Condemning the US, Nato & Puppet Forces for Barbaric Attacks on the Libyan People

By Prof. Jose Maria Sison
Chairperson, International League of Peoples' Struggle
26 August 2011

WE, the International League of Peoples' Struggle (ILPS), condemn in the strongest terms the US, NATO and their puppet forces for their barbaric military campaign against the people in the whole of Libya since several months ago and in Tripoli currently. The combination of escalated NATO air bombardments and ground movement of Libyan puppet forces and NATO special forces against Tripoli since 20 August aims to deliver the final blow on the Gaddafi regime.

The invasion of Tripoli is the culmination of the bloody bombing campaign against the people of Libya by the air and naval forces of the US, UK, France, Italy and other NATO powers since March in collusion with Qatar and the United Arab Emirates and the most reactionary and treasonous elements of Libyan society, including high bureaucrats recruited by the CIA from the Gaddafi regime, monarchists, warlords and Islamic fundamentalists associated with the CIA and al Qaeda.

The brutal campaign against Libya and the Gaddafi regime has been unleashed by the US and NATO under the pretext of saving civilian lives under Resolution 1973 of the UN Security Council. In fact, this so-called humanitarian intervention has been characterized by wanton bombings of homes, churches and civilian infrastructure, including power and water utilities, hospitals, children creches and schools, resulting in the killing and maiming of thousands of Libyans.

Accompanied by covert agents and special forces of the US and NATO, the anti-Gaddafi Libyan mercenaries have been able to advance from one point to another only after being preceded by NATO bombardments on the military positions of the regime as well on civilian communities regarded as pro-Gaddafi. Subsequently, the anti-Gaddafi mercenaries mostly play-act as fighters before the TV camera, attack helpless civilians off the camera and serve as bait to lure out the pro-Gaddafi forces for attack by helicopter gunships and predatory drones.

The cowardly military campaign of bombardments, involving more than 20,000 sorties by the air forces of the US and NATO and already costing more than 1 billion USD are intended not only to ruin and subjugate Libya but also to test he accuracy and killing efficiency of the weapons systems. The murderous campaign has been complemented by an internationally-coordinated psywar campaign by the biggest media conglomerates to justify foreign military intervention and aggression against the national sovereignty of Libya and the Libyan people and to misrepresent the puppets as democratic forces .

By their brazen acts, the US, UK, France and Italy have exposed their scheme of turning Libya into a neocolony deprived of sovereignty, putting the country's oil and other natural resources under their absolute control through puppets and punishing Gaddafi for his refusal to allow the US African Command to build its military base in Libya, and for declaring that he wants to retract and re-nationalize what he has conceded to the imperialists since 2003 and to replace the US dollar with the gold dinar as the medium of buying oil from Libya in the face of the sharp worsening of the crisis of global capitalism.

When the US unleashed its war of aggression on Iraq in 2003, the Gaddafi regime worried as never before that the US could unleash a similar war against Libya. Thus, it decided to have rapprochement with the US, Britain and the other NATO powers. This enabled the imperialist powers to impose fully the policy of neoliberal globalization on Libya, which resulted in extreme privileges for the multinational corporations, wanton corruption among regime's officials as well as Gaddafi relatives and in significant rises in the prices of basic commodities, in erosion of social benefits and in the mismatch of qualifications and jobs among the youth even as Libya continued to have the highest standard of living in Africa.

The Gaddafi regime also went into military and intelligence cooperation with the US and the other NATO powers, especially with regard to military supplies and the so-called US global policy of war on terror. Through expanded economic and military relations with Libya, the imperialists and particularly their intelligence operatives were able to gain influence among the officials of the Gaddafi regime, to recruit some of them and turn them against Gaddafi and his relatives. Thus, we now see former high officials of the Gaddafi regime in leading positions in the National Transitional Council.

The strategy of the US and NATO to overthrow the Gaddafi regime involves the use of bombardments on military positions and formations, on communities deemed as hostile and on the social infrastructure; the freezing of financial assets abroad; and the blockade on essential supplies, especially food and medicine. These brutal measures are calculated to allow the puppet opposition on the ground to rouse the people against the regime.

The imperialist powers have boasted that they shall have finished off Gaddafi by the 27th of June. But they have failed and have reset their deadline to end of September, although they now claim to be well ahead of schedule. They have also boasted that they do not have to put their boots on the Libyan sand. In fact, they are planning to deploy their troops in Libya under the cover of UN peacekeeping. Their covert agents, advisors and special forces are already in Libya to guide the puppets.

The people of Libya have suffered from the steady erosion of their national economic rights and standard of living under the neoliberal policy of imperialist globalization since the last decade. The imperialist powers aim to tighten their squeeze on the people of Libya and grab the huge oil resources and all major related businesses. They have wreaked havoc on the lives and properties of the Libyan peoples and are planning to make them pay for the costs of the war of aggression, The Libyan masses stand to lose their access to free education, free health care and other ample socio-economic benefits

Under the imperialist powers, the Libyan constitution will be replaced with one that institutes a puppet republic serving the economic, political, military and cultural interests of the imperialists. Libya will be made to accept the establishment of the military base of the US African Command and thus become another military outpost of US imperialism like Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere.

To dominate Libya, the US and NATO will certainly continue to promote puppetry and treason and to manipulate the differences among the various puppet political forces, the tribes, the secularists and Islamic fundamentalists in order to divide and rule the Libyan people as in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere.

The ILPS wishes the Libyan people and their anti-imperialist and democratic forces to take advantage of the current social and political turmoil in their country in order to gain strength and override the current conflict of the pro-Gaddafi and anti-Gaddafi forces. The turbulent conditions and the widespread distribution of arms in Libya today are favorable for establishing a revolutionary party of the working class as well as for developing a national liberation movement.

The Libyan people should not be limited to choosing between the Gaddafi regime and a new regime of puppets extremely servile to the US and NATO. At any rate, a new regime of traitors conflicting with each other and having their respective armed groups is bound to be unstable. Whether Gaddafi becomes a martyr or remains alive to exercise leadership over his followers, the Gaddafi camp can redeem itself through continued anti-imperialist struggle and remain a major force for fighting the imperialists and traitors and for contributing significantly to the rise and growth of a national liberation movement.

We are confident that the Libyan people will continue to draw courage and strength from their long and proud tradition of fighting colonialism and imperialism and to advance on the road of national independence, democracy, social justice and development. They should not allow the Arab spring to be merely a way of empowering a new set of rulers that is more servile to US imperialism than a previous one.

We stand firmly in solidarity with all the people of Libya in fighting for national independence and democracy. We call on ILPS member organizations and all friendly forces to promptly mount protest actions at the embassies of the US and other NATO powers involved in the current assault on Tripoli and in the entire barbaric campaign against Libya and the people of Libya.

Uphold and defend the national sovereignty and democratic rights of the people of Libya!

Down with US and the other imperialist powers in NATO! Get out of Libya!

Long live the people of Libya! Onward with the struggle for national liberation and democracy!


(Reprinted with permission from Mr. Joma Sison)

_________


Sison, Jose Maria. ILPS CONDEMNS THE US, NATO AND PUPPET FORCES FOR THEIR BARBARIC ATTACKS ON THE PEOPLE IN LIBYA. 26 August 2011. http://www.josemariasison.org/?p=8582#more-8582


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Walking History: HUWAG nang IPAGDIWANG ang BUWAN ng WIKA

ni MICHAEL XIAO CHUA


DAHIL kaarawan ngayon ng Pangulong Manuel Quezon na nag-adhika na magkaroon ng isang Pambansang Wika na batay pangunahin na sa Tagalog ngunit kabilang dapat ang mga salita mula sa ibang mga wika sa Pilipinas, kaibigan, tara, usap tayo... sa Filipino.


Madalas ako makakita ng mga karatula sa mga paaralan ngayon na ipinagmamalaki na “This is an English-Speaking Zone.”  Diumano upang tayo ay maging “globally-competitive,” ipinatupad ng nakaraang administrasyon ang polisiya na halos lahat ng asignatura ay dapat itinuturo sa Ingles.  Dito, kapag ikaw ay nagsasalita sa Ingles, kahit wala namang laman ang sinasabi mo, ang tingin sa iyo ay matalino.  Sa isang mamahaling kolehiyo aming nakita minsan ni Dr. Zeus Salazar, “English is the language of leaders.”  Sabi niya, “Bakit?  Si Napoleon ba iningles ang mga Pranses?  Si Mao ba iningles ang mga Tsino?”

Kahit marami ngayon ang “wrong grammar” sa paggamit ng Ingles, ipinagmamalaki natin na mas marami pa ring nagsasalita ng Ingles dito sa Pilipinas kaysa sa Inglatera.  Kung totoo ito, bakit tila hindi tayo mga pinuno sa daigdig?  Bakit tayo naghihirap?  Bakit walang sapat na marangal na trabaho sa bansa na kinakailangan na matuto tayo ng Ingles upang magsilbi sa pangangailangan ng mga dayuhan sa mga kasambahay, nars at caregiver at tagasagot ng telepono?  Bakit ang Hapon, Tsina, Europa ay mayaman kahit na maging ang mga CEO ng kanilang mga kumpanya ay bobo sa Ingles?  Sapagkat ang biyaya ng edukasyon, ekonomiya at pulitika dito sa Pilipinas ay nananatili lamang sa mga marunong mag-Ingles.  Ang may kontrol sa wika ay may bahagi sa kapangyarihan.  Maraming dahilan kung bakit tayo mahirap, ngunit hindi ba’t kabilang dito ang katotohanang hindi talaga makasawsaw ang mas nakararami sa mga isyu ng pagkabansa?  It’s the language, stupid.


Samahan niyo ako at hirayain natin (let’s imagine):  Sa kabila ng iba’t ibang wika na nakapaloob sa Kapilipinuhan, tayo ay nagkakaintindihan sa isang wika na mula sa ating kapuluan.  Ayon kay Dr. Salazar, “Gumagamit ng mga konsepto at ugali na alam natin lahat ang kahulugan, ...pati ang relasyon ng mga kahulugang ito sa isa’t isa.  Ito ay nangyayari lamang kung iisa ang ‘code’—ibig sabihin, may isang pangkabuuang pag-uugnay at pagkakaugnay ng mga kahulugan, kaisipan at ugali.  Mahalaga (at pundamental pa nga) rito ang iisang wika.”  Imbes na sa Ingles lamang nakalimbag ang Harry Potter o Twilight saga, ito ay isinasalin sa wikang mababasa na rin ng mas nakararaming Pilipino; na naglilimbag na tayo ng mga aklat ukol sa pilosopiya, quantum physics o quantum mechanics sa ating sariling wika; Na sa sistemang legal sa Pilipinas hindi na naagrabyado sa kaso ang mga mahihirap dahil wala silang maintindihan; Na naisasama na ang mahihirap sa biyaya ng ating ekonomiya dahil naiintindihan na nila ito; Na unti-unting nabubuo ang ating bansa dahil “nag-uusap tayo,” tulad ng sinasabi ni Boy Abunda, ukol sa ating sariling kasaysayan at karanasan, natutuklasan natin ang ating sariling lakas, at sa pagkakaintindihan nabubuo ang respeto sa isa’t isa, na nagbubunsod ng pagkakaisa sa kabila ng pagkakaiba-iba.  Hindi ba napaganda ng bansa natin kung ganoon?

Ito ang layunin ng Pantayong Pananaw at Bagong Kasaysayan, iskwelang pangkaisipan na sinimulan ni Dr. Salazar at patuloy na pinapanday ng mas nakababatang mga historyador (Para sa buong paliwanang, puntahan ang http://bagongkasaysayan.org), na sa pagbabalik-tanaw natin sa kasaysayan na “may saysay” sa atin, sa ating sariling wika, para sa bayan, mas maiintindihan natin ang ating sarili.  Maliit kasi ang tingin natin sa ating sarili dahil sa mga “historia” na isinulat ng mga dayuhan sa kanilang perspektiba at nagturo sa atin na umasa lamang sa kanila.  Bagama’t marami ang nagsusulat ukol sa ating kultura at kasaysayan, marami ang hindi nito naaabot dahil sa Ingles lamang nasusulat ang mga ito.

Hindi tayo maaaring maging “globally competitive” kung hindi tayo nagkakaintindihan bilang bansa at hindi matibay ang ating kultura.  Sapagkat ang nais ng globalisasyon ay magkaroon ng isang kultura ang daigdig upang mabenta ang mga produkto ng mga dominanteng bansa.  Magigising tayo minsan na wala na tayong pagkakakilanlan, na patay na ang ating pagkabansa tulad ng sinabi ni Simoun kay Basilio sa mga nobela ni Rizal.  Imbes na mapakinabangan natin ang globalisasyon, magagamit lamang tayo nito.

May mga nag-adhika noon na Ingles na ang maging pambansang wika tulad nina Isidoro Panlasigui.  Tinuruan na daw kasi ang Pilipino na magbasa ng Ingles, at may grupo na ayaw tanggapin ang Tagalog/Filipino bilang wikang pambansa.  Ngunit, ibang usapan kasi kung naiintindihan talaga ang kayang basahin.  Marami na sa kapuluan ang nakakaintindi ng Filipino dahil sa media.  Ang wika kasi ay kultura.  Ibig sabihin, hindi mairerepresenta ng isang dayuhang wika ang yaman ng ating kultura at damdamin tulad ng isang wika mula sa Pilipinas.  Ang “rice” sa Ingles ay palay, bigas, kanin, bahaw, tutong, sinangag, lugaw at iba pa sa Filipino.

Kapuri-puri ang halimbawa ng Pangulong Noynoy Aquino na kausapin ang bayan sa wika nito.  Nasa diwa siya ng kanyang ina na kahit elitista at Inglesera ay inutos sa kanyang Executive Order 335 na gamitin ang Filipino sa mga gawain ng estado.  Ayon kay Adrian Cristobal noong 1988, “This...is what President Corazon Cojuangco Aquino can legitimately parade as her achievement...:  That she has inducted the government and therefore the political realm into the same universe inhabited by the many.....  It is her one true act of statesmanship, an act that bolder presidents couldn’t dare because of the loud objections of regional leaders....  This presidential act will do more for our nationhood than any gesture at leadership.”  1 Agosto kapwa namatay ang Pang Quezon (1944) at Pang. Cory (2009).  Sana alalahanin din ang huli na tagapagtaguyod ng Wikang Pambansa sa buwan na ito at tunay na ipatupad ang kanyang magandang sinimulan.

Totoo, mahalaga pa rin sa akin ang matuto, magsulat at magsalita ng Ingles, at maganda pa nga matuto pa tayo ng Espanyol, Tsino, Aleman, Italiano, at iba pa.  Ngunit mali na itaguyod ang dayuhang wika habang isinasakripisyo nating ang pag-usbong ng Filipino at mga wika sa Pilipinas hindi lamang sa akademya kundi sa pamahalaan at ekonomiya.  Ito ay isang krimen sa ating kultura.  Kung patuloy na ipapatupad ang “English Only Policy” sa mga paaralan, nag-aaksaya lang tayo ng panahon, huwag na nating ipagdiwang ang Buwan ng Wika.

Sa mga nagtataguyod ng Filipino at ng mga wika sa Pilipinas, huwag mag-alala.  May kakampi tayo kay Emilio Jacinto, “tunay na [mahalaga ang] tao kahit laking-gubat at walang nababatid kundi ang sariling wika.”


******

Sa Setyembre 15-16, magkakaroon ng taunang kumperensya ang Philippine Historical Association bilang pagdiriwang ng Linggo ng Kasaysayan  ukol sa papel ng kasayhttps://www.facebook.com/notes/michael-charleston-briones-chua/walking-history-column-by-xiao-chua-huwag-nang-ipagdiwang-ang-buwan-ng-wika-good/10150286995768622sayan sa pagtuturo ng ibang disiplina sa mga agham panlipunan na gaganapin sa gusali ng Pambansang Komisyong Pangkasaysayan ng Pilipinas sa Daang Kalaw, Lungsod ng Maynila.  Para sa impormasyon, tumungo sa aming bahay-dagitab, http://www.pha1955.blogspot.com.

_____________


(Reprinted with permission from Prof. Michael Charlestone B. Chua)


Pinagkunan:

Chua, Michael Charlestone B. Walking History: Huwag Nang Ipagdiwang ang Buwan ng Wika, Good Morning Philippines, 19 August 2011. Good Morning Philippines Times Chronicle. 19 Aug. 2011. http://goodmorningphilippines.ph/index.html

Photo credits:

http://lilianmaeg.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/buwan.jpg?w=400&h=563

http://media.economist.com/images/20090606/D2309AS1.jpg

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjWrKFtRCs8hzF3jBA79ReejNPl0P09Bm3Dfgz6JG_XBbj7Eglb-i-vNI7ICf21ft312hJMYSp-Xe0vFd_ypWsZ22NqfWlq0QbzhtACTEAQeczF99XtlmhRmV6jWL0XFTQjB2rRQrUrUd5/s1600/Buwan+ng+Wikang+Pambansa.png

http://i528.photobucket.com/albums/dd323/jpsquilla81/Kindergarten%20Zyke/IMG_1095.jpg

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjWrKFtRCs8hzF3jBA79ReejNPl0P09Bm3Dfgz6JG_XBbj7Eglb-i-vNI7ICf21ft312hJMYSp-Xe0vFd_ypWsZ22NqfWlq0QbzhtACTEAQeczF99XtlmhRmV6jWL0XFTQjB2rRQrUrUd5/s1600/Buwan+ng+Wikang+Pambansa.png



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Walking History: WE WON the REVOLUTION

ni Prop. MICHAEL XIAO CHUA

Grito de Balintawak (Diorama at the Ayala Museum)

WHEN Ms. Rita Gadi asked me when and where the Philippine Revolution started in 1896, I was stupefied at first.  How do you quickly explain that many witnesses produced many answers:  Kangkong (23 August), Pugad Lawin (23 August), Bahay Toro (24 August), Sitio Gulod, Barrio Banlat (near Pasong Tamo now Tandang Sora Ave., 24 August), Balintawak (26 August).  Historians Milagros Guerrero, Emmanuel Encarnacion and Ramon Villegas wrote in an article in 1996 that the now “official” August 23 Cry of Pugadlawin is erroneous (there was no such place name in 1896 maps of the area), and that it was possible that there were many cries as they were organizing people in different places.  In a 1989 column anyway, Dr. Ambeth Ocampo cleared that all those other place names cited were in the area called “Balintawak.”  So maybe it’s safer to call it Cry of Balintawak.

Pinaglabanan Shrine by Eduardo Castrillo, San Juan
(old National Histrorical Institute postcard

The possibility of many cries can be supported by two historians, Dante Ambrosio and Enrico Azicate who in 1995 tried to walk through the places cited in accounts and sure enough, a path can be established that can lead to that important battle in San Juan by early morning of 30 August known as “Pinaglabanan.”

Dr. Guerrero, et al suggested that instead of celebrating the uncertain 23 August cry, it’s better to commemorate the well documented establishment of the Revolutionary Government by the Kataastaasang Sanggunian of the Katipunan on 24 August at the house of Tandang Sora in Banlat.  This is where Andres Bonifacio was elected as the first president of the first national government in the Philippines.  This is when our bansa was born.  With this, I agree with my mentor Dr. Guerrero.

A bigger problem than the contradicting facts of the first cry are misconceptions about the revolution itself.  We Filipinos,
regrettably, easily forget about the past.  And worst, many times we commemorate and emphasize our defeats.  By reading history written for us by foreigners, we look at ourselves in the point of view of the other.   Thus our colonial mentality and inferiority complex which had a long term effect on us—we feel that all good things about us came from foreigners (remember learning about pamana ng mga Espanyol and pamana ng mga Amerikano?), and that “ginhawa” can only be attained if we go out of this country.  One thing we tell ourselves is that we lost the Philippine Revolution, and it was the Americans who helped us defeat the Spaniards with the victory of the “Hero of Manila” Admiral George Dewey at the Battle of Manila Bay.

Filipino Struggle for Freedom (detail), mural by Carlos "Botong" Francisco, Bulwaganf Katipunan, Manila City Hall

One major thing that I cherished learning from Dr. Jaime Veneracion in one of my graduate courses in UP Diliman is that he emphasized that we won the revolution against Spain and that we must credit ourselves for it as a people.

When Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo, tactically agreed to go abroad after his government made peace with the Spaniards, he negotiated with key American diplomats who verbally promised that they will help the Filipinos ensure their independence.  One researcher from the National Historical Commission showed me a book by an American historian which stated that there was no evidence that the promise was ever given.  This will show us how we must be conscious of perspective when reading history.  Facts are not just facts.

Battle of Manila Bay, 1 May 1898

On 1 May 1898, the seven-vessel Asiatic Fleet came to Manila Bay under Dewey and in the battle sunk all obsolete twenty Spanish ships.  As Dr. Ambeth said, it was a “mismatch.”  There was only one American casualty, and he didn’t die of battle wounds but of heat stroke!  But Dewey did not have ground forces and so at this point they actually haven’t occupied the Philippines.

As the Americans were returning Aguinaldo back from Hongkong aboard McCulloch, many revolutionaries around the archipelago organized themselves again.  Little by little, the Anak ng Bayan returned and took-over different towns from the Spaniards.  After one of these battles, the Battle of Alapan, the Philippine flag made by Marcela Agoncillo, daughter Lorenza and Delfina Herbosa-Rizal, was unfurled at Teatro Caviteño in Cavite Viejo (Kawit) on 28 May.  Thus we celebrate this as the start of the flag days.

Proclamation of Philippine Independence, 12 June 1898 (artist rendition)

Hearing about the continuous victories of the Filipinos in defeating the Spaniards who were our colonizers for 333 years, Gen. Aguinaldo acted quickly and at 4:02 PM on 12 June proclaimed Philippine Independence at the central window of his mansion in Kawit, in the tune of Julian Felipe’s Marcha Filipina Magdalo / Marcha Nacional Filipina.  With this self-proclamation of V-S Day (Victory Over Spain), I believe that 12 June of every year is worth celebrating by every Filipino.

Xiao, on the Independence Balcony, Aguinaldo Shrine, Kawit, Cavite, 200

 One of the 97 signers of the Acta was a certain Col. M.L. Johnson, assumed by many as the representative of Dewey who couldn’t come because it was his “mail day.”  Historian J.R.M. Taylor clarified that he was not an official representative but a cinematograph operator.  This shows that the Americans don’t have any intention to honor their word.  American ground troops came and by 13 August, won against the Spaniards.  Atop Baluarte de San Francisco Javier in Intramuros, the Stars and Stripes was raised for the first time.  But it was a pre-negotiated battle, so the Spaniards can be defeated with honor, thus the monicker “Mock Battle of Manila.”  Filipino troops marched to claim the old capital but they were stopped by the Americans.  Sensing finally that the Americans were not to be trusted, he went to Bulacan, organized the Malolos Congress on 15 September, which gave birth to the First Constitutional Republic in Asia by 23 January 1899.

Xiao, infront of the Independence Balcony
Aguinaldo Shrine, Kawit, Cavite, 1

Although this victory was short lived as we fought once again in our war against the Americans, it reminds us that united, we can defeat any long-term problem battling us.  With this I say, wake up and be inspired to greet every new morning as we proclaim our greatness.  Good Morning Philippines!

Let me dedicate this column to my professor, Dante Ambrosio, who fought for our bayan and wrote about our constellations, thank you and goodbye.  You are now part of the stars.

The late UP Prof. Dante Ambrosio
(Photo by Xiao Chua)

 (Reprinted with permission from Prof. Michael Xiao Chua)


_________


Chua, Michael Xiao. We Won the Revolution. https://www.facebook.com/notes/michael-charleston-briones-chua/walking-history-column-by-xiao-chua-huwag-nang-ipagdiwang-ang-buwan-ng-wika-good/10150286995768622


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Remembering Nagasaki & Hiroshima: Resist the Threats from Nuclear Power Plants & Nukes

By Prof. Jose Maria Sison
Chairperson, International Coordinating Committee
International League of Peoples’ Struggle
5 August 2011 


On the occasion of the 66th anniversary of the barbaric bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the US, the International League of People's Struggles joins the Japanese people and all peace-loving peoples in commemorating the event and in condemning the continuing nuclear threat from the US and its imperialist allies.

On August 6, 1945, Hiroshima was incinerated by a nuclear weapon with a core of enriched uranium released by the US over the city. The nuclear radiation, explosion, heat and resulting fires killed 90,000 people almost immediately. This number rose to more than a hundred thousand by the end of 1945.

On August 9, 1945, Nagasaki was destroyed by a second atomic weapon with a core of plutonium 239 killing immediately some 40,000 and left 70,000 more dying by the end of the year. Tens of thousands more died later from radiation sickness. The combined death toll from the two atomic attacks run up to nearly two hundred thousand.

Despite the passage of 66 years, the surviving victims of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings suffer from the after effects and the second and third generations of the victims live in fear of consequences adverse to their health. The Japanese government has not provided to the victims state compensation and the necessary medical services.

The atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki sixty-six years ago is one that is an exercise of unnecessary and excessive force. With the objective of enabling the US military to assess the effects and power of the newly developed atomic bomb, the US chose the two cities that were relatively unscathed by aerial bombing for its atrocious experiment. The twin bombing ranks as one of the worst war crimes and crimes against humanity ever committed in history. Yet despite this horrifying example of destruction, the threat of nuclear weapons remains from the only country that has used these weapons of mass destruction in war.

There are still roughly 20,500 nuclear weapons in the world. Fourteen thousand of these are in military stockpiles and around 4,830 are deployed in operational strategic role. More than 95 percent of nuclear weapons are with the US and Russia which continue to integrate these weapons into their military strategies. The rest of the weapons are with the UK, France, China, Israel, India, Pakistan and North Korea.

Although both the US and Russia have recently said that nuclear war between them is now "unthinkable," their strategic war plans still put nuclear strikes with hundreds of targets as options. Both countries still have the capacity to initiate a nuclear attack in a matter of a few seconds. Between the two, there are more than 800 ready-to-fire ballistic missiles armed with at nearly 2,000 strategic nuclear warheads on high alert, ready for use on short notice.

The US continues to test its intercontinental ballistic missiles such as the Minuteman III for readiness and keeps its Global Strike capability to hit targets anywhere in the globe in less than an hour. As the US puts the prevention of nuclear terrorism and proliferation in its 2010 Nuclear Posture Review, it has increased funding for the rebuilding of its "aging" nuclear infrastructure.

The Obama administration plans to spend $6.3 billion until 2016 to extend the lifetime and usage capabilities of the warheads in their stockpile. It seeks to finish the construction of nuclear materials production facilities which costs more than $10 billion and pledged another $6.24 billion to modernize its missiles, SSBN submarines, Joint Strike fighter planes and B-2 and B-52 bombers that are designed to deliver nuclear warheads.

The US military budget of $698 billion in 2010 is nearly 43% of the world's total military spending. It also remains the largest arms exporter in the world selling nearly $38 billion last year which is predicted to surge up to $50 billion in 2011. Saudi Arabia, Israel, and Egypt consistently rank among the top five importers of U.S. weaponry.

The US continues to expand its war foothold with new military bases such as that on Jeju Island in South Korea and in Okinawa despite resistance from local residents. It uses bilateral military agreements such as status of forces and base sharing agreements to virtually convert whole countries as their military base.

The new NATO Strategic Concept at the Lisbon Summit in 2010 reaffirmed the importance of nuclear weapons in the designs of the alliance in Europe. NATO's nuclear posture with roughly 200 non-strategic warheads remains tied directly to US interests. Plans to retrofit strategic nuclear bombs currently deployed in Europe as well as to build new F-35 planes to carry these bombs are being pushed to enhance NATO's capability to knock out military targets.

The US promotes double standards in nuclear proliferation- one set of rules for Israel and India and another set for potential enemies such as North Korea and Iran. It expands its role in assigning itself as global cop to hold "fully accountable any state, terrorist group, or other non-state actor that supports or enables terrorist efforts to obtain or use weapons of mass destruction, whether by facilitating, financing, or providing expertise or safe haven for such efforts."

It enforces this through US-led agreements such as their Proliferation Security Initiative which lets US allies interdict ships unilaterally on the high seas on mere suspicion that these are carrying "nuclear materials and contraband". Such initiatives which inflame tensions are mainly focused on such states as Iran and the DPRK and are seen as aggressive moves by these countries.

In 1954, the US used nuclear technology to entice and bring into its fold other countries such as Japan in order to counteract Soviet influence. The US uses the same tactic, in reverse, in denying Iran and the DPRK nuclear technologies to counter proliferation. This introduction of nuclear technology to Japan brought in US designed reactors such as the Fukushima Dai-ichi plants that melted down last March 2011. As nuclear power has shown its deadly bite with the meltdown of the reactors in Fukushima, the threat of nuclear war still remains with us.

Through nuclear intimidation and blackmail, the US has caused the suffering of tens of millions of people who came under its wars of aggression and intervention in Korea, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, and elsewhere. Further, the US has enabled its puppet regimes to massacre and maim millions more of people.. The oppressive and exploitative globalization policies unleashed by the US and its local partners have put hundreds of millions of people into misery and poverty.

In commemorating the atom bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, we stand in solidarity with the people of the world against any form of imperialist war, military intervention and oppression. We are moved to resist imperialist aggression as we witness today the extremely high numbers of people being killed and injured in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya.

We vigorously oppose the U.S.-Japanese military alliance and its core strategic policy of nuclear blackmail. It is just for the people of Japan and the world to condemn and resist the scheme of the U.S. and Japanese governments in the consolidation of US bases in Okinawa, Iwakuni and Kanagawa. These are meant to perpetuate US domination over the Asia-Pacific region

Since the latter half of the 1960s, the US and Japanese monopoly bourgeoisie have undermined and weakened the yearly commemoration of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atom bombings in order to reduce remembrance of these, lessen fears about nuclear radiation and pave the way for the rapid construction of nuclear power plants in Japan. There are now more than 55 nuclear reactors in Japan, with 14 more power plants previously planned.

Now, we are confronted with a grave nuclear disaster, the meltdown of reactors in Fukusihma Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. Radiation leaks continue and spread. A great number of people are exposed to radiation in the Fukushima and neighboring prefectures. Land, seawater and crops are polluted and local communities are victimized. The myths of safety in the use of nuclear power plants have been exposed.

We hereby express our firm and continuing support to the Japanese people in their demands for the state to provide compensation and medical services to the A-bomb victims and their second and third generations, for banning and shutting down all the nuclear power plants and stopping the construction of new ones, for holding the Japanese state responsible for acts of aggression during World War and for indemnifying all war victims in Asia, for topping the nuclear armament of Japan, for scrapping the US-Japan security alliance and dismantling the US military bases in Japan and for the withdrawal of all US military forces in Asia.

The anniversaries of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are reminders of the continued peril that the peoples of the world face under imperialist aggression. The ILPS calls on all the world's peoples to intensify their struggle against US imperialism and its barbaric and terrorist policy of producing, maintaining, using and threatening to use nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction. ###

(Reprinted with permission from Mr. Joma Sison)

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Source:

Sison, Jose Maria. RESIST THREATS FROM NUCLEAR WEAPONS AND POWER PLANTS (In Commemoration of the 66th Anniversary of Hiroshima and Nagasaki Bombings). 5 Oct. 2011. http://www.josemariasison.org/?p=8555#more-8555


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