Mike Hunt
Minneapolis, Minnesota
 
 
Mine bosses
I thought Militant readers might like to know a little more about the record of Wilbur Ross, a lead investor in Newcoal LLC. The article in the August 3 Militant, on the miners’ protest at the Horizon bankruptcy proceedings in Lexington, Kentucky, reports that Newcoal is seeking to take over Horizon’s nonunion mines.

Ross is the head of the International Steel Group, which is now the largest steel producer in the U.S. Ross’s specialty is buying up bankrupt companies and taking over their facilities after these companies have shed all responsibility for retiree benefits. His efforts began with LTV and have included Bethlehem Steel and Weirton Steel. Bethlehem alone had responsibility for about 95,000 retirees and dependents. The purchases of LTV and Bethlehem were completed only after $6.7 billion in unfounded pension liabilities were dumped on the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corp. and retiree health-care benefits were eliminated.

In reopening some of the idled LTV plants, Ross’s company secured concessions from the union and established what the bosses see as the benchmark in the industry, cutting and combining jobs. At that time, the contract was said to give ISG a cost advantage of about $100 a ton over other unionized steelmakers. When workers at U.S. Steel and National Steel voted a concession contract up last year, which will bring job cuts of over 25 percent, it was said to be modeled on the ISG contract.

Tony Lane
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
 
 
On Jew hatred I
The statement “Who is the real president of the United States? Is it Sharon or Bush?” and “U.S. foreign policy is determined by Israel and its supporters in Washington,” sounds like a Pat Buchanan or a Lyndon LaRouche anti-Semitic perspective. Some narrow Black nationalists spew similar anti-Semitic webs. [See “SWP candidate in New Jersey responds to anti-Jewish remarks at national hip-hop conference” in August 3 Militant.]

The nebulous left buys into neo-conservative plots. “Neo-conservative Jews make George W. Bush’s Middle East policies” say left leaning types. The panelist’s statement requires more context before the tag anti-Semitic remark applies.

Ken Morgan
Baltimore, Maryland
 
 
On Jew hatred II
The “On Jew-hatred” article by Robert Simms in the July 6 issue (No. 25) overstates the point that only anti-Semitism is behind the calling of attention to (as journalists such as Seymour Hersh, New Yorker, have) “neo-cons” in the Defense Dept., State Dept., etc. as a “conspiracy” (poor word choice) in their war plans for Iraq and other countries throughout the Middle East, Latin America, and Asia. The author also implies that the “Jewish lobby in Congress” is not the reason Washington strongly supports Israel, but that this partnership is unbreakable because it “serves the interests of the US ruling class.” Can’t both apply?

AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee), one of the most influential lobbies, always has its annual meetings here in Washington, D.C. because of its proximity to Congress. Indeed, the “inner circle” of neo-cons proudly and sophomorically refer to themselves as the “Vulcans” [see Washington Post article of about 6 to 8 (?) months ago] in their mission of orchestrating a new American century-world order. The author should also ask the Palestinians (and Palestinian-Americans) who have lost many family members and friends about how they feel about U.S. support and funding of the Zionist Israeli occupation of their homelands.

Whether some of the neo-cons are Zionists or not, it’s certain they all subscribe to and promote the aggressive imperialist course the U.S. and Israel are pursuing. Finally, the U.S. ruling plutocracy doesn’t discriminate. It has room enough for membership from Zionists and non-Zionists alike.

Bob Snyder
Greenbelt, Maryland

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