Is Bush setting up the "moral right"--while gathering support from the rest of the world--to attack Cuba, North Korea, and any other country the U.S. deems "terrorist?" I don't know how many countries the U.S. considers "terrorist," but there's a slew of them. Does this also mean that Bush is calling on nations to assist in, or support, further U.S warfare against the Colombian freedom fighters and Basque separatists? And who after that?

What organizations, including any of those that call themselves "revolutionary," could be included on this list? Bush is setting up a groundwork for a continuation of what Jack Barnes called the "opening guns of WW III," although this time the undercutting of civil rights is being woven into the rulers' game plan?

David Bouffard
Ormond Beach, Florida
 
 
Protection from terrorism
I agree with many characterizations of imperialism in the Militant. But what I find missing in the paper are any realistic measures for protecting those of us who live in the United States.

Yes, I do agree we're caught between the U.S. government's policies and the rage they incite all over the world. But isn't calling for an end to capitalism before doing anything to protect ourselves from terrorists pretty much the same argument we used to hear from socialists who promised we'd get Black, women's, and gay liberation "after the revolution?"

Please, in the next issue(s) of the Militant, describe the SWP solution for protecting us, working people and others, in the United States, from terrorism. I've been looking through the Militant online, and greatly appreciated your reprinting Fidel Castro's speech. Thanks for all your brave work and revolutionary analyses.

Judy Cuttler
New York, New York
 
 
Enriched by meeting
In attending the conference in New York September 30, "Communists and the World Struggle against Imperialism Today," I was enriched in many ways--by Ma'mud Shirvani's insights on the history and influence of the Iranian working class, by Steve Clark's analysis of the situation in which imperialism finds itself today, and by the speakers who spoke of situations in the union movement and day-to-day class struggle.

As well as containing important social/scientific and analytic content, the talk by Jack Barnes contained a liberating element lifting up and firming whomever in the room was preparing to fight for justice in the social struggles that loom on the horizon. Part of this was through Barnes's irreverent humor and call to steel ourselves to the "phony sentimentalism" being made to dominate the big-business media.

Neither Terrorism Nor War! U.S. Hands Off the Middle East! For a World Without Borders!

Ben Fiering
Peekskill, New York
 
 
Surprise
I was initially surprised that the Militant did not run the September 11 statement from the government of the Republic of Cuba, which was immediately available on the Granma website.

But after reading the article in the latest online issue of your paper, "Did September 11 mark 'new stage of world history'?" it really sank in how deeply unlike the Cuban government, you view human compassion as a weakness.

Marea Rose Jenness
St. Paul, Minnesota
 
 
Cops and firefighters
I went to New York yesterday for a public meeting on "Communists and the World Struggle against Imperialism Today," and I'm glad I did. The speakers explained the war drive that the U.S. rulers have been preparing for a decade, and that they are now accelerating on the pretext of "fighting terrorism." I'm looking forward to the Militant's coverage of the gathering.

At the meeting, SWP leader Jack Barnes also touched on the role of the "uniformed services" in the recent events. Having always drawn a distinction between firefighters and cops, I'd be interested to hear more on that point.

Steve Marshall
Atlanta, Georgia
 
 
Interest in socialist press
I wanted to let you know about the tremendous interest I have found amongst my Mexican-born co-workers in the socialist press. I am a weaver at a nonunion textile mill in rural Alabama where they have recently hired a great number of workers from Mexico for the first time in the plant's history. One approached me shortly after the terrorist attacks of September 11 for my opinion. I gave him a copy of the statement by New York socialist candidate Martín Koppel. He liked it, so I brought him a copy of Perspectiva Mundial, which he readily purchased a subscription to.

Since then, he has helped me to sell two additional subscriptions to PM at the plant and has suggested that I bring PM and Pathfinder books to his home one evening. Around 20–25 Mexican workers gather there every evening to eat plates of Mexican food prepared and sold by his wife. They all live in a trailer park very near our plant. This is happening in the context of speedup, worsening safety conditions, and forced overtime on the job, as well as a lot of discussion about the recent mining disaster at Jim Walter's in Brookwood, Alabama.

Janine Dukes
Birmingham, Alabama
 
 
Social Security funds
Your coverage of the bipartisan attacks on Social Security have been valuable in pointing out the danger of "reforms" that would set up risky personal investment accounts. The September 24 issue, however, contains an error by saying Social Security funds are not "a discrete, separate entity within the government accounts... [but] a government program, financed out of revenue like other items of expenditure."

Actually, the core of Social Security insurance programs are funded by the FICA taxes taken from workers pay, which are matched by employers and sent to the IRS. But the funds don't go into general revenue. The IRS must remit the FICA taxes directly to the Old Age, Survivors, Disability and Hospital Insurance trust funds to be used to pay benefits and administrative expenses. If a surplus exists it is invested in government obligations, which must pay interest to the trust funds and the principal when the obligations mature.

This "discrete, separate" nature of Social Security financing helps protect the system from misuse, such as appropriating the trust funds to finance the war drive in the Middle East.

Jim Sarsgard
Baltimore, Maryland
 
 
Stem cell research
President Bush's limited support to federal funding for stem cell research is politically motivated to ensure that it remain concentrated in federally funded laboratories. There should be a strong public outcry to expand research beyond the estimated 60 cell lines known today.

Shakir Muhammad
Alexandria, Virginia
 
 
A contribution
Your coverage of Washington's accelerated war drive--both at home and abroad--is right on the beam, not only in providing pertinent facts, but also for showing the continuity with the major political and economic turning points of the last 15 years; setting a sober, clear-headed tone; and offering the road forward for working people. Enclosed is a small contribution to help keep it coming.

Doug Jenness
St. Paul, Minnesota  
 
 
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