Vol. 74/No. 2      January 18, 2010

When President Barack Obama declared January 5 that the U.S. government will take the fight against so-called terrorist groups wherever they are, “be it in Afghanistan and Pakistan, in Yemen and Somalia, or in other countries around the world,” he was talking about defending the class privilege and economic interests of the tiny U.S. capitalist class. His order for intense screening of passengers on U.S.-bound flights that have originated in, or passed through, 14 specific countries is aimed at further justifying Washington’s foreign policy—be it the 50-year effort to overturn Cuba’s socialist revolution or the widening “antiterror” operations of U.S. military forces throughout the Middle East, Central Asia, and parts of Africa.

The government attempts to curtail rights, won through hard-fought battles by the working class over decades, are not primarily aimed at small pockets of suspect “foreigners.” Working people in the United States and organizations of the working class must be especially alert to protest government frame-up trials and oppose trampling on the presumption of innocence; Fourth Amendment protections against arbitrary search, seizure, and wiretaps; and freedom of association without spying and harassment by government informers and agent provocateurs.

The U.S. rulers are preparing for their future. As they press their assault on the living and working conditions of workers and farmers in the United States, they will be met by growing struggles. That’s why Washington is utilizing every incident like the one at the Detroit airport to systematically strengthen its hand against the battles it knows are coming. That’s why the working class has a big stake in exposing and opposing what’s really behind Washington’s war drive and attacks on democratic rights.
 
 
Related articles:
U.S. gov’t sets stricter airport ‘security’ rules
Part of curb on rights, broader war drive  
 
 
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