End the cycle of terrorism No War, Racism and Scapegoating! [BARF ALERT!]

The terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington, DC Tuesday September 11 were a horrific tragedy. Socialist Alternative sends all those who lost loved ones and friends and all of those injured its deepest sympathies and condolences.Socialists completely and absolutely oppose and condemn this brutal, horrendous crime, its wanton slaughter of thousands of innocent people. The main victims were workers: secretaries, firefighters, waiters, and janitors, etc. of all races, ethnicities, nationalities, and religions.

Hundreds of millions remain in a state of shock after repeatedly watching people jump to their deaths and the appalling loss of thousands of lives in the collapse of the World Trade Center. An estimated 300 firefighters and 85 police officers were killed as they rushed to the scene to help with rescue efforts. Whole families in the hijacked planes were kidnapped and flown to their deaths. Body parts rained down on passers-by. Some of the most haunting aspects of the tragic events have been the last minute phone calls from passengers or those trapped in the rubble to loved ones, saying last good-byes.

The outpouring of support, solidarity, self sacrifice and heroism has attained gigantic proportions throughout the world. Thousands of volunteers surged into New York City from across the country offering to help in any way. All across the country people have flooded into blood banks to give blood.

Americans, and people around the world, are justly shocked, saddened, angered, and outraged. Unfortunately, politicians and the media are exploiting this genuine grief in order to further the ruling class' right-wing agenda. As millions mourn and trying to put their lives back in some kind of order, the US government bangs war drums.

These dramatic events constitute a political and economic turning point for the US and the world, and will have devastating repercussions. These events will likely plunge the US economy, already in a recession, or teetering on the edge of one, in to a deeper economic crisis. A more in-depth analysis on the international repercussions of these events and their economic consequences is dealt with in the statement from the Committee for Workers International (CWI).

The immediate political impact of the terrorist attacks has been a reactionary wave of jingoism and nationalism. The ruling class, their media, and their politicians are consciously whipping this up into war hysteria.

This campaign has lead to a terrible wave of anti-Arab and anti-Muslim hysteria accompanied by racist attacks. Polls in the New York Times/CBS News claim that 85% of Americans supported military retaliation. This mood will likely grow when the US begins its military "response."

While most of the media maintains a thin veneer of respectability, the gutter press is more direct. The New York Post bayed for blood in its editorial on September 13 saying "They [terrorists] need to bleed. Not next month. Not next week. Now. Who are they? Who cares? Cast a wide enough net, and you'll catch the fish that need catching... So locate them. Pinpoint them. Bomb them. And then bomb the smoldering rubble - one more time! ... The weight of America's military might - just short of nuclear oblivion - needs to be visited on those who planned and executed Tuesday's attacks." The editorial ended with the call "Bombs away."

The US government is planning massive military retaliation against the terrorist organizations they deem responsible. It is strongly considering declaring war on any country that "harbors or supports" terrorists. The immediate targets appear to be Islamic fundamentalists, in particular Osama bin Laden and the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. The military retaliation will most likely include ground troops.

If the goal of the attacks was to undermine US domination over the world, it has accomplished the opposite. The terrorist attacks have acted to temporarily pull together and solidify a large international coalition of governments led by the US, stretching from Europe to Russia to China. NATO invoked its famous Article 5 for the first time in its history, declaring that the terrorist attack amounted to an act of war against the US and the entire alliance.

This campaign will not help the working and oppressed people of this or any other country.

Being a communist should be made illegal. If someone's found to be a comminst, they have two options, a bullet in the head or a plane ticket to Bagdad.

Yes, and they seem to forget 9-11 came to us. We didn't bring it on. It was on our soil and killed our people and so it is up to US to see it doesn't happen again. I'm sick of what the others say. If they don't want to join us in our fight so be it. We can go it alone and we will if we have to. Easy for the opponents to argue against this when it wasn't on their soil. Let's go USA. We're standing behind President Bush 100%. Let the naysayers go stand in a field and sing or something.

I prefer their song be something like, "please don't kill us, we're commie scumm." (maybe to the tune "O Tannenbaum")

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