Cat Rylance gave this speech to the 2012 conference of Stop the War Coalition, on behalf of Communist Students There are lots of motions here today on Iran and Syria, but ours is different. It spells out some issues that other motions don’t. Namely: the government of Iran is not our friend and is not the ...
CS executive member Ben Lewis was the guest on last Tuesday's Radical Minds show on WHPK, a community radio station broadcasting in Chicago (stream after the jump). Ben was invited to discuss the tumultuous history of the German worker's movement, and specifically his recently published translation of the speeches of Zinoviev and Martov at the ...
In 2003, Baha Mousa was arrested with nine other Iraqis by British troops in Basra. Two days later, he was dead; in the intervening time, according to the coroner, he had suffered 93 distinct physical injuries. Nine years later, an inquiry into his death - and the treatment he and the others suffered at the hands ...
Anti-imperialism does not equal pro-Gaddafi, argues James Turley As it threatened, briefly, to do this spring, the regime of Muammar al-Gaddafi has collapsed. The forces previously known as the Libyan rebels have seized power in most of the country, including the capital, Tripoli - assisted, of course, by months of aerial bombardment by Britain, France and ...
No candidate to replace the USA exists or looks likely to arise, writes James Turley. First published in the Weekly Worker. In recent years, there have been no end of occasions for military strategists to wonder what, exactly, the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation is actually for. It used to be pretty obvious: with the Soviet ...
Those who are waiting for a 'pure' opposition will wait forever, writes James Turley (first published in the Weekly Worker) Friends: Tony Blair and Muammar Gaddafi In my last article, I attacked those on the left who imagined that the imperialist intervention in Libya was, or could be, somehow to the profit of the masses of that country.[1] ...
To effectively oppose imperialist wars we must avoid the trap of legalism, argues Ben Lewis "How many more smoking guns do we need before Tony Blair is behindbars?” asks the Stop the War Coalition website. The visceral hatred for Blair and what he represents could not be more apparent. This is perfectly understandable. Many activists in the ...
James Turley looks at the first year of the Obama presidency Last Wednesday was January 20 - not a particularly important date most years, except to astrologers. On that date last year, however, Barack Obama became the 44th president of the United States of America - to a rapturous reception from a war-weary and crisis-ravaged US ...
Millions around the world were appalled at the death and devastation in Haiti. James Turley puts the calamity into context As readers will know, just before 5pm local time on January 12, a catastrophic earthquake struck Haiti. Its epicentre was very close to Léogâne, a well-populated town not far from the capital, Port-au-Prince. The tremor is estimated ...
Joining a rogues’ gallery Barack Obama is presiding over an escalation of military action in Afghanistan. Despite that, he is a hero for the liberal bourgeoisie, writes James Turley Fairly soon after Barack Obama’s victory in last year’s presidential elections, there appeared an amusing little website called Bad Paintings of Barack Obama,1 which randomly flashes up canvasses ...
James Turley calls for troops out of Afghanistan now On August 20, the population of Afghanistan (or some of it, at any rate) went to the polls to elect their president. Hamid Karzai, the incumbent, remains the favourite, as the votes are counted. The mood in much of the western media, at the outset, was cautiously optimistic. ...
Communist Students greets the mass demonstrations and bravery of the people on the streets of Iran with hope and solidarity. The mass actions are a testament to the revolutionary élan of the youth, worker’s and women’s movements, who over the last three decades have struggled and suffered at the hands of the theocratic state. The ...
On international workers day students, workers and women are gathering in Laleh Park, Tehran and across Iran to protest against imperialism, the economic crisis and the authoritarian theocratic state. The regime has done everything in it can since coming to power to put an end to the demonstrations, arrests, torture and the threat of executions ...