The following editorial appeared in the September issue of
Ase' Ple're' An Nou Lite' (Stop Crying, It's Time to Fight),
a monthly newspaper published in Fort de France, Martinique,
that advocates independence for the French colonies of
Martinique, Guadeloupe, and Guyane in the Caribbean.
The bombings that killed and wounded hundreds of civilians
near the American embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam
sparked unanimous condemnation. Yes, the networks of fanatics
who perpetrate such blind attacks that massacre innocent
people can be called barbaric and criminal. Nothing, truly
nothing can justify these horrors, which leave intact the
imperialist powers they are supposedly targeting. Those
powers seek to use such actions to reinforce their own
propaganda and to justify brutal interventions under the
cover of "fighting terrorism."
Precisely in this regard, the bombings carried out by the
U.S. military against camps in Afghanistan and a
pharmaceutical factory in Sudan must summon a response by all
people. The United States continues to claim the unilateral
right to trample on the sovereignty of nations. What other
government in the world assumes the privilege of declaring
single-handedly who is guilty, and then meting "punishment"
against them in any country it chooses, without respecting
borders and existing laws?
Those who are swayed by the notion that the United States
acted within the framework of reasonable, legitimate defense
should be reminded that the United States gave military and
political support to the Taliban and fundamentalists who
today turn against it. This, by the way, is a result of its
indecent policy of backing Israeli aggression against the
Arab peoples and U.S. anti-Muslim propaganda, which borders
on racism.
We must remember that U.S. academies trained most
dictators and fascist military cadres throughout the
Americas, and that the CIA, linked to drug traffickers, armed
and financed all kinds of "contras."
While one might argue over the strikes against training
camps in the country of the Taliban, hitting a medicine
factory in Sudan in reprisal against an attack on an embassy
in Kenya constitutes an abject act of gangsterism.
The pretext? "Precursors for chemical weapons that could
be produced there." Coming from a country with stocks of
chemical and biological weapons and thousands of nuclear
warheads on its territory, such a pretext would be cause for
laughter if it were not such a serious matter.
The same week, an accident left 4 people dead and about 20
wounded, and endangered the security of 25,000 people at a
factory that manufactures chemical and biological weapons in
Tel Aviv, Israel. This terrorist state does not respect UN
resolutions, occupying Palestinian, Syrian, and Lebanese
territory in defiance of international law. But far from
bombing that factory, the United States gives military and
political support to Israel.
The Sudanese government has asked for the immediate
sending of a UN investigative commission, which the United
States opposes.
The bombing of a pharmaceutical plant in Sudan constitutes
an act of piracy. The United States practices international
terrorism. That country views itself as above all
international laws, as shown by:
its attempts to impose supranational laws (Helms-Burton,
D'Amato);
its repeated military interventions in violation of UN
authority;
its practice of starving populations and killing
children by refusing access to medicine, through embargoes
that aim to destroy countries opposing its imperial strategy.
The United States
encourages anti-Castro training camps (Alpha 66) on its
territory that are responsible for terrorist actions against
Cuba;
protects the terrorists responsible for sabotaging a
commercial airplane, killing young Cuban and Barbadian
athletes;
massacred 4,000 civilians in Panama under the pretext of
kidnapping President Noriega, who, incidentally, was formerly
a CIA collaborator.
Would the United States allow a third country to bomb its
national territory?
In any case, the wave of popular protests against the U.S.
bombing of the pharmaceutical plant announces that sooner or
later the people will put an end to the arrogant hegemonism
of the Yankee imperialists.
To get an introductory 12-week subscription to the Militant
in the U.S., send $10 US to: The Militant, 410 West Street,
New York, NY 10014.
For subscription rates to other countries, send e-mail to
themi...@igc.apc.org or write to the above address.