U.S. planes pound Iraqi people
Washington is continuing its missile barrage against the
people of Iraq. On April 11 U.S. forces struck civilian and
military targets, which killed two residents and injured nine,
according to reports by the Iraqi defense command. One day
earlier, U.S.-led jets struck Iraqi radar and antiaircraft
sites in the southern region. This ongoing assault on Iraq has
disappeared from the pages of most of the big-business press.
What coverage there is parrots the U.S. government line that
the bombing is due to "provocation" from Iraqi defense forces.
Baghdad has been barred from using two-thirds of its own
airspace with "no-fly zones" imposed by Washington since 1991.
U.S.-led forces have attacked Iraq more than 160 times since
last December, dropping hundreds of bombs.
Israel: public workers end strike
Tens of thousands of airport, military industry,
sanitation, university, administrative, shipyard, and other
workers in Israel ended their strike March 27 after the
government agreed to raise wages by 4.8 percent and compensate
workers for the difference accumulated since 1997. Histadrut,
composed of a labor federation and other organizations, was
demanding a 7-8 percent raise, while Tel Aviv said it could go
no higher than 3.1 percent. As part of the agreement, Histadrut
promised not to engage in further industrial action until
October.
U.S. gets okay to sanction EU
The World Trade Organization ruled April 7 that European
Union (EU) import rules on bananas cost U.S. companies more
than $191 million a year in lost business, clearing the way for
Washington to slap sanctions equaling that amount on EU goods.
The ruling will be retroactive to March 3. The U.S.
government's claim was that EU countries shifted their trade
policies with Chiquita Brands International and Dole Food Co.,
in favor of bananas from former colonies in Africa, the
Caribbean, and the Pacific.
The U.S. regime will impose 100 percent tariffs on a number of products produced in EU member states. EU trade commissioner Leon Brittan charged Washington with "fanning the flames" of a dispute between the two biggest trading blocs on earth. The banana war is only one of many sore points in U.S.- EU trade relations.
Ultrarightist becomes state prime minister in Austria
Fascist-minded Jorg Haider, head of the Freedom Party of
Austria, was elected prime minister of the state of Carinthia
April 8. His party won 42 percent of the vote in elections held
March 7, defeating the Austrian Peoples Party, who won 20
percent, and the Social Democrats, with 33 percent. The Social
Democrats had been the largest party in the state since 1945.
Haider was prime minister of Carinthia from 1989 until he was
forced to resign in 1991 for praising the Nazi's labor
policies. In this election, however, Haider won office on the
basis his own party's majority. The People's Party deputies
attended the parliamentary vote, but abstained, ensuring
Haider's victory. In this year's election, Haider particularly
targeted women with a campaign promise of payments of nearly
$450 monthly to mothers for newborns for the first six months.
Japan: rightist elected governor
Rightist politician Shintaro Ishihara was elected governor
of Tokyo April 11 on a campaign of Japanese nationalism. He
received nearly twice the votes of his nearest rival. An
outspoken opponent of U.S. military presence in Japan, Ishihara
said in his acceptance speech that he would press Washington to
give up its Yokota Air Base in Tokyo. There are more than
45,000 U.S. troops stationed in Japan. In the past Ishihara has
called for Tokyo to develop nuclear weapons and denounced as "a
lie" the 1937 Rape of Nanking in which Japanese soldiers
slaughtered tens of thousands of Chinese civilians. Ishihara's
election reflects deepening moves by Japan's rulers toward
militarization, including public debates among big-business
politicians on putting Japanese troops in combat situations and
developing first-strike capabilities. While Tokyo remains
subordinate to U.S. strategic air and naval power in the
Pacific, it maintains the second-largest military budget of any
imperialist power after Washington.
Salvador gov't lets U.S. troops in
The Salvadoran Congress agreed March 25 to permit the U.S.
government to deploy troops in El Salvador, ostensibly to help
the regime's own army repair damages left by Hurricane Mitch.
Opposition politicians have denounced the move, suspecting it
would lead to U.S. training of Salvadoran soldiers. The defense
ministry denied the allegations. When the hurricane whipped
through Central America last October and early November,
Washington's response was slow and aid was superficial at best.
INS won't free innocent Arab
Palestinian immigrant Hany Kiareldeen was found innocent
in a court of law of terrorism charges related to the bombing
of the World Trade Center in New York. Judge Daniel Meisner
ordered his release and granted him permanent residency. But
Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) officials blocked
his release, claiming they suspect he is linked to the bombing
a few years ago. The INS cops, who have put forward no concrete
evidence, cite "classified evidence" that supposedly cannot be
revealed. Kiareldeen immigrated from the Gaza Strip in 1990 and
resides in New Jersey. He has been jailed since March 26, 1998,
on charges of overstaying his student visa.
Kevorkian convicted of murder
Jack Kevorkian, a doctor who has helped consenting adults
to commit suicide, was convicted of second-degree murder March
26 for administering a lethal injection to a man fatally
diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease. Kevorkian was put on trial
four other times for similar criminal charges, but was
acquitted each time. Prosecuting attorney John Skrzynski called
Kevorkian "a medical hitman in the night." The doctor argues he
was attempting to assist patients who wanted to end their pain
and suffering.
Maryland: abortion ban rejected
Registering the overwhelming sentiment supporting a
woman's right to choose abortion, the Maryland House of
Delegates rejected a ban on intact dilation and extraction - a
late-term abortion procedure. Pro-choice forces won narrowly,
by just two votes. The failed bill included a provision
allowing for a woman's spouse or a minor's parent to file suit
if the procedure was performed without their consent. Opponents
say that it was unconstitutional. Twenty-five states have
banned intact dilation and extraction, but many of the bans
have been blocked or overturned in court. Seven states
currently have the ban in effect.
Virginia leads in execution rates
The state of Virginia carries out more executions per
10,000 people than any other state with a million or more
residents. Courts have scheduled five legalized killings for
the month of April. Washington Post writer Stephen Fehr
predicted in an April 4 article, "When 1999 is over, Virginia
could break its record of 17 executions in a single year." Part
of what makes that high rate possible is the elimination of
many of the appeal laws set up for death row inmates. Since
1976 only six of the 107 death sentences handed down in that
state have been overturned.
-BRIAN TAYLOR