This column is written and edited by the Young Socialists, an international organization of young workers, students, and other youth fighting for socialism. For more information about the YS, write P.O. Box 2396, New York, NY 10009. Tel: (212) 475-6482, Fax: (212) 388-1659.
BY DOUG NELSON
ST. PAUL, Minnesota - On December 15 the Young Socialists organized a speak out here entitled "No to U.S.- NATO occupation of Bosnia." It was hosted by the Twin Cities Militant Labor Forum.
The goal of the U.S. government is not "peace in the Balkans," any more than it was peace in Vietnam, said Megan Arney, one of the speakers. "The goal of the imperialists is to overthrow the workers state and re-establish capitalism in Yugoslavia." Arney is the coordinator of the Twin Cities Young Socialists. In fact, she said, the 60,000-strong NATO occupation force is responsible for escalating the conflict. As someone in the audience put it during the discussion, "It's like putting out fire with gasoline."
Arney urged all youth repelled by the evils of capitalism to take part in a campaign to fight the war drive. This includes talking to co-workers, students, and other activists about the true aims of NATO's war moves; selling Pathfinder books and the Militant at plant gates, picket lines, campuses, and political activities of all kinds; and organizing teach-ins, forums, and other events on Yugoslavia, she said.
Prior to the forum, YS members participated in a picket line in downtown Minneapolis protesting U.S. intervention against Yugoslavia. It was sponsored by the Committee Against U.S. Intervention in the Balkans, Women Against Military Madness, and others. Some 25 people took part. Two local television stations covered the action.