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US imperialism
Stephen F. Cohen on Ukraine: Meeting shows 'Kiev, not Moscow, blocking peace deal'
Click for more on the political situation in Ukraine.
August 26, 2015 -- New Cold War.org, posted by Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal -- Stephen F. Cohen, contributing editor to The Nation, was interviewed on the the John Batchelor Show, WABC radio in New York City. They discuss the news of a ceasefire agreement in eastern Ukraine for a cessation of hostilities beginning September 1, 2015, and the recent meeting in Berlin on August 24 of Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel, France's President François Hollande and Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko.
Atomic bombings of Japan were a crime against humanity
![](http://web.archive.org./web/20151009001006im_/http://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/97f51c6aaa771490875daab805505746e790fe13/0_71_3000_1800/master/3000.jpg?w=1065&q=85&auto=format&sharp=10&s=7bdd10e0deff946c8d607d3e72930e35)
Doves were released over the Hiroshima peace memorial park during the August 6, 2015, ceremony. Photograph: Kazuhiro Nogi/AFP/Getty Images.
By Rupen Savoulian
August 9, 2015 -- Antipodean Atheist, posted at Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal with permission -- This month marks the 70th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the United States in August 1945.
Puerto Rico, la Grecia americana
![](http://web.archive.org./web/20151009001006im_/https://www.greenleft.org.au/sites/default/files/imagecache/article-image/debtbums-800-326x235.jpg)
[English at http://links.org.au/node/4542.]
Por Barry Sheppard, traducción Faustino Eguberri para VIENTO SUR
31 de julio de 2015 -- Green Left Weekly, Viento Sur -- Mientras el mundo entero tiene su atención fija en el espectáculo que dan el FMI, la CE y el Banco Central Europeo (la troika) aplastando al pueblo griego, hay otros numerosos ejemplos de poderosos países imperialistas que utilizan la "crisis de la deuda" para extraer más riquezas de los países más débiles que ellos, así como de países imperialistas más pobres.
Un caso típico es el de la colonia de Puerto Rico (3,6 millones de habitantes). En una entrevista concedida al New York Times, el gobernador de la nación caribeña declaró: "Nuestra deuda, que asciende a 73 mil millones de dólares, no es pagable. No hay otra opción. Sería feliz si hubiera otra opción más fácil. Pero no es cuestión de política, sino de matemáticas". Puerto Rico no ha podido pagar un plazo de más de mil millones de dólares que vencía el pasado 1 de julio.
Barry Sheppard: Screwed by vulture funds, Puerto Rico is the Washington's 'Greece'
![](http://web.archive.org./web/20151009001006im_/https://www.greenleft.org.au/sites/default/files/imagecache/article-image/debtbums-800-326x235.jpg)
For more on Puerto Rico, click HERE, and more by Barry Sheppard.
By Barry Sheppard
July 27, 2015 -- Green Left Weekly, posted at Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal -- The world has been focused on the spectacle of the “Troika” of the International Monetary Fund, European Union and the European Central Bank crushing the Greek people, but it is far from the only example of strong nations using a “debt crisis” to extract more wealth from those that are weaker.
A case in point is the US colony of Puerto Rico. In a June 28 New York Times interview, the governor of the Caribbean archipelago nation declared its debt of US$73 billion “is not payable. There is no other option. I would love to have an easier option. This is not politics. This is math.”
Puerto Rico, which remains a territory of the US, has missed a July 1 deadline on a payment of more than $1 billion.
Porto Rico. La «Grèce» américaine
![](http://web.archive.org./web/20151009001006im_/https://www.greenleft.org.au/sites/default/files/imagecache/article-image/debtbums-800-326x235.jpg)
[English at http://links.org.au/node/4542.]
Par Barry Sheppard
18 juillet 2015 -- A l'encontre -- Pendant que le monde entier a eu son attention fixée sur le spectacle montrant le Fonds monétaire international, la Commission européenne et de la Banque centrale européenne (la « Troïka ») en train d’écraser le peuple grec, il y a de nombreux autres exemples de pays impérialistes parmi les plus puissants qui utilisent une «crise de la dette» pour extraire plus de richesse de pays plus faibles qu’eux, ainsi que de pays non impérialistes plus pauvres.
Video: Struggle and suffering: The 1946-49 Greek Civil War
For more by Doug Enaa Greene, click HERE.
August 2, 2015 -- Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal -- The Greek Civil War was one of the major events shaping modern Greek history. The Greek Civil War from 1946-49 was fought between the Communist Party and the monarchy aided by the United States. The Civil War was one of the first major clashes of the Cold War. Communist historian Doug Enaa Greene lectured and led a discussion on the roots and course of the war for the Center for Marxist Education.
To read a transcript of the talk, see http://links.org.au/node/4514. To learn more about the Center for Marxist Education, see https://www.facebook.com/CenterForMarxistEducation
Turkey wages war on Kurds under 'cover' of fighting ISIS
For more on the struggle of the Kurdish people
July 29, 2015 -- Democracy Now!, posted at Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: Turkish jets have reportedly launched their heaviest assault on Kurdish militants in northern Iraq since airstrikes began last week, effectively ending a two-year truce. Over the past week, the Turkish military has launched combat operations on two fronts: one against the self-proclaimed Islamic State in Syria (also called Daesh and ISIS or ISIL), another against Kurds inside Turkey and in northern Iraq, where Kurdish groups have been fighting against the Islamic State. This means Turkey is now essentially bombing both sides of the same war.
Puerto Rico: Washington's 'Greece' -- Party of the Working People fights austerity
![](http://web.archive.org./web/20151009001006im_/http://www.noticel.com/uploads/image/bernabe.jpg)
Rafael Bernabe, spokesperson for the Partido del Pueblo Trabajador. He was its candidate for governor in 2012.
For more on Puerto Rico, click HERE.
By Rafael Bernabe
July 2015 -- New Politics, posted at Links international Journal of Socialist Renewal -- The Partido del Pueblo Trabajador—the Party of the Working People (PPT)—is a political project of the Puerto Rican left addressed to working people in the context of the island’s deep economic crisis. It would be hard to exaggerate the gravity of Puerto Rico’s present social and economic situation, which can only be compared to the impact of the Great Depression in the 1930s.
Struggle and suffering: The 1946-49 Greek Civil War
![](http://web.archive.org./web/20151009001006im_/https://interstellarmedium.files.wordpress.com/2014/07/greece-civil-war-elas.jpg?w=529&h=465)
Fighters of the Greek Army of National Liberation.
See a video presentation of this talk at http://links.org.au/node/4537. For more by Doug Enaa Greene, click HERE.
By Doug Enaa Greene
July 17, 2015 – Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal -- On March 24, 1945, the famed partisan leader Aris Velouhiotis wrote the following in a letter to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE):
'US fuelled the rise of ISIS' conspiracy theories a back-handed attack on Syrian uprising
![](http://web.archive.org./web/20151009001006im_/http://i.guim.co.uk/img/static/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2015/6/3/1433357350365/Eva-Bee-illustration-009.jpg?w=620&q=85&auto=format&sharp=10&s=11167df1488198f3400d1b9bdf4d91ee)
The graphic from Seamus Milne's article.
By Michael Karadjis
June 8, 2015 -- Syrian Revolution Commentary and Analysis, submitted to Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal by the author -- In early June, journalist Seamus Milne penned a piece for the Guardian entitled, "Now the truth emerges how the US fuelled the rise of Isis in Syria and Iraq" (http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jun/03/us-isis-syria-iraq).
Of course, we all wait for “the truth”. The nickname “truth” has been used by every kind of religious organisation for centuries – indeed they all had opposing “truths”. Generations of Americans saw the reflection of their own imperialist leaders in Superman fighting for “truth, justice and the American way”. For decades Soviet citizens were told their leaders spoke only “the truth” in a newspaper by that name.
Milne, in other words, is in good company.
Desmond Tutu reminded: 'Stand with Venezuela's right, you choose the side of the oppressor'
![](http://web.archive.org./web/20151009001006im_/http://venezuelanalysis.com/files/imagecache/block_node_images/images/2015/06/screen_shot_2015-06-16_at_13.57.50.png)
For more on Venezuela, click HERE
By Lucas Koerner
June 16, 2015 -- Venezuelanalysis.com, posted at Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal -- In an op-ed published in the Spanish daily El Pais, titled "Free the Prisoners of Conscience in Venezuela", the renowned South African Archbishop and anti-apartheid militant Desmond Tutu foresakes neutrality in order to unabashedly take the side of the oppressor, namely the United States and the Venezuelan right wing.
Statement on West Philippine Sea/South China Sea territorial dispute: US butt out!
![](http://web.archive.org./web/20151009001006im_/http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/WO-AF873_VIETCH_NS_20110609151806.jpg)
For more coverage of the Philippines, click HERE
By Partido Lakas ng Masa international desk
Philippines must open bilateral talks with China to ease tensions, now!
US butt out, stop intervening in the dispute!
May 28, 2015 -- Partido Lakas ng Masa (PLM, Party of the Laboring Masses), posted at Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal -- Given the renewed sabre rattling and war cries between the US and China, over the West Philippine Sea and disputed territories, we call on the Philippine government to immediately open bilateral talks with China in order to ease tensions. While we condemn China's aggressive bullying tactics, we firmly believe that the government must take immediate steps towards a negotiated political settlement to this long-running dispute.
However, we also think that the government has to be sincere about pursuing a political settlement, in order to move towards a peaceful resolution of the conflicting claims. This means that the Philippine government disassociate itself from any actions that makes it a proxy for US interests, that is it must be committed to pursuing a truly independent policy in the region.
40 years after Vietnam's liberation: Okinawa's forgotten war
![](http://web.archive.org./web/20151009001006im_/https://revolutionaryfrontlines.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/saigon2.jpg)
April 30, 1975: a North Vietnamese tank rolls through the gate of the Presidential Palace in Saigon.
By Jon Mitchell
April 30, 2015 -- Asia-Pacific Journal, Japan Focus, posted at Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal -- On April 30, 1975, North Vietnamese troops and their supporters entered Saigon. Their arrival ended three decades of conflict -- including 10 years of direct US- intervention -- which left as many as 3 million dead and countless others suffering from the legacy of PTSD, unexploded ordnance and Agent Orange.1
As the world remembers this 40th anniversary, all too often forgotten is the role of the Pentagon’s most important launch pad for this failed war: Okinawa.
The Vietnam War wrought massive changes on the lives of the island’s 900,000 residents. Many of Okinawa’s current problems date back to this era and, if the history of the Vietnam War there continues to be ignored, the island’s wounds -- in many ways as raw as those in South-east Asia and the US -- will continue to fester long into the future.
* * *
Saudi Arabia’s lesser known exports after oil: Wahhabism and pro-imperialism
![](http://web.archive.org./web/20151009001006im_/http://washingtonnote.com/twn_up_fls/King%20Abdullah%20Barack%20Obama.jpg)
US President Barack Obama fetes the late King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia.
By Rupen Savoulian
April 19, 2015 -- Antipodean Atheist, posted at Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal with author's permission -- Saudi Arabia’s aerial offensive against Yemen has continued for the fourth week at the time of writing. Yemen is undergoing a humanitarian crisis, with millions of Yemenis lacking basic access to food, clean drinking water and health care. The Saudi bombardment has only worsened the plight of the Yemenis, with schools destroyed, hospitals and health-care facilities targeted, and electricity supplies cut off. Basic infrastructure is being shattered, thus precipitating a catastrophic health situation for Yemeni residents.
Middle East: Saudi Arabia's US-backed war on Yemen
![](http://web.archive.org./web/20151009001006im_/https://ethnology.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/arabian.gif)
By Tony Iltis
April 13, 2015 -- Green Left Weekly, posted at Links International Joural of Socialist Renewal -- The United States is providing crucial support to regional ally Saudi Arabia ― a big buyer of US arms ― as it launches a new war in the Middle East by attacking neighbouring Yemen. A Saudi-led coalition of Western-aligned, mainly Sunni Islamist, Arab government's launched air, naval and ground military offensive against Yemen on March 25.
Saudi Arabian forces are being supported by military planes from the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan, Morocco, Sudan and Egypt, which is also supplying naval forces. The military intervention is in support of Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, the Yemen president overthrown in January by a coalition led by Ansar Allah, also known as the Houthi movement. Ansar Allah is an armed movement based in the Zaydi religious minority, who are about 35% of Yemen's population.
The Saudi intervention has accelerated the civil war engulfing Yemen.
The World Health Organisation said on April 8 that at least 643 people had been killed and 2226 injured in Yemen between March 19 and April 6. The WHO said: “These are only health facility-based figures and casualty estimates are likely to continue to increase as additional cases are verified and reported.”
More than 334,000 people have been internally displaced and 254,400 have fled abroad.
Raúl Castro: 'Cuba will continue to defend the ideas for which our people have sacrificed'
![](http://web.archive.org./web/20151009001006im_/http://www.cuba-solidarity.org.uk/images/news/raulpanama.jpg)
President Raúl Castro Ruz thanked the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean for their solidarity.
By Raúl Castro Ruz, president of Cuba
[Council of State transcript of Castro's speech to the Summit of the Americas in Panama.]
April 14, 2015 -- Granma, posted at Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal -- It was high time I spoke here on behalf of Cuba. I was told at first that I could make an eight-minute speech; although I made a great effort, along with my foreign minister, to reduce it to eight minutes, and as I’m owed six summits from which we were excluded, six times eight, 48 (laughter and applause), I asked President Juan Carlos Varela [of Panama] a few moments before entering this magnificent hall, to allow me a few minutes more, especially after we have been hearing so many interesting speeches, and I am not only referring to that of President Obama, but also that of Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa, President Dilma Rousseff and others.
Australia-Venezuela Solidarity Network broadsheet: 'Venezuela is not a threat'
![](http://web.archive.org./web/20151009001006im_/http://d.ibtimes.co.uk/en/full/1429625/venezuela-anti-us.jpg)
“This is how much I care about your sanctions, Mr Obama.” Placard at anti-imperialist rally in Caracas held in the wake of Obama's March 9 declaration.
Click HERE for more on the Australia-Venezuela Solidarity Network.
April 2015 -- Australia-Venezuela Solidarity Network, posted at Links International Journal of Socialisr Renewal with permission
[The following letter was written by Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro and was originally published on March 17.]
By Nicolas Maduro, president of Venezuela
We are the people of Simon Bolívar, our people believe in peace and respect for all nations.
Freedom and independence
More than two centuries ago, our fathers founded a Republic on the basis that all persons are free and equal under the law.
Our nation made the greatest sacrifices to guarantee South American people their right to choose their rulers and to enforce their own laws today. The historical legacy of our father, Simón Bolívar, is always remembered. Bolívar was a man who gave his life so we would inherit a nation of justice and equality.
We believe in peace, national sovereignty and international law
Venezuela: 'No more coups! No more interventions! Repeal the Executive Order, Mr. President!'
![](http://web.archive.org./web/20151009001006im_/http://i.guim.co.uk/static/w-620/h--/q-95/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2014/12/18/1418940349738/94c92def-d08b-4dd1-8c8c-db9b6251feeb-620x372.jpeg)
April 9, 2015 -- Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal -- The following letter, signed by 30 academics, municipal councillors, trade union officials, journalists, solidarity organisation convenors and political party leaders from around Australia, was initiated by the Venezuela Solidarity Campaign in Melbourne. It will be handed over the US consulates in Melbourne and Sydney on April 10. If you would like to add your name please email Denis Rogatyuk at denis_rogatyuk@mail.ru.
* * *
President Barack Obama
White House
Washington, DC 20500
Dear Mr President,
We, the undersigned individuals and organisations, reject your March 9, 2015, declaration deeming Venezuela as an “unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States”.
We also oppose the sanctions your administration has placed on a number of Venezuelan state officials and call for the immediate repeal of your Executive Order on Venezuela.
The reality is that Venezuela today is not at war with any nation, nor does it have military bases outside its borders. In fact, Venezuela is helping to mediate an end to the war in Colombia and has constantly championed peace in the region.
John Pilger wrong on former Yugoslavia
![](http://web.archive.org./web/20151009001006im_/https://www.msu.edu/course/pls/461/stein/yugo-kosovo_11.jpg)
Kosovans displaced by Milosevic's serb-chauvinist regime.
Click HERE for more on Kosova/Kosovo
By Chris Slee
March 27, 2015 -- Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal -- In his article, "New threats of war and fascism",[1], John Pilger rightly denounces the history of US military intervention around the world. But he gives a distorted account of the events leading up to NATO's war against Serbia in 1999. He fails to recognise that the previous actions of the Serbian government created the conditions which made NATO's attack on Serbia possible.
The Serbian-chauvinist regime of Slobodan Milosevic had provoked a rebellion by the Albanian population of Kosova [also referred to as Kosovo]. It had also alienated most of the other nationalities of the former Yugoslavia. This left Serbia isolated when NATO attacked.
Pilger condemns the "criminal record" of the Kosova Liberation Army (KLA), but seems to absolve the Serbian government of any wrongdoing.
The Syrian war, Israel, Hezbollah and the US-Iran romance: is Israel changing its view on the war?
![](http://web.archive.org./web/20151009001006im_/https://7ee6an.files.wordpress.com/2014/01/assad-forces-in-homs-aftert-destruction.jpg)
Assad government forces enter a section of Homs after the government destroyed it with artillery and air attacks.
By Michael Karadjis
February 24, 2015 -- Syrian Revolution Analysis and Commentary, submitted to Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal by the author -- In recent months, Israeli occupation forces in Syria’s Golan Heights have launched a number of attacks on either Syrian regime or allied Hezbollah military forces in the region, adding to a more sporadic stream of attacks since mid-2013.
Given that countless Israeli politicians, military leaders, intelligence officials and other strategists and spokespeople have continually stressed, since the onset of the Syrian conflict, that they saw the maintenance of the regime of Bashar Assad as preferable to any of the alternatives on offer – as I have documented in great detail at https://mkaradjis.wordpress.com/2014/01/03/israel-and-the-syrian-war/ – the recent spate of Israeli attacks raises the question of whether Israel has changed its position and now favours the defeat of Assad.
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