The tragedy of Baghdad ? with almost 1000 Shia pilgrims killed in Iraq?s bloodiest day on 31 August ? competes with the catastrophe of New Orleans in a kind of ?league of horrors?.

By Peter Taaffe, Socialist Party England and Wales (more…)

The effects of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans and Mississippi could be the US?s worst natural disaster, with a projected 10,000 or more people dead and its biggest refugee crisis since the American Civil War. But it is no less a catastrophe for the Bush regime and the system which it defends, US capitalism, the major prop of world capitalism.

Editorial from ‘The Socialist’ Paper of the Socialist Party England and Wales (more…)

An Action Program to organize a working class response to the disaster. Issued by Socialist Alternative, the US section of the CWI (more…)

‘Che Guevara -symbol of struggle’ by Tony Saunois was originally published in 1997. The CWI has republished this original pamphlet as a book. As the revolt against neo-liberalism and capitalism gathers momentum throughout Latin America the figure of Che Guevara has gained renewed popularity as a symbol of struggle against imperialism and capitalism and for a socialist alternative. (more…)

When General Musharraf took power in October 1999, after disposing of the then prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, he promised many things. He was going to revive the economy, establish political stability, root out the widespread corruption, develop provincial harmony, wipe out poverty, establish true democracy, improve the law and order situation and reform the decaying state institutions.

By Khalid Bhatti, SMP Lahore (more…)

Hundreds of thousands are left homeless. Tens of thousands have been shipped to Texas as refugees. Buildings have collapsed. Entire communities have been reduced to rubble. The city of New Orleans, one of the centres of history and culture in the US, will likely be uninhabitable for months. The death toll from Katrina is certainly in the hundreds, and it will probably reach the thousands. Some commentators say this was all unavoidable, but that is a lie.

By Bryan Koulouris, New York City, US (more…)