ahead and pursue their project--and I'm talking about the present gang in Washington," veteran antiwar correspondent John Pilger told Socialist Worker.

Taliban prisoners slaughtered
How the U.S. organized a massacre
Body parts were scattered across the Qala-i-Jhangi fort near Mazar-i-Sharif following the slaughter of as many as 600 prisoners by Northern Alliance troops--with help from U.S. Marines and American warplanes.

WHAT WE THINK

Washington's united pro-war chorus hides…
The true face of their barbaric war
It's not surprising that bloodthirsty Washington Post columnist Charles Krauthammer is pleased with the way the U.S. war on Afghanistan has gone. But he isn't the only one celebrating.

Defend Oscar Olivera!
Oscar Olivera, executive director of the Federation of Factory Workers and a leader of the Coalition in Defense of Water and Life, was arrested on charges that include "sedition, conspiracy, incitement to public disorder, and criminal association."

When the lights went out on Enron
The spectacular collapse of the giant energy company Enron last month was a fitting conclusion to the hype and lies about the 1990s "miracle" economy.

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NATIONAL NEWS

Facing prison for protesting
"Our goal is for the people involved to serve jail time." That's what Hartford, Conn., prosecutor Jeff Lee declared last week as he sought 10-year prison sentences for two student antiwar protesters.

Washington sets its sights on Iraq
Bush and the rest of Washington's war makers aren't about to let the facts get in the way of setting its sites on Iraq as the next target in the "war against terror."

Was referendum vote bought or stolen?
How PG&E beat public power
Pacific Gas & Electric, a bankrupt corporation, spent more than $2 million to defeat two ballot measures in November that would have brought public power to San Francisco.

George Bush's holy war
The mainstream media have worked themselves into a fury about Osama bin Laden's "holy war" against the U.S. Of course, they haven't had quite the same response to George W. Bush's jihad.

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COLUMNS AND FEATURES

Media ignores the brutal record of the Northern Alliance
Is the U.S. fighting for women's liberation?
Many voices--from pro-war Republicans to mainstream feminists--are applauding the U.S. war in Afghanistan for supposedly putting an end to the horrible conditions that women suffered under the Taliban government. But Washington's newfound concern for women's rights is utter hypocrisy.

How oil interests shaped U.S. policy
What the U.S. wants from this war
"Either you accept our offer of a carpet of gold, or we bury you under a carpet of bombs," one U.S. diplomat reportedly told the Taliban during negotiations with the U.S. that ended weeks before September 11.

READING BETWEEN THE LINES
The Pentagon's media lapdogs
It's no surprise that the Pentagon and the government use every trick they can--from censorship to blatant lying--to justify going to war. But the U.S. mainstream media is so gung ho on the "war against terrorism" that the Pentagon hardly has to lift a finger to ensure that its version of events is the one that gets heard.

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SW READERS SPEAK OUT

Facing deportation because of Bush's war
We demand amnesty
Before September 11, there was growing support for a general amnesty for all undocumented immigrants. Now, with all the racism whipped up against Arabs, that has been shoved out of the window.

Protect workers from the profiteers
Since September 11, politicians have exploited war hysteria to hand out billions in bailouts to airline, insurance, and other corporations, while ignoring hundreds of thousands of workers thrown out of their jobs.

Other letters
Why I refuse to pledge allegiance; Bush widens Colombia war; A double standard of grief; War for dominance, not for democracy

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ON THE PICKET LINE

Boston hotel bosses retreat
Members of Boston's Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees International Union Local 26 are celebrating a victory.

UAW threatens to cut off Accuride workers--again
United Auto Workers activists are organizing to prevent the union's International Executive Board from cutting off the strike benefits of locked-out Accuride workers in Henderson, Ky., and revoking the charter of their union, Local 2036.

Labor in brief
Pratt & Whitney; United Airlines; AFL-CIO convention; V&V Supremo Foods; University of Illinois; Columbia University teaching assistants

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REPORTS FROM THE STRUGGLE

Puerto Rican antiwar protest
Some 100 protesters blocked the main gate of Fort Buchanan in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, on November 19 to demonstrate against the war in Afghanistan and the presence of the U.S. Navy on the island of Vieques.

Protest against New York Post
Students from several New York City colleges and universities showed last month that they won't be intimidated by the New York Post's vicious attacks on dissent.

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REVIEWS

Waging war over resources
Bush says the U.S. is fighting terrorism, but U.S. bombs terrorize Afghan civilians. He says the war is about liberating Afghans from Taliban repression, but the U.S. supports Northern Alliance warlords who wrecked Afghanistan in the early 1990s. So, what is this war really about?

Zinn exposes U.S. "democracy"
From the Second World War to Vietnam to Yugoslavia and the never-ending bombardment of Iraq, Howard Zinn's new collection of essays shows why the U.S. government should never be trusted to fight for human rights or democracy--at home or abroad.

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