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   Vol. 68/No. 21           May 31, 2004  
 
 
Letters
 
U.S. abuse of prisoners
The Militant’s editorial’s statement in the May 18 issue that the U.S. rulers conduct abroad is an extension of their daily brutality against workers and farmers at home, in reference to the widely documented torture of Iraqi prisoners by the U.S. occupiers, received backhanded confirmation in the May 6 Newsday from liberal columnist Jimmy Breslin. American troops stripping the prisoners and toying with them, he remarks, shouldn’t be so jarring to people here in New York, pointing out the more than $50 million dollars in public funds recently paid out by City officials to people strip-searched and humiliated by New York police when arrested for cheap misdemeanors. He reminds readers that these settlement payouts, which are used to cover up abuses by the cops, are paid for by the working class, their target (in the files of this city there can be found case after case of a civilian assaulted by police and the working people of the city are charged.)

All true. Of course, the liberal Breslin carefully ignores the fact that these abuses are an integral part of capitalist class rule and sustained jointly and without exception by Democratic and Republican officials, choosing instead to lay all the blame at the feet of the Bush Administration on Iraq and the few cops actually prosecuted in New York. His aim is clear: to pave the way for the removal of the discredited wing of the War Party (the Republicans) and the installation of the more reliable one (the Democrats).

In his characteristically subtle and populist fashion, Breslin seeks to channel the widespread outrage working people feel about government abuses in Iraq and in New York City into the safe harbor of the rulers’ two-party framework.

Peter Anestos
San Francisco, California


The letters column is an open forum for all viewpoints on subjects of interest to working people.

Please keep your letters brief. Where necessary they will be abridged. Please indicate if you prefer that your initials be used rather than your full name.  
 
 
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