Save Kevin Cooper!
I am writing to ask for your support in the campaign to save the life of an innocent death row inmate named Kevin Cooper. Kevin, an African-American, is set to be executed on February 10 by the state of California. His 20-year ordeal is a prime example of what's wrong with the criminal injustice system in America.
In 1983, the Ryen family was murdered in southern California. Only one person survived, a small boy who told police three white or Latino men committed the crime. Three weapons were used in the murder. A woman accused her boyfriend of the crime and supplied police with bloody coveralls.
Yet, soon Kevin will be made to pay the ultimate price. Activists in California are mobilising to stop his execution, and I ask for support from our Australian brothers and sisters. Please visit for more info on his case and what action can be done.
John Green
Davis California
USA
Bushwhacked
Nothing has changed over the past 40 years when the Liberals went all the way with LBJ. Today we find the Howard government has been Bushwhacked.
Raymond Evans
Wodonga Vic
ICC should try Howard
In July last year, the Athens Bar Association filed suit against Tony Blair for crimes against humanity in the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague. Blair was accused of committing atrocities in Iraq. Now an international panel of jurists have also said that Blair and his cabinet could be brought before the ICC for crimes against humanity.
A similar action cannot be brought against the main villain who authorised the illegal invasion of Iraq — George Bush. He has conveniently refused to ratify the convention giving jurisdiction to the ICC.
Australia, on the other hand, has ratified the ICC. Howard and his cabinet could therefore be liable for crimes against humanity.
The panel of experts who reviewed the evidence against Blair and his cabinet made specific mention of the invasion forces' use of cluster bombs in Iraq. These horrific weapons don't discriminate between military and civilian personnel. The cluster bomblets are still killing innocent civilians.
In July last year, I implored the ICC prosecutor to allow the Greek suit to proceed. Given the panel of experts' evaluation of the evidence, it is imperative that Blair and Howard be brought to account for the abominable crimes they authorised in Iraq. These men committed our country to war based on lies. Thousands of Iraqis paid the ultimate price, and the country is now in ruin.
As an Australian taxpayer I was forced against my will to provide hard earned dollars for the illegal invasion of Iraq. I couldn't prevent this, but I am willing to donate $250 to a fighting fund to help bring Howard and his cabinet to justice before the ICC. Our electoral system isn't sufficient for dealing with this matter.
Adam Bonner
Meroo Meadow NSW
3/20
"9/11" as it is known may later this year be celebrated gleefully by those incumbents with a commercial or political interest in grubbing an election year stake from the atrocity. But what about "3/20", which this year is the first anniversary of our invasion of Iraq in search of weapons of mass destruction? Is there some chance that Australia's prime minister could join the troops in Iraq for a celebration? Live on TV of course, perhaps with a few sports stars in attendance. For the cameras, they could all stand triumphantly on a small mound of the recovered WMDs.
Or is the PM's office leaving everything until ANZAC Day, when Howard could call on the resting places of members of the Australian Flying Corps and their brothers interred since the Great War (the war to end all wars) at Baghdad North Gate cemetery?
Surely he hasn't forgotten Australian servicemen who gave their lives for oil and empire a century ago?
Peter Woodforde
Melba ACT
Mass rallies and stopping the war
It is dangerous when political thinkers like Brian Sketchley turn their own frustrations at the inability of the mass movement to stop the war into a search for a new holy grail. To pose unachievable demands to unionists may make you feel righteous but in reality it leads to political paralysis. For Brian to advocate that our role in the anti-war movement is to tell people that rallies don't work seems to me a bit unnecessary as they seem to have reached that conclusion themselves.
If, on the other hand, the broad anti-war movement hadn't reached Brian's conclusion and had kept on mobilising, switching its focus to getting the US out of Iraq we would undoubtedly be in a far stronger position today to aid the Iraqi people.
It is true rallies themselves don't change society but Brian is not telling us anything that the socialist movement has not understood for over 150 years. But let's us not lose our heads and forget our ABCs. Before workers in Australia would be prepared to take the sort of industrial action that could force Howard to bring the troops home they not only would have to be convinced themselves but would need to feel they had the support of a significant section of the population. This is also true even in regard to successfully getting trade unions here to aid Iraqi trade unions.
In trying to rebuild a mass movement against the US occupation of Iraq we are in a difficult situation. The anti-Vietnam War movement was built over years; it became a movement that was far more radical than the anti-Gulf war movements because a majority of the marchers not only were anti the war but for the victory of the Vietcong. They wanted to see imperialism defeated.
Due to the terrible nature of Saddam's regime and now the lack of a united resistance movement with at least a solid core of democratic political demands that could win international support, this leaves the majority of those who opposed the war confused about what to do next.
The Socialist Alliance can play an important role in rebuilding the anti-war movement by winning people over to the crucial demand of Troops Out Now by explaining that this is the best way to help achieve peace and democracy for the Iraqi people. It will be the Iraqi people themselves, with our support, not the UN or parasitic NGOs, who will liberate themselves and we must do whatever is possible to facilitate this process.
Simon Millar
Melbourne [Abridged]
No smoking
The blunt refusal of the Bracks government to consider a further extension to the current restrictions re smoking in hospitality venues is undeniable proof of the unwelcome and insidious influence of the tobacco and gaming lobby in the area of public policy.
How else could one explain how a premier, who promised to govern for all Victorians, can so willfully ignore the overwhelming weight of public opinion in favour of a complete ban of smoking in all hospitality venues? The community is ready for such a change and so should the government, assuming, of course, that public support and public interest are still to be considered the critical criteria in policy formulation.
The Victorian WorkCover Authority, the body that is charged with the enforcement of the Occupational Health and Safety Act, makes a pretence only of protecting employees from the harmful effects of passive smoking, as it knows full well that to do otherwise would embarrass the government and force its hand re further regulation. This is not withstanding the fact that the National Occupational Health and Safety Commission has stated unequivocally that passive smoking should be excluded from all workplaces, as it is an undeniable risk to the health of employees.
Boyd Fraser
Toorak Vic [Abridged.]
From 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳ Weekly, January 28, 2004.
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