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December 6, 2002 | Issue 432

FRONT AND BACK PAGES

No matter what UN inspectors say about Iraq...
Bush wants war
Damned if they do, and damned if they don't. That's the situation that the Bush gang has created for Iraq.

Congress lets benefits run out
Jobless cut off for Christmas
Some 800,000 of the long-term jobless will lose their unemployment benefits three days after Christmas--and 95,000 more will be cut off in each week after.

SPECIAL FEATURES

An eyewitness report from Baghdad
"People have endured a nightmare"
Kathy Kelly, a founding member of the anti-sanctions group Voices in the Wilderness, is in Baghdad now as part of the organization's Iraq Peace Team initiative. She talked to Socialist Worker about what a decade of war has meant in Iraq.

The UN weapons inspections scam
Many opponents of the Bush war drive hope that UN weapons inspections will prevent military action. But from the record of the last 10 years, it's clear that UN inspectors aren't an alternative to Washington's war on Iraq--but a crucial part of it.

ILWU to vote on contract proposal
What's in the dockworkers' new deal?
When union leaders and the Wall Street Journal both hail a labor agreement, rank-and-file workers have to ask: Can this deal really be good for us?

A crucial period for activists fighting the death penalty
"What we do matters"
The struggle against the death penalty has entered a crucial time. Stephen Bright, director of the Southern Center for Human Rights, and Marlene Martin, of the Campaign to End the Death Penalty, discuss the fight ahead.

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WHAT WE THINK

Why the White House won't tolerate anything except war
The Bush doctrine of mass destruction
December 8 is Iraq's deadline for presenting United Nations weapons inspectors with a list of all past and present programs for "weapons of mass destruction." After that, the U.S. will get down to the brass tacks of finding a pretext for war.

Henry Kissinger's cover-up commission
The White House gave in to demands for an independent commission to study the September 11 attacks--on the condition that Bush get to appoint the chair of the panel. Now we know why.

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NATIONAL NEWS

Feds get new spy powers in Homeland Security law
Big Brother is watching now
The Bush gang's war on our civil liberties took a giant leap forward with the Homeland Security bill signed into law last week. The legislation is packed with unprecedented measures to help the government snoop on ordinary people.

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INTERNATIONAL NEWS

A wave of strikes
Unions on the march in Europe
A wave of union struggles is rolling across Europe as workers stand up to employer attacks. Leading the way are public-sector unions fighting privatization and seeking decent pay increases.

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COLUMNS

WHAT DO SOCIALISTS SAY?
Are Nader voters to blame for Bush?
George W. Bush is president, and if you voted for Ralph Nader, it's your fault. That old complaint from liberals showed up again following the trouncing of Democrats in midterm elections.

READING BETWEEN THE LINES
Pelosi takes a page from Bush's book
The election of Rep. Nancy Pelosi to head the Democratic caucus in the House of Representatives was supposed to be a sign of the Democrats' "shift to the left" following their crushing defeat in November's election. That lasted all of three days.

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ON THE PICKET LINE

United Airlines pushes mechanics to vote for cuts--or else
"Now's the time to fight"
After stunning both management and union officials by rejecting concessions, mechanics at United Airlines were being forced by union leaders to vote on essentially the same terrible deal.

In NYC, 10,000 workers rally to demand…
No layoffs at Verizon!
Over 10,000 union members at Verizon rallied in front of the damaged phone building at Ground Zero November 21 to protest potential layoffs.

Labor in brief
Dominick's; Wal-Mart; Portland teachers; Burlington International Airport; Linens of the Week

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REPORTS FROM THE STRUGGLE

Say no to Bush's war on Iraq
We say no to this witch-hunt
Attorney General John Ashcroft's witch-hunt against people of Arab descent came to the University of Massachusetts-Amherst last month. But students and faculty have vowed not to take this lying down.

Reports in brief
Abolish the death penalty; World AIDS Day; Speaking out against war; Protest Dinesh D'Souza

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SW READERS SPEAK OUT

Divestment movement comes under attack
Fight Israel's apartheid
At Columbia University, a petition demanding that the university divest from companies that sell arms to Israel has received more than 570 signatures.

Australians rally against the WTO
More than 1,500 protesters defied government bans on marches for three days running to protest the World Trade Organization meetings taking place in Sydney, Australia, November 14-15.

Other letters
Taking up the flag weakens our movement; Build the fight to defend civil rights; For-profit health care crisis; A dockworker of philosophy?

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REVIEWS

Far from the "ideal" American family
As advertisers and the media trot out sugarcoated images of the "perfect family" for the holidays, the excellent new movie Far From Heaven shows that the ideal family is a horrible burden to have to live up to--no matter what decade it is.

Frida's glimpse into a revolutionary life
Frida, a new movie about Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, is a visually stunning portrait of the painter, which also gives a glimpse into the importance of revolutionary politics in her life.

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