Anna Weekes writes "The South African state is moving against communities who fight not to be disconnected from their basic services. Over 100 Soweto residents from the Electricity Crisis Committee have been in jail for the past 24 hours after holding a peaceful protest outside the Johannesburg Mayor's home. The Mayor, ANC's Amos Masondo, was in Hawaai but his bodyguard kindly came out onto the roof and fired 8 live bullets at the protestors!! One protestor was injured, but still taken to jail! After the shots were fired, the protestors disconnected Masondo's water whereafter they were arrested. Please read the whole story on the South Africa Indymedia site. The Minister of Public Enterprises, Jeff Radebe, last December vowed to crack down on the SECC which he says is a gang of criminals and rats - most members are poor pensioners!!!!"

A few Montreal-area anarchists have just produced a 28-page pamphlet titled "An Anarchist Attack on Global Governance". The pamphlet includes sections on "The G8 and Global Governance", "The War on Terrorism" and "Partnership with Africa" (the table of contents is included below).

A PDF version of the pamphlet, with all graphics, is available on the Take the Capital! website at: take the capital

Michael Hardt "The Globalizers Block Globalization"

A German Interview with Stefan Krempl

What happens when a former disciple of the Italian terror movement Red Brigades and a fairly unknown American literature professor meet up and write a book together about globalization? In the case of Empire (Empire), Antonio Negri
(Negri) and Michael Hardt (Hardt) scored. Their opus stirred up quite a debate in left academic circles as well as in the so-called anti-globalization protest movements since its first publication in 2000. In fact, it became an early classic of neo-Marxist literature already.

Finally, a German translation
(German translation) has been released a few days ago. On his promotion tour, Hardt explained to the hip Berlin crowd in the equally hip Volksbuehne theatre as well as to guests of the British Council in the Deutsche Bank representation Unter den Linden the paradox of globalization and his utopian vision of a truly global citizenship. The soft-looking guy states that we
now have to reinvent democracy from the nation state to the global sphere and that we have to find new forms of representation. Of course, he also didn't spare with criticism on the Bush wars against the "axis of evil". In
his talk with Telepolis, Hardt clears up his position on al-Qaida,
anarchism, and on the new global organization of power.

Anonymous Comrade writes "

Flirting with Fascism

John Chuckman, Sunday, March 24, 2002

"Perhaps America will one day go fascist democratically." William L. Shirer

Long before the unsavory American politician, Patrick Buchanan, was accused by the just-ever-so-slightly less unsavory American politician, William Bennett, of "flirting with fascism," the country had a rich history of doing that very thing.

There is a keen and almost pathetic sense one gets from the words of many liberal American commentators insisting Mr. Bush's war measures represent a heart-wrenching departure from the nation's traditions. I beg to differ.

Announcing the launch of a new not-for-profit organization:

DICTATOR WATCH AND THE ACTIVIST EXCHANGE

dictator watch

The mission of Dictator Watch is to keep track of the dictators of the world, and to see that they pay for their crimes. We seek the end of dictatorship, in all of its manifestations, including in all of our social institutions. Among these institutions we include political, military, religious, educational, economic, and media entities; and for dictatorship we refer to all of the ways in which they shape us -- manipulate us -- to get us to think and act so as to suit their purposes.

The Return of Dr. Strangelove

By Jack A. Smith

The pro-war national political consensus that emerged after the Sept. 11 attack on the United States has produced one more big dividend for George W. Bush, in addition to bipartisan backing for his open-ended, ill-defined wars on terrorism, support for his decision to terminate the ABM treaty, and the impending passage of his astronomical defense budget, among other right-wing initiatives.

"Twentieth Century Most Murderous in History"

Eric Hobsbawm, Guardian [UK], Saturday February 23, 2002

The 20th century was the most murderous in recorded history.
The total number of deaths caused by or associated with its
wars has been estimated at 187m, the equivalent of more than
10% of the world's population in 1913. Taken as having begun
in 1914, it was a century of almost unbroken war, with few
and brief periods without organised armed conflict
somewhere. It was dominated by world wars: that is to say,
by wars between territorial states or alliances of states.

Anniversary of Kronstadt Revolt Commemorated, March 7

March 7th is a harrowing date for the toilers of the so-called "Union of Soviet Socialist Republics" who participated in one capacity or another in the events that occurred on that date in Kronstadt. The commemoration of that date is equally painful for the toilers of all countries, for it brings back the memory of what the free workers and sailors of Kronstadt demanded of their Red
executioner, the "Russian Communist Party," and its tool, the "Soviet" government, busy doing the Russian revolution to death.

Kronstadt insisted of these statist hangmen that they hand back everything that belonged to the toilers of town and country, given that it was they who had carried out the revolution. The Kronstadters insisted upon the practical implementation of the foundations of the October revolution:

The Western World, Bin Laden, and the Ten-Year War Against Terrorism

By The Initiative of Thessaloniki's Anarchists, Greece

THE POWER OF SYMBOLS

On the eleventh of September in Manhattan and
Washington, the American giant has, on it's own
territory, suffered the most spectacular and
disastrous wound. It was deadly, with 6500 (officially
admitted) victims and humiliating, since the twin
towers were totally destroyed and one of the Pentagon
wings collapsed. The "Everest" of the modern urban
planning, was more than 400 metres high, and, until
recently, symbolised the concentration of the rulers'
global economy. The Pentagon, on the other hand,
obviously symbolised the headquarters of the
operational political and military control of the
whole planet.

From Statewatch

Anarchists to be targeted as "terrorists" alongside Al Qaeda (pdf file)

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Europol has produced a Situation and Trends report on terrorist activity in the European Union. As might be expected the report covers ETA in Spain, the Real IRA in Northern Ireland, the National Front for the Liberation of Corsica and "Islamic extremist terrorism" (including Al Qaeda). The report stresses that although the number of incidents was "showing a small decrease" the "importance of the attacks increased dramatically" - this was because after 11 September the "European Union is not only a target for terrorist attacks but also an important area for preparatory and logistic purposes in the widest sense". It further notes that progress is taking place in Northern Ireland, and that ceasefires, both in Northern Ireland and Corsica have "been maintained by the main players".

One new category added in 2001 was "eco-terrorism" on which the report gives no examples. The report simply says in total that: "Radical environmentalists and animal rights movements have maintained a limited campaign. Nevertheless, the material damage they caused was extensive". No definition of "eco-terrorism" is given nor is one planned in the proposed extension of Europol's role (see Statewatch's The activities and development of Europol pamphlet). It is thus hard to see the distinction between activity which might be termed a criminal offence as distinct from a "terrorist" offence.

Another new category which is even more problematic is that of "anarchist terrorism". In February 2001 a Europol seminar on counter-terrorism held in Madrid agreed on a proposal by Spain, Portugal, Greece and Italy to set up a joint investigation team on "anarchist terrorism". It appears that after Genoa in July 2001 Europol may have set up an "analysis file" on "anarchist terrorism" which in turn fed through into this Situation report. Interviewed by a German newspaper in August Jurgen Storbeck, Europol's Director, said the so-called "Black
Block" of anarchists could be seen as "terrorist or pre-terrorist".

The following analysis looks at the many questions that arise from the inclusion of "anarchist terrorism" which relies almost totally on examples from Italy and at the attempt to extend terrorism in Spain to legitimate political groups.