News from the Soviet Union
BY VLADIMIR PRONIN – UKRAINE
My analyses of the possibility of a quick unity of the communist and other progressive forces in former Soviet Union into one mighty Communist Party is that it is not possible in the near future, barring some unforeseen world events and situations. The question is both objective and subjective. The reason that there was a growth of large and small parties who call themselves "communist" or "socialist" is due to the present bourgeois leadership. Many leaders of these parties are dedicated to the cause of socialism and communism, and all of their spare time they dedicate themselves to the rebirth of the Soviet Union and socialism, but, there are some personal ambitions of some of these leaders, they want these changes and the resurrection of the USSR to be under their leadership. Such leaders and pretending-leaders are not capable to work under someone’s leadership or even work with some that have a different political outlook and plans. But this is not the main reason. These people were in our previous society and unfortunately might be in the future, that think that they have a much higher intellect and also organizational skills, higher than anyone else.
In order to establish and unite all of the existing large, medium and small communist and progressive forces into one mighty united Communist Party, where all of the true and dedicated communists will come, but not those that pretend that they are "communists" – there is a desperate need for a thorough Marxist-Leninist upbringing of cadres and of the practical analyses of the present critical political situation. These cadres must be the leading force in the peoples and workers movements all over the country and lead all against the present regime and the very extreme danger of globalization of the world and ex-USSR also.
There is a mass of problems in these parties and movements. Until the communist movement takes the necessary steps towards unity and of leading the working class against the capitalist system in ex-USSR and Globalization of the world by US Imperialism, and until the science of Marxism-Leninism in the present situation is not put to use, the problems shall continue and the situation will degenerate into apathy. Attention must be paid, first of all to the youth and to organize the working class.
Only at this time will all the true and dedicated communists join this one mighty Communist Party, take part in its activities, and if some of these leaders that are on the scene now are capable of seeing their weaknesses and mistakes, they will also be involved, otherwise they will go into the garbage bin of history as history had taught us many times. Even though before they were some of the leading cadres in the struggle for socialism, but now, due to many different reasons they are not with the masses, they shall be left behind with their unfulfilled ambitions.
Without such a Marxist-Leninist plan of action in the present contemporary situation, the only one capable of solving the problem of uniting the leading elements into one mighty Communist Party, the movement will suffer disunity, dismemberment and have no effective role to play against the enemies of the working class.
Now, some of these communist leaders of some "communist" parties who cooperate with the bourgeois government, backing away from confrontation with the capitalist ruling class, selling out their communist ideals, in spite of their former dedication to the working class, are licking the boots of the capitalist class to gain privileges, financial help and maybe a seat in the government. We must remember that many bourgeois regimes in the post-Socialist period have very cleverly and with great forethought have formed these pseudo-communist and socialist parties, with one aim in mind - to take away a part of votes from the genuine communist parties, by these naive voters who still cannot distinguish between the pseudo-communists and the dedicated communists.
This we must keep in mind in our daily work amongst the people. These pseudo-communist and workers parties must be analyzed in a more extensive article. These pseudo-communist parties are in existence with the help of the present regimes, because of some weaknesses of the dedicated communist parties in their theoretical work and thus these parasites are able to function.
Much work is ahead for the resurrection of the USSR and the formation of one united Communist Party of the USSR!
Britain had secret plans at the-height of the cold war to bury nuclear land mines in parts of Germany to thwart a Soviet attack, it emerged yesterday.
The 10 proposed devices would have had the combined explosive power of more than five Nagasaki A-bombs, resulting in craters more than 180 metres (600ft) deep and would have spread radioactive contamination across vast areas of the countryside if detonated.
The weapons, code named Blue Peacock, were to be left buried or submerged and detonated by a wire from up to three miles away or by an eight-day clockwork timer.
They were also to be fitted with anti-handling devices which meant that if gunfire pierced the hull or the weapon was moved or filled' with water, it would detonate in 10 seconds.
David Hawkings, a former employee of the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) at Aldermaston, Berkshire, found details of the project in unclassified Army documents from the 1950s released by the National Archives at Kew.
Writing in the Establishment's magazine, Discovery, Mr. Hawkings said War Office specifications for a nuclear land mine first surfaced late in 1954.
A policy paper, written a year later by the army's engineer in chief said: "A skillfully sited atomic mine would not only destroy facilities and installations over a large area, but would deny occupation of the area to an enemy for an appreciable time due to contamination."
Among suitable targets suggested were irrigation and hydroelectric systems, industrial plants, oil refineries, railway junctions and canals.
Weighing in at more than seven tonnes, the size of the devices meant that testing of the steel hull had to be done in public places , including at a flooded gravel pit.
Mr. Hawkings wrote that the cover story was that an insulated contained was being tested.
If a nuclear link was suspected, the story would be that the device was to house "an atomic power unit for troops in the field".
In July 1957, the army council decided to order 10 of the mines and station them with forces in Germany, New Scientist magazine says in a report of the story published in its latest issue.
Mr. Hawkings described the plans for deploying the weapons as "somewhat theatrical."
One hurdle was that the mines might not work in winter if they became too cold, so the army proposed wrapping them in fibreglass pillows.
By October the design for Blue Peacock was nearly complete but reservations were being voiced.
The weapon was too large and heavy; the fallout hazard was unacceptable; pre-positioning a nuclear weapon in an allied country was politically flawed and the weapon could not be stored in peacetime near to where it would be needed in war.
In February 1958 the MoD's weapons policy committee decided that work on Blue Peacock should cease.
The only remaining prototype – minus any nuclear component – is now among the exhibits in the AWE's historical collection.
Guardian Unlimited
© Guardian Newspapers Limited 2003
By VIC RATSMA
About 70% of families having children live below the poverty line in Russia, said Galina Karelova, Deputy Prime Minister responsible for social policy issues. She said that the incomes of these families are below the subsistence level.
According to Karelova, the government has assigned all ministries of the social bloc to create a database on children and families in a "dangerous social situation". According to the statistics, 4762,845 families are in a state of "extreme poverty." She also sighted the figures of the Education Ministry, saying that 26,220 children did not go to school on September 1, 2002, including over 1,5000 children who have never gone to school due to extreme poverty.
According to the Interior Ministry of the Russian Federation, 681,000 children were detained by the police in 2002. "This data shows that the problem of child neglect is the most urgent in Russia."
COMMENT:
We wonder whether Mr. Put-in ever reads the reports of his Ministers?
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| Felix Gorelik |
By FELIX GORELIK
In Russia one holiday follows another. Hundreds of millions of dollars were spent to make St. Petersburg more beautiful for the foreign heads of state on the 300 Anniversary of the city. Putin of course pranced around showing the sections of the city which were redecorated, leaving the other parts off limits to these foreign heads of state. He presented himself as a disciple-follower of Peter the Great. But Peter defeated the Swedes and opened up the window to Europe. But Putin can hardly even claim that he defeated the Chechens.
Putin certainly opened up the gates of Russia and told the Europeans and Americans, come here and take whatever you can carry! After this ceremony there took place the holiday of the "Independence of Russia" But from whom was this "independence" from as declared by Yeltsin on June 12, 1990? From USSR! This was the first fatal step towards the dismemberment of the USSR. On both of these occasions Putin spoke of the glorious achievements, the booming economy, democracy, etc.
Obviously this was for the benefit of the foreign guests, not for the people, who know otherwise. Just one example, the pay of a qualified teacher is only 800 rubles per month – 3 times lower than is required for the minimum standard of living. Some of these wages are not even paid for many months on end.
But, here is another side to these "holidays" such as blood on the asphalt. On the eve of the 300TH Anniversary of St. Petersburg (Leningrad), in Moscow there was assassinated Konstantin Yakovlev, known as "Kostya Mogila" an underground gangster. Besides him, two other Muscovites were gunned down. This was reported by all of the media. He was the gangster boss of all of St. Petersburg. He ruled all the gangs in St. Petersburg on behalf of his masters in the government. He is the result of Putin’s policies and "freedom" and "democracy".
As a hired killer-boss, Kostia has tie-in to certain segments of the government and is responsible for killing even the speaker of the Russian Council in Leningrad. He is a known businessman, controlling the medical market, oil and gas. These newly baked businessmen with contacts in the upper echelons of government, are existing in all of the former Soviet republics. One such racketeer with ties to the top in Ukraine, in the Donetsk region, Alika Greka has in the few years accumulated over $1,7 billion. There are assassinations raging between these racketeers and their backers for influence and a bigger share of the pie.
The blood was not dry yet when another racketeer who was hired by the biggest private conglomerate manufacturer of arms to guard their businesses with their own army of guards, was gunned down in Moscow. It is suspected that the arms-manufacturer of Russia had him eliminated. All these killings are the product of the tie-in between the criminal elements and Putin’s government plus the multinational corporations vying for control of the mineral riches of Russia.
The asphalts of Russia and Ukraine do not dry from blood. Just in 2002 there were assassinated 18 top scholars, scientists and professors. No longer does the gangsters for hire by the present regime concentrate on bankers, financiers, casino and gambling enterprises, now they are after the professional intellectuals who more often now criticize and condemn the policies of the present regimes.
Also…since the present capitalist regimes do not support education as they should and the upkeep of universities, buildings and different premises of the faculties, the gangsters on behalf of their masters want to take over these buildings. Some educational institutions are forced to rent out the property, others go bankrupt, and over these the gangsters are fighting over and assassinations are a very common outcome of these struggles. Those that will not be bought off, or will not rent out, are sentenced – the sentence is then carried out. But the question is where are the police and the state apparatus?
But Putin just talks, and talks, and talks. These holiday days in Russia are beginning to be known as killing ground holidays. The Russian state apparatchiks and their gangster friends are reveling and dancing in all off the nightclubs, while gunshots are sounding in the cities. New victims are falling in pools of blood on the asphalts of the cities.
Statement by the RCWP-RPC
Leaders of capitalist parties, including Russia, as well as the entire spectrum of bourgeois media, have unleashed a sickening whining campaign concerning the alleged threat by the DPRK government, who declared its withdrawal from the Treaty on Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). The fact that has been completely ignored is that the decision taken by the DPRK government is a pure necessity and the only possible response to a long series of US’ subversive plots against the socialist State on the Korean peninsula. This is a step taken by the DPRK leadership to defend their freedom, independence and the State sovereignty.
What the world gendarme, the USA, hates is the current political system in North Korea. In the attempt to break the endurance of the Korean people in their resistance and consolidation of the socialist achievements, the US Administration has branded DPRK as part of the "axis of evil" and had declared that a pre-emptive nuclear attack on that country is possible. USA has turned South Korea into a permanent location for conducting military maneuvers directed against the DPRK. They used the International Atomic Agency (IAEA) to introduce sanctions against the country they see as unfavourable. The US is working in every possible way to prevent the program of peaceful unification between North and South Korea.
In 2002, the US administration suppressed oil deliveries to DPRK, having violated the only part of the Korea-American Agreed Framework that they have been fulfilling. At the same time, the USA has ignored the proposal by the North Korean leadership to sign a non-aggression treaty. In these conditions, it became an urgent necessity for DPRK to take a step to defend the country from the American political, economic and military threats.
RCWP-RPC CC pledges support to the political leadership and brave people of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, who are firmly resisting all of the US plots. We support the DPRK Government’s actions taken to increase their country’s defense capacity. We condemn the wild-west politics of the US, who have granted for themselves the right to divide people in the world into the ranks of the civilized and the rogues, and to threaten anyone who does not play the game according to the rules. This war drive against the population of DPRK and of other sovereign states has to be stopped.
It is time to stop the aggressors!
Viktor Tiulkin
Anatoli Kriuchkov
Co-Chairmen CC
Russian Communist Worker’ Party-Russian Party of Communists
Below are two photographs that show the participation in the May Day Parade and May 9th Day of Victory that was held in Minsk, capital of Byelorussia. The photos are from the newspaper "Vpered," organ of the Bolsheviks of Byelorussia.
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