Sociais REAGAN'S NAR CRY $1,500,000,000,000 budget for means of mass slaughter

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No.49 AUGUST 20, 1981 (CLAIMANTS AND STRIKERS, 10p) 20p John THEY CALL it the free world". The capitalist minority are free to exploit: you, together with the vast majority of the world's population are "free" to toil for a pittance or to languish on never-ending dole queues. This kind of 'freedom' is dear to the hearts of Reagan and Thatcher. But it is none too popular with the masses in the Third World.

Time and again they have risen up in struggle against imperialist oppression. And recent years have seen a string of defeats inflicted on US and British imperialism - Vietnam, Angola, Iran, Nicaragua and Zimbabwe.

Reagan and Thatcher have set themselves the task of stopping the rot.

But that is no easy matter. It means arming their allies to crush powerful revolutionary movements in El Salvador, Southern Africa and Palestine. t means intimidating the masses in the rest of Southern America, Africa and Asia.

Forces And this attempt to shift the balance of forces in favour of imperialism also means preparing for confrontation if necessary with the Kremlin-led Stalinist regimes.

The US is already supplying arms to the junta in Él Salvador and heavily menacing Cuba.

Such a military strategy does not come cheap. In the USA it means the biggest arms spree in American history.

Reagan was already committed to a colossal arms budget, including new missiles, aircraft carriers, new bombers, tanks, and a Rapid Deployment Force to put down revolutionary struggles in the Middle East.

Now Washington, under he pretextepf achieving muclear superiority" over he Soviet Union by the end of the decade, has embarked upon a further Sick will programme will include (over and above the neutron be-"

*building a new strategic bomber - the BI *building a new, more lethal submarine nuclear missile;

*building a new fleet of permanently airborne bombers to carry the MX missile system over the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans:

*building a vastly expanded sattelite communications and command network.

The total arms bill for the next five years is no less than $1.5 trillion - that is 1.5 thousand billion dollars. As one defence analyst declared, "We've got a national miltary strategy: it's called M-O-R-E."

The spending is racing ahead regardless of Reagan's huge budget deficit, and warnings from his economic advisor that 'defence' spendCUL DY DIU billion this year and next. The alternative, he warned, was a 50% cut in domestic (weltare) programmes.

Priority

But for Reagan and Thatcher) there is only one priority: to make the world safe for capitalism.

And let nobody cherish the illusion that the imperialists seek only to restore some kind of frozen military "balance" with the Kremlin.

The Reagan government has openly set out to develop a "first strike" capability, to enable it to wage what it regards as a "limited theatre war". - Next time it is faced with a Vietnam - so the strategy goes it will not send millions of troops, just a few nuclear bombs.

This government means war on the working class -in the USA and internationally. Reagan must be stopped!

The drive to impose the will of US imperialism on Central America and the Middle East, and to step up the military threat against the nationalised economies of the Stalinist states, must be defeated.

Ally

Ene mam task oruciat ing the US war drive must be in the hands of the American workers' movement. Rut the British government źs Reagan's no. 1 international ally. The British and European working class can take important steps to weaken the imperialist offensive.

Cruise We can step up the fight against the VE the citino of Cruise and Pershing missiles in Europe and for the removal of US bases.

We can fight tooth and nail again&Thatcher's arms build up and the purchase of Trident missiles.

We can step up the efriole in the labour movement for a policy of withdrawal from NATO and anti-Soviet alliances, and the unilateral nuclear disarmament of British imperialism.

And we must make the fight against the imperialist wat danger a central component of the struggle to oust the Thatcher govern ment.

of NATO *No Cruise or Trident! Jobs not Bombs!

*Bring down the Tories! For a workegs' government based on international solidarity! Troops out of Ireland!

*Destroy the - NATO alliance! For a Socialist United States of Europe!

issUe Laurence Scotts convı us: Thanks for- Social centre enor Denis Barry tol ist Organiser's suppo and coverage. I can't say ti same for some other politic groups. For forty years t Communist Party h preached socialism and pr gress. Yet when it comes the crunch on real li struggles they just dor want to know. 'Pull yo head out of the sand and t the union line', , we were to by leading CP people Manchester. In this situati you can understand wl they did bugger all for R Robbo'.

BL WORKERS GO FOR £20 ACROSS THE BOARD Edwardes not a penny.

centre DISPUTE £58.75 basic, 54 nour average week the conditions th railworkers are figh ing against.

pages 7,8,1 LOTHIAN SACKS 900 TEACHERS But Labour activis continue the fight page A QUESTION OF LEADERSHIP Ken Loach's fill reviewed. page

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