The following is a selection of recent letters to the World Socialist Web Site.
On “Uproar in US Congress over Iraq withdrawal vote”
I appreciate the detailed comments on your web site. They are very informative. My daughter plays cards with a lot of people all over the world on her computer. One of them is a junior officer who says he is stationed in northern Iraq. He states in very closely worded language that they should not be in that country and that he now understands from conversation with senior officers that the reason they are there is to secure the oil for the US. He also says that the great majority of Iraqi people make it quite clear they want them to get out of their country almost to the point of a kind of hatred. He says he can’t wait to go home and will not go back, and that this is the feeling of the troops in his outfit.
DB
Canada
21 November 2005
***The proposal of withdrawal from established government figures is not unexpected. The WSWS itself speculated some time ago on the possibility of the instability of an Iraqi government built by the US. The uproar in Congress is over whether to move to “Plan B”—forsaking a united Iraq and dealing only with the Kurds in the North and the Shiites in the South, the areas that have oil, and ignore the troublesome Sunni central region that does not have much oil.
In addition to Iraq plunging into civil war, the US could take advantage of the still further instability to produce the needed motivation to attack Iran and Syria, once its troops are freed from containing the Iraqi insurrection, which has been pointed out.
However, another hell into which the Iraqis are plunged by the US occupation is the developing ethnic cleansing of communities in Iraq, even reported on the front page of the New York Times. This is an effect for which there is a pattern that often follows US involvement. This murderous state was also seen in Yugoslavia and Rwanda, and is continuing with the ethnic based warlords of Afghanistan, as imperialists, including the US, created havoc by supporting various groups.
The fight of the WSWS for the socialist unity of the working class offers the only alternative.
HL
New York, New York
21 November 2005
***I am a “war baby” My dad had me after he returned from slogging around in Europe. I respect and honor the men who left babies home and didn’t get to see them grow up; I know such is happening now in Iraq. Democracy in America is changing; perhaps the world is changing in such a way that we now alive would not recognize it if we were to visit our grandchildren’s future world. The American political system has lost the vision encapsulated in the three branches of government system set by our forefathers in their wisdom.
Elected representatives are no longer elected in the sense of representing the people. They are committed to courses that protect them from a bruising financial battle by not alienating corporate interests. They give empty lip service to supporting the public yet upon closer inspection the public-benefit bills pass with start dates a decade or more in the future. This is nothing but a disgrace to the people they represent, as there is not a chance the bills will survive to be enacted as they stand and that is the known result, how could it be otherwise?
While this was not the intent of our Constitution, it serves well the hidden power of global corporate conglomerates that actually do the law making. The result is a system of government while democratic in name, wears this cloak of representation lightly. The public have a governance that no longer is responsible to them, the elected body no longer fear voter wrath, the President becomes a carefully chosen puppet who moves through his orchestrated four year performance with all the grace that a massive public relations campaign heavily drenched with psychological manipulations will allow.
KS
Duluth, Minnesota
21 November 2005
On “Study documents exploitation in Indian call centres”
Your articles are so fascinating, even though I am not a devotee of socialism in toto. I do admire the system when it rises from the people and is applied reasonably. It sure beats the hell out of capitalism, especially when that system simply emerges from hardened power structures.
I have missed the aspect of exploitation when considering the call centers. I was solely concerned with American jobs being exported. Sadly, Mr. Skeers’ article redirected my attention to where it should be: human welfare. I shall return to your site regularly.
I am a regular participant in demos against the war in Afghanistan and Iraq, and many of my fellows are a red as the blood that runs through my veins and that is fine with me. America needs a fresh outlook.
SC
23 November 2005
***This report is very True. I have been working with Genpact for more than four years now and have experienced the same. I have lost my incentives which made up to one third of my salary just because I couldn’t predict that I would fall ill 72 hours in advance. We take up to 110 calls a day, and each call lasts for up to three to four minutes. That means we speak non-stop for five to six hours. Leaves are never approved, as the process is always short of staffing (for four years). Unbelievable but true. Salutes to the VV Giri report for exposing this to the World.
Genpact Employee
23 November 2005
On “India: removal of foreign minister points to struggle over extent of US ties”
Though your report is little belated, still it portrays the reality in correct perspective. The Indian Prime Minister’s decision to strip Natwar Singh off of his portfolio is nothing but an action to keep the US happy. The Volcker Committee itself was not as independent as it appeared to be. Volcker is not only close to the UN but also to Washington, particularly the Democratic Party. He was the former Chairman of Federal Reserve Board appointed by the then US President Carter. Natwar Singh is known for his softness towards Saddam and the leaders of Iran and his eagerness and advocacy of carrying forward the Indo-Iran Pipeline project.
Moreover the credibility of the US as a world power has taken a severe beating following the manner in which the US made out a false case against the Saddam Hussein government in order to justify its invasion and occupation of Iraq. All the claims of Bush administration that Saddam was having WMD, his Al Queda Connections and large scale killings of Shias were proved to be false, and the justification for its invasion of Iraq is now hanging on the thin wire of its claim that Saddam misused the UN’s Oil For Food programme. And the US is desperate in its bid to save its face on this count at least.
Another point is that the US does not want to lose the support of Indian Government in the case of Iran. So when the final voting to refer Iran to the UN Security Council takes place at the IAEA, it does not want India to be represented by Natwar whose stand on this issue is pro-Iran. With the external affairs portfolio with him, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will be a willing prey for US’ arm twisting.
CTSK Chennai, India
22 November 2005
On “Sri Lanka’s new president faces crisis over forming a government”
By appealing to the base instincts of race and religion the President and his able cohorts are naturally inducing one crisis after the other. They have obviously learned no lessons from 57 years of chaos. Try as he might he will be only be flogging political dead horses which cannot be brought to life to form a cabinet in a country so desperately crying out for political and economic regeneration to solve everyday problems affecting people. By setting hard positions ahead, the President has boxed himself into an uncompromising position vis-a-vis the Tigers. Should Norway be asked to quit even a knave will know what the outcome is likely to be. Perhaps, that is why he got into power—to bring about the final collapse of peace and the economy.
SM 24 November 2005
On “Solomon Island prisoners accuse Australian authorities of abuses”
Thanks for these kind of stories. I think Solomon Islanders need to know both sides of what is happening with the intervention. What happened here now is quite a one-sided affair. Stories such as these are always discouraged by the people with money and power who are now in control of many government departments in Honiara. Looking forward to reading more.
GG
Honiara, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands
23 November 2005
On “France: Gaullist officials stoke up racism to justify state of emergency”
To conceal its complicity in the wave of riots that has shaken France, the French government concocts a completely ludicrous explanation: the riots were caused by polygamy. How do they come up with this racist trash? Are the ideologues of Apartheid now being employed by Sarkozy?
The language employed by Accoyer and Sarkozy literally oozes racist contempt. Besides exposing the stunted intellectual and moral stature of these men and those they represent, it constitutes a clear attempt to provoke violence and hatred against immigrant communities in France. How long will it be before the French working class as a whole is vilified in this manner?
EG
22 November 2005
On “Fighting backwardness: The Aristocrats, directed by Paul Provenza”
I ran across this article completely by accident, but I read the entire thing because I was so captivated by your beautifully constructed analysis of the film and all the other sources you brought into the mix. I just wanted to say thank you for the surprisingly substantive read!
AN
Pasadena, California
21 November 2005