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Letters to the Editor:

Moulding our youth

I have recently read a book, a collection of poems and 
articles by a class of high school students, telling of their 
experiences and emotions.

The teacher encouraged them to say frankly how they felt. I was 
surprised and alarmed at the complaints of the prevalence of 
bullying among boys and girls, most often inter-gender. The 
telling and writing of bad experiences is generally therapeutic.

I then read an article coming from The Telegraph Group, 
London, of the experiments of promoting mutual massage of head, 
neck and shoulders between pairs of children in primary classes.

"They ask permission to do the massage and check to see the 
pressure is OK". One of the head teachers said that after one 
half term the class became much more settled and more aware of 
each others' feelings.

"We saw a definite decrease in aggression and bullying the 
children have more friends, working hard and more able to 
concentrate".

It is when we look at factors that cause bullying among children 
that we realise the very big effect of violence on TV on 
bullying. How much of this is the deliberate policy of the 
leaders of capitalist states? Dramatic personal conflicts and 
violence sells films. The Pentagon asked for a film on a 
particular US war experience in Somalia and got Black Hawk 
Down.

The capitalists want aggressive anti-social youth for their 
armies to be trained to kill.

For progressives it become a political task to promote the 
healing and pacifying practice of mutual massage among children, 
not only primary children but also possible high school students.

It can deny the war-monger the aggressive, bullying youth they 
need to make their soldiers and mercenaries for their wars.

Vic Williams
Willagee, WA

Following the recent correspondence on the Iraqi Communist 
Party it is important that I, as Communist Party of Britain 
international secretary, should explain our party's position of 
full solidarity.

Along with the communist parties of Vietnam, Cuba, Greece, 
Germany, Finland and the Russian Federation, the CPB signed the 
Helsinki Appeal for Solidarity in May 2004.

This expressed full solidarity with the "ICP and Iraqi democratic 
forces in their struggle to end the occupation, restore national 
sovereignty and independence and build a new unified, democratic 
and federal Iraq". 

This remains the position of the CPB. Richard Bagley's (published 
in the Morning star) article provided a balanced assessment of 
the objectives of the ICP in the current phase and the daunting 
obstacles it faces in redeveloping mass democratic movements and 
providing leadership for genuinely democratic and anti-occupation 
forces within the interim government.

Those attacking this position should question the political 
programmes of those they appear to support. Do any of these 
forces have perspectives which resemble those of resistance 
movements in France, Vietnam or South Africa?

Most of the organised groups are backed by regimes, or ex-
regimes, that have been reactionary in the extreme. Most have not 
hesitated to take money from US agencies in the past to 
participate in actions against socialists and democrats.

Rather than debating the tactics of the ICP, we should, with some 
humility, recognise our status as citizens of one of the two key 
aggressor states occupying Iraq. The debate for us should be how 
we take steps to end the occupation.

John Foster
CP of Britain

Last night on the SBS News (12-8-04) there was an 
overview of this weekend's referendum in Venezuela on whether 
President Hugo Chavez should be recalled and fresh elections 
held.

Hugo Chavez is favoured to win the "NO VOTE" in the referendum as 
he has the support of the majority of Venezuela's citizens, but 
especially its less well off masses.

The right wing in a demonstration of sour grapes has accused 
Chavez of spending up big time on the windfall from the spike in 
world oil prices to fund health and education programs for the 
poor!

That sort of thing would never happen if the right wing US 
government backed opposition ran the country — which was exactly 
what Venezuela was like before Chavez came to power.

Meanwhile in Australia, following on from the obvious pork 
barrelling of the baby bonus, Howard and Costello lament upon 
Telstra's latest record profit result. The problem is that they 
can't flog off the balance of the telco to the private sector 
where the profits will line the pockets of a well moneyed elite 
rather than the monies be used to improve services for all 
Australians.

Richard Titelius
Perth, WA

I may have received edition No 1194 late. I was very pleased 
to have read the opinion of Rob Gowland concerning "Soviet-class 
films, a thing of the past".

What is coming out of Hollywood now proves that Hollywood is 
running out of ideas. Why give a high rating and call a film a 
box office hit when it is encouraging the audience to develop a 
low cultural level?

I think it is worth watching a Soviet film than a commercialist 
blockbuster film or the day to day telenovel also known as a soap 
opera.

Let's hope that one of our public broadcasting channels one day 
will televise a first class uncensored Soviet film.

Julian

I find it extremely interesting that it is Alexander Downer of 
all people who is berating the Spanish and Philippines 
governments for withdrawing their troops from the illegal war in 
Iraq and because of this not being committed to the struggle 
against terrorism.

Wasn't Mr Downer the person who justified the resumption of co-
operation between Australia and KOPASSUS, the Indonesian Special 
Forces?

These are the forces that are responsible for the past genocides 
in Indonesia and East Timor and the present ones in West Papua, 
Aceh and the Moluccas.

The Indonesian military is the greatest force for terror in our 
region.

Who did you say was soft on terrorism, Mr Downer?

Andrew (Andy) Alcock
Forestville SA

I'm sick of doing the talking. Let William Rivers Pitt 
talk:

"We invaded a country based upon the false claim that Iraq was 
allied with al Qaeda. We invaded a country based on the false 
claim that there were weapons of mass destruction which needed to 
be destroyed. We promised freedom and democracy, and instead 
installed a CIA-trained strongman named Allawi who has all but 
created a dictatorship in Iraq, and who has been accused of 
killing Iraqi prisoners by his own hand. 896 American soldiers 
have died so we could do this. We took thousands of innocent 
civilians off the streets in Iraq and threw them into hellhole 
prisons, where they were beaten, raped, and killed.

"This story has faded from public view because no new pictures of 
the abuses have come out in the last several weeks. Those 
pictures are out there, and they show the rape and torture of 
children. The international media is reporting on it. Coalition 
ally Norway may be preparing to flee Iraq because of the 
allegations regarding these children."

Yours for sobriety and rectitude.

James B Warburton
Bondi, NSW