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28 « Pacific Tribune, December 19, 1988

For peace on earth For good health | For jobs and prosperity

This is our wish to our members and supporters and all working people for 1989.

Celebrating 66 years of service to Canadian workers.

Worker’s Benevolent Association . District Committee and Branch 33/805 East Pender St., Van., B.C.

WASHINGTON’S WAR ON NICARA- GUA. By Holly Sklar. Between The Lines. Toronto, 1988. 470 pp. $14.95 paperback.

| It was only a little more than nine years ago that the national insurrection launched | by the Sandinista Front for the Liberation of Nicaragua (FSLN) swept the U.S.- backed dictator Anastasio Somoza, whose family had plundered the country for half a century, out of the presidential palace and _ into exile in Miami.

Some time later, Jaime Wheelock, one of the leaders of the liberation movement and the new Sandinista agriculture minister declared in words that were to be prophetic: “On July 19, we won our political inde- pendence; now we confront the even more difficult task of winning our economic independence.”

In embarking on that task, as Holly Sklar points out in her excellent new book, Washington’s War on Nicaragua, the San- dinistas have been under U.S. siege for all but a few months since the FSLN victory. It has been a siege almost unparalleled in post- war history, involving an unrelenting eco- nomic embargo, economic and _ political destabilization by the Central Intelligence Agency and a contra war backed officially and unofficially by the U.S. administration.

“Nicaraguans have been held hostage, tortured and murdered for the ultimate ran- som: the surrender of their national sover- eignty,” Sklar writes. “Between the start of the contra war and June 1987, over 43,000 Nicaraguans were killed, wounded or kid- napped. There were nearly 22,500 dead on both sides of the war. Civilian casualties totalled 10,473 dead, including ... at least 331 children under age 15.”

Sklar, a U.S. author and scholar who has written extensively about Nicaragua and American foreign policy, has produced what is probably the most detailed chronicle currently available of the U.S. economic, political and covert military war against Nicaragua.

U.S. policy in Nicaragua, Sklar suggests, is an echo of the approach taken by U.S. administrations earlier in century — such as in 1909 when General Smedley Butler led American marines into the country to put down a uprising and to establish a regime more suited to the needs of U.S. fruit and mineral companies.

The Carter administration, wary of the experience in Cuba, did attempt the soft- stick approach, seeking to use U.S. aid to force Nicaragua into line. But by the time of, Ronald Reagan’s inauguration after the, 1980 election, the “Reagan Doctrine” had already been shaped by the right wing groups behind his presidency.

Sklar follows U.S. policy as it moves relentlessly against Nicaragua, from the first beginnings in funding and co-ordinating the contra war, through the imposition of the economic embargo, to the mining of Nica- raguan harbours and the direct military support for the contra forces.

It culminated — but did not end — in the Iran-contra scandal in which Lt.-Col. Oliver North operated a huge illicit opera- tion, known as “Project Democracy,” to divert money from arms and drug sales to the contras. And it was done with the knowledge of the White House, Sklar con- tends.

Nor was Nicaragua the only victim. As Sklar points out, North was also involved in a secret contingency plan whereby the mil- itary would assume emergency powers in the event of a national crisis — such as massive domestic opposition to a military invasion abroad.

Voices from the Jewish left

THE CANADIAN JEWISH OUTLOOK ANTHOLOGY. Edited by Henry M. Ros- enthal and S. Cathy Berson. New Star Books, 1988. Paperback, $14.95. Availa- ble at People’s Co-op Bookstore, Van- couver.

This is a book of representative writings from the Canadian Jewish Outlook, a mag- azine first published in 1963. In 1986, this English language monthly changed its name to Outlook: Canada’s Progressive Jewish Magazine.

I enjoy reading Outlook for two reasons. First, because it is a strong voice for the revival of secular, labour and socialist tradi- tions among Jewish Canadians. Second, because it stands for a peaceful and demo- cratic Israel and for the right of the Palesti- nian people of the occupied territories to have their own, independent state.

The anthology is more than a book about Jewish questions. It covers 10 themes: The Canadian Jewish Experience; Secular Hum- anism; Anti-Semitism and the Holocaust; Peace and Disarmament; Israel and the Middle East; Yiddish Literature; Culture; Women: Canadian Political Issues; Jews on the Left.

A good number of the contributors are left-wing academics who, while they do not accept the social democratic version of socialism, are very critical of the Soviet Union and other socialist countries. How- ever, I believe that the book treats the Soviet Union in a more objective fashion that would have been the case if it had been put together 10 years ago.

This shows an appreciation of the pro- foundly democratic changes that are taking place in the Soviet Union and the construc- tive role that country is playing in promot- ing a just settlement of the Palestinian problem. Recently, when the United States refused to grant a visa to Yasser Arafat so that he could address the United Nations General Assembly in New York, it was not the Soviet Union that was isolated. It was the U.S. and Israel.

In seeking the reasons for the decline of the left among Canadian Jews in the 1950s, one writer correctly points out: “It was not only the Jewish left that declined in the

the book: |

There are other intriguing details, as well,

including the shadowy operations of the —

World Anti-Communist League and the

| role League members have played — and — |

continue to play — in U.S. and world events.

Sklar documents her account through-

out, using government and Congressional - reports backed up by her own interviews —

with Nicaraguan and U.S. officials as well as

newspaper and magazine reports. One — annoyance with the book is that it occa- sionally lacks analysis as to the reasons for

events and their historical context. More of

that would certainly help readers to absorb —

the vast wealth of material that is here.

But what is in Washington’s War on | Nicaragua is indeed a vast wealth, offering — not only a solid critique of current U.S. — policy but also a outline of what could be a —

new American approach to Central Amer ica.

Co-published by South End Press in Bos ton, Washington’s War is aimed primarily at American readers who will be the first to

shape that new approach. But it is just as

relevant to Canadian readers who must — convince their own government to chal- lenge U.S. policy and accept the new Nica-_ ragua as a sovereign country. A — Sean Griffin —

1950s, but the entire left simultaneously.” Among the reasons offered to explain the decline in the Jewish left are the Cold War, —

the changes in the economic and social |

composition of the Jewish community, an the disillusionment and disaffection follo ing the 1956 Kruschev revelations. I woul add another element: the increase in Jewis nationalism as a result of the holocaust and the emergence of the state of Israel. Be

However, the anthology is right on whe it tells us that conditions are maturing for revival of the Jewish left in Canada and th US:

While the Cold War of the 1950s created —

a situation that caused many American and | Canadian Jews to disavow their radical affi-_ liations and move into the establishment mainstream, a repeat of the Cold Wal — would create great difficulties for those with — that aim. The 1950s was a period of eco" — nomic growth for the big Western powelS, Today, there is economic crisis and a rise in anti-Semitism. : It is possible to make a case against some of the omissions in the book, particularly 7 _ respect to the role of Communists as pio- neers in building the left in the Jewish com munity. Also, more could have beet included about the contribution of Jewish workers in building Canada’s trade unio? © movement. : But this anthology reflects movement towards the left, not away from the left That means there is room for co-operatio® | with the basic trend represented by the Out | look. : It calls attention to the need for mo! discussion and dialogue around commor | goals and friendly debate around ultimal® | objectives. a There is a big difference between dia- logue and debate among those on the lett who share common objectives and shart polemics against those who block the way to peace, national independence and social progress. oe I can think of no better way to close this review than to repeat the slogan of Israeli peace banner shown on the cover ©

Shalom + Salaam = Peace oe — Jack Philli®

From Carter to the contras

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