December 27, 1999
Forces defending the Chechen capital of Grozny dealt a blow to Russian troops who entered the city Dec. 15, attacking a tank column and leaving an estimated 100 Russian soldiers dead. The pitched battle was the first major ground clash in the city since Moscow began its offensive in September.
Moscow’s campaign, which aims at subduing independence forces and bringing the rebellious republic forcibly under its rule, has occupied 60 towns and villages. Much of Grozny lies in complete ruins after Russian bombardment, more than 200,000 people have fled. Tens of thousands remain in a city that was home to a quarter of a million.
The capitalist rulers of the U.S. have substantial interests at stake, both short and long-term.
Washington has demonstrated its determination to grasp the lion’s share of the oil wealth lying beneath the Caspian Sea.
December 27, 1974
CHICAGO — More than 1,500 steelworkers packed USWA Local 65 hall Dec. 8 for the swearing-in ceremony of the union’s new director in District 31, Ed Sadlowski.
It was the first time that a director of this largest district has taken the oath of office here, not at the headquarters in Pittsburgh. The oath was administered by the leaders of all seven sub-districts, not by International President I.W. Abel.
Abel had handpicked Sam Evett as the man to run the district, and had promoted and financed Evett’s campaign against Sadlowski in the past two union elections. Abel has now appointed Evett to be his personal representative in the Midwest.
Sadlowski has announced that he will rely upon the membership to carry through a self-defense program against contract violations, layoffs, speedup, and unsafe working conditions imposed by the steel companies.
December 26, 1949
In recent years [President Harry] Truman and his labor and liberal cohorts have been the chief obstacle to the development of socialist consciousness and independent political action by the mass of the American people.
The depression and war, the social ferment produced by each, the fear of a new depression and a new war, have all had their impact on the thinking of the workers. They are willing to listen to candidates today, even candidates accused of being socialist.
And that’s all to the good. Any public discussion of socialism offers the genuine socialists an opportunity to present the truth. The 1950 elections will provide us with such an opportunity and it’s our duty to seize hold of it with both hands and use it to show the American workers the socialist path to the security, liberty and peace that are denied them by the capitalist system.