BY ARTIE BROOKING
BOSTON - Thirty-nine people packed the meeting room of the Militant Labor Forum here February 7 to hear Militant editor Naomi Craine speak on "U.S. Hands Off Iraq!" Subtitled "Organizing a working-class campaign against imperialism and war," the forum drew together a range of people interested in discussing out how to oppose the latest war-moves by imperialism most effectively. Young Socialists member Nick Pell also spoke about recent protests against the U.S. war drive in the Boston area and how others could join in.

The forum participants included members of the Socialist Workers Party and the Young Socialists who are members of the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees (UNITE) from around the country. They were in the middle of a weekend of discussion on advancing the campaign against imperialist war among their co-workers and in the union.

Three students at Boston University came to the meeting after seeing fliers posted up at their school. Two others, including a student at Tufts University, had picked up fliers from socialist activists participating in a picket opposing U.S. war moves held in downtown Boston two days earlier. One young woman had bought a copy of the Militant from a supporter of the paper who lives in New Zealand while she was traveling in the Philippines. She called up Militant supporters in Boston when she moved here a couple of weeks ago. She left the meeting with a copy of New International no. 7, the new booklet Celebrating the Homecoming of Ernesto Che Guevara's Reinforcement Brigade to Cuba, and several other Pathfinder titles.

In the discussion period at the forum, a socialist rail worker who is a member of the United Transportation Union described having a long discussion with a co-worker about the impending war. The worker, a veteran of the Vietnam war, quickly read the back cover of the New International no. 7, which features the article "The Opening Guns of World War III - Washington's Assault on Iraq," and reached into his pocket for the cash to buy it.

Several people stayed behind for a couple of hours to carry on the political discussions.  
 
 
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